No telephone company or certified telecommunications provider, as defined in § 16-1, shall refuse to provide telecommunications services to, or refuse to negotiate to provide such services to any customer because of age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, lawful source of income, disability or familial status. No telephone company or certified telecommunications provider shall decline to provide telecommunications services to a customer for the sole reason that the customer is located in an economically distressed geographic area or the customer qualifies for hardship status under § 16-262c. No telephone company or certified telecommunications provider shall terminate or refuse to reinstate telecommunications services except in accordance with the provisions of this title.