1 STATUTORY OR OTHER AUTHORITY: The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission takes this action under Notice No. WSR 02-12-055, filed with the code reviser on May 30, 2002. The commission brings this proceeding pursuant to RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.160.

     2 STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE: This proceeding complies with the Open Public Meetings Act (chapter 42.30 RCW), the Administrative Procedure Act (chapter 34.05 RCW), the State Register Act (chapter 34.08 RCW), the State Environmental Policy Act of 1971 (chapter 43.21C RCW), and the Regulatory Fairness Act (chapter 19.85 RCW).

     3 DATE OF ADOPTION: The commission adopts this rule on the date that this order is entered.

     4 CONCISE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND EFFECT OF THE RULE: RCW 34.05.325 requires that the commission prepare and provide to commenters a concise explanatory statement about an adopted rule. The statement must include the identification of the reasons for adopting the rule, a summary of the comments received regarding the proposed rule, and responses reflecting the commission's consideration of the comments.

     5 The commission often includes a discussion of those matters in its rule adoption order. In addition, to avoid unnecessary duplication, the commission designates the discussion in this order as its concise explanatory statement, supplemented where not inconsistent by the staff memoranda presented at the adoption hearing and at the open meetings where the commission considered whether to begin a rule making and whether to propose adoption of specific language. Together, the documents provide a complete but concise explanation of the agency actions and its reasons for taking those actions.

     6 REFERENCE TO AFFECTED RULES: This rule repeals the following sections of the Washington Administrative Code: WAC 480-120-029 Accounting requirements for competitively classified companies, 480-120-031 Accounting, 480-120-032 Expenditures for political or legislative activities, 480-120-033 Reporting requirements for competitively classified companies, 480-120-041 Availability of information, 480-120-042 Directory service, 480-120-043 Notice to the public of tariff changes, 480-120-045 Local calling areas, 480-120-046 Service offered, 480-120-051 Availability of service -- Application for and installation of service, 480-120-056 Establishment of credit, 480-120-081 Discontinuance of service, 480-120-087 Telephone solicitation, 480-120-088 Automatic dialing-announcing devices, 480-120-089 Information delivery services, 480-120-101 Complaints and disputes, 480-120-106 Form of bills, 480-120-116 Refund for overcharge, 480-120-121 Responsibility for delinquent accounts, 480-120-126 Safety, 480-120-131 Reports of accidents, 480-120-136 Retention and preservation of records and reports, 480-120-138 Pay phone service providers (PSPs), 480-120-139 Changes in local exchange and intrastate toll services, 480-120-141 Operator service providers (OSPs), 480-120-340 911 Obligations of local exchange companies, 480-120-350 Reverse search by E-911 PSAP of ALI/DMS data base -- When permitted, 480-120-500 Telecommunications service quality -- General requirements, 480-120-505 Operator services, 480-120-510 Business offices, 480-120-515 Network performance standards applicable to local exchange companies, 480-120-520 Major outages and service interruptions, 480-120-525 Network maintenance, 480-120-530 Emergency services, 480-120-531 Emergency operation, 480-120-535 Service quality performance reports, 480-120-541 Access charges, 480-120-542 Collective consideration of Washington intrastate rate, tariff, or service proposals, 480-120-543 Caller identification service, 480-120-544 Mandatory cost changes for telecommunications companies, and 480-120-545 Severability.

     This order amends the following sections of the Washington Administrative Code: WAC 480-120-011 Application of rules, 480-120-015 Exemptions from rules in chapter 480-120 WAC, 480-120-021 Definitions, and 480-120-061 Refusing service.

     7 This order adopts the following sections of the Washington Administrative Code: GENERAL RULES: WAC 480-120-017 Severability, and 480-120-019 Telecommunications performance requirements -- Enforcement; ESTABLISHING SERVICE AND CREDIT: WAC 480-120-102 Service offered, 480-120-103 Application for service, 480-120-104 Information to consumers, 480-120-105 Company performance standards for installation or activation of access lines, 480-120-112 Company performance for orders for nonbasic services, 480-120-122 Establishing credit -- Residential services, 480-120-123 Establishing credit -- Business services, 480-120-124 Guarantee in lieu of deposit, 480-120-128 Deposit administration, 480-120-132 Business offices, 480-120-133 Response time for calls to business office or repair center during regular business hours, 480-120-146 Changing service providers from one local exchange company to another, 480-120-147 Changes in local exchange and intrastate toll services, and 480-120-148 Canceling registration; PAYMENTS AND DISPUTES: WAC 480-120-161 Form of bills, 480-120-162 Cash and urgent payments, 480-120-163 Refunding an overcharge, 480-120-164 Pro rata credits, 480-120-165 Customer complaints, 480-120-166 Commission-referred complaints, and 480-120-167 Company responsibility; DISCONTINUING AND RESTORING SERVICE: WAC 480-120-171 Discontinuing service -- Customer requested, 480-120-172 Discontinuing service -- Company initiated, 480-120-173 Restoring service after discontinuation, and 480-120-174 Restoring service based on Washington telephone assistance program (WTAP) or federal enhanced tribal lifeline program eligibility; TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES: WAC 480-120-251 Directory service, 480-120-252 Intercept services, 480-120-253 Automatic dialing-announcing device (ADAD), 480-120-254 Telephone solicitation, 480-120-255 Information delivery services, 480-120-256 Caller identification service, 480-120-257 Emergency services, 480-120-261 Operator services, 480-120-262 Operator service providers (OSPs), 480-120-263 Pay phone service providers (PSPs), and 480-120-265 Local calling areas; FINANCIAL RECORDS AND REPORTING RULES: WAC 480-120-301 Accounting requirements for competitively classified companies, 480-120-302 Accounting requirements for companies not classified as competitive, 480-120-303 Reporting requirements for competitively classified companies, 480-120-304 Reporting requirements for companies not classified as competitive, 480-120-305 Streamlined filing requirements for Class B telecommunications company rate increases, 480-120-311 Access charge and universal service reporting, 480-120-321 Expenditures for political or legislative activities, 480-120-322 Retaining and preserving records and reports, and 480-120-323 Washington Exchange Carrier Association (WECA); SAFETY AND STANDARDS RULES: WAC 480-120-401 Network performance standards, 480-120-402 Safety, 480-120-411 Network maintenance, 480-120-412 Major outages, 480-120-414 Emergency operation, 480-120-436 Responsibility for drop facilities and support structure, 480-120-437 Responsibility for maintenance and repair of facilities and support structures, 480-120-438 Trouble report standard, 480-120-439 Service quality performance reports, 480-120-440 Repair standards for service interruptions and impairments, excluding major outages, 480-120-450 Enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) obligations of local exchange companies, 480-120-451 Local exchange carrier contact number for use by public safety answering points (PSAPs), and 480-120-452 Reverse search by enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) public safety answering point (PSAP) of ALI/DMS data base -- When permitted; and ADOPTION BY REFERENCE: WAC 480-120-999 Adoption by reference.

     8 PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY AND ACTIONS THEREUNDER: The commission filed a preproposal statement of inquiry (CR-101) on April 15, 1999, at WSR 99-09-027.

     9 ADDITIONAL NOTICE AND ACTIVITY PURSUANT TO PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT: The statement advised interested persons that the commission was considering entering a rule making to review rules relating to regulated telephone companies for content and readability pursuant to Executive Order 97-02, with attention to the rules' need, effectiveness and efficiency, clarity, intent, and statutory authority, coordination, cost, and fairness. The statement also advised that the review would include consideration of whether substantive changes or additional rules are required for telecommunications regulation generally, and in concert with the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 and potential actions by the Washington legislature during its 1999 session. The commission also informed persons of the inquiry into this matter by providing notice of the subject and the CR-101 to all persons on the commission's list of persons requesting such information pursuant to RCW 34.05.320(3) and by sending notice to all registered telecommunications companies and the commission's list of telecommunications attorneys. The commission posted the relevant rule-making information on its Internet website at http://www.wutc.wa.gov.

     10 MEETINGS OR WORKSHOPS; ORAL COMMENTS: The commission held rule-making workshops on May 5, 1999, March 9, 2000, April 11, 2000, April 18, 2000, November 29, 2000, February 21, 2001, March 14, 2001, March 22, 2001, May 8, 2001, April 16, 2001, June 5, 6, and 7, 2001, September 19, 2001, October 18 and 19, 2001, November 20, 2001, March 27, 2002, and November 1, 2002. Representatives of a diverse group of telecommunications companies and several consumer advocacy organizations attended the open meetings and workshops.

     11 NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING: The commission filed a notice of proposed rule making (CR-102) on May 30, 2002, at WSR 02-12-055. The commission scheduled this matter for oral comment and adoption under Notice No. WSR 02-12-055 at 9:30 a.m., Friday, July 26, 2002, in the Commission's Hearing Room, Second Floor, Chandler Plaza Building, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA. The notice provided interested persons the opportunity to submit written comments to the commission.

     12 COMMENTERS (WRITTEN COMMENTS): The commission received written comments on the proposed rules from: Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, AT&T, Low Income Telecommunications Project (LITE), NorMed, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Public Counsel Section of the Attorney General of Washington, Qwest Corporation, Senior Rights Assistance, Seattle Telecom Consortium, Sprint, Tana Johnson, Telephone Ratepayers for Cost-Based and Equitable Rates (TRACER), Verizon, Washington Independent Telephone Association (WITA), Washington Protection and Advocacy System, Washington State Military Department, and the Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition.

     13 RULE-MAKING HEARING: The rule proposal was considered for adoption, pursuant to the notice, at a rule-making hearing scheduled during the commission's regularly scheduled open public meeting on July 26, 2002, before Chairwoman Marilyn Showalter, Commissioner Richard Hemstad, and Commissioner Patrick J. Oshie. The commission heard oral comments from: Andrea Abrahamson, representing Washington Protection and Advocacy System; Robert Cromwell, representing Public Counsel Section of the Office of Attorney General; Richard Finnigan, representing Washington Independent Telephone Association and others; Joan Gage, representing Verizon; Theresa Jensen, representing Qwest Corporation; Greg Kopta, representing AT&T; Jean Mathison, representing Senior Services; Tracey Rascon, representing Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians; Sandra Ripley, Seattle Telecom Consortium; and Robert Snyder, representing Whidbey Telephone and several other rural incumbent local exchange carriers.

     14 SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGE THAT ARE ACCEPTED OR REJECTED: In this section the commission responds to comments made on the proposed rules. We received hundreds of pages of comments from a large number of commenters, including telecommunications companies, consumer advocates, and others.

     15 The material is organized by rule number. For ease of description, commenters are identified by categories of participants, i.e., companies, consumer advocates, or others. At times, the distinction between local service providers and long-distance (interexchange) providers and the distinctions between incumbent and competitive providers are important, and commenters are identified by type of provider. In each response we indicate whether we made a change in the adopted rules based upon the comment, or whether we adhered to the language in the proposed rule.

WAC 480-120-015 Exemptions from rules in chapter 480-120 WAC.

     16 In subsection (2) we clarified that companies may allege that force majeure was the factor leading to a request for a waiver. We added this to the rule in response to more general comments about the effects of force majeure events on the ability of companies to meet standards contained in other sections.

WAC 480-120-021 Definitions.

     17 Companies stated that the definition of "held order" as proposed is inconsistent with industry use of the term. They suggested an alternative that ties the lack of completion of an order to the unavailability of facilities, or suggested we choose another term. We have chosen another term, one suggested by companies, and retained the definition but apply it to the term "Missed commitment."

     18 Throughout the rule making, companies requested that we expand the definition of "force majeure" to include more circumstances that would qualify as force majeure event. We adhere to the proposed definition because our intention is to limit this exception for not meeting certain standards to circumstances that cannot be anticipated or controlled. We did not, for example, included [include] delays in shipping in the definition because companies can compensate this through planning and inventory. As noted below, we did alter the proposed rules to include force majeure as an acceptable reason for not meeting one of the standards in WAC 480-120-105.

     19 Companies suggested an addition to the definition of "residential service" to include service not used for business purposes. They wanted to make clear that businesses operating households are required to pay business service rates. We disagree that this suggestion would clarify the definition and we decline to make a change. Companies have authority under existing rules and these newly adopted rules to determine if someone paying for household service is operating a business with the telephone and to charge the customer accordingly.

     20 Companies state that the meaning of part (c) of the definition of "telecommunications-related products and services" is confusing. They suggest that it could include network equipment but that such a meaning, in their opinion, would not make sense in light of the term's usage in the proposed customer information rules. They recommend substituting "customer premise equipment" (CPE). We decline to make the change suggested by companies because part (c) of the definition is essentially the definition of CPE found in the Telecommunications Act, and is therefore more descriptive than the insertion of the term.

WAC 480-120-061 Refusing service.

     21 Companies requested changes to WAC 480-120-061 to include permitting companies to refuse, suspend, or cancel service without notice in the event of excessive network usage that is determined to be fraudulent. We decline to make the change in WAC 480-120-061 because in the adopted rules we already include language that permits companies to discontinue service without notice if a customer has tampered with company property, has an illegal connection, is unlawfully using service or using service for an unlawful purpose, or is obtaining service in a false or deceptive manner.

     22 Companies suggested the language of proposed WAC 480-120-061 was confusing with respect to the circumstances under which a company could refuse service. The proposed rule was revised to change the format and eliminate confusion, but the substance remains essentially what it was when proposed.

     23 Companies suggested that there may not be five pieces of identification that can be used to substantiate the identity of customers, and that a list of four would be sufficient. We have changed the rule and require companies offer four ways for customers to substantiate their identity. We note that consumer advocates asked us to preclude companies from requiring a social security number or card to establish identity. We did not alter the rule because customers will be able to choose from four choices of identification. A customer who does not wish to provide a social security number or card will not be required to do so.

     24 Companies criticize as vague the portion of WAC 480-120-061 that permits companies to discontinue service without notice when one person at a premise has an unpaid, prior obligation and another person living in that premise helped avoid payment. The companies further complain that it may be impossible to show cooperation. We disagree. The company must show that the person in whose name service is now provided cooperated with the prior customer with the intent to avoid payment. It is important that people be able to obtain telephone service, and not have it discontinued without notice, even if there is a person living in the home who owes money to the company. We have revised this rule from what was proposed, but maintain that more is needed to deny service than the mere presence of someone with an overdue or unpaid obligation.

     25 Companies suggest that the minimum repayment period of six months is too long when the overdue amount is less than one hundred dollars. The six-month repayment period has been the standard for years and we have not had presented to us evidence that indicates it is either too long or too short. Neither companies nor consumer advocates supplied any actual data about repayments. Neither demonstrated any inconvenience or hardship that results from this standard.

     26 Companies have stated that the requirement in the proposed rule to not withhold or release telephone numbers when customers change providers is problematic because numbers can be used only within one rate center. We have changed the rule to acknowledge this limitation.

     27 Competitive companies have expressed a concern that WAC 480-120-061 does not limit specifically their obligation to build facilities if service is requested in a location where they do not serve. That is correct; that obligation is addressed in statute and not in this rule. Whatever obligation there is in statute, it is neither expanded nor limited by this rule with respect to construction of facilities by competitive carriers.

     28 Companies would like us to remove the limitation on denying one class of service because of an overdue or unpaid obligation for another class of service. We decline to change the rule. A customer that experiences, for example, a bankruptcy in business that results in unpaid bills for telephone service, should not face the inability to obtain residential service. Similarly, a person associated with an unpaid residential obligation resulting from an acrimonious dissolution, should not be faced with the inability to obtain business service.

     29 Consumer advocates have requested we include in this rule a requirement that companies maintain records of applications for service that are [is] denied. Because the rule already requires companies to maintain records of applications, we believe this is addressed and decline to alter the rule.

     30 Companies requested that the requirement to obtain rights of way, easements and permits be modified by inclusion of the word necessary. We have modified the requirements placed on both customers and companies so that each is responsible for obtaining only that which is necessary.

WAC 480-120-102 Service offered.

     31 Consumer advocates have requested that we include a requirement that companies offer local measured service in addition to flat-rate service. Advocates believe such a requirement would be beneficial to low-income customers who use their telephone very sparingly. State law requires companies to offer flat-rate service, but does not require local measured service. Many companies, however, offer local measured service. We do not believe a case has been made for compelling companies to offer this service and decline to change the rule.

WAC 480-120-103 Application for service.

     32 Companies suggested that WAC 480-120-103(3) should be made more flexible by adding "if requested by the customer" to the requirement that companies offer each customer a service appointment that falls within a four-hour period. Throughout the rule making, companies have argued against the requirement to provide appointments with four-hour windows. We rejected the idea of placing the burden on the customer to know what could be requested, and then request an appointment within a four-hour window. We have chosen instead to require companies to offer the four-hour window. We consider the four-hour window to be consistent with practices in other service industries where household visits are necessary.

     33 Companies suggested that language be inserted to the effect that company obligations begin when an application is accepted. We have declined to make this change because it would turn common carriage on its head. It is the obligation of companies to serve applicants in the absence of a reason not to do so. We have supplied in these rules a list of reasons that permit companies not to serve, and many reasons that would permit companies to discontinue service without notice. We also adopt substantial provisions for the collection of deposits and allow local service to be paid in advance. No company demonstrated that it is experiencing difficulties. Finally, more than 95% of local service is provided by monopoly, rate-of-return companies that may recover bad debt as an expense in rate cases.

     34 Companies have asked us to modify the calculation of the order date as it applies to service extensions. Companies have up to eighteen months to install a service extension pursuant to WAC 480-120-071. Some applicants have reported the experience of companies not billing them for the extension under WAC 480-120-071 and then suggesting that the applicant has not actually ordered the extension because the applicant has not paid (the unsent bill). Under the provision in this rule, the order date is either the date the company is contacted by the applicant or six weeks before the applicant pays the first installment for service, whichever is later. The rule requires companies to inform applicants for extensions within six weeks of the request for service if the company will construct the extension or seek a waiver from the commission that would permit the company not to construct the extension. Taken together, the rule provides companies six weeks to make the evaluation and then requires the company either to bill the applicant or to inform the applicant that it will not construct until a commission determination. The alternative suggested would increase the eighteen months to nineteen and one-half months. We continue to believe eighteen months is sufficient time for all activities related to extensions and decline to alter this section.

     35 Consumer advocates have requested that we alter the proposed rule to require companies that solicit the business of a consumer to accept that person as a customer if the person accepts the solicitation. We have altered the rule to require companies to process the application of a person who is solicited. Companies may ultimately refuse service if the person does not meet the requirements of this section.

     36 Consumer advocates have requested that we include language in this section that requires the processing of applications without discrimination based on nationality, race, gender, marital status, age, income, or address. We decline to make such a change because other statues [statutes] and rules address discrimination based on some or all of these factors.

WAC 480-120-104 Information to consumers.

     37 Companies have requested that we eliminate the requirement to send a welcome letter, or, if the welcome letter requirement is retained, to eliminate the requirement to include the rate for service in the welcome letter. Welcome letters are quite common in the industry today, and our consumer affairs staff informs us that one of the largest categories of complaints results from disagreements between customers and companies over rates. We have included the welcome letter requirement because it is common and because, with rates included, it will assist customers in understanding their rates when service has begun and when action can be taken before bills greatly exceed their expectations. We note also that price is one of the basic elements of contract.¹

     38 Companies have stated that interexchange carriers (IXCs) that offer international service will have to provide a complete list of country charges. As with any other service, price is an essential element of contract with respect to international calls; company representatives must have this country-by-country information and it can be provided to customers.

     39 Consumer advocates comment that the better policy in this rule as it relates to general consumer information about service is that such information should be required in the welcome letters [as] well as the telephone directory. We disagree and decline to make a change. We decline to require the welcome letter to state in detail everything that can be found in the directory. It is possible that too much information obscures the most important information. A voluminous welcome letter could detract form [from] its main purposes - to make sure customers know the services for which they will be charged and the rates for those services. It is confusion about these elements of the relationship that has caused many customers to contact our consumer affairs section. As discussed below, some information must be listed in both places, but not all.

     40 Consumer advocates have also suggested the rule be revised to include information about customer credits and repair and service requirements. Because we have withdrawn two credit rules, these references to them would now be inappropriate. The rule intended to correct overcharges, requiring pro-rata credits, is a requirement placed on companies and they must correct their overcharges without prompting by customers. It is not necessary to add this to the welcome letter and detract from the purpose discussed above.

     41 Companies have requested that we not require the welcome letter to contain the TTY number for customers with hearing problems. We decline to remove that requirement. We think this is a reasonable accommodation for those who need the service provided through TTY.

     42 Companies have stated that providing telephone numbers for service and business offices and the hours when calls will be answered is unnecessary because that information is in the directory. While it is true that this information is in the directory, it does not necessarily follow that the same information should not be repeated in the welcome letter and notices of changes in service. We think contact information is basic and that repetition will assist customers more than it could possibly be problematic for companies. We decline to make a change on this matter.

