FINAL BILL REPORT

SHB 1756

                                  C 282 L 89

BYHouse Committee on Energy & Utilities (originally sponsored by Representatives Sprenkle, S. Wilson, Rector, Fuhrman, Hargrove, K. Wilson, Haugen, Jacobsen and Scott)

Providing for extended area service by telecommunications companies.

House Committe on Energy & Utilities

Senate Committee on Energy & Utilities

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

Extended Area Service (EAS) means the ability to call from one telephone exchange to another without incurring a toll charge.  Many communities in the state have EAS.  The most well known example is the ability to call from Seattle to Bellevue without incurring an additional toll charge.  Other communities have limited calling areas.  Monroe, Washington is an example of one. Monroe residents must pay a toll charge to call their neighboring town of Snohomish, and the nearby city of Everett.  EAS patterns have not always been consistent with the type of growth experienced by a community.  The urban communities tend to have a wider geographical base for EAS. The base for rural communities is smaller.  The Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) formed an EAS advisory committee to make recommendations on state-wide EAS policy.  That recommendation has been published and submitted to the commissioners of the UTC.

Multiparty telephone lines cannot accommodate certain telecommunications equipment and services.  Additionally, subscriber mileage charges are unevenly applied in portions of the state and, in some cases, are a large expense for subscribers.

SUMMARY:

A pilot program for extended area services is established.  Any telephone customer may petition to have Extended Area Service (EAS) to a certain community within the boundaries of a single telephone company. The petitioner must submit to the Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) signatures of a representative majority of the affected customers.  A representative majority is defined as 15 percent of the access lines in that community. When the signatures are submitted, the (UTC) shall authorize a study to determine if there is a "community of interest."  A community of interest is established if there is an average of five calls per customer per month from the petitioning community to the location to which EAS is desired.

If a community of interest exists, the UTC shall calculate any increase increment based on the charges to a rate group having the same or similar calling capability.  The telecommunications company affected may propose an alternative plan.  The UTC shall notify the subscribers of the increased increment and the alternative plan and conduct a poll.  If a majority of the subscribers votes in favor of the EAS plan, the UTC shall order the EAS.  The pilot program applies to petitions for EAS on file with the UTC as of January 1, 1989.  Petitions filed after January 1, 1989 are subject to terms and conditions of the UTC.  The pilot program terminates on December 1, 1990.  Any EAS granted under the act will remain in place.  The UTC is directed to report to the House and Senate Energy & Utilities Committees about EAS by December 1, 1990.

The UTC shall study the feasibility of eliminating, by January 1, 1992,  multiparty lines and mileage charges in all telephone exchanges throughout the state.  The UTC shall also study the relationship between mileage charges and EAS.  The UTC shall report study results to the House and Senate Energy and Utilities Committees by December 1, 1989.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      House 63  34

      Senate    45     0 (Senate amended)

      House 82  14 (House concurred)

EFFECTIVE:July 23, 1989