The commission must find certain market conditions before deciding a carrier is no longer dominant, and it must consider listed market factors when deciding dominance.
Sec. 52.203. MARKET POWER TEST. (a) To determine whether an incumbent local exchange company or holder of a certificate of operating authority who is a dominant carrier is no longer dominant for a service in a geographic market, the commission must find that: (1) there is an effective competitive alternative; and (2) the incumbent local exchange company or certificate holder does not have market power sufficient to control, in a manner that is adverse to the public interest, the price of the service in the geographic area. (b) To determine whether the incumbent local exchange company or certificate holder is dominant for a service in the geographic area, the commission shall consider: (1) the number and size of telecommunications utilities or other persons who provide the same, equivalent, or substitutable service in the relevant market; (2) the extent to which the service is available in the relevant market; (3) the ability of customers in the relevant market to obtain the same, equivalent, or substitutable service at comparable rates and on comparable terms; (4) the ability of a telecommunications utility or other person to make the same, equivalent, or substitutable service readily available in the relevant market at comparable rates and on comparable terms; (5) the proportion of the relevant market that is being provided the service by a telecommunications utility other than the incumbent local exchange company or holder of a certificate of operating authority who is a dominant carrier; and (6) other relevant information the commission considers necessary. Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.