PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION Certainty Tech Telecom, LLC; Tentative Order [43 Pa.B. 1249]
[Saturday, March 2, 2013]Public Meeting held
February 14, 2013Commissioners Present: Robert F. Powelson, Chairperson; John F. Coleman, Jr., Vice Chairperson; Wayne E. Gardner; James H. Cawley; Pamela A. Witmer
Certainty Tech Telecom, LLC;
A-311283Tentative Order By the Commission:
Certainty Tech Telecom, LLC (Certainty Tech or the Company) is a telecommunications interexchange reseller and a competitive local exchange carrier in the Verizon Pennsylvania LLC and Windstream PA territories certificated at A-311283. Once certificated, the Company made no further tariff revisions.
Through Commission staff's efforts to enforce the Commission's switched access tariff order entered on May 10, 2012, at Docket No. M-2012-2291824, Staff learned that Certainty Tech was sold to USA Tek in 2006; however, the parties to the transaction never filed appropriate papers with the Commission to seek approval pursuant to 66 Pa.C.S. § 1102(a)(3) of the Public Utility Code. At some unknown point thereafter, USA Tek transferred the Company to a Mr. Gary Jackson, a former construction consultant to USA Tek, again without ever receiving Commission approval. Mr. Jackson has advised Staff that Certainty Tech has no reported revenues nor any Pennsylvania customers or telephone numbers. Mr. Jackson states that while he has been working towards interconnection and resale agreements with underlying carriers for point-to-point connections, he does not presently anticipate having any dial tone customers or the need of numbering resources. Based on these facts, Commission Staff has advised Mr. Jackson that it intends to recommend revoking his certificate, and, if granted, that he will be required to file a new application in order to operate as a public utility in Pennsylvania.
Finally, a search of Commission records reveals that the Company has failed to pay its annual assessment pursuant to section 510 of the Code, 66 Pa.C.S. § 510, for calendar years 2008, 2009, and 2010, and that the Commission was unable to serve the Company with the assessment for 2011 because the address on file was not current.
The Commission puts the industry on notice that we will not hesitate to invoke our authority under the Public Utility Code to ensure timely compliance with our regulations and orders including the ordering of such other remedy as the Commission may deem appropriate. 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 504, 505, 506, and 3301. Based on the above facts, we tentatively conclude that it is appropriate to revoke Certainty Tech's certificate of public convenience without the necessity of a formal complaint as being in the public interest. Furthermore, the Commission may take other appropriate action, including the imposition of penalties under section 3301, in lieu of cancellation, if Certainty Tech seeks relief from this Tentative Order; Therefore,
It Is Ordered That:
1. Revocation of Certainty Tech Telecom, LLC's certificate of public convenience is hereby tentatively approved as being in the public interest.
2. The Secretary serve a copy of this Tentative Order upon the Office of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Small Business Advocate, and the Bureau of Investigation & Enforcement, and also cause a copy of this Tentative Order to be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin with a 30-day comment period.
3. Absent the filing of adverse public comment within 30 days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, this Tentative Order shall become final without further action by the Commission.
4. Upon this order becoming final, and without further action by the Commission, the certificate of public convenience held by Certainty Tech Telecom, LLC at A-311283 shall be canceled, and Certainty Tech Telecom, LLC's name stricken from all active utility lists maintained by the Commission's Bureau of Technical Utility Services and the Assessment Section of the Bureau of Administrative Services.
ROSEMARY CHIAVETTA,
Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 13-373. Filed for public inspection March 1, 2013, 9:00 a.m.]