     43 Companies have stated that the requirement to send the welcome letter within ten business days is too short. Suggestions for fifteen and thirty days have been made as a replacement. We have changed the rule and replaced ten business days with fifteen days.

     44 Companies have requested we remove subsection (1)(c) that requires local exchange companies (LECs) to include in the welcome letter the name of the customer's presubscribed IXC carrier. We agree with the companies that this is an obligation that could often not be met and we have removed that section from the adopted rules.

     45 Companies have asked us to qualify the type of service for which notice of a change in service must be provided to customers. We think the reasonable result is that customers receive notice of material changes only and we have changed the rule to reflect this.

     46 Consumer advocates have requested that we require companies to include in the welcome letter the toll-free telephone number for the customer's presubscribed long distance carrier. We decline to make this change because with the name of the presubscribed carrier, the customer can determine the carrier's telephone number if the customer does not already have that information.

WAC 480-120-105 Company performance standards for installation or activation of access lines.

     47 Companies commented that WAC 480-120-105(2) is complex and unworkable, that it is contrary to the commission's practice of basing penalties on the totality of circumstances, that it could lead to a "tripling-up" of penalties, and it suggests that when there is more than one order that was not installed as required, the commission will not know which order was the one that resulted in the company exceeding the allowable number of missed commitments for each period. We disagree because the subsection is not a penalty section; it merely explains how violations will be determined. It does not require that violations be found, or that penalties be assessed. If penalties are assessed, the subsection does not require a penalty assessment for every violation.

     48 Some violations of the monthly standard, if not rectified, could also result in violations of the calendar-quarter standard and the one-hundred-eighty-day standard. There are three standards and it is possible that one missed order, if not fulfilled for more than one hundred eighty days, could contribute to a determination of a violation of all three standards.

     49 If a sufficient number of missed commitments in a given period result in the standard not being met, it is not necessary to determine which commitment or commitments resulted in the standard being violated. We decline to make changes based on the comments.

     50 Companies requested that we include force majeure in the list of exceptions in subsection (3). We have provided an exception for force majeure with respect to the monthly standard because a force majeure event could inhibit efforts to comply with the standard for the shortest period of the three, but decline to extend it to the calendar-quarter and one-hundred-eighty-day standards. In the event a company experiences a difficulty due to force majeure that would prevent it from meeting these standard[s], it may ask for an exemption under WAC 480-120-015.

     51 We have included, as requested by companies, a statement that the standards do not apply if an applicant has not met its (the applicant's) obligations.

     52 Consumer advocates oppose the change from the current measurement of installation and activity at the exchange level to measurement of that activity at the statewide level. They argue this is a reduction in the standard. We proposed, and now adopt, the change but we do not believe it will reduce the quality of service that will be provided around the state. We have the ability to review the activities of companies on an exchange basis if we have an indication that disparities among regions or types of exchanges (e.g., rural vs. urban) have arisen. While we have withdrawn the section that provided credits to customers for late installation or activation service, we retain the reporting requirement so that we can monitor this activity.

     53 Companies have requested that we modify the requirement for completion of all orders for access lines within one hundred and eighty days to be for completion of orders of up to five access lines. We have chosen to differentiate between the one-month and calendar-quarter standards, which concern only orders up to five access lines, and the one-hundred-and-eighty-day standard for all access line orders. The public interest will be served by having a minimum standard upon which applicants and customers can rely. We decline to make the requested change. Indeed, we have gone further and altered the proposed rule that did not apply this one-hundred-and-eighty-day standard to competitive local exchange carries [carriers] and adopted a rule that applies the same minimum standard to those companies. In doing so, we satisfy the request of incumbent carriers that requested the standard apply to all local exchange companies. We do not apply the one-month and calendar-quarter standards to competitive companies because their need to coordinate with incumbents limits their ability to meet the shorter deadlines in some instances.

     54 Companies have requested that we modify the requirements of subsection (1) to exclude circumstances where the company technician arrives at a premise prepared to install service and the customer is not present. While we decline to alter this section, we have altered the reporting requirement pertaining to this standard to accommodate the expressed concern. There, we have provided for alternative measures under some circumstances.

WAC 480-120-107 Installation and activation credits.

     55 Companies state that the commission should not adopt proposed WAC 480-120-107 and force companies to alter tariffs to include a credit. The commission has withdrawn proposed WAC 480-120-107.

WAC 480-120-108 Missed appointment credits.

     56 Companies state that the commission should not adopt proposed WAC 480-120-108 and force the company to alter tariffs to include a credit. The commission has withdrawn proposed WAC 480-120-108.

WAC 480-120-112 Company performance for orders for nonbasic service.

     57 Companies have requested that we eliminate this rule or modify it, stating that the commission should not regulate nonbasic services. The purpose for this rule is to set a minimum standard for service from all local exchange companies. Because of the importance of telecommunications to commerce and society, a minimum performance standard is appropriate. We have revised this rule so that it also applies to competitively classified carriers, as requested by incumbents.

     58 Companies have asked that we restate in this rule what we have stated in WAC 480-120-103 - that companies may refuse applications when an applicant has not complied with tariffs, price lists, or commission rules. We decline to make an unnecessary restatement when it is clear WAC 480-120-103 applies.

WAC 480-120-122 Establishing credit -- Residential services.

     59 Companies request a change to proposed WAC 480-120-122(6) to include interchange (toll) service along with ancillary services. Such a change would not permit customers to pay a deposit in installments. Companies have not provided any support for their apparent concern that toll customers given the opportunity to pay a deposit in installments are more likely to be delinquent than those that pay a deposit in a lump sum. We address deposits for interexchange service in subsection (3) and maintain the long-standing practice of requiring companies to permit customers to pay the deposit in installments. We decline to make the suggested change.

     60 Consumer advocates oppose this rule because it permits the use of credit reports for determinations of customer credit-worthiness with respect to long distance (toll) service and ancillary services (features such as call forwarding, voice messaging). Companies would have us extend the use of credit histories to local service. While rewritten for clarity, we decline to change this section with respect to the substance as it relates to customer credit determinations.

     61 We treat local service differently from the other services because it is an essential service for maintaining health and safety, and so that citizens can participate in their communities as employees, job seekers, parents, and family members. We accept the assertion, based on at least one cited study, that show individuals pay for local telephone service even while defaulting on other obligations, and for that reason do not believe a general credit history is indicative of whether a customer will pay for local service. We permit companies to require a deposit for local service only if the customer has a history of defaulting on local service payments.

     62 We distinguish between local and long distance primarily because there are many alternate means to gain access to long distance services. A customer that cannot afford a long distance deposit may, for example, purchase a telephone calling card at a convenience or grocery store. We distinguish between local service and ancillary service because one is a necessary component of daily life and the others are adjuncts that are not essential and because the maximum deposit amount for an ancillary service is in the range of eight to twelve dollars, an amount that should not hinder a customer that feels an ancillary service is necessary to him or her.

     63 Part of each side's argument on this issue is the reliability, or lack thereof, of the information in credit history reports. Credit reporting is governed extensively under laws that are not administered by this commission. We are not in a position to make determinations about the reliability of credit reports. Nor are we in a position to state that what is a generally accepted commercial practice should not be available to companies, absent a showing of a specific reason not to permit the use of credits [credit] reports. As stated above, we think that reasons exist with respect to local service, but not with respect to other services.

     64 Consumer advocates suggest that a two-tiered system for deposit determination will be confusing to consumers. Our response is that the world is often much more complicated that [than] our two-track approach to credit determination and that customers are not so easily confused as some suggest.

     65 Consumer advocates also state that we do not have a record that supports the change. This issue was one of the most hotly contested by consumer and company advocates and we received considerable oral and written comment and material in support of each position throughout three-plus years of rule making. In general, we are inclined to provide opportunities for companies to use automated systems to protect themselves against credit risks to the extent that their efforts would not unnecessarily result in the inability of some customers to subscribe to local service. We consider this a reasonable policy.

     66 Consumer advocates requested that we not permit local exchange companies to require deposits for local service for customers enrolled in the Washington telephone assistance plan (WTAP) or the federal enhanced tribal lifeline program. Advocates argue that a deposit is a significant barrier to low-income households. We decline to make the change because the deposit amount for local service is capped at two months. For WTAP customers, this currently amounts to eight dollars. We think that amount strikes a balance between the need to protect companies from credit risk and a deposit requirement for low-income customers that is not insurmountable.

WAC 480-120-123 Establishing credit -- Business services.

     67 Companies have requested that subsection (1) be altered to remove the requirement to place in a tariff or price list the criteria used for determining the credit worthiness of a business applicant. Companies inform us that this information is not currently included in tariffs or price lists. We have changed the adopted rule.

     68 Companies have asked for clarification on the application of subsection (3) and have proposed specific changes. We have made the requested changes to promote clarity.

WAC 480-120-128 Deposit administration.

     69 Companies requested thirty days, rather than the proposed fifteen days, to return a deposit. They state that more time is necessary to determine the final balance when service has been terminated and to process the final payment. We consider the change reasonable and have made the change.

WAC 480-120-133 Response time for calls to business office or repair center during regular business hours.

     70 Companies requested that we establish an answer-time standard for business and service calls at the monthly rather than weekly level. We understand monthly measurements to be the norm. We have changed WAC 480-120-133 and the adopted rule contains a monthly standard.

     71 Companies have requested that this standard apply during regular business hours. We have changed the proposed rule so that it applies only to regular business hours.

     72 Companies requested that we alter subsection (2)(b) to include, as an alternative to providing a customer with a method to reach a live operator, that the result of listening to the entire message would be that a customer is transferred automatically. We have made that change and, in addition, we have increased the amount of time when a message must offer a way to reach an operator or make the automatic transfer from thirty seconds to sixty seconds. Sixty seconds is a reasonable, though not desirable, time for a customer to wait.

WAC 480-120-146 Changing service providers from one local exchange company to another.

     73 Incumbent companies have requested the deletion of this rule and have suggested it approaches a complex set of circumstances in a manner that is too simple. The rule is designed to stem the growth of complaints by customers who are changing from one provider to another, with the result that one company discontinues service before the new company provides service. Incumbents state there are a number of circumstances in which this rule will be unworkable: When the new provider will be using the current provider's loop; when there are three companies involved, one providing the loop to a competitor and another competitor to whom the customer is migrating using the same loop; and when the new provider has no relationship to the current provider.

     74 We have made changes to the rule, but decline to change it from one that addresses the issue generally, to one that addresses every possible variation in the process of moving a customer from one company to another. The alteration we make is to state that the rule does not apply when the customer submits a request for discontinuation of service directly to the customer's local exchange provider. The result is that when companies are cooperating to move a customer from one company to another, the company losing the customer must not discontinue service until informed by the other company that it has activated service. We expect companies to cooperate to serve customers, including entering into agreements when necessary to determine respective responsibilities in the transfer of service.

WAC 480-120-147 Changes in local exchange and intrastate toll services.

    
     75 Companies indicate that the language in subsection (1)(b) is too restrictive and limits the methods for electronic verification of changes in carriers. In response to comments and subsequent discussions of the topic, we have changed this subsection to permit greater flexibility in confirming the change.

     76 Companies also requested a change of reference from interstate preferred carrier to interLATA preferred carrier. We have made that change because it is consistent with applicable law.

     77 Companies requested that the reference to "sales" in subsection (1)(b) be changed to a reference to preferred carrier change. Such a change would promote accuracy. We have made the change in the adopted rule.

     78 Companies suggested that the phrase "and provided to" be eliminated in subsection (4)(a). Such a change would promote accuracy and readability. We have made the change.

     79 Companies have stated that providing rates for each vertical service may be difficult. Once again, we note that price (a calculation based on a rate multiplied by the application of that rate, e.g., number of minutes) is a fundamental element in contract and we decline to change our proposed rule to permit customers to be billed for services for which no calculation of price is stated on the bill.

     80 Competitive companies have requested that we address this rule in a separate proceeding for the purpose of examining the need for local PIC² freezes. This issue has been the subject of recent litigation before the commission. We are satisfied that we understand fully the issues and that we are consistent in the rule with our other proceedings on this topic. We decline to withdraw this rule and decline a separate proceeding at this time.

     81 Consumer advocates praised the language in this section that requires letters of agency and related material to be entirely in one language, whether English or another language. They have requested that we adopt in a variety of locations a similar requirement that if a solicitation or other activity is provided in a language other than English, then all subsequent communications with a customer that accepts that solicitation be in the language of the original solicitation. We decline to do so. The letter of agency is different from a solicitation; it is a legal document and it is important that any customer presented with such a document have the opportunity to understand the entire contents. With respect to other materials, we think the better course is for competition to drive companies to accommodate the needs of would-be customers.

WAC 480-120-161 Form of bills.

     82 Companies requested that we remove the long-standing requirement that permits customers to ask to be placed in a billing cycle that accommodates the time of each month when they receive income. We reject this request because no company indicated how this long-standing provision has caused any harm and because consumer advocates stated that it is beneficial.

     83 Companies requested that we eliminate the provision that permits customers an amount of time to pay late-provided bills equal to the time the company delayed billing. Companies suggest the delay may sometimes be caused by the customer providing incorrect billing information and that companies might be delayed because of a regulatory investigation. No detail was provided that suggested a large number of delayed bills are caused by either customers or regulatory investigations. Delayed bills may be unexpected bills and additional time may be needed for customers to make unanticipated outlays. On balance, we think the fair general rule is to give customers the same period of time to pay a delayed bill as it took the company to provide the bill.

     84 Companies have also expressed a concern for circumstances when the delayed billing is the result of a third party, such as a long distance provider whose calls are billed through the local service provider. In the event a third party does not perform in the manner agreed to and the result is a delayed bill and costs for accommodating a customer, then the company's problem is not with the customer but with the third party. We decline to make changes to the rule that would inconvenience customers when problems are caused by third parties. If the level of difficulty experienced by any company is more than occasional, then the appropriate response is to address it systemically. Companies, customers, and even third parties will be better off when bills are not delayed.

     85 Companies suggested that subsection (4) be changed to avoid any difficulties where the service is supplied to someone other than the customer. We have made a change to accommodate this concern. We retain a requirement that the company provide the service in order to avoid circumstances where a customer is billed for a requested service that is not actually provided.

WAC 480-120-162 Cash and urgent payments.

     86 Companies requested the authority to charge fees to customers who pay in-person at payment agencies. Companies stated it is difficult to find and retain payment agents. Some history is important to understanding our action on this rule.

     87 Over the past twenty years we have permitted companies to reduce the number of payment agents and offices from one or more in every exchange to a handful. This coincided with the changes in telecommunications that, among other things, permitted customers to purchase their own telephones from a myriad of vendors. There is no longer a reason to maintain such a presence in each community, and companies and customers have benefitted from the efficiencies that have resulted.

     88 At the same time, there is a segment of the population that cannot afford the services of a bank or chooses to pay in cash for other reasons. Collecting payments has always been a part of doing business, and for an essential service such as telecommunications it is important to accommodate every sector of society. Also, companies have asked us to permit them to substantiate customer identity in some instances before the company must provide service. Payment agents provide convenient locations for customers to present identification in order to obtain service.

     89 We have maintained the requirement for companies to provide payment agents at the level that has been in our rules for several years. We have also, however, permitted companies to add additional payment agents that may charge a fee for processing transactions. Nothing prevents companies from compensating payment agents for their services.

     90 Companies have stated that finding replacement agents is difficult and that thirty days is insufficient time to locate a replacement. A specific suggestion was made to provide sixty days and to require progress reports to the commission if a company is unable to locate a replacement in that period. We have accepted the suggestion and altered this subsection as requested.

WAC 480-120-163 Refunding an overcharge.

     91 Companies suggested changes to the language to this rule and stated changes would more accurately reflect the requirements of the statute. We decline to make changes because we believe the rule accurately reflects the requirements of the statute.

WAC 480-120-164 Pro rata credits.

     92 Companies commented that we should not adopt proposed WAC 480-120-164 Pro rata credits. They state this would be unlawful and that it would stifle innovation in customer service programs. The pro rata credits for failure to provide a service for more than twenty-four hours when the service is priced on a monthly basis has the effect of prohibiting overcharges for service that is not provided. We do not agree that it is unlawful for us to adopt a rule that prevents overcharges and prescribes the proper method for correcting overcharges. We also disagree that this will prevent innovation in customer service programs. The final sentence of the rule permits companies to provide equal or greater credit than that required by the rule.

WAC 480-120-165 Customer complaints.

     93 Consumer advocates request that we prescribe standards for complaint handling more specific than the requirements in the proposed rule. Among other things, they advocate for a requirement that companies have an information system dedicated to complaint handling. We decline to adopt the more specific requirements or to impose a systems requirement for this purpose. Companies generally keep track of customer activity, whether it is an order for service, an inquiry, a gripe, or a complaint, in one record system. We do not think the expense of a record system dedicated to complaints is warranted when the information is available. It is true that those systems typically are not designed to answer questions such as how many people complained of an incorrectly billed long distance call for a given month, but to the extent a particular customer has a particular concern, the systems reflect that information and it can be found under the individual name or telephone number.

     94 While our rule is not overly specific, it is clear. Companies must have adequate numbers of trained personnel available to assist customers and must make prompt investigations and give prompt responses to customers. Companies must also inform customers that they may ask for a supervisor to review the disposition of their complaint and must be informed of the commission's address and telephone number.

WAC 480-120-166 Commission-referred complaints.

     95 Companies request that we modify the rule as it relates to retention of records and limit that requirement to complaints where the commission is involved. Companies state that systems are not necessarily designed to capture complaint data, but that notations are made when customers call and make inquiries, when they register complaints, and for other purposes. The rule does not require production of reports by complaint category. It only requires the retention of records. If companies keep those records by customer and not by category, the requirement is met and, accordingly, we decline to change this requirement.

     96 Companies suggested modifying subsection (4) to modify "action" with "collection or enforcement." The proposed rule reflects current practice. We decline to make such a change because it could result, for example, in a company toll restricting a customer when that is the subject of the dispute.

     97 Companies have requested that the standard in subsection (8) that requires a response within three days, unless commission staff specify a later date, be altered in favor of a requirement that assumes information may not be available within three days in some instances. The three-day standard is the practice to date and one goal of this rule making has been to state in rule what has been unofficial practice. It has also been the practice for staff to specify a later date when presented with a reasonable statement of company needs for additional time. We favor the more certain standard and expect staff to specify later dates when presented with reason to do so. We decline to make the requested change.

     98 Companies suggested an additional requirement that customer proprietary network information be provided to commission staff only after written authorization from the complaining customer. This is addressed in WAC 480-120-205(5) and it is unnecessary to address it in this section.

WAC 480-120-167 Company responsibility.

     99 Companies suggested that the length of time before companies must contact the commission after conferring is too short. We agree and have changed the period to five days.

     100 Companies have stated that this rule may lead to companies without responsibilities to a particular customer to be held accountable for resolution of a customer's concern. This statement misapprehends the rule. The rule arises from the circumstance that many services are provided by two or more companies. The rule is directed at those circumstances where it is unclear which company, or companies, have responsibility for remedying a complaint. The rule does not require a company resolve a complaint for which it is not ultimately responsible; it requires companies to cooperate to the extent necessary to make a determination of responsibility.

WAC 480-120-171 Discontinuing service -- Customer requested.

     101 There were no comments concerning this section, but we did make changes to conform it to the changes made in WAC 480-120-061, 480-120-172, and 480-120-173. In the proposed rules as well as the adopted rules, those three sections work together with WAC 480-120-171 to describe the circumstances under which service may be refused, and when and what process must be followed to disconnect service. In the process of reviewing the proposed rules and the comments on them, we concluded that the four sections needed to be revised in order to state more clearly the policies practices related to these subjects. The four sections were rewritten together. To the extent there were policies expressed by the proposed rules, those remained the same in the rewrite except where we determined that as a result of a comment we should make a change. The discussion about comments and changes to the policies related to refusal of service and disconnection of service are found in the sections on [in] WAC 480-120-061, 480-120-172, and 480-120-174.

WAC 480-120-172 Discontinuing service -- Company initiated.

     102 Companies expressed uncertainty about the change in the standard related to medical emergencies. The standard had been loss of telephone service that would "significantly endanger the physical health..." and in the proposed rule it was altered to loss of service that would "aggravate an existing medical condition." After review of the two standards, we have altered the adopted rule so that the standard for delaying discontinuation of telephone service in a medical emergency is if the discontinuation would endanger the physical health of a person in the household. We make the change because the proposed standard was concerned with aggravation of a condition but our concern should be with the physical health of the person. We removed "significantly" as a modifier to endangerment because we believe that endangerment is sufficient alone to warrant a reprieve from discontinuation for the short period permitted in the rule.

