April 9, 1998 To: Interested Persons From: Jeffrey Showman, Policy Specialist Subject: Status of the Minimum Local Calling Area Rule (Docket No. UT-970545) Many people have contacted the Commission for information about the status of the minimum local calling area rule. I hope this fact sheet answers any questions you may have. Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to your continuing participation in this rulemaking. 1. What is the status of the minimum local calling area rule? On March 25, 1998, the Commission directed Staff to prepare a small business economic impact statement (SBEIS) and get comments on revised rule language (see attachment). Comments on the discussion draft rule are due back to the Commission May 15. After the SBEIS is prepared, the rule will come back before the Commission on May 27 at 9:30 a.m., for a decision to proceed with adoption. 2. What is the minimum local calling area rule? Customers in many local telephone exchanges cannot call basic community services, such as schools, medical facilities, and government offices, without paying toll charges. The previous attempt to address this problem, the Extended Area Service (EAS) rule, had problems of its own (e.g. communities with adequate local calling tried to use it to lower their toll charges). Last spring, the Commission put a moratorium on new EAS routes, and directed Staff to review extended area service. This winter, Commission Staff offered a draft rule for discussion which would define basic telephone service as including a local calling area adequate for customers to reach community services, including medical facilities, local government offices, elementary and secondary schools and a primary commercial center. 3. What is a small business economic impact statement (SBEIS)? The legislature requires agencies to analyze the economic impact of proposed rules on businesses, and identify ways to reduce the costs of the rule on small businesses, before adopting rules. An SBEIS was not prepared earlier because the proposed rule’s standards were not sufficiently precise to allow such analysis to be meaningful. The SBEIS should be done in about 60 days, which will also allow time for interested persons to comment on revisions to the proposed rule. 4. What revisions have been made to the discussion draft rule (see attachment)? List of towns: At six public workshops held in February and March, attended by almost 500 people, Commission Staff asked whether the rule should include a “bright-line” test, e.g., whether a local calling area would be considered adequate if it included a town of 4,000 or a town of 10,000. Neither alternative was considered useful. Instead of this test, the revised rule lists 36 towns. For basic telephone service to be considered adequate, each local exchange customer in the state should be able to reach at least one of these towns with a local call. Earlier compliance: One of the strongest messages from the public workshops was to address the problem of inadequate local calling as quickly as possible. The initial draft called for tariffs to be filed within ten months, with no date set for implementation. The revised rule calls for tariffs to be filed within 90 days after rule adoption, with an implementation deadline of ten months, which can be extended for good cause. In addition, Staff has notified companies that the Minimum Local Calling EAS moratorium should not hold up progress on filing EAS routes for a dozen or so “hardship” exchanges. Optional calling plans: Because the rule may create calling areas that are larger than some customers want, the revised rule would call upon companies to offer optional calling plans to give customers the choice of subscribing to flat rated service, measured service to the whole calling area, or flat rated calling only to their local exchange. 5. When are comments due? Comments on the discussion draft rule should be mailed to the Commission by May 15, 1998, referencing Docket No. UT-970545, to WUTC, PO Box 47250, Olympia, WA, 98504-7250. 6. When might I see expanded local calling? Commission Staff has informed companies that the EAS moratorium should not apply to a dozen or so “hardship” routes, and has encouraged companies to file tariffs to resolve these. For other areas, a rule may not take effect until this summer, which would mean implementation would not take place until the middle of 1999. 7. Who are Staff contacts? Jeffrey Showman, Policy Office at 360-664-1212 Tim Sweeney, Public Affairs at 360-664-1118 Glenn Blackmon, Telecommunications at 360-664-1290 For more information and for documents associated with this docket (970545), visit the Commission’s website at http://www.wutc.wa.gov/. Discussion Draft Minimum Local Calling Rule (UT-970545) Page 1 WAC 480-120-045. Basic service to include a minimum local calling area. (1) Each local exchange company shall provide as an element of basic service, a local calling area adequate to allow customers to call and receive calls from the following community services: community medical facilities, city or town government, elementary and secondary schools, libraries, and at least one of the exchanges listed in subsection (2) of this rule. (2) Each local calling area shall include at least one of the following exchanges: Aberdeen, Anacortes, Auburn, Bellevue, Bellingham, Bremerton, Centralia, Colville, Coulee Dam, Ellensburg, Everett, Friday Harbor, Kennewick, Kent, Lewiston (Idaho), Longview, Moses Lake, Mount Vernon, Oak Harbor, Olympia, Omak, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Pullman, Renton, Ritzville, Seattle, Spokane, South Bend, Sunnyside, Tacoma, The Dalles (Oregon), Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, or Yakima. (3) In determining whether an exchange has a sufficient calling area, the Commission will consider the overall community of interest of the entire exchange. (4) No local calling area shall exhibit any discontinuities; i.e., the local calling area for an exchange shall contain all intervening exchange areas. Any change in calling area made as a result of this rule shall, as much as reasonably possible, conform to existing county and school district boundaries within the state and shall not reduce the existing calling area of any exchange. (5) "Basic service" is the minimum service a local exchange company may offer. (6) Each local exchange company shall offer a choice of local calling plans, which shall include at a minimum: (a) Flat-rated service to the entire local calling area; (b) Local measured service to the entire local calling area; and (c) Flat-rated service to the customer's own exchange and local measured service to all other parts of the local calling area. (7) Nothing in this rule is intended to prohibit companies from offering flat-rated or measured service priced on an optional basis to a larger geographical area. (8) If any change in rates is necessary as a result of compliance with this rule, the change shall apply to all local service customers of the company and may not be limited to the customers of the particular exchanges whose calling area was expanded to comply with this rule. This provision does not apply to rate changes resulting from movement of an exchange from one existing rate group to another existing rate group. (9) Any local exchange company providing service for which the local calling area is not adequate to meet the basic service standard as required in subsection (1) shall, within ninety days from the date this rule becomes effective, file tariff revisions and an implementation schedule to make necessary changes to its calling areas. The implementation schedule shall provide for all revised calling areas to become effective no later than ten months after the date this rule becomes effective. The Commission may grant an extension of this deadline if it determines that additional facilities are required and that a company cannot reasonably complete its service revisions within the required time. (10) (a) Prior to a company filing a proposal to increase local calling areas, each company must submit to the Commission’s Public Affairs staff a draft notice to review before it is mailed to consumers. Customer notice shall be designed to ensure that customers of a company that is proposing a change in its rates or services receive adequate information about the change in order to understand the change, and determine whether to become involved in the Commission's decision-making process. (b) The notice shall contain an explanation of the new rates and conditions so customers can easily understand the changes and the impact it will have on them. At a minimum, this should include: a clear, brief explanation of the proposal, with rates; the requested effective date; the implementation date, and a phone number for customers to reach a company representative if they have questions. (c) Each notice shall contain the Commission’s standard public involvement language as follows: If you have questions about the filing and how it will affect you, please call (Company name & office phone number) . If you have questions about the ratemaking process, you may contact the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission at the following address: Secretary Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission P.O. Box 47250 Olympia, WA 98504-7250 1-800-562-6150 (toll free) The Commission encourages your written comments, either in favor or opposition, regarding this proposal. Comments must be submitted in writing or presented at the Commission’s open meeting to be considered as part of the formal record. If you would like to be added to the Commission’s mailing list to be notified of the open meeting date please call the toll-free number listed above and leave your name and mailing address. WAC 480-120-400 through 480-120-435 is repealed.