Under IC 4-22-2-24, notice is hereby given that on August 24, 2006, at 9:30 a.m. EDT, at the Indiana Government Center-South, 302 West Washington Street, Room E306, Indianapolis, Indiana, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will hold a public hearing on proposed amendments and new rules (RM #06-02, LSA Document #06-45), which establish notice and information requirements and time deadlines in certain situations, including disconnection of a local exchange carrier by another local exchange carrier, bankruptcy, relinquishment of service, and revocation of certificate of territorial authority. In these specific limited situations, notice would be required to other telecommunications providers, to customers, and to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, as well as the provision of certain information to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

The information to be provided under this rule is readily accessible to the affected public utilities and is only required under specific special circumstances. The cost of providing the required notices and information would only occur in the specified limited circumstances and is minimal. In addition, according to the records of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, over the past three years, over $1.3 million was owed to local exchange carriers by other local exchange carriers that were subject to disconnection. According to the affected public utilities that participated in prerulemaking workshops, by setting out defined procedures with more reasonable time deadlines, this rule would save the disconnecting local exchange carriers valuable time and money, thereby reducing whatever minimal fiscal impact may result from this rule. Moreover, this rule provides protection to consumers by requiring adequate notice to minimize service disruptions that could occur as a result of a local exchange carrier no longer being able to provide service.

Copies of these rules are now on file at the Indiana Government Center-South, 302 West Washington Street, Room E306, and Legislative Services Agency, One North Capitol, Suite 325, Indianapolis, Indiana, and are open for public inspection.