(a) On and after July 1, 2001, a telephone company may apply to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to withdraw from the retail provision of a telecommunications service, provided such telecommunications service has been deemed competitive pursuant to § 16-247f prior to the date such application is submitted. Any such application shall specify (1) the service that the telephone company no longer wishes to provide, (2) the geographic area or areas in which the telephone company proposes to no longer provide the service, and (3) the number of customers of the telephone company that will be affected by the proposed withdrawal and a discussion of ways to mitigate such impact.

(b) In considering any application by a telephone company pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the authority shall consider (1) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the goals set forth in § 16-247a, (2) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the financial, managerial and technical ability of the telephone company to provide other retail and wholesale telecommunications services and the quality of such services, (3) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the rates paid by retail customers for the service that the telephone company no longer wishes to provide at retail, (4) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the retail availability of such service, and (5) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the ability of certified telecommunications providers to provide a functionally equivalent service at retail. The authority shall not approve any such application for withdrawal unless it finds that such withdrawal (A) is consistent with the goals set forth in § 16-247a, and (B) is not contrary to the public interest. The authority shall not approve any such application or authorize the withdrawal of a telephone company from the provision of a telecommunications service at retail unless the service that the telephone company no longer wishes to provide has been deemed competitive pursuant to § 16-247f. The authority, in approving any such application, shall develop a method to allow customers receiving such service from the telephone company to choose a new provider of such service, provided the authority shall not order the allocation or assignment of any customer.

(c) Any proceeding conducted pursuant to this section shall be considered a contested case, as defined in § 4-166.

(d) The provisions of this section shall not (1) preclude the withdrawal of a competitive or an emerging competitive tariff pursuant to § 16-247f, (2) preclude a telephone company from withdrawing a noncompetitive service in the normal course of business, or (3) apply to any certified telecommunications provider or any telephone company serving fewer than seventy-five thousand customers.