(a) No person shall provide or resell telecommunications services in Guam without a certificate of authority issued by the Commission, except that a certificate of authority shall not be required for any person to provide commercial mobile service.

The provisions of Section 12208 of this Title shall apply in circumstances where a telecommunications company is providing or reselling telecommunications services without a certificate of authority issued by the Commission.

On the effective date hereof, New GTA and any other telecommunication company then providing telecommunications service in Guam shall be deemed to have a certificate ofTELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 2004

authority under this Article with respect to the telecommunications services then provided by such telecommunications company or, with respect to New GTA, such telecommunications services provided immediately prior thereto by GTA (each a >Grandfathered Certificate=).

The Commission shall promptly issue Grandfathered Certificates to New GTA and any other such telecommunications company within sixty (60) days of the effective date hereof.

To obtain a Grandfathered Certificate, each telecommunications company other than New GTA shall represent to the Commission that such company and the intra- Guam telecommunications services it provides are subject to jurisdiction of the Commission in accordance with this Act and that the provision of such telecommunications services and the possession of a Grandfathered Certificate do not entitle such telecommunications company to any of the rights afforded to local exchange carriers under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Any other person that seeks to offer telecommunications services or any certificated telecommunications company that seeks to provide new or additional telecommunications services shall first obtain a certificate or other authority as required by this Section 12203 and the rules and regulations adopted by the Commission pursuant hereto.

(b) Applications for a certificate of authority shall be in such form and contain such information, including information regarding the financial and technical capability of the applicant, as the Commission may reasonably require. Each applicant shall publish notice of the application, in a form prescribed by the Commission, in a newspaper having general circulation in Guam.

(c) After notice and opportunity for a hearing, the Commission shall approve an application for a certificate of authority if the Commission finds both of the following:

(1) The applicant possesses sufficient technical, financial, and managerial resources and abilities to provideTELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 2004

the telecommunications services in Guam for which it seeks a certificate of authority; and

(2) The granting of a certificate of authority to the applicant would not be contrary to the public interest.

(d) In appropriate circumstances, the Commission may require, as a precondition to certification, the procurement of a performance bond sufficient to cover any advances or deposits the telecommunications company may collect from its customers, or order that such advances or deposits be held in escrow or trust.

(e) The Commission shall approve or deny an application for a certificate of authority within ninety (90) days of its having been filed. Failure to approve or deny an application within such ninety (90) days shall be considered an automatic grant of a certificate of authority.

(f) The Commission may upon complaint or its own motion, after notice to the affected telecommunications company and opportunity for hearing, revoke or suspend a telecommunications company==s certificate of authority for violation of any law, any rule, regulation or order of the Commission, or any term or condition under which the certificate of authority was originally granted.

(g) A telecommunications company shall not sell, assign, or transfer a certificate of authority, or any portion thereof, issued under this Article, or transfer control of a telecommunications company holding a certificate of authority issued under this Article, without the prior approval of the Commission and a determination by the Commission that the proposed sale, assignment or transfer satisfies the requirements for granting a certificate of authority under Subsection (c). Prior approval shall not be required for transfers of control that do not result in a substantial change in ultimate ownership of a telecommunications company holding a certificate of authority. The Commission shall issue a decision on a request to sell, assign, or transfer a certificate of authority or to transfer control within ninety (90) days of the request, which period may beTELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 2004

extended by an additional thirty (30) days for good cause shown and upon prior notice by the Commission to the applicant(s).

(h) A telecommunications company may not cancel a certificate of authority or discontinue or abandon a telecommunications service thereunder unless and until it shall:

(1) Provide at least thirty (30) days advance written notice to its customers of such cancellation, discontinuance or abandonment; and

(2) Provide at least thirty (30) days advance written notice to the Commission verifying compliance with subsection (1) hereof, which thirty (30)-day period may run concurrently with the period set forth in subsection (1) hereof.

The Commission may by rule or orders in specific cases provide for further notice to affected customers and disposition of deposits and final bills. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any carrier of last resort, may not cancel a certificate of authority or discontinue or abandon telecommunications service thereunder unless and until it shall demonstrate, and the Commission finds, that such cancellation, discontinuance or abandonment will not deprive customers of any necessary or essential telecommunications service or access thereto.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 27-110:10 (Nov. 1, 2004).