     103 Companies complained that the requirement to attempt to contact customers at business or message telephones in addition to their home number before discontinuation of service is a new requirement and not discussed at workshops. This is not a new requirement. It appears in current rule (WAC 480-120-081 (5)(b)). In addition, the requirement appeared in the discussion draft of rules provided in August 2001, the draft that formed the basis of approximately twenty hours of workshops attended by commissioners. We think this level of effort is reasonable prior to discontinuation of service.

     104 Companies have stated that the requirement to reinstate service on the same day a customer informs the company of the existence of a medical emergency could be a difficult standard with which to comply. We disagree because service is discontinued at the switch by throwing a lever or by giving a computer command. Each of these can be undone as rapidly as they can be done. Given the circumstances for which this requirement exists, this is not an unreasonable standard and we decline to make a change.

     105 Companies have requested that we alter the rule with respect to discontinuation notices to reflect delivery rather than receipt. Companies state their obligation should be to deliver notices as required by our rules, not to be certain of receipt. We have made changes to reflect this request.

     106 Companies have requested that we require the physician to state the name of the person whose physical health would be endangered by discontinuation of telecommunications services. We decline to make the change because we consider it sufficient that the company know that there is a person dwelling in the residence of the customer for whom a physician has stated that discontinuation of service would endanger the physical health of that resident. In the event a company should have reason to suspect it has been misled, it may approach the commission for an exception to this rule that would permit it to seek more information.

     107 Companies requested that we revert to the former standard for payment by customers that claim a medical emergency. The former standard was 25% of the outstanding balance for local service, or ten dollars, whichever is greater. Our proposed rule had reduced the amount of the balance to be paid to one-sixth. We have reconsidered the amount and based on previous experience we now consider 25% to provide a better balance.

     108 Companies requested that we establish discontinuation of service intervals after notice based on the type of notice. We require final notice be delivered by hand, by mail, by electronic mail if that has been the method of doing business with the customer, or by telephone before discontinuation can take place. We have revised subsection (8) so that the interval between delivery of final notice and when the company may disconnect varies based upon the manner in which the final notice is delivered. That change will facilitate payment rather than disconnection, presumably the goal of both companies and customers.

     109 Consumer advocates oppose permitting companies to discontinue service without notice when a customer defaults on a payment agreement (this provision originally appeared in proposed WAC 480-120-061, but is now found in this section). They argue this presents a public health and safety concern. What is proposed, however, could result in an endless series of defaults, notices, agreements and subsequent defaults. We decline to change the proposed rule because a customer in these circumstances has received notice and understands the obligation to pay for the service.

     110 Consumer advocates have requested that companies be required to include in notices of discontinuation the TTY number. A TTY number connects a hearing impaired person with translation services. We consider it reasonable to require the inclusion of the TTY number in discontinuation notices because what is at stake is a basic service, and have made a change in the adopted rules to reflect our position.

     111 Companies have requested that we alter the requirement to offer a four-hour window for a premise visit to require a four-hour window for a premise visit only if the customer requests one. We have addressed this issue in the context of other sections and for the same reasons stated above we decline to make the requested change.

WAC 480-120-173 Restoring service after discontinuation.

     112 Companies have requested that the rule be changed as it applies to persons who have obtained service through deceptive means. The proposed rule permitted companies to discontinue service without notice upon discovering a person had obtained service through a deceptive practice, but it also required companies to restore service if the person paid the full cost of the service obtained by deceptive means. Under the proposed rules, companies could refuse to restore service after a person obtained service a second time through deceptive means. Companies complained that once someone has used deception and been disconnected the company should not have to restore service. We decline to make a change. Telephone service is a basic service and it is important that it be reasonably available. We think it is reasonable that a person found to have used deception be permitted one opportunity to make the company whole and obtain service in the correct manner. It is also reasonable not to require restoration of service if the person acts deceptively twice.

     113 This section, like others, requires companies to offer to schedule a service appointment within a four-hour window. Companies have requested changes to this requirement that would place the burden on the customer to ask for an appointment within a four-hour window. We have addressed this issue earlier in this order and decline to make the requested change in this section for the same reasons we have declined to make the change elsewhere.

WAC 480-120-251 Directory service.

     114 Companies indicated that this rule as proposed addresses cellular telephone numbers but not the larger category of services that can be offered by a commercial mobile radio service company (or a radio communications service company). We have altered the rule to address this concern. The rule now requires companies that must publish directories to publish all subscriber list information provided to them by any type of service provider.

     115 Consumer advocates have requested changes to subsection (6), which requires certain information be placed in telephone directories. Our proposed rule would have had the information appear in either a welcome letter or in a directory. We have revised the rule to require inclusion in the directory whether or not the information appears in a welcome letter because directories are used by people who may not be in possession of a welcome letter. This change assures any user of a directory can obtain the basic information to which all customers should have ready access.

WAC 480-120-252 Intercept service.

     116 Competitive companies state they may find it difficult to meet the requirements of this rule because in some circumstances the activities that must be undertaken to meet the requirements can only be taken by the incumbent, not by the competitor that leases elements or resells service. It is true that some of the required activities might be under the control of the incumbent when the requirement is placed upon the competitor, but this is not sufficient reason to rewrite the rule. The nature of leasing and resale is that companies must cooperate to provide service to customers. We decline to reduce protections for customers because that is an inappropriate response to companies that sometime have difficulties cooperating. Those difficulties should be addressed through carrier-to-carrier rules and interconnection agreements.

WAC 480-120-253 Automatic dialing-announcing device (ADAD).

     117 Companies have requested that the earliest time at which an automatic dialing and announcing device may be used should be changed from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. in order to be consistent with FCC rules. We have made the requested change.

WAC 480-120-254 Telephone solicitation.

     118 Companies have asked us to change the rule to require telemarketers to identify themselves promptly, rather than within the first thirty seconds. Identifications within the first thirty seconds is required by statute. We decline to make the change. We do, however, make another requested change and have inserted in the identification requirement the language from the statute requiring identification of the company or organization on whose behalf the solicitation is made.

     119 We have also made some editorial changes to reflect earlier discussions concerning the clarity of earlier drafts of this rule that appeared prior to publication of the proposed rule. We decline to pursue changes based on the general comments that certain federal laws and rules address solicitation. This rule implements a specific state statute.

WAC 480-120-255 Information delivery service.

     120 Companies have requested that we alter this rule and parrot the federal standard adopted in 1991. The standard that is claimed to be at odds with the federal standard has been the standard in Washington for many years. We have not been informed of any specific problems during the time the state and federal standards have coexisted, and while they may be different no company has claimed that there is a conflict as that term is used in preemption jurisprudence. Accordingly, we decline to alter the proposed rule.

    
WAC 480-120-262 Operator service providers (OSPs).

     121 Companies have suggested a change to the definition of operator service provider and stated the suggestion would make the definition more complete. We consider the definition to be complete and decline to make the change.

     122 Companies suggested there is an inconsistency in the use of "rates" and "charges" in subsection (4). We do not agree there is an inconsistency and decline to make any change.

     123 Companies requested that we not adopt the requirement for rate quotes by operator service providers when the total cost of a call exceeds a benchmark rate. Companies suggest this is "back door" rate regulation, and complain that the benchmarks are unworkable and inconsistent with previous findings that operator services are competitive. Companies also stated that the proposed rule would increase costs, and at least one indicated it might exit this line of business.

     124 We have changed the benchmark rates subsection to make the standard easier to apply in every type of calling circumstance, e.g., collect, third-number billed, and person-to-person. This addresses the concerns raised that a benchmark tied to the length of a call would mean that some types of calls would fall inside the benchmark, and other types, collect for example, might not. We have adopted a revised standard that can be applied to all types of calls and calls of any length.

     125 Consumer complaints concerning outrageous charges for operator service calls is one of our most commonly received complaints. Customers experience shock and outrage when per-minute rates range as high as $10.00. The shock and outrage are both due to reasonable customer expectation based on rates advertised for most types of calls in the range of four to fifteen cents per minute.

     126 Our adopted rule requires a rate quote when the call exceeds, for any duration of the call, the sum of fifty cents ($0.50) multiplied by the duration of the call in minutes plus fifty cents ($0.50). The rule does not establish a rate. It may be that information about the cost of calls will affect the rates charged, but that is not the same as rate regulation.

     127 The requirement to inform customers of the cost in advance of completing a call is not inconsistent with our past determinations that operator services are competitive. It is an indication that one of the benefits that should result from competition has not been realized - customers are not receiving information that will let them operate in their self-interest in the marketplace. Required disclosure of rates is consistent with the promotion of competition.

     128 We do not dispute that providing rate quotes could increase costs, but that cost must be balanced with the benefit of providing information to customers.

WAC 480-120-263 Pay phone service providers (PSPs).

     129 Companies have provided only general comments that we have been too prescriptive with respect to the regulation of payphones. There was no specific request for a specific change, and we decline to make any. We have substantial experience with payphone complaints and believe the prescriptive rules are warranted.

     130 We have made an editorial change, removing a misplaced definition from the beginning of the section.

WAC 480-120-302 Accounting requirements for competitively classified companies.

     131 Companies suggest that adopting the FCC's Part 32 rules that were published in 1998 as the standard for accounting for certain expenses is choosing an outdated standard. The FCC has taken a deregulatory approach to accounting in the last few years because it can, among other things, depend on states to regulate rates. The most recent FCC accounting rules that require the information the commission will need in the event of a rate case concerning the expenses treated in Part 32 are the accounting standards published in 1998. We decline to change this rule and adopt the standard we need to carry out our statutory obligations.

     132 Companies have also requested that they be permitted to make changes to the uniform system of accounts that have an annual revenue effect of less than 1% or $1 million dollars. We decline to make such a change because over time this could amount to considerable changes in revenue and because current events have underscored the correctness of our position that regulatory agencies must continue to monitor accounting practices.

WAC 480-120-311 Access charge and universal service reporting.

     133 Companies stated that this rule will increase regulatory burdens with no public benefit, that it is tied to an invalidated rule, that the information sought is not related to universal service, and that we seek assurances on the use of certain federal universal service funds for which the FCC does not require certification. We disagree on all points.

     134 The adopted rule requires that companies provide information about access service. These rates are used to provide support for universal service. Making provisions for support of universal service is an obligation of the commission under state and federal law. The validity or invalidity of WAC 480-120-540 does not negate the existence of many tariffs that authorize access charges for the purpose of supporting universal service. The information sought is directly related to universal service.

     135 The rule also requires annual certification of the use of all federal universal service funds. This rule replaces an order that required the annual certification; we understand the APA to have a preference for rules over orders when a requirement is generally or broadly applicable. While it is the case that the federal rule does not put all federal universal service funds at risk if the certification is not timely made, it is also true that the federal rule requires the state to certify that all federal universal service funds, even those not at risk, are used only for the intended purposes. See 47 U.S.C. § 254(e) and 47 C.F.R. 54.314(a).

WAC 480-120-312 Universal service cost recovery authorization.

     136 The Washington Telecommunications Ratepayers Association for Cost-based and Equitable Rates (TRACER) commented on June 26, 2002, that it considered WAC 480-120-312 to be vague and in violation of RCW 80.36.600, [80.36.]610, and [80.36.]620. The commission received substantially the same comments on September 4, 2002, in a letter from Senator Timothy Sheldon, Representative Jeff Morris, and Representative Larry Crouse. At the request of TRACER and public counsel, the commission held an additional workshop on this rule on November 1, 2002.

     137 The commission disagrees with TRACER's reading of the law. In enacting the statutes cited by TRACER, the legislature recognized and carefully protected the commission's existing authority to protect universal service through the rate-setting process. In the absence of a state universal service fund, which all agree is outside the commission's statutory authority, the commission is allowed and expected to set the rates of individual companies in a way that promotes competition, universal service, and the public interest generally. RCW 80.36.300. TRACER's arguments, if accepted, would implicate not just the proposed WAC 480-120-312 but also the existing tariffs of approximately twenty-five local exchange companies. These companies are serving hundreds of thousands of customers in small towns and rural areas of the state, and there is no reason to believe that the legislature ever intended those customers to pay higher local rates when they enacted RCW 80.36.600 et seq. The mechanism described in proposed WAC 480-120-312 is one that the commission is authorized to implement and operate.

     138 While we disagree with TRACER's analysis of the law, the question remains whether this proposed rule should be adopted. As some commenters have noted, the rule is explanatory only. It describes an allowable way of recovering a company's costs of serving customers in high-cost locations, but it does not confer any new authority on either companies or the commission. Indeed, this is demonstrated by the fact that so many companies are already collecting their high-cost amounts in this fashion.

     139 The commission proposed WAC 480-120-312 because the state Administrative Procedure Act and Governor Locke's Executive Order 97-02 encourage state agencies to codify in rule existing informal policies or practices. Today telephone companies are collecting a substantial amount of money for service to high-cost areas with no formal explanation of how the specific amounts are calculated. However, in written comments and at the November 1, 2002, workshop, local exchange companies expressed no support for adoption of the rule. The lack of favorable response from the intended beneficiaries suggests that the explanation in the proposed rule is unnecessary. It thus would appear that the proposal has generated more heat than light, and we will not adopt WAC 480-120-312 at this time.

WAC 480-120-323 Washington Exchange Carrier Association (WECA).

     140 As a result of our own reexamination of this rule, we revised subsection (3)(a) and added price lists and contracts. This expands a list of several items that members of WECA may file directly with the commission. The result is greater flexibility for member companies.

WAC 480-120-401 Network performance standards.

     141 Companies have suggested the rule be modified by inclusion of the modifier "average" before "busy season." This is the industry standard and we have made the change in the adopted rule.

WAC 480-120-412 Major outages.

     142 Companies have suggested that the expectations for repair of major outages in subsection (4) are arbitrary or too short. We disagree. In this rule we make a departure from our over all effort made in these rules to change existing input-oriented rules into outcome-oriented rules. In this rule we express priorities and expectations for responses, but in each instance we carefully permit companies to take more time than is indicated in the subsection when circumstances beyond the reasonable ability of the company to control do not permit repair within the stated periods. We modified the adopted rule in order to make this even more clear than apparently was the case.

     143 Companies have also stated it would be time consuming and expensive to notify customers when major outages are planned. Companies also expressed a concern that criminals would also be informed and could take advantage of the lack of 9-1-1 service. We considered their concerns, and modified the notice section to require only reasonable efforts. We share the concern for security, but believe that informed emergency management authorities and citizens can better protect themselves if they know to prepare for a period without telephone service.

     144 We note that we do not require notice when the outage is anticipated to be of a very short duration. We proposed five minutes between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. This proposal was adopted after discussion with companies. Only one company suggested lengthening it to ten minutes, which we reject because no reason was provided and because it is inconsistent with what we learned from several companies about network maintenance needs.

     145 Incumbent companies have also stated that the increase in reporting progress in restoring service through intercompany trunk and toll trunks from once a day to twice a day is unnecessary and no change is warranted. Competitively classified companies stated in the course of this rule making that they would prefer hourly updates on repair progress, but indicated that twice daily would be beneficial. We decline to make a change in the proposed rule because we think we have struck a reasonable balance.

WAC 480-120-438 Trouble report standard.

     146 Companies suggested the trouble report standard in the proposed rule would create problems for small central offices because only a handful of trouble reports could result in the below standard performance. Our proposed rule recognized this same concern and the standard was changed so that a wire center must have four or more trouble reports in two consecutive months, or four trouble reports in four months out of twelve, before it will be considered below standard. Small or large, it is important to know if there are chronic problems in a wire center because the effect on the customer is the same whether the customer is served from a large or small central office. We decline to make any additional change.

WAC 480-120-439 Service quality performance reports.

     147 Companies have suggested the reporting requirements for installation and activation are complicated and the commission should adopt a rule only if company performance deteriorates. Our experience is that we had an ineffective reporting rule that resulted in an inability to detect problems and remedy them at a time when we had a severe problem in this state. The report required by this subsection will assist us in spotting trends in this area and permit faster action than was possible in the past.

     148 Companies have asked that we modify subsection (4) to permit reporting of completed orders rather than orders taken because not all companies may be able to state the number of orders taken each month. We decline to make that change, but we have added a subsection that allows a company to propose an alternate manner in which information is reported.

     149 Companies have also asked that the report be on a statewide basis rather than by central office. We currently have an installation and activation standard by central office and reporting by central office. We have modified the standard in the proposed rule to require a certain level of installation and activation on a statewide basis, but we proposed a reporting standard by central office so that we could determine if the quality of service in any given location is significantly different than the statewide average. Our proposed rule to alter the standard from central office to statewide is opposed by consumer advocates. Prior to proposing the new standard we determined that a statewide standard would balance company and consumer advocate concerns, but also determined that we should monitor this service quality indicator closely. We decline to alter the proposed reporting rule.

     150 Companies have requested that orders for installation or activation that could not be completed within five days due to force majeure not be included in the report required by subsection (4). We have modified the standard in WAC 480-120-105 (1)(a) and this subsection to reflect that the standard for installation and activation of orders within a month and the report related to that standard may exclude orders that cannot be installed or activated within five business days due to force majeure. A delay due to force majeure that affects a company's ability to meet the standard for installing or activating at least 90% of all orders for up to five access lines in five business days does not alter its obligations to meet the standards for the calendar quarter and one hundred and eighty day periods. A company could seek an exception under WAC 480-120-015 if the extent of the effect of a force majeure event is such that it believes such an event prevented it from meeting those standards found in WAC 480-120-105.

     151 Companies have requested that the interoffice, intercompany, and interexchange trunk blocking report include a requirement to report on the standard in WAC 480-120-401(5). This is a standard that applies to the same types of facilities for which this report is required and we consider it reasonable to increase the reporting requirement as requested.

     152 Companies have requested that we eliminate the requirement to report the number of construction orders requiring permits as provided for in WAC 480-120-440. We agree that this information is not critical to the commission's ability to monitor performance as it relates to repairs. Accordingly, we have modified the rule to remove that specific requirement and replace it with a report of the number of service interruptions and impairments that are exempt from the repair interval standard as provided for in WAC 480-120-440.

     153 Companies have requested that we alter the reporting requirement that demonstrates compliance with the repair standards related to the time it takes for repairs to be completed. They request that they be permitted to report the repairs completed in two working days or three working days (in conjunction with a similar request to change the standards for two different types of repairs from forty-eight hours and seventy-two hours to working days). We have not altered those standards and therefore decline to alter the report requirement. This is an area where a company may consider approaching the commission under subsection (12) of this section.

WAC 480-120-440 Repair standards for service interruptions and impairments, excluding major outages.

     154 Companies have suggested a standard for repair of service-affecting and nonservice-affecting interruptions in telecommunications service in two working days and three working days, respectively, rather than forty-eight hours and seventy-two hours. Other comments were made that a 100% standard is too difficult and it should be replaced with a 95% standard.

     155 The current standard requires all repairs to be made within two working days. The proposed rule separates service interruption (no dial tone) from nonservice interruptions (noisy line) and requires action on the former within forty-eight hours and on the latter within the less demanding seventy-two hours.

     156 We have a standard that has served well but we are providing even more time to companies for one type of repair, while placing increased emphasis on the most important repairs. We think we have struck a fair balance and decline to make any changes.

     157 We also decline to adopt a percentage repair standard. The requirement for all repairs to be completed within two working days has not been shown to be unreasonable. Neither has our enforcement of the standard been unreasonable. If we were to change to a percentage standard, then we would have to investigate the entirety of a company's performance to know if one customer has received substandard service, or if the customer is one of the group that make up the percentage that may not receive repair assistance for some very long time without the percentage standard being broken.

     158 We have modified the notice subsection in the same manner as we modified it with respect to major outages. Companies must make reasonable efforts to notify customers when an outage must be created as part of the repair process.

WAC 480-120-450 Enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) obligations of local exchange companies.

     159 The Military Department, Emergency Management Division, commented on May 22, 2002, and asked us to clarify disparate references to state emergency management authorities and state emergency management division. We changed the reference to division to be a reference to authorities. We addressed several other changes sought by the Emergency Management Division that arose in consultation prompted by written comments. While the changes made are not identical to what was submitted in writing, the changes reflect the suggestions made after consultation.

     160 Companies suggested that the rule be changed to accommodate circumstances where the service is foreign exchange service. Foreign exchange service is a very small percentage of service and we are disinclined to establish rules for this small portion of service. Companies and emergency management personnel have the ability to route foreign exchange calls to the proper 9-1-1 answering point. There is no need for a change to this rule and we decline to make one.

     161 Companies suggest that a secure, Internet-based method for maintaining customer records (of telephone locations) not be required, that companies that provide data base management be permitted to offer only a secure dial-up method for access to the data base to maintain records. This issue is very important to emergency management personnel because out-of-date records can literally mean the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, in large buildings and building complexes when personnel are moved, the records are not always updated and the location of the telephone in an emergency may be reported to be on a different floor, or even in a different building, than is really the case. Many large employers would like to contract with vendors that will maintain accurate records and this rule is intended to accommodate that activity. We remain convinced that the secure, Internet-based method will result in records being kept more up-to-date than is the case today. We permit companies to provide the dial-up method as well.

