| (a) Purpose. This section establishes procedures for
processing requests for extended area service (EAS) in accordance
with Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA), Chapter 55, Subchapter
B. On or after September 1, 2011, the commission will not require
a telecommunications provider to provide mandatory or optional extended
area service to additional metropolitan areas or calling areas.
(b) Extended Area Service. The term "utility" in this
section refers to a dominant certificated telecommunications utility.
(1) Filing requirements.
(A) In order to be considered by the commission, a
request for EAS must be initiated by at least one of the following
actions:
(i) a petition signed by the greater of 5.0% or 100
of the subscribers in the exchange from which the petition originates;
(ii) a resolution adopted and filed with the commission
by the governing body of a political subdivision provided that said
governing body properly represents the exchange requesting EAS;
(iii) a resolution adopted and filed with the commission
by the board of directors or trustees of a community association representing
an unincorporated community; or
(iv) an application filed by one or more of each affected
utility.
(B) A request for establishment of a particular EAS
arrangement in accordance with subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), or (iii)
of this paragraph must not be considered sooner than three years after
either a determination of the failure of a previous request to meet
eligibility requirements, or final commission action on a previously
docketed request. An exception to this requirement may be granted
to any petitioning exchange which demonstrates that a change of circumstances
may have materially affected traffic levels between the petitioning
exchange and the exchange to which EAS is desired.
(C) A request for EAS must state the name of each exchange
to which EAS is sought.
(D) The petition must set forth the name and telephone
number of each signatory and the name of the exchange from which the
subscribers receive service.
(E) Each signature page of a petition for EAS must
contain information which clearly states that establishment of the
requested EAS route may require that subscribers to the service change
their telephone numbers and pay a monthly EAS rate in addition to
their local exchange service rates, as well as applicable service
connection charges.
(F) Requests for EAS into metropolitan exchanges will
be grouped by relevant metropolitan exchange. For each metropolitan
exchange, commission staff will file a motion to docket a proceeding
for the determination of uniform EAS rate additives as directed by
paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of this subsection for all pending EAS
requests to that metropolitan exchange. Upon the docketing of such
a proceeding, the petitioned utility must publish notice in a newspaper
of general circulation in the metropolitan area for two consecutive
calendar weeks. The notice must contain such information as deemed
reasonable by the presiding officer in the proceeding. The demand
studies required by paragraph (3) of this subsection must be initiated
no earlier than 60 days from the date of final publication of notice.
New petitions for EAS into the metropolitan exchange may be accepted
prior to the initiation of the demand studies.
(2) Community of interest.
(A) Upon receipt of a proper filing under the provisions
set out in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the utility involved
will be directed by the commission staff to initiate appropriate calling
usage studies. Within 90 days of receipt of such direction, the utility
must provide the results of such studies to the commission staff and
to a representative of each petitioning exchange. The message distribution
and revenue distribution detail from the studies must be considered
proprietary unless the parties agree otherwise and must not be released
for use outside the context of the commission's proceedings. The data
to be provided must be based upon a minimum 60 day study of representative
calling patterns, must be in such form, detail, and content as the
commission staff may reasonably require and must include at least
the following information:
(i) for business customers and residential customers
and for the combined total, the number of messages and either minutes-of-use
or billed toll revenues per customer account per month, in each direction
over the route being studied;
(ii) a detailed analysis of the distribution of calling
usage among subscribers, in each direction over the route being studied,
showing the number of subscriber accounts placing zero calls, one
call, etc., through ten calls, the number of subscriber accounts placing
between 11 and 20 calls, the number placing between 21 and 50 calls,
and the number of subscriber accounts placing more than 50 calls,
per month;
(iii) data showing, by class of service, the number
of subscriber accounts in service for each of the exchanges being
studied;
(iv) the distance between rate centers, and the average
revenue per message for the calls during the study period;
(v) the number of foreign exchange (FX) lines in service
over each route and the estimated average calling volumes on these
lines expressed as messages per month;
(vi) a listing of known interexchange carriers providing
service between the petitioning exchange and each exchange to which
EAS is desired.
(B) A community of interest between exchanges must
be considered to exist from one exchange to the other when:
(i) there is an average of no less than ten calls per
subscriber account per month from one exchange to the other, and
(ii) no less than two thirds of the subscribers' accounts
place at least five calls per month from one exchange to the other.
(C) A request for EAS must be assigned a project number
and notice must be provided, in accordance with paragraph (7) of this
subsection, when a community of interest is found to exist as described
in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph:
(i) on a bilateral basis between exchanges, or
(ii) on a unilateral basis from the petitioning exchange
to the other exchange.
(D) The project must be established as a formal docket
upon the motion of the commission staff.
(E) Following the docketing of a request, a prehearing
conference must be scheduled to establish each exchange to which EAS
is sought, and to report any agreements reached by the parties. The
utility involved must conduct appropriate demand and costing analyses
according to paragraphs (3) and (4) of this subsection.
(3) Demand analysis.
(A) The utility involved must conduct analyses of anticipated
demand for the requested EAS. The data must be in such form, detail,
and content as the commission staff may reasonably require and must
include, at a minimum, the following information:
(i) the number of subscribers who are expected to take
the requested service at the estimated rates recommended in accordance
with paragraph (5) of this subsection and the associated probability
of that level of subscribership;
(ii) how call traffic within the requested extended
area is expected to change given the rates and subscribership under
clause (i) of this subparagraph; and
(iii) the total volume of traffic upon which to base
the anticipated switching and trunking requirements resulting from
clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph.
(B) Unless the utility demonstrates good cause to expand
the time schedule, the utility must provide to the commission staff
and to other parties to the proceeding, no later than 120 days after
the prehearing conference, the results of these analyses, together
with supporting schedules and detailed documentation needed to understand
and verify the study results.
(4) Determination of costs.
(A) The utility involved must conduct studies necessary
to determine the changes in costs and revenues which may reasonably
be expected to result from establishment of the requested EAS. These
studies must consider and develop the long run incremental costs as
follows:
(i) switching and trunking costs associated with existing
toll traffic which converts to EAS traffic plus the costs of switching
and trunking required to handle the additional traffic as determined
in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of this subsection;
(ii) the increases and decreases in expenses resulting
from the new service and the net effect on operating expenses; and
Cont'd... |
