Texas Utilities Code - UTIL § 54.103. Grant or Denial of Certificate

(a) The commission must grant or deny a certificate not later than the 60th day after the date the application for the certificate is filed.  The commission may extend the deadline on good cause shown.

(b) The commission shall grant each certificate on a nondiscriminatory basis after considering factors such as:

(c) In an exchange of an incumbent local exchange company that serves fewer than 31,000 access lines, in addition to the factors described by Subsection (b), the commission shall consider:

(d) Except as provided by Subsections (e) and (f), the commission may grant an application for a certificate only for an area or areas that are contiguous and reasonably compact and cover an area of at least 27 square miles.

(e) In an exchange in a county that has a population of less than 500,000 and that is served by an incumbent local exchange company that has more than 31,000 access lines, an area covering less than 27 square miles may be approved if the area is contiguous and reasonably compact and has at least 20,000 access lines.

(f) In an exchange of a company that serves fewer than 31,000 access lines in this state, the commission may grant an application only for an area that has boundaries similar to the boundaries of the serving central office that is served by the incumbent local exchange company that holds the certificate of convenience and necessity for the area.

(g) Expired.