     162 Companies suggested requirements tied to a twenty-four hour standard be changed to a one day standard. We consulted with emergency management personnel and as a result of their concurrence we make the requested changes in the adopted rules.

     163 Companies have requested changes to subsection (1)(b) because the location associated with a telephone number sometimes is different from the location of the station. We have made changes to subsection (1)(b), to other parts of this rule, and to WAC 480-120-263, in an effort to make certain that in most instances the information provided to a public safety answering point (PSAP) will result in accurate station location information. The responsibility for inclusion of accurate station location information in E911 data bases falls upon local exchange companies, but we have added an obligation for pay phone service providers to report accurate station location information to LECs. We have also made it easier for operators of private branch exchanges (PBXs) to provide station location to LECs that is more detailed than just the location of the PBX.

     164 Local exchange companies asked that subsection (1)(c) be altered so that the address displayed to the PSAP would be the address of the point of demarcation. We have altered this subsection, but as explained above, we have also made other changes, including to WAC 480-120-263. Those changes require payphone service providers to make available to LECs much more detailed descriptions of the locations of payphones, which is far superior to the demarcation point.

     165 Companies requested changes to subsection (2)(c) because the proposed rule seemed to require LECs to maintain information not in their possession. Changes to WAC 480-120-263 will result in LECs receiving the information that subsection (2)(c) requires be maintained.

     166 Companies requested changes to subsection (2)(e) that would reduce the obligation to resolve reported errors in the E911 data base to an obligation to respond to a reported error in that time. We decline to make the change because we believe it is in the public interest to have data base errors resolved within five working days. We were presented with no compelling information to support a need to weaken a requirement on which public safety depends.

     167 Companies requested that we remove from the proposed rule the currently existing requirement that E911 services including selective routing, data base management, and transmission of calls to PSAPs be offered by tariff or price list. Companies state their opinion that these are not telecommunications services and the commission should not, therefore, require that they be offered in this manner. RCW 80.04.010 defines telecommunications as the "transmission of information by wire, radio...or similar means" and facilities as "lines...instruments...and all devises...used...to facilitate the provision of telecommunications service." Because we believe the activities and equipment used in the provision of E911 service are telecommunications facilities we decline to alter the proposed rule and eliminate the current requirement that these activities be offered by tariff or price list.

Arrearage payments by Washington telephone assistance program (WTAP) participants.

     168 The Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition stated it believes the Washington telephone assistance program is an entitlement program and that our rules cannot condition participation in the WTAP program on payment of an arrearage. Whether or not it is an entitlement program, we believe that we can require repayment of prior obligations. We have adopted a rule that provides for generous repayment terms for prior obligations arising out of local service.

Consumer bill of rights.

     169 Throughout the last year of this rule making, consumer advocates have urged us to adopt a consumer bill of rights. We view the rules we adopt with this order to be more valuable to consumers than a general, but not specifically enforceable, statement of rights. We provide specific, enforceable requirements that companies must follow in performing their obligations. The specific requirements we adopt, when viewed as a whole, are very much like a bill of rights, but without the ambiguity that such a document might contain.

     170 COMMISSION ACTION: After considering all of the information regarding this proposal, the commission repealed, adopted and amended the rules in the CR-102 at WSR 02-12-055 with the changes described below.

     171 CHANGES FROM PROPOSAL: After reviewing the entire record, the commission adopted the proposal with the following changes from the text noticed at WSR 02-12-055. Changes were made in the following sections: WAC 480-12-015 [480-120-015], 480-120-021, 480-120-061, 480-120-102, 480-120-103, 480-120-104, 480-120-105, 480-120-107 (withdrawn), 480-120-108 (withdrawn), 480-120-112, 480-120-123, 480-120-128, 480-120-133, 480-120-147, 480-120-161, 480-120-162, 480-120-165, 480-120-166, 480-120-167, 480-120-171, 480-120-172, 480-120-173, 480-120-251, 480-120-254, 480-120-262, 480-120-263, 480-120-311, 480-120-312 (withdrawn), 480-120-323, 480-120-401, 480-120-412, 480-120-439, 480-120-440, and 480-120-450. The substance of the changes in these rules is discussed in paragraphs 17 through 166, except where the change conforms one rule to a change to another rule discussed in paragraphs 16 through 169, or the change is editorial.

     172 STATEMENT OF ACTION; STATEMENT OF EFFECTIVE DATE: In reviewing the entire record, the commission determines that WAC 480-120-029, 480-120-031, 480-120-032, 480-120-033, 480-120-041, 480-120-042, 480-120-043, 480-120-045, 480-120-046, 480-120-051, 480-120-056, 480-120-081, 480-120-087, 480-120-088, 480-120-089, 480-120-101, 480-120-106, 480-120-116, 480-120-121, 480-120-126, 480-120-131, 480-120-136, 480-120-138, 480-120-139, 480-120-141, 480-120-340, 480-120-350, 480-120-500, 480-120-505, 480-120-510, 480-120-515, 480-120-520, 480-120-525, 480-120-530, 480-120-531, 480-120-535, 480-120-541, 480-120-542, 480-120-543, 480-120-544, and 480-120-545 should be repealed effective July 1, 2003.

     173 The commission determines that WAC 480-120-011, 480-120-015, 480-120-021 and 480-120-061 should be amended to read as set forth in Appendix A, as a rule of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, to take effect pursuant to RCW 34.05.380(2) on July 1, 2003.

     174 The commission also determines that WAC 480-120-102, 480-120-103, 480-120-104, 480-120-105, 480-120-112, 480-120-122, 480-120-123, 480-120-124, 480-120-128, 480-120-132, 480-120-133, 480-120-146, 480-120-147, 480-120-148, 480-120-161, 480-120-162, 480-120-163, 480-120-164, 480-120-165, 480-120-166, 480-120-167, 480-120-171, 480-120-172, 480-120-173, 480-120-174, 480-120-251, 480-120-252, 480-120-253, 480-120-254, 480-120-255, 480-120-256, 480-120-257, 480-120-261, 480-120-262, 480-120-263, 480-120-265, 480-120-301, 480-120-302, 480-120-303, 480-120-304, 480-120-305, 480-120-311, 480-120-321, 480-120-322, 480-120-323, 480-120-401, 480-120-402, 480-120-411, 480-120-412, 480-120-414, 480-120-436, 480-120-437, 480-120-438, 480-120-439, 480-120-440, 480-120-450, 480-120-451, 480-120-452, and 480-120-999 should be adopted to read as set forth in Appendix A, as rules of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, to take effect pursuant to RCW 34.05.380(2) on July 1, 2003.

¹ At least one comment suggested that our small business economic impact statement (SBEIS) was inaccurate with respect to this section. We note that in an SBEIS process that spanned months and included multiple requests for comments, not one company out of more than five hundred registered in Washington commented on this section. Indeed, we received two comments in the entire SBEIS process, one from a company that provides data base management for E911 purposes, and one from a large telecommunications company.

² PIC is an acronym for presubscribed interexchange carrier. It is an acronym that more properly applies to long distance (interexchange) service, but is used routinely by companies and regulators in the phrase "local PIC freeze" to mean a notation that a customer's local service may not be switched at the request of a new provider without direct contact from the customer to the existing provider indicating the change is desired.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 2, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 57, Amended 4, Repealed 41.

     Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0;      Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     176 WAC 480-120-029, 480-120-031, 480-120-032, 480-120-033, 480-120-041, 480-120-042, 480-120-043, 480-120-045, 480-120-046, 480-120-051, 480-120-056, 480-120-081, 480-120-087, 480-120-088, 480-120-089, 480-120-101, 480-120-106, 480-120-116, 480-120-121, 480-120-126, 480-120-131, 480-120-136, 480-120-138, 480-120-139, 480-120-141, 480-120-340, 480-120-350, 480-120-500, 480-120-505, 480-120-510, 480-120-515, 480-120-520, 480-120-525, 480-120-530, 480-120-531, 480-120-535, 480-120-541, 480-120-542, 480-120-543, 480-120-544, and 480-120-545 are repealed effective July 1, 2003.

     177 WAC 480-120-011, 480-120-015, 480-120-021 and 480-120-061 is amended to read as set forth in Appendix A, as a rule of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, to take effect pursuant to RCW 34.05.380(2) on July 1, 2003.

     178 WAC 480-120-102, 480-120-103, 480-120-104, 480-120-105, 480-120-112, 480-120-122, 480-120-123, 480-120-124, 480-120-128, 480-120-132, 480-120-133, 480-120-146, 480-120-147, 480-120-148, 480-120-161, 480-120-162, 480-120-163, 480-120-164, 480-120-165, 480-120-166, 480-120-167, 480-120-171, 480-120-172, 480-120-173, 480-120-174, 480-120-251, 480-120-252, 480-120-253, 480-120-254, 480-120-255, 480-120-256, 480-120-257, 480-120-261, 480-120-262, 480-120-263, 480-120-265, 480-120-301, 480-120-302, 480-120-303, 480-120-304, 480-120-305, 480-120-311, 480-120-321, 480-120-322, 480-120-323, 480-120-401, 480-120-402, 480-120-411, 480-120-412, 480-120-414, 480-120-436, 480-120-437, 480-120-438, 480-120-439, 480-120-440, 480-120-450, 480-120-451, 480-120-452, and 480-120-999 are adopted to read as set forth in Appendix A, as rules of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, to take effect pursuant to RCW 34.05.380(2) on July 1, 2003.

     179 This order and the rule set out below, after being recorded in the register of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, shall be forwarded to the code reviser for filing pursuant to chapters 80.01 and 34.05 RCW and chapter 1-21 WAC.

     DATED at Olympia, Washington, this 12th day of December, 2002.

Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission

Marilyn Showalter, Chairwoman

Richard Hemstad, Commissioner

Patrick J. Oshie, Commissioner

OTS-5694.4

PART I. GENERAL RULES
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Docket No. UT-990146, General Order No. R-480, filed 7/11/01, effective 8/11/01)

WAC 480-120-011   Application of rules.   (1) The rules in this chapter apply to any company that is subject to the jurisdiction of the commission as to rates and services under ((RCW 80.04.010)) the provisions of RCW 80.01.040 and chapters 80.04 and 80.36 RCW.

     (2) The ((effective)) tariffs ((provisions)) and price lists filed by companies ((shall)) must conform to these rules. ((The commission's acceptance of a tariff that conflicts with these rules does not constitute a waiver of these rules)). If the commission accepts a tariff or price list that conflicts with these rules, the acceptance does not constitute a waiver of these rules unless the commission specifically approves the variation consistent with WAC 480-120-015 (Exemptions from rules in chapter 480-120 WAC). Tariffs or price lists that conflict with these rules without approval are superseded by these rules ((unless the commission authorizes the deviation in writing)).

     (3) Any affected person may ask the commission to review the interpretation of these rules by a company or customer by posing an informal complaint under WAC 480-09-150((,)) (Informal complaints), or by filing a formal complaint under WAC 480-09-420((,)) (Pleading and briefs -- Application for authority -- Protests).

     (4) No deviation from these rules is permitted without written authorization by the commission. Violations will be subject to ((penalty provisions of chapter 80.04 RCW)) penalties as provided by law.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.04.160 and 80.01.040. 01-15-022 (Docket No. UT-990146, General Order No. R-480), § 480-120-011, filed 7/11/01, effective 8/11/01. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 1985 c 450. 85-23-001 (Order R-242, Cause No. U-85-56), § 480-120-011, filed 11/7/85; Order R-25, § 480-120-011, filed 5/5/71. Formerly WAC 480-120-010.]

     (2) To request a rule exemption, a person must file with the commission a written request identifying the rule for which an exemption is sought, ((giving)) and provide a full explanation of the reason for requesting the exemption. In addition to any other reason, parties may allege force majeure was the factor leading to the request for waiver.

     (3) The commission will assign the request a docket number, if it does not arise in an existing docket, and will schedule the request for consideration at one of its regularly scheduled open meetings or, if appropriate under chapter 34.05 RCW, in an adjudication. The commission will notify the person requesting the exemption, and other interested persons, of the date of the hearing or open meeting when the commission will consider the request.

     (4) In determining whether to grant the request, the commission may consider whether application of the rule would impose undue hardship on the requesting person, of a degree or a kind different from hardships imposed on other similarly situated persons, and whether the effect of applying the rule would be contrary to the purposes of the rule.

     (5) The commission will enter an order granting or denying the request, or setting it for hearing, pursuant to chapter 480-09 WAC.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.04.160 and 80.01.040. 01-15-022 (Docket No. UT-990146, General Order No. R-480), § 480-120-015, filed 7/11/01, effective 8/11/01.]

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     Utility - any corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, controlling, operating or managing any telephone plant within the state of Washington for the purpose of furnishing telephone service to the public for hire and subject to the jurisdiction of the commission.)) The definitions in this section apply throughout the chapter except where there is an alternative definition in a specific section, or where the context clearly requires otherwise.

     "Access charge" means a rate charged by a local exchange carrier to an interexchange carrier for the origination, transport, or termination of a call to or from a customer of the local exchange carrier. Such origination, transport, and termination may be accomplished either through switched access service or through special or dedicated access service.

     "Access line" means a circuit providing exchange service between a customer's standard network interface and a serving switching center.

     "Affiliate" means an entity that directly or indirectly owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, another entity.

     "Ancillary services" means all local service features excluding basic service.

     "Applicant" means any person applying to a telecommunications company for new service or reconnection of discontinued service.

     "Average busy hour" means a time-consistent hour of the day during which a switch or trunk carries the most traffic. This definition is applied on an individual switch and an individual trunk basis.

     "Basic service" means service that includes the following:

     • Single-party service;

     • Voice grade access to the public switched network;

     • Support for local use;

     • Dual tone multifrequency signaling (touch-tone);

     • Access to emergency services (E911);

     • Access to operator services;

     • Access to interexchange services;

     • Access to directory assistance; and

     • Toll limitation services.

     "Business" means a for profit or not-for-profit organization, including, but not limited to, corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, limited liability companies, government agencies, and other entities or associations.

     "Business days" means days of the week excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and official state holidays.

     "Business office" means an office or service center provided and maintained by a company.

     "Business service" means service other than residential service.

     "Busy season" means an annual, recurring, and reasonably predictable three-month period of the year when a switch or trunk carries the most traffic. This definition is applied on an individual switch and an individual trunk basis.

     "Call aggregator" means any corporation, company, partnership, or person, who, in the ordinary course of its operations, makes telephones available to the public or to users of its premises for telephone calls using a provider of operator services, including, but not limited to, hotels, motels, hospitals, campuses, and pay phones (see also pay phone service providers).

     "Call detail" has the meaning found in WAC 480-120-201.

     "Category of service" means local, data services such as digital subscriber line service, interexchange, or CMRS. Information about a customer's intraLATA and interLATA primary interexchange carrier freeze status is part of the local category.

     "Central office" means a company facility that houses the switching and trunking equipment serving a defined area.

     "Centrex" means a telecommunications service providing a customer with direct inward dialing to telephone extensions and direct outward dialing from them.

     "Class A company" means a local exchange company with two percent or more of the access lines within the state of Washington.

     "Class B company" means a local exchange company with less than two percent of the access lines within the state of Washington.

     "Commercial mobile radio service (CMRS)" means any mobile (wireless) telecommunications service that is provided for profit that makes interconnected service available to the public or to such classes of eligible users as to be effectively available to a substantial portion of the public.

     "Commission (agency)" in a context meaning a state agency, means the Washington utilities and transportation commission.

     "Company" means any telecommunications company as defined in RCW 80.04.010.

     "Competitively classified company" means a company that is classified as competitive by the commission pursuant to RCW 80.36.320.

     "Customer" means a person to whom the company is currently providing service.

     "Customer premises equipment (CPE)" is equipment located on the customer side of the SNI (other than a carrier) and used to originate, route, or terminate telecommunications.

     "Customer proprietary network information (CPNI)" has the meaning found in WAC 480-120-201.

     "Discontinue; discontinuation; discontinued" means the termination of service to a customer.

     "Drop facilities" means company-supplied wire and equipment placed between a premises and the company distribution plant at the applicant's property line.

     "Due date" means the date an action is required to be completed by rule or, when permitted, the date chosen by a company and provided to a customer as the date to complete an action.

     "Emergency response facility" means fire stations, hospitals, police stations, and state and municipal government emergency operations centers.

     "Exchange" means a geographic area established by a company for telecommunications service within that area.

     "Extended area service (EAS)" means telephone service extending beyond a customer's exchange, for which the customer may pay an additional flat-rate amount per month.

     "Facility or facilities" means lines, conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, cross-arms, receivers, transmitters, instruments, machines, appliances, instrumentalities and all devices, real estate, easements, apparatus, property and routes used, operated, owned or controlled by a telecommunications company to facilitate the provision of telecommunications service.

     "Force majeure" means natural disasters, including fire, flood, earthquake, windstorm, avalanche, mudslide, and other similar events; acts of war or civil unrest when an emergency has been declared by appropriate governmental officials; acts of civil or military authority; embargoes; epidemics; terrorist acts; riots; insurrections; explosions; and nuclear accidents.

     "Interexchange" means telephone calls, traffic, facilities or other items that originate in one exchange and terminate in another.

     "Interexchange company" means a company, or division thereof, that provides long distance (toll) service.

     "Interoffice facilities" means facilities connecting two or more telephone switching centers.

     "InterLATA" is a term used to describe services, revenues, functions, etc., that relate to telecommunications originating in one LATA and terminating outside of the originating LATA.

     "IntraLATA" is a term used to describe services, revenues, functions, etc., that relate to telecommunications that originate and terminate within the same LATA.

     "Local access and transport area (LATA)" means a local access transport area as defined by the commission in conformance with applicable federal law.

     "Local calling area" means one or more rate centers within which a customer can place calls without incurring long-distance (toll) charges.

     "Local exchange company (LEC)" means a company providing local exchange telecommunications service.

     "Major outages" means a service failure lasting for thirty or more minutes that causes the disruption of local exchange or toll services to more than one thousand subscribers; total loss of service to a public safety answering point or emergency response agency; intercompany trunks or toll trunks not meeting service requirements for four hours or more and affecting service; or an intermodal link blockage (no dial tone) in excess of five percent for more than one hour in any switch or remote switch.

     "Missed commitment" means orders for exchange access lines for which the company does not provide service by the due date.

     "Order date" means the date when an applicant requests service unless a company identifies specific actions a customer must first take in order to be in compliance with tariffs, price lists, or commission rules. Except as provided in WAC 480-120-061 and 480-120-104, when specific actions are required of the applicant, the order date becomes the date the actions are completed by the applicant if the company has not already installed or activated service.

     When an applicant requests service that requires customer-ordered special equipment, for purposes of calculating compliance with the one hundred eighty-day requirement of WAC 480-120-112 (Company performance for orders for nonbasic service) the order date is the application date unless the applicant fails to provide the support structure or perform other requirements of the tariff or price list. In the event the applicant fails to provide the support structure or perform the other requirements of the tariff or price list, a new order date is established as the date when the applicant does provide the support structure or perform the other requirements of the tariff or price list.

     "Pay phone" or "pay telephone" means any telephone made available to the public on a fee-per-call basis independent of any other commercial transaction. A pay phone or pay telephone includes telephones that are coin-operated or are activated by calling collect or using a calling card.

     "Pay phone services" means provision of pay phone equipment to the public for placement of local exchange, interexchange, or operator service calls.

     "Pay phone service provider (PSP)" means any corporation, company, partnership, or person who owns or operates and makes pay phones available to the public.

     "Payment agency" means a physical location established by a local exchange company, either on its own premises or through a subcontractor, for the purpose of receiving cash and urgent payments from customers.

     "Person" means an individual, or an organization such as a firm, partnership, corporation, municipal corporation, agency, association or other entity.

     "Prior obligation" means an amount owed to a local exchange company or an interexchange company for regulated services at the time the company physically toll-restricts, interrupts, or discontinues service for nonpayment.

     "Private account information" means customer proprietary network information that is associated with an identifiable individual.

     "Proprietary" means owned by a particular person.

     "Provision" means supplying telecommunications service to a customer.

     "Public access line (PAL)" means an access line equipped with features to detect coins, permit the use of calling cards, and such other features as may be used to provision a pay phone.

     "Public safety answering point (PSAP)" means an answering location for enhanced 911 (E911) calls originating in a given area. PSAPs are designated as primary or secondary. Primary PSAPs receive E911 calls directly from the public; secondary PSAPs receive E911 calls only on a transfer or relay basis from the primary PSAP. Secondary PSAPs generally serve as centralized answering locations for a particular type of emergency call.

