It doesn't matter what the state regulatory agency is called—public service commission, public utility commission, public service corporation or commerce commission—they are all independent state sanctioned regulatory agencies, which is the starting point for your ISP to transform its operations in to a certified CLEC.

So the name of the agency may change, but all state regulatory agencies perform the same functions. For the most part, since the transition from monopoly to competition began in the telecom industry, state regulatory agencies charged with transportation duties, commerce development, and utility management, also became responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures to facilitate competition in all local telecom markets, and to address regulatory changes required by state and federal legislation.

These state agencies set up telecom divisions to in order to ensure fair, affordable, universal access to necessary services, develop clear rules of the game and define regulatory parameters to remove barriers that prevent building fully competitive local markets while reducing or eliminating burdensome regulation.

Then, the Internet happened and the lines that were readily regulated for voice carriage become convoluted by wholly unregulated data transport. Federal regulatory policies guiding data services were sucked into a vacuum of telecom issues. For ISPs, what is regulated in one state may be completely different in another.

Contact with your ISPs local regulatory agency can not be avoided. Take a moment to get to know your local regulators and what they can do for your ISP business.