Tex. Util. Code § 54.253 · Subchapter F. REGULATION OF SERVICES, AREAS, AND FACILITIES
DISCONTINUATION OF SERVICE BY CERTAIN CERTIFICATE HOLDERS.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A telecommunications utility that holds a certificate of operating authority or a service provider certificate of operating authority may:
(1) cease operations in the utility's certificated area; or
(2) discontinue an optional service that is not essential to providing basic local telecommunications service.
(b) Before the telecommunications utility ceases operations or discontinues an optional service, the utility, in the manner required by the commission, must give notice of the intended action to:
(1) the commission;
(2) each affected customer;
(3) the Commission on State Emergency Communications;
(4) the office; and
(5) each wholesale provider of telecommunications facilities or services from which the utility has purchased facilities or services.
(c) The telecommunications utility is entitled to discontinue an optional service on or after the 61st day after the date the utility gives the notice.
(d) The telecommunications utility may not cease operations in its certificated area unless the commission authorizes the utility to cease operations and:
(1) another provider of basic local telecommunications services has adequate facilities and capacity to serve the customers in the certificated area; or
(2) the utility is an "exiting utility," as that term is defined by Section 54.301, no other telecommunications utility has facilities sufficient to provide basic local telecommunications service in the defined geographic area, and the utility acts in good faith to provide for a transition of the utility's existing basic local telecommunications service customers to another holder of a certificate for that area.
(e) The commission may not authorize the telecommunications utility to cease operations under Subsection (d) before the 61st day after the date the utility gives the notice required by Subsection (b). Unless the commission receives a complaint from an affected person, the commission may enter an order under this subsection administratively.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/UT/htm/UT.54.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 823fef0491e9d5260e782e91cbeb8d3968485ef1d98b0ce94378a287d8ae6795
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 3 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Util. Code § 54.253. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.