     "Residential service" means basic service to a household.

     "Restricted basic service" means either the ability to receive incoming calls, make outgoing calls, or both through voice grade access to the public switched network, including E911 access, but not including other services that are a part of basic service.

     "Results of operations" means a fiscal year financial statement concerning regulated operations that include revenues, expenses, taxes, net operating income, and rate base. The rate of return is also included as part of the results of operations. The rate of return is the percentage of net operating income to the rate base.

     "Service interruption" means a loss of or impairment of service that is not due to, and is not, a major outage.

     "Service provider" means any business that offers a product or service to a customer, the charge for which appears on the customer's telephone bill.

     "Special circuit" means an access line specially conditioned to give it characteristics suitable for handling special or unique services.

     "Standard network interface (SNI)" means the protector that generally marks the point of interconnection between company communications facilities and customer's terminal equipment, protective apparatus, or wiring at a customer's premises. The network interface or demarcation point is located on the customer's side of the company's protector, or the equivalent thereof in cases where a protector is not employed.

     "Station" means a telephone instrument installed for the use of a subscriber to provide toll and exchange service.

     "Subscriber list information (SLI)" means any information:

     (a) Identifying the listed names of subscribers of a company and those subscribers' telephone numbers, addresses, or primary advertising classifications (as such classifications are assigned when service is established), or any combination of listed names, numbers, addresses, or classifications; and

     (b) That the company or an affiliate has published, caused to be published, or accepted for publication in any directory format.

     "Support structure" means the trench, pole, or conduit used to provide a path for placement of drop facilities.

     "Telecommunications-related products and services" means:

     (a) The offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used; or

     (b) Services offered over common carrier transmission facilities which employ computer processing applications that act on the format, content, code, protocol, or similar aspects of the subscriber's transmitted information, provide the subscriber additional, different, or restructured information, or involve subscriber interaction with stored information; or

     (c) Equipment employed on the premises of a person to originate, route, or terminate telecommunications.

     "Telecommunications service" means the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used.

     "Telemarketing" means contacting a person by telephone in an attempt to sell one or more products or services.

     "Toll restriction" or "toll restricted" means a service that prevents the use of a local access line to initiate a long distance call using a presubscribed interexchange company.

     "Traffic" means telecommunications activity on a telecommunications network, normally used in connection with measurements of capacity of various parts of the network.

     "Trouble report" means a report of service affecting network problems reported by customers, and does not include problems on the customer's side of the SNI.

     "Trunk" means, in a telecommunications network, a path connecting two switching systems used to establish end-to-end connection. In some circumstances, both of its terminations may be in the same switching system.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.04.160, 80.36.520 and 80.01.040. 99-02-020 (Order R-452, Docket No. UT-970301), § 480-120-021, filed 12/29/98, effective 1/29/99. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040. 93-06-055 (Order R-384, Docket No. UT-921192), § 480-120-021, filed 2/26/93, effective 3/29/93. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and chapter 80.36 RCW. 91-13-078 (Order R-345, Docket No. UT-900726), § 480-120-021, filed 6/18/91, effective 7/19/91. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 1988 c 91. 89-04-044 (Order R-293, Docket No. U-88-1882-R), § 480-120-021, filed 1/31/89. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040. 86-11-009 (Order R-250, Cause No. U-85-58), § 480-120-021, filed 5/12/86, effective 7/31/86. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 1985 c 450. 85-23-001 (Order R-242, Cause No. U-85-56), § 480-120-021, filed 11/7/85. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.04.060. 79-10-060 (Order R-131, Cause No. U-79-42), § 480-120-021, filed 9/18/79. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.36.140. 79-03-031 (Order R-123, Cause No. U-79-01), § 480-120-021, filed 2/28/79; Order R-25, § 480-120-021, filed 5/5/71. Formerly WAC 480-120-030.]

     (9) A local exchange company shall deny service to a nonregistered telecommunications company that intends to use the service requested to provide telecommunications for hire, sale, or resale to the general public within the state of Washington. Any telecommunications company requesting service from a local exchange company shall state in writing whether the service is intended to be used for intrastate telecommunications for hire, sale, or resale to the general public.)) (1) A company may refuse to connect with, or provide service to, an applicant under the following conditions:

     (a) When service will adversely affect the service to existing customers.

     (b) When the installation is considered hazardous.

     (c) When the applicant has not complied with commission rules, company tariff or price list, and state, county, or municipal codes concerning the provision of telecommunications service such as building and electrical codes.

     (d) When the company is unable to substantiate the identity of the individual requesting service.

     (i) Companies must allow the applicant to substantiate identity with one piece of identification chosen from a list, provided by the company, of at least four sources of identification. The list must include a current driver's license or other picture identification.

     (ii) Company business offices and payment agencies, required under WAC 480-120-132 and 480-120-162, must provide a means for applicants to provide identification at no charge to the applicant.

     (e) When the applicant has previously received service from the company by providing false information, including false statements of credit references or employment, false statement of premises address, or use of an alias or false name with intent to deceive, until the applicant corrects the false information to the satisfaction of the company.

     (f) When the applicant owes an overdue, unpaid prior obligation to the company for the same class of service, until the obligation is paid or satisfactory arrangements are made.

     (g) When the applicant requests service at an address where a former customer is known to reside with an overdue, unpaid prior obligation to the same company for the same class of service at that address and the company determines, based on objective evidence, that the applicant has cooperated with the prior customer with the intent to avoid payment. However, a company may not deny service if a former customer with an overdue, unpaid prior obligation has permanently vacated the address.

     (h) When all necessary rights of way, easements, and permits have not been secured. The company is responsible for securing all necessary public rights of way, easements, and permits, including rights of way on every highway as defined in RCW 36.75.010(11) or created under RCW 36.75.070 or 36.75.080. The applicant is responsible for securing all necessary rights of way or easements on private property, including private roads or driveways as defined in RCW 36.75.010(10). A private road or driveway is one that has been ascertained by the company not to be public.

     (2) A company may not withhold or refuse to release a telephone number to a customer who is transferring service to another telecommunications company within the same rate center where local number portability has been implemented.

     (3) A telecommunications company must deny service to a nonregistered telecommunications company that intends to use the service requested to provide telecommunications for hire, sale, or resale to the general public within the state of Washington. Any telecommunications company requesting service from another telecommunications company must state in writing whether the service is intended to be used for intrastate telecommunications for hire, sale, or resale to the general public. If the service is intended for hire, sale, or resale on an intrastate basis, the company must certify in writing, in the same manner as required by RCW 9A.72.085, that it is properly registered with the commission to provide the service.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040. 94-20-010 (Order R-422, Docket No. UT-940049), § 480-120-061, filed 9/22/94, effective 10/23/94; 92-01-115 (Order R-353, Docket No. UT-910788), § 480-120-061, filed 12/18/91, effective 1/18/92; 85-18-011 (Order R-233, Cause No. U-85-35), § 480-120-061, filed 8/23/85. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.04.060. 80-09-049 (Order R-147, Cause No. U-80-05), § 480-120-061, filed 7/14/80; Order R-25, § 480-120-061, filed 5/5/71.]

     (2) Types of service. LECs must offer, at a minimum, flat-rate local exchange service. In addition, companies may offer service alternatives, such as measured service.

     (3) Grade of service. Local exchange service offered by companies must be only one-party service.

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     (a) Accept and process applications when an applicant for service for a particular location has met all tariff or price list requirements and applicable commission rules;

     (b) Establish the due date as the date requested by the applicant but is not required to establish a due date that is fewer than seven business days after the order date. If the company establishes a due date other than the date requested by the applicant, it must inform the applicant of the specific date when service will be provided or state that an estimated due date will be provided within seven business days as required by subsection (2) of this section; and

     (c) Maintain a record in writing, or in electronic format, of each application for service, including requests for a change of service.

     (2) If the company does not provide the applicant with a due date for installation or activation at the time of application as required in subsection (1)(b) of this section, the company must state the reason for the delay. Within seven business days of the date of the application, the company must provide the applicant with an estimated due date for installation or activation. The standards imposed by WAC 480-120-105 and 480-120-112 are not altered by this subsection.

     (3) When the company informs the customer that installation of new service orders requires on-premises access by the company, the company must offer the customer an opportunity for an installation appointment that falls within a four-hour period.

     (4) When the application for service requires a service extension as defined in WAC 480-120-071, the requirement of subsection (1)(b) of this section does not apply and, for the purpose of determining when an extension must be completed, the order date is the application date or six weeks prior to the date the customer makes the required initial payment, whichever is later.

     When a service extension is required, the company must inform the customer within six weeks of a request for service that it will construct the extension and also request payment from the customer according to WAC 480-120-071, or inform the customer in writing that it will request an exemption from the commission pursuant to WAC 480-120-071(7).

     In the event a company informs the customer it will request an exemption, the company must submit the request to the commission within four weeks of informing the customer of its decision. A copy of the exemption request must be mailed to the customer not later than the date the request is filed.

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     (a) Contact information for the appropriate business office, including a toll-free telephone number, a TTY number, mailing address, repair number, electronic address if applicable, and business office hours, that the customer can contact if they have questions;

     (b) Confirmation of the services being provided to the customer by the company, and the rate for each service. If the service is provided under a banded rate schedule, the current rate, including the minimum and maximum at which the customer's rate may be shifted; and

     (c) If the application is for local exchange service, the LEC must either provide information required in WAC 480-120-251 (6)(a) through (f) or must inform the customer that additional information pertaining to local exchange service may be found in the consumer information guide of the local telephone directory as required in WAC 480-120-251.

     (2) Except for services provided under contract pursuant to WAC 480-80-241 (Filing contracts for services classified as competitive), each company must provide each customer a confirming notice, either in writing or, with permission of the customer, electronically, within fifteen days of initiating a material change in service which results in the addition of a service, a change from one rate schedule to another, or a change in terms or conditions of an existing service. The confirming notice must provide at a minimum, the following information in clear and conspicuous language:

     (a) Contact information for the appropriate business office, including a toll-free telephone number, a TTY number, and business office hours, that customers can contact if they have questions; and

     (b) The changes in the service(s), including, if applicable, the rate for each service.

     (3) When a LEC is acting as an executing carrier under WAC 480-120-147, it must make the following information available upon request:

     (a) The name of the intraLATA and interLATA interexchange company to which the customer's account is currently subscribed; and

     (b) A minimum of six months' account history, when available, including the date of the changes and the name of the interexchange company.

     (4) When an applicant or customer contacts the LEC to select or change an interexchange company, the LEC must notify the carrier of the customer's selection or recommend that the customer contact the chosen interexchange company to confirm that an account has been or is being established by the interexchange carrier for the applicant.

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     (a) The local exchange company (LEC) must complete, within five business days after the order date, or by a later date requested by a customer, ninety percent of all orders of up to the initial five access lines received during each month;

     (b) The LEC must complete ninety-nine percent of all orders of up to the initial five access lines received during each calendar quarter within ninety days after the order date, or by a later date requested by a customer; and

     (c) The LEC must complete one hundred percent of all orders for access lines within one hundred eighty days after the order date, or by a later date requested by a customer.

     (2) For purposes of determining the amount of penalties that shall apply if a LEC fails to complete the percent of orders required by subsection (1)(a), (b), and (c) of this section, each order that the LEC fails to complete in excess of the highest number of uncompleted orders that would not have triggered a violation shall be a separate violation. For example, using the ninety-nine percent completion rate under subsection (1)(b) of this section, if the LEC received one hundred orders in a quarter, and it completed only ninety-four of those orders, it would be deemed to have committed five separate violations, because it completed five less than required by the section. Violations of subsection (1)(a), (b), and (c) of this section will be determined separately, and each order is subject to all three parts.

     (3) The timelines set forth in subsection (1)(a) of this section do not apply when force majeure prevents the installation or activation of service; and the timelines set forth in subsection (1) of this section do not apply when customer-provided special equipment is necessary; when a later installation or activation is permitted under WAC 480-120-071; or when the commission has granted an exemption from the requirement for installation or activation of a particular order under WAC 480-120-015. These orders will be excluded from both the numerator and denominator in calculating the percentage of orders completed.

     (4) Unless the commission orders otherwise, subsection (1)(a) and (b) do not apply to LECs that are competitively classified under RCW 80.36.320 and do not offer local exchange service by tariff.

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     (2) The timeline set forth in subsection (1) of this section does not apply when a later installation or activation is permitted under WAC 480-120-071 (Extending service), or when the commission has granted an exemption from the requirement for installation or activation of a particular order under WAC 480-120-015.

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     (a) If the applicant or customer has received two or more delinquency notices for basic service during the last twelve month period with that company or another company;

     (b) If the applicant or customer has had basic service discontinued by any telecommunications company;

     (c) If the applicant or customer has an unpaid, overdue basic service balance owing to any telecommunications company;

     (d) If the applicant's or customer's service is being restored following a discontinuation for nonpayment or acquiring service through deceptive means under WAC 480-120-172; or

     (e) If the applicant or customer has been disconnected for taking service under deceptive means as described in WAC 480-120-172.

     (2) A LEC may, if provided for in its tariff or price list, require an applicant or customer of ancillary services to demonstrate satisfactory credit by reasonable means or pay a deposit consistent with subsections (4) and (5) of this section.

     The company must inform applicants that local service cannot be withheld pending payment of a deposit for ancillary services.

     (3) An interexchange company may, if provided for in its tariff or price list, require an applicant or customer of interexchange services to demonstrate satisfactory credit by reasonable means or pay a deposit consistent with subsections (4) and (5) of this section.

     The company must inform applicants that local service cannot be withheld pending payment of a deposit for interexchange services.

     (4) When a company requests a deposit from an applicant or customer, the amount of the deposit may not exceed two months' customary use for an applicant or customer with previous verifiable service of the same class, or two months' estimated use for an applicant or customer without previous verifiable service. Customary use is calculated using charges for the previous three months' service.

     (5) When an applicant or customer is required to pay a basic service deposit or an interexchange deposit, but is unable to pay the entire amount in advance of connection or continuation of service, the following will apply:

     (a) The customer may pay fifty percent of the requested deposit amount before installation or continuation of service, with the remaining amount payable in equal amounts over the following two months; or

     (b) Where technology permits, the applicant or customer must be allowed the option of accepting toll-restricted basic service in lieu of payment of the deposit. A company must not charge for toll restriction when it is used as an alternative to a deposit.

     A company must remove toll restriction unless the customer requests to retain it when a customer makes full payment of the requested interexchange carrier deposit or pays fifty percent of the requested deposit and enters into payment arrangements as provided for in (a) of this subsection.

     (6) A company may require an applicant or customer to pay a deposit equal to two months' charges for ancillary service before providing or continuing ancillary services.

     (7) A company may require an applicant or customer to pay a deposit if it finds that service was provided initially without a deposit based on incorrect information and the customer otherwise would have been required to pay a deposit.

     (a) When a company requests a new deposit or a larger deposit amount after service has been established, the company must provide a written notice to the customer listing the reason(s) for the request, the date the deposit must be paid, and the actions the company may take if the deposit is not paid.

     (b) Except for circumstances described in subsection (8) of this section, the deposit or additional deposit amount may not be due and payable before 5:00 p.m. of the sixth business day after notice of the deposit requirement is mailed or 5:00 p.m. of the second business day following delivery, if the notice is delivered in person to the customer.

     (8)(a) A company authorized by the commission to collect deposits or advanced payments may require a customer to pay unbilled toll charges or pay a new or additional deposit amount when the customer's toll charges exceed thirty dollars, or exceed customary use over the previous six months by twenty dollars or by twenty percent, whichever is greater. A company may toll-restrict a customer's services if the customer is unable pay the toll or deposit amount.

     (b) When a customer has exceeded the toll levels outlined above in this subsection, the company may require payment before the close of the next business day following delivery of either written or oral notice to the customer indicating that failure to pay one of the following may result in toll restriction of the customer's service. The company must give the customer the option to pay one of the following:

     (i) All outstanding toll charges specified in the notice; or

     (ii) All toll charges accrued to the time of payment providing the customer was notified the customer would be liable for all unbilled toll charges that accrued between the time of the notice and time of the payment; or

     (iii) Payment of a new or additional deposit in light of the customer's actual use based upon two months' customary use.

     (c) When an applicant does not have a customary utilization amount from a previous service, the company may request that the applicant estimate the greatest monthly toll amount the applicant expects to use. If the company asks for an estimate, it must explain that if the customer's toll charges exceed the amounts in (a) of this subsection, the company may toll restrict or require a deposit as permitted in this subsection.

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     (2) Amount of deposit. When a company requests a deposit from an applicant or customer, the amount of the deposit may not exceed two months' customary use for an applicant or customer with previous verifiable service of the same class, or two months' estimated use for an applicant or customer without previous verifiable service. Customary use is calculated using charges for the previous three months' service.

     (3) Deposit payment. Companies may withhold regulated services until the deposit amount associated with such services is paid in full.

     (4) Deposit requirement notice.

     (a) When a company requests a new deposit or a larger deposit amount after service has been established, the company must provide a written notice of the reasons for the request in writing to the customer, state the date the deposit must be paid, and the actions the company may take if the deposit is not paid.

     (b) Except for circumstances described in subsection (5) of this section, the deposit or additional deposit amount may not be due and payable before 5:00 p.m. of the sixth business day after notice of the deposit requirement is mailed or 5:00 p.m. of the second business day following delivery if the notice is delivered in person to the customer.

     (5) Deposit request for high toll.

     (a) A company authorized by the commission to collect deposits or advanced payments may require a customer to pay a new or additional deposit amount to advanced toll charges when the customer's toll charges exceed the amount currently held as an interexchange deposit, or exceed customary use over the previous six months by twenty dollars or by twenty percent, whichever is greater. A company may toll restrict a customer's services if the customer is unable pay the toll or deposit amount.

     (b) When a customer has exceeded the toll levels outlined in (a) of this subsection, the company may require payment before the close of the next business day following delivery of either written or oral notice to the customer indicating that failure to pay one of the following may result in toll restriction of the customer's service. The customer must be given the option to pay one of the following:

     (i) All outstanding toll charges specified in the notice;

     (ii) All toll charges accrued to the time of payment providing the customer was notified the customer would be liable for all unbilled toll charges that accrued between the time of the notice and time of the payment; or

     (iii) Payment of a new or additional deposit in light of the customer's actual use based upon two months' customary use.

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     (1) Reside in the state of Washington;

     (2) Currently have service with the company requesting the deposit; and

     (3) Have an established satisfactory payment history for each class of service being guaranteed.

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     (2) Interest on deposits. Companies that collect customer deposits must pay interest on those deposits calculated:

     (a) For each calendar year, at the rate for the one-year Treasury Constant Maturity calculated by the U.S. Treasury, as published in the Federal Reserve's Statistical Release H.15 on January 15 of that year. If January 15 falls on a nonbusiness day, the company will use the rate posted on the next following business day; and

     (b) From the date of deposit to the date of refund or when applied directly to the customer's account.

     (3) Refunding deposits for residential services. Companies must refund deposits, plus accrued interest, less any outstanding balance, to a customer when:

     (a) A customer terminates service or services for which a deposit is being held.

     A company is not required to refund an amount held on deposit when a customer requests a discontinuation of service or services but requests to establish similar service with a company for which the current deposit holder also provides billing and collection service. The new provider must have authority with the commission to collect deposits; or

     (b) The customer has paid for service for twelve consecutive months in a prompt and satisfactory manner as evidenced by the following:

     (i) The company has not issued a discontinuation notice against the customer's account for nonpayment during the last twelve months; and

     (ii) The company has sent no more than two delinquency notices to the customer in the last twelve months.

     (c) A company may apply a deposit refund to a customer's account or, upon customer request, must provide the refund in the form of a check issued and mailed to the customer no later than thirty days after satisfactory payment history is established or thirty days after the date the closing bill is issued when service is terminated.

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     (2) Companies that use an automated answering system must comply with the following requirements:

     (a) Each month, the average time until the automated system answers a call must not exceed thirty seconds; and

     (b) The automated system must provide a caller with an option to speak to a live representative within the first sixty seconds of the recorded message, or it must transfer the caller to a live representative within the first sixty seconds.

     (i) A company may provide the live representative option by directing the caller to take an affirmative action (e.g., select an entry on the telephone) or by default (e.g., be transferred when the caller does not select an option on the telephone).

     (ii) The recorded message must clearly describe the method a caller must use to reach a live representative.

     (c) Each month, the average time until a live representative answers a call must not exceed sixty seconds from the time a caller selects the appropriate option to speak to a live representative.

     (3) Companies that do not use an automated answering system must answer at least ninety-nine percent of call attempts, each month, within thirty seconds.

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     (a) The company has obtained the customer's written or electronic authorization to submit the order (letter of agency). The letter of agency must be a separate electronic form, located on a separate screen or web page, or a separate written document (or easily separable document) containing only the authorizing language described in (a)(i) through (vi) of this subsection, having the sole purpose of authorizing a telecommunications carrier to initiate a preferred carrier change. The letter of agency, whether written or electronic, must be signed and dated by the customer of the telephone line(s) requesting the preferred carrier change. The letter of agency shall not be combined on the same document or on the same screen or web page with inducements of any kind; however, it may be combined with checks that contain only the required letter of agency language as prescribed in (a)(i) through (vi) of this subsection, and the necessary information to make the check a negotiable instrument. The check may not contain any promotional language or material. It must contain, in easily readable, boldface type on the front of the check, a notice that the customer is authorizing a preferred carrier change by signing the check. Letter-of-agency language must be placed near the signature line on the back of the check. Any carrier designated in a letter of agency as a preferred carrier must be the carrier directly setting the rates for the customer. If any portion of a letter of agency is translated into another language, then all portions must be translated into that language, as well as any promotional materials, oral descriptions or instructions provided with the letter of agency. The letter of agency must confirm the following information from the customer:

     (i) The customer billing name, billing telephone number and billing address and each telephone number to be covered by the change order;

     (ii) The decision to change;

     (iii) The customer's understanding of the change fee;

     (iv) That the customer designates (name of carrier) to act as the customer's agent for the preferred carrier change;

     (v) That the customer understands that only one telecommunications carrier may be designated as the customer's interstate preferred carrier; that only one telecommunications carrier may be designated as the customer's interLATA preferred carrier; and that only one telecommunications carrier may be designated as the customer's local exchange provider, for any one telephone number. The letter of agency must contain a separate statement regarding the customer's choice for each preferred carrier, although a separate letter of agency for each choice is not necessary; and

     (vi) Letters of agency may not suggest or require that a customer take some action in order to retain the current preferred carrier.

     (b) The submitting carrier has obtained the customer's authorization, as described in (a) of this subsection, electronically, by use of an automated, electronic telephone menu system. This authorization must be placed from the telephone number(s) for which the preferred carrier is to be changed and must confirm the information required in (a)(i) through (vi) of this subsection.

     Telecommunications companies electing to confirm the preferred carrier change electronically must establish one or more toll free telephone numbers exclusively for that purpose.

     Calls to the number(s) must connect a customer to a voice response unit, or similar device, that records the required information regarding the change, including recording the originating automatic number identification (ANI).

     (c) An appropriately qualified and independent third party operating in a location physically separate from the telemarketing representative has obtained the customer's oral authorization to submit the change order that confirms and includes appropriate verification data (e.g., the customer's date of birth). The independent third party must not be owned, managed, controlled or directed by the carrier or the carrier's marketing agent; and must not have any financial incentive to confirm preferred carrier change orders for the carrier or the carrier's marketing agent. The content of the verification must include clear and unambiguous confirmation that the customer has authorized a preferred carrier change.

     (2) Where a telecommunications carrier is selling more than one type of telecommunications service (e.g., local exchange, intraLATA toll, and interLATA toll) that carrier must obtain separate authorization, and separate verification, from the customer for each service sold, although the authorizations may be made within the same solicitation.

     (3) The documentation regarding a customer's authorization for a preferred carrier change must be retained by the submitting carrier, at a minimum, for two years to serve as verification of the customer's authorization to change his or her telecommunications company. The documentation must be made available to the customer and to the commission upon request and at no charge. Documentation includes, but is not limited to, entire third-party-verification conversations and, for written verifications, the entire verification document.

     (4) Implementing order changes. An executing carrier may not verify directly with the customer the submission of a change in a customer's selection of a provider received from a submitting carrier. The executing carrier must comply promptly, without any unreasonable delay, with a requested change that is complete and received from a submitting carrier. An executing carrier is any telecommunications carrier that affects a request that a customer's carrier be changed.

     This section does not prohibit any company from investigating and responding to any customer-initiated inquiry or complaint.

     (5) Preferred carrier freezes. A preferred carrier freeze prevents a change in a customer's preferred carrier selection unless the customer gives the carrier from whom the freeze was requested express consent. Express consent means direct, written, electronic, or oral direction by the customer. All local exchange companies (LECs) must offer preferred carrier freezes. Such freezes must be offered on a nondiscriminatory basis to all customers. Offers or solicitations for such freezes must clearly distinguish among telecommunications services subject to a freeze (e.g., local exchange, intraLATA toll, and interLATA toll). The carrier offering the freeze must obtain separate authorization for each service for which a preferred carrier freeze is requested. Separate authorizations may be contained within a single document.

     (a) All LECs must notify all customers of the availability of a preferred carrier freeze, no later than the customer's first telephone bill, and once per year must notify all local exchange service customers of such availability on an individual customer basis (e.g., bill insert, bill message, or direct mailing).

     (b) All carrier-provided solicitation and other materials regarding freezes must include an explanation, in clear and neutral language, of what a preferred carrier freeze is, and what services may be subject to a freeze; a description of the specific procedures to lift a preferred carrier freeze; an explanation that the customer will be unable to make a change in carrier selection unless he or she lifts the freeze; and an explanation of any charges incurred for implementing or lifting a preferred carrier freeze.

     (c) No local exchange carrier may implement a preferred carrier freeze unless the customer's request to impose a freeze has first been confirmed in accordance with the procedures outlined for confirming a change in preferred carrier, as described in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

     (d) All LECs must offer customers, at a minimum, the following procedures for lifting a preferred carrier freeze:

     (i) A customer's written or electronic authorization stating the customer's intent to lift the freeze;

     (ii) A customer's oral authorization to lift the freeze. This option must include a mechanism that allows a submitting carrier to conduct a three-way conference call with the executing carrier and the customer in order to lift the freeze. When engaged in oral authorization to lift a freeze, the executing carrier must confirm appropriate verification data (e.g., the customer's date of birth), and the customer's intent to lift the freeze.

     (e) A LEC may not change a customer's preferred carrier if the customer has a freeze in place, unless the customer has lifted the freeze in accordance with this subsection.

     (6) Remedies. In addition to any other penalties provided by law, a submitting carrier that requests a change in a customer's carrier without proper verification as described in this rule shall receive no payment for service provided as a result of the unauthorized change and shall promptly refund any amounts collected as a result of the unauthorized change. The customer may be charged, after receipt of the refund, for such service at a rate no greater than what would have been charged by its authorized telecommunications company, and any such payment shall be remitted to the customer's authorized telecommunications company.

     (7) Exceptions. Companies transferring customers as a result of a merger, purchase of the company, or purchase of a specific customer base are exempt from subsections (1) through (6) of this section if the companies comply with the following conditions and procedures:

     (a) The acquiring company must provide a notice to each affected customer at least thirty days before the date of transfer. Such notice must include the following information:

     (i) The date on which the acquiring company will become the customer's new provider;

     (ii) The rates, terms, and conditions of the service(s) to be provided upon transfer, and the means by which the acquiring company will notify the customer of any change(s) to those rates, terms, and conditions;

     (iii) That the acquiring company will be responsible for any carrier change charges associated with the transfer;

     (iv) The customer's right to select a different company to provide the service(s);

     (v) That the customer will be transferred even if the customer has selected a "freeze" on his/her carrier choices, unless the customer chooses another carrier before the transfer date;

     (vi) That, if the customer has a "freeze" on carrier choices, the freeze will be lifted at the time of transfer and the customer must "refreeze" carrier choices;

     (vii) How the customer may make a complaint prior to or during the transfer; and

     (viii) The toll-free customer service telephone number of the acquiring carrier.

     (b) The acquiring company must provide a notice to the commission at least thirty days before the date of the transfer. Such notice must include the following information:

     (i) The names of the parties to the transaction;

     (ii) The types of services affected;

     (iii) The date of the transfer; and

     (iv) That the company has provided advance notice to affected customers, including a copy of such notice.

     (c) If after filing notice with the commission any material changes develop, the acquiring company must file written notice of those changes with the commission no more than ten days after the transfer date announced in the prior notice. The commission may, at that time, require the company to provide additional notice to affected customers regarding such changes.

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     (2) Length of time for payment of a bill. Bill due dates must reflect a date which at a minimum allows a customer fifteen days from the date of mailing for payment.

     (a) Upon showing of good cause, a customer may request and the company must allow the customer to pay by a date that is not the normally designated payment date on their bill. Good cause may include, but not be limited to, adjustment of the billing cycle to parallel receipt of income.

     (i) A company may not assess late payment fees for the period between the regularly scheduled due date and the customer-chosen due date so long as the customer makes payment in full by the customer-chosen due date.

     (ii) A company may refuse to establish a preferred payment date that would extend the payment date beyond the next normally scheduled payment or due date.

     (b) If a company is delayed in billing a customer, the company must offer arrangements upon customer request or upon indication that a payment arrangement is necessary, that are equal to the length of time the bill is delayed beyond the regularly scheduled billing interval (e.g., if the bill includes two months delayed charges, the customer must be allowed to pay the charges over two months).

     Companies may not charge a customer late payment fees on the delayed charges during the extended payment period.

     (3) Form of bill. With the consent of the customer, a company may provide regular billings in electronic form if the bill meets all the requirements of this rule. The company must maintain a record of the customer's request, and the customer may change from electronic to printed billing upon request.

     (4) Bill organization. Telephone bills must be clearly organized, and must comply with the following requirements:

     (a) Bills may only include charges for services that have been requested by the customer or other individuals authorized to request such services on behalf of the customer, and that have been provided by the company;

     (b) The name of the service provider associated with each charge must be clearly and conspicuously identified on the telephone bill;

     (c) Where charges for two or more carriers appear on the same telephone bill, the charges must be separated by service provider; and

     (d) The telephone bill must clearly and conspicuously identify any change in service provider, including identification of charges from any new service provider.

     For purposes of this subsection, "new service provider" means a service provider that did not bill the subscriber for service during the service provider's last billing cycle. This definition shall include only providers that have continuing relationships with the subscriber that will result in periodic charges on the subscriber's bill, unless the service is subsequently canceled.

     For purposes of this subsection, "clearly and conspicuously" means notice that would be apparent to the reasonable customer.

     (5) Descriptions of billed charges.

     (a) The bill must include a brief, clear, nonmisleading, plain language description of each service for which a charge is included. The bill must be sufficiently clear in presentation and specific enough in content so that the customer can determine that the billed charges accurately reflect the service actually requested and received, including individual toll calls and services charged on a per-occurrence basis.

     (b) The bill must identify and set out separately, as a component of the charges for the specific service, any access or other charges imposed by order of or at the direction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

     (c) The bill must clearly delineate the amount or the percentage rate and basis of any tax assessed by a local jurisdiction.

     (6) Charges for which service can be discontinued. Where a bill contains charges for basic service, in addition to other charges, the bill must distinguish between charges for which nonpayment will result in loss of basic service. The bill must include telephone numbers by which subscribers may inquire or dispute any charges on the bill. A carrier may list a toll-free number for a billing agent, clearinghouse, or other third party, provided such party possesses sufficient information to answer questions concerning the subscriber's account and is fully authorized to resolve the consumer's complaints on the carrier's behalf. Where the subscriber does not receive a paper copy of the customer's telephone bill, but instead accesses that bill only by e-mail or internet, the carrier may comply with this requirement by providing on the bill an e-mail or web site address. Each carrier must make a business address available upon request from a consumer.

     (7) Itemized statement. A company must provide an itemized statement of all charges when requested by a customer, including, but not limited to, the following:

     (a) Rates for individual services;

     (b) Calculations of time or distance charges for calls, and calculations of any credit or other account adjustment; and

     (c) When itemizing the charges of information providers, the name, address, telephone number, and toll-free number, if any, of the providers.

     (8) Methods of payment.

     (a) Companies must, at a minimum, allow the following methods of payment: Cash, certified funds (e.g., cashier check or money order), and personal checks.

     (b) Upon written notice to a customer, companies may refuse to accept personal checks when that customer has tendered two or more nonsufficient-funds checks within the last twelve months.

     (9) Billing companies. A company may bill regulated telecommunications charges only for companies properly registered to provide service within the state of Washington or for billing agents. The company must, in its contractual relationship with the billing agent, require the billing agent to certify that it will submit charges only on behalf of properly registered companies; and that it will, upon request of the company, provide a current list of all companies for which it bills, including the name and telephone number of each company. The company must provide a copy of this list to the commission for its review upon request.

     (10) Crediting customer payments. Unless otherwise specified by the customer, payments that are less than the total bill balance must be credited first to basic service, with any remainder credited to any other charges on the bill.

     For purposes of this subsection, basic service includes associated fees and surcharges such as FCC access charges. Basic service does not include ancillary services such as caller identification and custom calling features.

     (11) Exemptions from this rule. Prepaid calling card services (PPCS) are exempt from subsections (1) through (10) of this section.

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     (a) Exchanges serving over seventy-five thousand access lines must have a minimum of one payment agency within the exchange for every fifty thousand access lines.

     (b) Exchanges serving twenty-five thousand to seventy-five thousand access lines must have a minimum of one payment agency within the exchange.

     (c) LECs that do not have exchanges that meet the criteria in (a) or (b) of this subsection must have at least one payment agency.

     (2) The payment agency must clearly post and maintain regular business hours and may be supported by the same personnel as the business office or customer service center. It must not assess a charge from the applicant or customer for processing a transaction. Companies may not contract with a payment agent that charges a fee, surcharge, or any other similar charge to customers for the provided services and transactions required by subsection (1) of this section. Companies may contract with additional payment agents to process required transactions and may permit those additional agents to charge customers not more than $1.00 for processing a transaction.

     (3) A LEC may request a waiver of subsection (1) of this section. At a minimum, as a condition for waiver, the petitioner must demonstrate that applicants and customers have a reasonable opportunity to make cash and urgent payments.

     (4) At least thirty days before a planned closure of any payment agency, business office, or customer service center that accepts cash and urgent payments and does not charge a fee for processing bill payments, a LEC must provide the commission, in writing, the exchange(s) and communities affected by the closing, the date of the closing, a list of other methods and locations available for making cash and urgent payments, and a list of other methods and locations for obtaining business office and customer service center services.

     A LEC may not close a payment location under this subsection until alternatives for making cash and urgent payments have been provided to affected customers.

     (5) When a LEC is made aware of the fact that a payment agency that does not charge a fee for processing bill payments has either closed without company knowledge or is refusing to accept company payments, it must provide alternatives for making cash and urgent payments until a replacement station has been established. The LEC must establish a replacement station within the same geographic area within sixty days. If it is unable to do so, it must advise the commission of its efforts and progress to date every thirty days thereafter until a replacement is established.

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For example:

(Cost of Service)
	X	(Number of days or portions of days without service) = Pro Rata Credit
(Thirty)

Pro rata credits are not required when force majeure, customer premises equipment, or inside wiring is the proximate cause for the unavailability of a service. If a company provides a credit amount for unavailable service that is equal to or greater than the credit amount required by this rule, the amount of credit required by this rule need not be provided.

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     (2) When a company receives an oral or written complaint from an applicant or customer regarding its service or regarding another company's service for which it provides billing, collection, or responses to inquiries, the company must acknowledge the complaint as follows:

     (a) Provide the name of the company's contact to the complainant;

     (b) Investigate the complaint promptly;

     (c) Report the results of the investigation to the complainant;

     (d) Take corrective action, if warranted, as soon as appropriate under the circumstances;

     (e) Inform the complainant that the decision may be appealed to a supervisor at the company; and

     (f) Inform the complainant, if still dissatisfied after speaking to a supervisor, of the right to file a complaint with the commission and provide the commission address and toll-free telephone number.

     (2) When a company receives a complaint from an applicant or customer regarding another company's service for which it provides only billing service, the company must provide the complainant a toll-free number to reach the appropriate office for the other company that is authorized to investigate and take corrective action to resolve the dispute or complaint.

     (3) The company must insure that records and information about complaints and disputes are used only for the purposes of resolving the complaint or dispute and improving service and practices.

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     Reviser's note: The typographical error in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.
NEW SECTION
WAC 480-120-166   Commission-referred complaints.   (1) Each company must keep a record of all complaints concerning service or rates for at least three years and, on request, make them readily available for commission review. The records must contain complainant's name and address, date and the nature of the complaint, action taken, and final result.

     (2) Each company must have personnel available during regular business days to respond to commission staff.

     (3) Applicants, customers, or their authorized representatives, may file with the commission an informal complaint as described in WAC 480-09-150 or a formal complaint against a company when there are alleged violations of statutes, administrative rules, or tariffs as provided by WAC 480-09-420 and 480-09-500.

     (4) When the commission staff refers an informal complaint to a company, the company must:

     (a) Stop any pending action involving the issues raised in the complaint provided any amounts not in dispute are paid when due (e.g., if the complaint involves a disconnect threat or collection action, the disconnect or collection must be stopped);

     (b) Thoroughly investigate all issues raised in the complaint and provide a complete report of the results of its investigation to the commission, including, if applicable, information that demonstrates that the company's action was in compliance with commission rules; and

     (c) Take corrective action, if warranted, as soon as appropriate under the circumstances.

     (5) Commission staff will ask the customer filing the informal complaint whether the customer wishes to speak directly to the company during the course of the complaint, and will relay the customer's preference to the company at the time staff opens the complaint.

     (6) The company must report the results of its investigation of service-affecting informal complaints to commission staff within two business days from the date commission staff passes the complaint to the company. Service-affecting complaints include, but are not limited to, nonfunctioning or impaired services (i.e., disconnected services or those not functioning properly).

     (7) The company must report the results of its investigation of nonservice-affecting informal complaints to commission staff within five business days from the date commission staff passes the complaint to the company. Nonservice-affecting complaints include, but are not limited to, billing disputes and rate quotes.

     (8) Unless another time is specified in this rule or unless commission staff specifies a later date, the company must provide complete responses to requests from commission staff for additional information on pending informal complaints within three business days.

     (9) The company must keep commission staff informed when relevant changes occur in what has been previously communicated to the commission and when there is final resolution of the informal complaint.

     (10) An informal complaint opened with the company by commission staff may not be considered closed until commission staff informs the company that the complaint is closed.

     (11) The company must provide information requested by staff regarding any informal complaint in accordance with subsections (6) and (7) of this section until such time as staff informs the company that the complaint is closed.

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     Once the commission has contacted the companies, the companies must confer with each other within three business days and determine which company will take the lead responsibility to resolve the customer's problem. The company accepting lead responsibility must contact the commission and begin resolution of the problem on the first business day following the three business days allotted by this subsection for a conference between the companies.

     Companies must confer, allocate responsibility between the companies, and the company with lead responsibility must contact the commission, as required by this section. After conferring, if the companies cannot resolve the matter and neither one will accept the lead, each company must contact the commission and report the status of the dispute within five days of the date commission staff contacted the companies. The report must contain detailed explanations of the company's position.

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     (2) A company must stop a customer's monthly recurring or minimum charges effective on the requested discontinuation date. The customer may be held responsible for use charges incurred after the requested discontinuation date when the company can prove that the calls were made or authorized by the customer of record. This section does not preclude a company from collecting minimum service commitment penalties when a customer disconnects service prior to fulfilling the tariff, price list, or contract commitment.

     (3) The company must discontinue service as follows:

     (a) For services that do not require a field visit, the company must discontinue service not later than one business day from the date requested by the customer; and

     (b) For services that require a premises visit to complete the request, the company must disconnect service no later than two business days from the date requested by the customer.

     (4) When a customer directs the local exchange company (LEC) to discontinue service, the LEC must either notify the customer's presubscribed interLATA and intraLATA toll carriers of the discontinuation or inform the customer that it is the customer's obligation to contact those carriers directly.

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     (a) Tampering with the company's property;

     (b) Using service through an illegal connection;

     (c) Unlawfully using service or using service for unlawful purposes; or

     (d) Obtaining service in another false or deceptive manner.

     (2)(a) A company may discontinue service without notice or without further notice when after conducting a thorough investigation, it determines the customer has:

     (i) Vacated the premises without informing the company;

     (ii) Paid a delinquent balance in response to a delinquency notice as described in subsection (7) of this section with a check or electronic payment that is subsequently dishonored by the bank or other financial institution; or

     (iii) Failed to keep payment arrangements agreed upon in response to a delinquency notice as described in subsection (7) of this section.

     (b) The company must restore service once the customer has corrected the reason for discontinuance as described in subsection (2)(a) of this section.

     (c) The company may require a deposit from a customer that it has disconnected due to the reasons described in subsection (2)(a) of this section.

     (3) A company may discontinue service after providing proper notice, or may issue a discontinuation notice, if, and only if, in one or more of the following circumstances:

     (a) The company determines the customer has violated a rule, statute, service agreement, filed tariff, or price list;

     (b) The company determines the customer has used customer-owned equipment that adversely affects the company's service to its other customers;

     (c) The company determines the customer has not paid regulated charges or has not paid a deposit as provided in the tariff or price list of the company or another company with which it has a billing and collection agreement, except for nonpayment of charges incurred from information delivery services as provided for in WAC 480-120-254 or disputed third party-billed charges;

     (d) The company is unable to substantiate the identity of the individual requesting service:

     (i) Companies must allow the applicant to substantiate identity with one piece of identification chosen from a list, provided by the company, of at least four sources of identification. The list must include a current driver's license or other picture identification;

     (ii) Company business offices and payment agencies, required under WAC 480-120-132 and 480-120-162, must provide a means for applicants to provide identification at no charge to the applicant;

     (e) The company determines the customer has received service from the company by providing false information, including false statements of credit references or employment, false statement of premises address, use of an alias or false name with intent to deceive, or rotation of service among roommates or persons living together for the purpose of avoiding the debts of one or more persons;

     (f) The company determines the customer is receiving service at an address where a former customer is known to reside with an overdue, unpaid prior obligation to the same company for the same class of service at that address and there is evidence that the applicant lived at the address while the overdue, unpaid prior obligation was incurred and helped incur the obligations. However, a company may not deny service if a former customer with an overdue, unpaid prior obligation has permanently vacated the address.

     (4) Except as provided in subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section, a company may discontinue or restrict services only under the following circumstances:

     (a) A company may discontinue basic service only for nonpayment of basic service charges;

     (b) A company may discontinue ancillary services only for nonpayment of ancillary charges or if the company properly discontinues basic service;

     (c) A company may discontinue interexchange access only for nonpayment of interexchange charges or if the company properly discontinues basic service:

     (i) At its discretion, the company may permit access to toll-free numbers while a customer's interexchange access service is discontinued or restricted;

     (ii) The company may not charge fees for toll restriction when it has discontinued or restricted the customer's interexchange access service under this section;

     (d) Companies may not shift a rate plan as a discontinuation method.

     (5) When a company discontinues service to a customer, it must also discontinue billing for service as of the date of the discontinuation.

     (6) Medical emergencies.

     (a) When a local exchange company (LEC) has cause to discontinue residential basic service or has discontinued service, it must postpone total service discontinuation or reinstate toll-restricted basic service that permits both making and receiving calls and access to E911 for a grace period of five business days after receiving either oral or written notice of the existence of a medical emergency, as described in (b) of this subsection. The LEC must reinstate service during the same day if the customer contacts the LEC prior to the close of the business day and requests a same-day reconnection. Otherwise, the LEC must restore service by 12:00 p.m. the next business day. When service is reinstated, the LEC cannot require payment of a reconnection charge or deposit before reinstating service but may bill the charges at a later date.

     (b) The LEC may require that the customer submit written certification from a qualified medical professional, within five business days, stating that the discontinuation of basic service or restricted basic service would endanger the physical health of a resident of the household. "Qualified medical professional" means a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant authorized to diagnose and treat the medical condition without supervision of a physician. Nothing in this subsection precludes a company from accepting other forms of certification, but the maximum the company can require is written certification. If the company requires written certification, it may not require more than the following information:

     (i) The address of the residence;

     (ii) An explanation of how discontinuation of basic service or restricted basic service would endanger the physical health of the resident;

     (iii) A statement of how long the condition is expected to last; and

     (iv) The title, signature, and telephone number of the person certifying the condition.

     (c) The medical certification is valid only for the length of time the medical professional certifies the resident's health would be endangered, but no longer than ninety days unless renewed.

     (d) A medical emergency does not excuse a customer from paying delinquent and ongoing charges. The company may require that, within the five-day grace period, the customer pay a minimum of twenty-five percent of the delinquent basic service balance or ten dollars, whichever is greater, and enter into an agreement to pay the remaining delinquent basic service balance within ninety days, and agree to pay subsequent bills when due.

     Nothing in this subsection precludes the company from agreeing to an alternate payment plan, but the company must not require the customer to pay more than this section prescribes and must send a notice to the customer confirming the payment arrangements within two business days.

     (e) The company may discontinue basic service or restrict basic service without further notice if, within the five-day grace period, the customer fails to provide an acceptable medical certificate or pay the amount required under (d) of this subsection. The company may discontinue basic service or restrict basic service, without further notice, if the customer fails to abide by the terms of the payment agreement.

     (f) The company must ensure that the records of medical emergencies are used or disclosed only for the purposes provided for in this section.

     (7) Discontinuation notice requirements. The company must provide the customer notice before discontinuing service except as described in subsection (1) of this section, as follows:

     (a) Each company must provide a written discontinuation notice to the customer either by first class mail, personal delivery to the customer's service address, or electronically delivered when the company has the technical capability and the customer consents to this delivery method. A company must provide delivered notice by handing the notice to a person of apparent competence in the residence; to a person employed at the place of business of the customer if it is a business account; or attached to the primary door of the residential unit or business office where service is provided if no person is available to receive notice. A company must include the following information, at a minimum, in a discontinuation notice:

     (i) A discontinuation date that is not less than eight business days after the date the notice is mailed, transmitted electronically, or personally delivered;

     (ii) The amount(s) owing for the service(s) that is subject to discontinuation or restriction;

     (iii) A statement that clearly indicates the amount a customer must pay to maintain basic service or restricted basic service, regardless of the full amount owed by the customer;

     (iv) Instructions on how to correct the problem to avoid the discontinuation;

     (v) Information about any discontinuation or restoration charges that may be assessed;

     (vi) Information about how a customer can avoid disconnection under the medical emergency rules described in subsection (6) of this section; and

     (vii) The company's name, address, toll-free number, and TTY number where the customer may contact the company to discuss the pending discontinuation of service.

     (b) If the company discovers that the information provided on the notice failed to meet the requirements of (a) of this subsection, or if it discovers it provided incorrect information on the notice, the company must restore service and issue a second notice with accurate information as described in this section.

     (c) If the company has not discontinued service within ten business days of the first day the discontinuation may be implemented, the discontinuation notice is void, unless the customer and the company have entered into a mutually acceptable payment agreement with payment dates that exceed the ten-day period. Upon a void notice, the company must provide a new discontinuation notice to the customer if it intends to discontinue service at a later date.

     (8) In addition to the notice required in subsection (7) of this section, a company must attempt to make personal contact with a customer prior to discontinuing service. Any of the following methods will satisfy the personal contact requirement:

     (a) Delivered notice. A company must provide delivered notice handing the notice to a person of apparent competence in the residence; to a person employed at the place of business of the customer if it is a business account; or attached to the primary door of the residential unit or business office where service is provided if no person is available to receive notice. The notice must state a scheduled discontinuation date that is not earlier than 5:00 p.m. of the next business day after the date of delivery;

     (b) Electronically issued notice. If the company has the technical capability to provide electronic notice and the customer has agreed to receive notice in electronic form, the notice sent by the company must state a scheduled discontinuation date that is not earlier than 5:00 p.m. of the second business day after the date of delivery;

     (c) Mailed notice. The notice mailed by the company may not include a scheduled discontinuation date that is earlier than 5:00 p.m. of the third business day after the date of mailing. The date of mailing is not the first day of the notice period; or

     (d) Telephone notice. The company must attempt at least two times to contact the customer during regular business hours. If the company is unable to reach the customer on the first attempt, the company must attempt to contact the customer using any business or message number provided by the customer as a contact number. The company must keep a log or record of the calls for a minimum of ninety calendar days showing the telephone number called, the time of the call, and details of the results of each attempted call.

     (e) A company need not attempt personal contact as provided for in (a) through (d) of this subsection when the company has had cause, in any two previous billing periods during a consecutive twelve-month period, to attempt such contact and the company has notified the customer in writing that such contact will not be attempted in the future before effecting a discontinuation of services.

     (9) Except in case of danger to life or property, companies may not discontinue service on days that it is not fully staffed to discuss discontinuation and reestablish service to the customer on the same or the following day.

     (10) When the company has reasonable grounds to believe that service is to other than the party of record, the company must take reasonable efforts to inform the occupants at the service address of the impending discontinuation. Upon request of one or more service users, the company must allow a minimum period of five business days to permit the service user to arrange for continued service.

     The company is not required to allow the additional five days when a thorough investigation indicates there is deceptive activity at the service address.

     (11) LECs must provide notice of pending local service discontinuation to the secretary, Washington state department of social and health services, and to the customer, where it provides service to a facility with resident patients including, but not limited to, hospitals, medical clinics, or nursing homes. Upon request from the secretary or a designee, the company must allow a delay in discontinuation of no less than five business days from the date of notice so that the department may take whatever steps are necessary in its view to protect the interests of patients living within the facilities.

     (12) Remedy and appeals. The company must not discontinue or restrict service while a customer is pursuing any remedy or appeal provided for by these rules, if the customer pays any amounts not in dispute when due and the customer corrects any conditions posing a danger to health, safety, or property. The company must inform the customer of these provisions when the customer is referred to a company's supervisor or the commission.

     During a dispute a company may, upon authorization from commission staff, discontinue service when a customer's toll charges substantially exceed the amount of any deposit or customary use and it appears the customer may incur excessive, uncollectible toll charges while an appeal is being pursued. A customer whose service is subject to discontinuation may maintain service pending resolution of any dispute upon payment of outstanding toll charges subject to refund if the dispute is resolved in the customer's favor.

     (13) Payment at a payment agency. Payment of any past-due amounts to a designated payment agency of the company constitutes payment to the company when the customer informs the company of the payment and the company verifies the payment.

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     (a) The causes of discontinuation not related to a delinquent balance have been removed or corrected. In the case of deceptive practices as described in WAC 480-120-172 (1)(a), this means the customer has corrected the deceptive practice and has paid the estimated amount of service that was taken through deceptive means, all costs resulting from the deceptive use, any applicable deposit, and any delinquent balance owed to the company by that customer for the same class of service. A company may require a deposit from a customer that has obtained service in a deceptive manner as described in WAC 480-120-172 (1)(a). A company is not required to allow six-month arrangements on a delinquent balance as provided for in WAC 480-120-061(7) when it can demonstrate that a customer obtained service through deceptive means in order to avoid payment of a delinquent amount owed to that company;

     (b) Payment or satisfactory arrangements for payment of all proper charges due from the applicant, including any proper deposit and reconnection fee, have been made. Applicants or customers, excluding telecommunications companies as defined in RCW 80.04.010, are entitled to, and a company must allow, an initial use, and then, once every five years dating from the customer's most recent use of the option, an option to pay a prior obligation over not less than a six-month period. The company must restore service upon payment of the first installment if an applicant is entitled to the payment arrangement provided for in this section and, if applicable, the first half of a deposit is paid as provided for in WAC 480-120-122; or

     (c) The commission staff directs restoration pending resolution of any dispute between the company and the applicant or customer over the propriety of discontinuation.

     (2) After the customer notifies the company that the causes for discontinuation have been corrected, and the company has verified the correction, the company must restore service(s) within the following periods:

     (a) Service(s) that do not require a premises visit for reconnection must be restored within one business day; and

     (b) Service(s) that requires a premises visit for reconnection must be restored within two business days. Companies must offer customers a four-hour window during which the company will arrive to complete the restoration.

     (c) For purposes of this section Saturdays are considered business days.

     (3) A company may refuse to restore service to a customer who has been discontinued twice for deceptive practices as described in WAC 480-120-172 (1)(a) for a period of five years from the date of the second disconnection, subject to petition by the customer to the commission for an order requiring restoration of service based on good cause.

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     (2) In the event a customer receiving service under this section fails to make a timely payment for either monthly basic service or for unpaid basic service or ancillary service, the company may discontinue service pursuant to WAC 480-120-172.

     (3) Nothing in this rule precludes the company from entering into separate payment arrangements with any customer for unpaid toll charges.

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     (2) Any residential customer may request from the LEC a dual-name primary directory listing that contains, in addition to the customer's surname, the customer's given name or initials (or combination thereof) and either one other person with the same surname who resides at the same address or a second name, other than surname, by which the customer is also known, including the married name of a person whose spouse is deceased.

     (3) A LEC must provide each customer a copy of the directory for the customer's local exchange area. If the directory provided for in subsection (1) of this section does not include the published listing of all exchanges within the customer's local calling area, the LEC must, upon request, provide at no charge a copy of the directory or directories that contain the published listing for the entire local calling area.

     (4) Telephone directories published at the direction of a LEC must be revised at least once every fifteen months, except when it is known that impending service changes require rescheduling of directory revision dates. To keep directories correct and up to date, companies may revise the directories more often than specified.

     (5) Each LEC that publishes a directory, or contracts for the publication of a directory, must print an informational listing (LEC name and telephone number) when one is requested by any other LEC providing service in the area covered by the directory. The LEC to whom the request is made may impose reasonable requirements on the timing and format of informational listings, provided that these requirements do not discriminate between LECs.

     (6) Telephone directories published at the direction of the LEC must include a consumer information guide that details the rights and responsibilities of its customer. The guide must describe the:

     (a) Process for establishing credit and determining the need and amount for deposits;

     (b) Procedure by which a bill becomes delinquent;

     (c) Steps that must be taken by the company to disconnect service;

     (d) Washington telephone assistance program (WTAP);

     (e) Federal enhanced tribal lifeline program, if applicable; and

     (f) Right of the customer to pursue any dispute with the company, including the appropriate procedures within the company and then to the commission by informal or formal complaint.

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     (2) Company-directed telephone number change. When a company must change a customer's telephone number, for any reason after a directory is published, and the change is made at the LEC's direction, the LEC must, at no charge, intercept all calls to the former number, if existing central office equipment will permit, for the shorter of thirty days or until a new directory is published that reflects the customer's new number. During that period, the company must provide a calling party the new number for that customer unless the customer has requested that such referral not be made.

     (3) Number changes related to changes in service. When a company must change a telephone number to complete a move, change, addition, or deletion of service, except as provided for in this subsection, the LEC must intercept all calls to the former number at no charge, if existing central office equipment will permit, for a minimum period of thirty days or until a new directory is published. The company must provide a calling party the new number for that customer unless the customer has requested that such referral not be made.

     Companies are not required to provide intercept service at no charge when the change is requested by a customer at the customer's existing address for reasons other than harassing or misdirected calls.

     (4) A company may provide and may bill for intercept services, other than those described in subsections (1) through (3) of this section, that are requested by the customer.

     (5) When the company schedules additions or changes to plant or records that necessitate a large group of number changes that are not addressed by a specific commission order, the company must give a minimum of six months' notice to all customers then of record and so affected even though the additions or changes may coincide with a new directory being issued.

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     (2) "Commercial solicitation" means an unsolicited initiation of a telephone conversation for the purpose of encouraging a person to purchase property, goods, or services.

     (3) This rule regulates the use of ADADs for purposes other than commercial solicitation. RCW 80.36.400 prohibits the use of an ADAD for purposes of commercial solicitation intended to be received by telephone customers within the state.

     (4) This rule does not apply to the use of ADADs by government agencies to deliver messages in emergency situations.

     (5) Except for emergency notification as provided for in subsection (6) of this section, an ADAD may be used for calls to telephone customers within the state only if:

     (a) The recorded message states the nature of the call, identifies the individual, business, group, or organization for whom the call is being made, and telephone number to which a return call can be placed; and

     (b) It automatically disconnects the telephone connection within two seconds after the called party hangs up the receiver.

     (c) The ADAD does not dial unlisted telephone numbers (except as provided in this subsection), designated public service emergency telephone numbers as listed in published telephone directories, or any telephone number before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. An ADAD may dial an unlisted number if the ADAD is being used to deliver the name, telephone number, or brief message of a calling party to a called party when the called party's line was busy or did not answer.

     (6) An emergency ADAD may be connected to the telephone network and used only if:

     (a) The ADAD contains sensors that will react only to a steady tone of at least four seconds duration, broadcasts only on frequencies allocated by the FCC for emergency services, and is designed to prevent accidental triggering of emergency calls;

     (b) The ADAD provides some audible tone or message that alerts the user that the device has been activated and will automatically dial the preprogrammed emergency number unless manually deactivated within thirty to forty-five seconds;

     (c) The ADAD provides for disconnection within two seconds when the called party performs a predetermined function;

     (d) The ADAD satisfies applicable state safety requirements; and

     (e) The user registers the instrument with, and receives written approval for, its use from the emergency service entity to which an automatic call would be directed, secures from such entity an approved telephone number or numbers to be programmed into the instrument, and does not program the instrument to dial unlisted numbers, law enforcement numbers, or E911 emergency response numbers.

     (7) Before any ADAD may be operated while connected to the telephone network, the potential ADAD user, unless it is a facilities-based LEC using its own facilities, must notify, in writing, the LEC whose facilities will be used to originate calls. The notice must include the intended use of the ADAD equipment, the calendar days and clock hours during which the ADADs will be used, an estimate of the expected traffic volume in terms of message attempts per hour and average length of completed message, and written certification that the equipment can effectively preclude calls to unlisted telephone numbers, designated public service emergency numbers, or any number or series of numbers on a list of telephone customers that may be in the future designated by tariff, regulation, or statute, as customers who are not to receive ADAD calls.

     (a) The ADAD user must notify the LEC in writing within thirty days of any changes in the ADAD operation that would result in either an increase or decrease in traffic volume.

     (b) For new applications for ADADs, the LEC must review the statement of intended use of ADAD equipment to determine whether there is a reasonable probability that use of the equipment will overload its facilities and may refuse to provide connections for the ADADs or may provide them subject to conditions necessary to prevent an overload.

     (8) A LEC may suspend or terminate service to an ADAD user if the LEC determines that the volume of calling originated by the ADAD is degrading the service furnished to others. The LEC must provide at least five days' notice before suspending or terminating service, unless the ADAD creates an overload in the LEC's switching office, in which case it may terminate service immediately, with no prior notice.

     (9) If a LEC learns that a customer is using an ADAD in violation of the provisions of this rule, the LEC must suspend or terminate the service of any ADAD user five days after the ADAD user receives a termination notice or immediately, with no prior notice, if use of the ADAD creates overloading in a LEC's switching office.

     (10) Each LEC must maintain records of any ADAD equipment a user reports to the LEC as being connected to its facilities. If requested by the commission, the LEC must provide the name of the individual business, group, or organization using the ADAD, their address, and the telephone number or numbers associated with the ADAD.

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     (2) For purposes of this section, "telephone solicitation" means the unsolicited initiation of a telephone call by a commercial or nonprofit company to a residential customer for the purpose of encouraging that person to purchase property, goods, or services or soliciting donations of money, property, goods, or services. "Telephone solicitation" does not include:

     (a) Calls made in response to a request or inquiry by the called party. This includes calls regarding an item that has been purchased by the called party from the company or organization during a period not longer than twelve months prior to the telephone contact;

     (b) Calls made by a not-for-profit organization to its own list of bona fide or active members of the organization;

     (c) Calls limited to polling or soliciting the expression of ideas, opinions, or votes; or

     (d) Business-to-business contacts.

     (3) Each LEC must provide notice by annual bill inserts mailed to its residential customers or by conspicuous publication of the notice in the consumer information pages of its directories that clearly informs customers, at a minimum, of at least the following rights under the law:

     (a) Within the first thirty seconds, solicitors must identify themselves, the company or organization on whose behalf the call is being made, and the purpose of the call;

     (b) Under Washington law residential customers have the right to keep telephone solicitors from calling back. If, at any time during the conversation, the customer requests to not be called again and to have the customer's name and telephone number removed from the calling list used by the company or organization making the telephone solicitation, the then:

     The company or organization must not allow a solicitor to call the customer on its behalf for at least one year; and

     (c) Companies. The company or organizations must not sell or give the customer's name and or telephone number to another company or organization; and

     (d) The office of the attorney general is authorized to enforce this law. In addition, individuals may sue the solicitor for a minimum of one hundred dollars per violation. If the lawsuit is successful, the individual may also recover court and attorney's fees.

     (i) To file a complaint, or request more information on the law, the customer may write to the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General's Office at 900 Fourth Ave., Suite 2000, Seattle, Washington 98164-1012 or by email at protect@atg.wa.gov. Consumers may also call the division weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at 1-800-551-4636.

     (ii) When the customer files a complaint, the customer should include the name and address of the individual, business, group, or organization, the time the calls were received, the nature of the calls, and any additional information available.

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     "Information-delivery services" means telephone recorded messages, interactive programs, or other information services that are provided for a charge to a caller through an exclusive telephone number prefix.

     "Information provider" means the persons or corporations that provide the information, prerecorded message, or interactive program for the information-delivery service.

     "Interactive program" means a program that allows a caller, once connected to the information provider's announcement machine, to access additional information by using the caller's telephone.

     (2) Local exchange companies (LECs) offering access to information-delivery services must provide each residential customer the opportunity to block access to all information delivery services offered by that company. Companies must fulfill an initial request for blocking free of charge. Companies may charge a tariffed or price listed fee for subsequent blocking requests (i.e., if a customer has unblocked his or her access).

     (3) The LEC must inform residential customers of the blocking service through a single-topic bill insert and publication of a notice in a conspicuous location in the consumer information pages of the local white pages telephone directory. The LEC must include in the notice and bill insert the residential customers' rights under the law, the definition of "information delivery services" as defined in subsection (1) of this section, and a statement that these services often are called "900" numbers. The LEC must include notice that customers have the right under Washington law to request free blocking of access to information-delivery services on their residential telephone lines, that blocking will prevent access to information-delivery services from their residential telephone line, that customers may request free blocking of access to information-delivery services on their residential telephone lines by calling the LEC at a specified telephone number, that the Washington utilities and transportation commission is authorized under RCW 80.36.500 to enforce this law, and that customers may contact the commission for further information. The LEC must include the commission's address, toll-free telephone number, and website:

     Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission

     Consumer Affairs Section

     1300 South Evergreen Park Drive, SW

     P.O. Box 47250

     Olympia, WA 98504-7250

     1-800-562-6150

     www.wutc.wa.gov

     (4) Any company that provides billing, customer service, or collection services for an information provider must require, as a part of its contract for that service, that the information provider include in any advertising or promotion a prominent statement of the cost to the customer of the information service.

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     (a) When the service is requested at the time an access line is connected;

     (b) The first time the service is added to an access line; or

     (c) The first time the service is removed from an access line.

     (2) At least ninety days before offering caller identification services the company must send notice to its customers. The notice must explain caller identification per call blocking, caller identification line blocking, a customer's right to have the numbers blocked one-time free of charge, and an explanation that call blocking does not apply to the delivery of caller numbers, name, or locations to a 911 or enhanced 911 service, other emergency service, or a customer-originated trace. The notice must include an explanation that call blocking will not work on all services, including, but not limited to, 800 and 900 numbers, long distance, and primary rate interface service.

     For purposes of this section, "primary rate interface services" means an ISDN service that uses a digital rate of one thousand five hundred forty-four Mbits per second, whether used like business trunks for digital PBXs with up to twenty-four circuits at a rate of sixty-four kbits per second per circuit, or used as a single circuit at the DS1 rate. A company may offer caller identification service if the company complies with this section.

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     (a) The circuit is carried by a transmission system (e.g., T-1 carrier) that is equipped with one or more alarms to detect loss of signal continuity;

     (b) The circuit is equipped with one or more alarms to detect loss of signal continuity; or

     (c) The circuit is automatically tested for signal continuity at least once every twenty-four hours.

     (2) Any dedicated 911 circuit found to be defective must be immediately reported to the primary public safety answering point (PSAP) manager, and repairs must be undertaken promptly and pursued diligently by the company that has responsibility for operating or maintaining the circuit, or both. Companies are not required to repair any portion of any dedicated 911 circuit that they do not own, operate, or maintain.

     (3) Each company must ensure that all dedicated 911 circuits and associated electronic equipment serving governmental emergency response agencies are clearly identified in the central office and the remote switch.

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     (2) Each operator service provider must develop procedures its employees must follow to provide operator assistance to customers, ensure that when automated operator services are provided by it, customers can access a live operator, ensure that call timing for operator-assisted calls provided by its operators is accurately recorded, and ensure that its operators receiving 0- and E911 calls are capable of routing calls in a manner that will allow access to the proper local emergency service agency and connecting calls twenty-four hours a day.

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     "Consumer" means the party paying for a call using operator services. For collect calls, a consumer is both the originating party and the party who receives the call.

     "Customer" means the call aggregator or pay phone service provider (PSP) contracting with an operator service provider (OSP) for service, such as hotel, motel, hospital, correctional facility, prison, campus, or similar entity.

     "Operator service provider (OSP)" means any corporation, company, partnership, or person providing a connection to intrastate or interstate long-distance or to local services from locations of call aggregators.

     "Operator services" means any telecommunications service provided to a call aggregator location that includes automated or live assistance to customers in billing or completing (or both) telephone calls, other than those billed to the number from which the call originated or those completed through an access code used to bill a customer's account previously established with the company.

     This section applies to OSPs providing operator services from pay phones and other call aggregator locations. Each OSP must maintain a current list of the customers it serves in Washington and the locations and telephone numbers where the service is provided.

     (2) Posted disclosure. OSPs must post clearly, legibly, and unobstructed, on or near the front of the pay phone the presubscribed OSP's name, address, and toll-free number, as registered with the commission. This information must be updated within thirty days after a change of OSPs. OSPs must post a notice to consumers that they can access other long distance companies and, in contrasting colors, the commission compliance number for consumer complaints and the following information:

"If you have a complaint about service from this pay phone and are unable to resolve it by calling the repair or refund number or operator, please call the commission at 1-888-333-WUTC (9882)."

     (3) Oral disclosure of rates. This subsection applies to all calls from pay phones or other call aggregator locations, including, but not limited to, prison phones and store-and-forward pay phones or "smart" phones. When a collect call is placed, both the consumer placing the call and the consumer receiving the call must be given the rate quote options required by this section.

     (a) Oral rate disclosure message required. Before an operator-assisted call from a call aggregator location can be connected by an OSP (whether by a presubscribed or other provider), the OSP must first provide an oral rate disclosure message to the consumer. If the charges to the consumer do not exceed the benchmark rate in (f) of this subsection, the oral rate disclosure message must comply with the requirements of (b) of this subsection. In all other instances, the oral rate disclosure message must comply with the requirements of (c) of this subsection.

     (b) Rate disclosure method when charges do not exceed benchmark. The oral rate disclosure message must state that the consumer may receive a rate quote and explain the method of obtaining the quote. The method of obtaining the quote may be by pressing a specific key or keys, but no more than two keys, or by staying on the line. If the consumer follows the directions to obtain the rate quote, the OSP must state all rates and charges that will apply if the consumer completes the call.

     (c) Rate disclosure method when rates exceed benchmark. The oral rate disclosure message must state all rates and charges that will apply if the consumer completes the call.

     (d) Charge must not exceed rate quote. If the OSP provides a rate quote pursuant to either (b) or (c) of this subsection, the charges to the user must not exceed the quoted rate. If a consumer complains to the commission that the charges exceeded the quoted rate, and the consumer states the exact amount of the quote, there will be a rebuttable presumption that the quote provided by the complaining consumer was the quote received by the consumer at the time the call was placed or accepted.

     (e) Completion of call. Following the consumer's response to any of the above, the OSP must provide oral information advising that the consumer may complete the call by entering the consumer's calling card number.

     (f) Benchmark rates. An OSP's charges for a particular call exceed the benchmark rate if the sum of all charges, other than taxes and fees required by law to be assessed directly on the consumer, would exceed, for any duration of the call, the sum of fifty cents multiplied by the duration of the call in minutes plus fifty cents. For example, an OSP's charges would exceed the benchmark rate if any of these conditions were true:

     (i) Charges for a one-minute call exceeded one dollar;

     (ii) Charges for a five-minute call exceeded three dollars; or

     (iii) Charges for a ten-minute call exceeded five dollars and fifty cents.

     (4) Access. Pay phones must provide access to the services identified in WAC 480-120-263(3).

     (5) Branding. The OSP must identify audibly and distinctly the OSP providing the service at the beginning of every call, including an announcement to the called party on collect calls. The OSP must ensure that the call begins no later than immediately following the prompt to enter billing information on automated calls and on live and automated operator calls, when the call is initially routed to the operator. The OSP must state the name of the company as registered with the commission (or its registered "doing business as" name) whenever referring to the OSP. When not necessary to identify clearly the OSP, the company may omit terms such as "company," "communications," "incorporated," or "of the Northwest."

     (6) Billing. The OSP must provide to the billing company applicable call detail necessary for billing purposes and an address and toll-free number for consumer inquiries. The OSP must ensure that consumers are not billed for calls that are not completed. For billing purposes calls must be itemized, identified, and rated from the point of origination to the point of termination. An OSP may not transfer a call to another company unless the call can be billed from the point of origin. The OSP must provide specific call detail upon request, in accordance with WAC 480-120-161 (Form of bills). Charges billed to a credit card need not conform to the call detail requirements of that section.

     (7) Operational capabilities. The OSP must answer at least ninety percent of all calls within ten seconds of the time the call reaches the company's switch. The OSP must maintain adequate facilities in all locations so the overall blockage rate for lack of facilities, including the facilities for access to consumers' preferred interexchange companies, does not exceed one percent in the time-consistent busy hour. Should excessive blockage occur, the OSP must determine what caused the blockage and take immediate steps to correct the problem. The OSP must reoriginate calls to another company upon request and without charge when technically able to accomplish reorigination with screening and allow billing from the point of origin of the call. If reorigination is not available, the OSP must provide dialing instructions for the consumer's preferred company.

     (8) Emergency calls. For purposes of emergency calls, every OSP must be able to transfer the caller into the appropriate E911 system and to the public safety answering point (PSAP) serving the location of the caller with a single keystroke from the operator's console, to include automatic identification of the exact location and address from which the call is being made. The OSP must be able to stay on the line with the emergency call until the PSAP representative advises the operator that they are no longer required to stay on the call. The OSP must provide a toll-free number for direct access to PSAPs should additional information be needed when responding to a call for assistance from a phone using the provider's services. That emergency contact information must not be considered proprietary.

     (9) Fraud protection.

     (a) A company may not bill a call aggregator for:

     (i) Charges billed to a line for originating calls using company access codes, toll-free access codes, or originating calls that otherwise reach an operator position if the originating line subscribed to outgoing call screening or pay phone specific ANI coding digits and the call was placed after the effective date of the outgoing call screening or pay phone specific ANI coding digits order; or

     (ii) Collect or third-number-billed calls if the line serving the call that was billed had subscribed to incoming call screening (also termed "billed number screening") and if the call was placed after the effective date of the call screening service order.

     (b) The access line provider must remove from the call aggregator's bill any calls billed through the access line provider in violation of this subsection. If investigation by the access line provider determines that the pertinent call screening or pay phone specific ANI coding digits was operational when the call was made, the access line provider may return the charges for the call to the company as not billable.

     (c) Any call billed directly by an OSP, or through a billing method other than the access line provider, which is billed in violation of this subsection, must be removed from the call aggregator's bill. The company providing the service may request an investigation by the access line provider. If the access line provider determines that call screening or pay phone specific ANI coding digits (which would have prevented the call) was subscribed to by the call aggregator and was not operational at the time the call was placed, the OSP must bill the access line provider for the call.

     (10) Suspension. The commission may suspend the registration of any company providing operator services if the company fails to meet minimum service levels or to provide disclosure to consumers of protection available under chapter 80.36 RCW and pertinent rules.

     Except as required by federal law, no provider of pay phone access line service may provide service to any OSP whose registration is suspended.

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     (2) Registration and application of rules.

     (a) PSPs operating a pay phone within the state of Washington must register by:

     (i) Submitting a master business application to the master license service, department of licensing; and

     (ii) Obtaining a unified business identifier (UBI) number. A PSP that already has a UBI number need not reapply.

     (b) Except where pay phone services or PSPs are specifically referenced, the rules of general applicability to public service companies or telecommunications companies do not apply to pay phone services. This does not exempt PSPs from rules applicable to complaints and disputes (WAC 480-120-165), or remedies or sanctions for violations of rules applicable to PSP operations.

     (3) Access. At no charge to the calling party, pay phones must provide access to:

     (a) Dial tone;

     (b) Emergency services by dialing 911 without the use of a coin or entering charge codes;

     (c) Operator;

     (d) Telecommunications relay service calls for the hearing-impaired;

     (e) All available toll-free services; and

     (f) All available interexchange companies, including the LEC.

     (4) Disclosure. PSPs must post clearly and legibly, in an unobstructed location on or near the front of the pay phone:

     (a) The rate for local calls, including any restrictions on the length of calls in thirty point or larger type print or a different and contrasting color;

     (b) Notice that directory assistance charges may apply, and to ask the operator for rates;

     (c) Notice that the pay phone does not make change, if applicable;

     (d) The emergency number (E911);

     (e) The name, address, phone number, and unified business identifier (UBI) number of the owner or operator;

     (f) A toll-free number to obtain assistance if the pay phone malfunctions, and procedures for obtaining a refund;

     (g) The name, address, and toll-free number of all presubscribed operator service providers (OSPs), as registered with the commission. This information must be updated within thirty days of a change in the OSP. Refer to WAC 480-120-262 for OSP definition and rules;

     (h) Notice to callers that they can access other long distance companies;

     (i) The phone number of the pay phone, including area code. When the pay phone is in an area that has had an area code change, the area code change must be reflected on the pay phone within thirty days of the area code conversion; and

     (j) In contrasting colors, the commission compliance number for customer complaints, to include the following information:

"If you have a complaint about service from this pay phone and are unable to resolve it by calling the repair or refund number or operator, please call the commission at 1-888-333-WUTC (9882)."

     (5) Operation and functionality. A PSP must order a separate public access line (PAL) for each pay phone installed. The commission may waive this requirement if a company demonstrates that technology accomplishes the same result as a one-to-one ratio by means other than through a PAL, that the service provided to customers is fully equivalent, and that all emergency calling requirements are met. This PAL must pass the appropriate screening codes to the connecting company to indicate that the call is originating from a pay phone. In addition:

     (a) The pay phone, if coin operated, must return coins to the caller in the case of an incomplete call and must be capable of receiving nickels, dimes, and quarters.

     (b) Pay phone keypads must include both numbers and letters.

     (c) Where enhanced 911 is operational, the address displayed to the public safety answering point (PSAP) must be that of the phone instrument if different from the public access line demarcation point and the phone number must be that of the pay phone. To comply with this subsection, PSPs must provide an emergency response location (ERL) to the LEC supplying the PAL within two working days of establishing the location, or changed location, of the phone instrument. The ERL must provide sufficient information to aid emergency personnel in the rapid location of the phone instrument, e.g., building floor number, compass quadrant (e.g., northeast corner), and room number.

     (d) Extension telephones may be connected to a PAL only for the purpose of monitoring emergency use. The pay phone must be clearly labeled to indicate that "911 calls are monitored locally." An extension phone must be activated only when 911 is dialed from the pay phone, and must be equipped with a "push to talk" switch or other mechanism to prevent inadvertent interruption of the caller's conversation with the PSAP.

     (e) Cordless and tabletop pay phones may be connected to the telephone network only when the bill is presented to the user before leaving the premise where the bill was incurred, unless the customer requests that the call be alternatively billed.

     (f) Pay phones may not restrict the number of digits or letters that can be dialed.

     (g) Pay phones may provide credit-only service, or coin and credit service.

     (h) Pay phones must provide two-way service, and no charge may be imposed by the PSP for incoming calls. Exceptions to two-way service are allowed under the following circumstances:

     (i) Service provided to hospitals and libraries where a telephone ring might cause undue disturbance;

     (ii) Service provided within a building on the premises of a private business establishment, at the discretion of the business owner. For purposes of this section, premises where people have access to public transportation such as airports, bus and train stations are not considered private business establishments; and

     (iii) Service at locations where local governing jurisdictions or law enforcement find that incoming calls may be related to criminal or illicit activities and have provided proper notice under subsection (6) of this section. Each pay phone restricted to one-way service must be clearly marked on or near the front of the pay phone with information detailed in subsection (6) of this section.

     (6) Restrictions. A PSP may only limit the operational capabilities of a pay phone when a local governing jurisdiction or other governmental agency submits a notice to the commission using prescribed forms a minimum of ten days prior to the restriction. Restrictions may include, but are not limited to, blocking incoming calls, limiting touch-tone capabilities, and coin restriction during certain hours. The notice must be signed by an agent of the local governing jurisdiction in which the pay phone is located who has authority to submit the request, and must state the jurisdiction's reasons for the restriction. A copy of the notice must also be served on the PSP no later than ten days prior to the restriction.

     The requestor must post a notice prominently visible at the pay phone(s) ten days prior to the proposed restriction. The notice must explain what is proposed and how to file an objection with the governing agency.

     Once the restriction is in place, the PSP must post on or near each restricted pay phone, in legible and prominent type, a description of each limitation in effect, the times when the restrictions will be in effect, and the name and toll-free number of the governmental agency recommending the restriction.

     (7) Telephone directories. The provider of the PAL must furnish without charge one current telephone directory each year for each PAL. The PSP must ensure that a current directory is available at every pay phone.

     (8) Malfunctions and rule violations. The PSP must correct, within five days, malfunctions of the pay phone or rule violations reported to the repair or refund number or the commission.

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     (2) The commission will order expansion of local calling areas only for compelling reasons. The commission will generally rely on long distance competition, local competition, and optional calling plans that assess additional charges only to participating customers, to meet customer demand for alternate or expanded calling.

     In evaluating requests for expanded local calling, the commission will consider whether the local calling area is adequate to allow customers to call and receive calls from community medical facilities, police and fire departments, city or town government, elementary and secondary schools, libraries, and a commercial center.

     The commission will consider the overall community-of-interest of the entire exchange, and may consider other pertinent factors such as customer calling patterns, the availability and feasibility of optional calling plans, and the level of local and long distance competition.

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		Class	Number of Access Lines as of December 31 from prior year's annual report
		A	2% or more of state access lines
		B	Less that 2% of state access lines
For example:
	Company X access lines as of 12/31/98		33,823
	Divided by
	Total state access lines as of 12/31/98		3,382,320
	Equals company access lines as a percentage of total access lines.			1%
Therefore, company X is a Class B company.

     (b) As long as a company can show it serves less than two percent of the total access lines listed in (a) of this subsection, it may compare future years to the year listed in the example above, as a safe harbor option.

     (c) If a company has more than two percent of the total access lines listed in (a) of this subsection, but believes that it has less than two percent of a subsequent year to that listed in the example above, it may use the more recent "total state access lines" as of that subsequent year in order to calculate a different threshold, as long as it provides all relevant information in a letter of certification to the commission concurrent with its election. For purposes of this rule the raw data may be requested from the commission's record center in order for the company seeking the data to generate its own calculation subsequent, and pursuant, to this rule.

     (2)(a) For accounting purposes, companies not classified as competitive must use the Uniform System of Accounts (USOA) for Class A and Class B Telephone Companies published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and designated as Title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 32, (47 CFR 32, or Part 32). The effective date for Part 32 is stated in WAC 480-120-999. Companies not classified as competitive wishing to adopt changes to the USOA made by the FCC after the date specified in WAC 480-120-999, must petition for and receive commission approval. The petition must include the effect of each change for each account and subaccount on an annual basis for the most recent calendar year ending December 31. If the petition is complete and accurate the commission may choose to grant such approval through its consent agenda.

     (b) Class B companies may use Class A accounting, but Class A companies shall not be permitted to use Class B accounting.

     (3) The commission modifies Part 32 as follows:

     (a) Any reference in Part 32 to "Commission," "Federal Communications Commission," or "Common Carrier Bureau" means the Washington utilities and transportation commission.

     (b) Companies not classified as competitive must keep subsidiary records to reflect Washington intrastate differences when the commission imposes accounting or ratemaking treatment different from the accounting methods required in subsection (2) of this section. Companies not classified as competitive must maintain subsidiary accounting records for:

     (i) Residential basic service revenues;

     (ii) Business basic service revenues;

     (iii) Access revenues for each universal service rate element;

     (iv) Special access revenues; and

     (v) Switched access revenues.

     (c) Part 32 section 24, compensated absences, is supplemented as follows:

     (i) Companies not classified as competitive must record a liability and charge the appropriate expense accounts for sick leave in the year in which the sick leave is used by employees.

     (ii) Companies not classified as competitive must keep records for:

     (A) Compensated absences that are actually paid; and

     (B) Compensated absences that are deductible for federal income tax purposes.

     (d) Companies not classified as competitive that have multistate operations must keep accounting records that provide Washington results of operations. The methods used to determine Washington results of operations must be acceptable to the commission.

     (e) Part 32 section 32.11(a) is replaced by subsection (1) of this section.

     (f) Part 32 section 32.11 (d) and (e) are replaced by subsection (1) of this section.

     (g) The commission does not require Part 32 section 32.2000 (b)(4). This rule does not supersede any accounting requirements specified in a commission order, nor will it be construed to limit the commission's ability to request additional information on a company specific basis. This rule does not dictate intrastate ratemaking.

     (h) Any reference in Part 32 to "Class A" or "Class B" means the classification as set out in subsection (1) of this section.

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     (1) Complete both forms, file them with the commission, and pay its regulatory fee, no later than May 1st of each year;

     (2) Provide total number of access lines as required on the annual report form;

     (3) Provide income statement and balance sheet for total company; and

     (4) Provide revenues for Washington and Washington intrastate operations subject to commission jurisdiction.

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     (a) Complete both forms, file them with the commission, and pay its regulatory fee, no later than May 1 of each year;

     (b) Provide total number of access lines as required on the annual report form; and

     (c) Provide income statement and balance sheet for total company and results of operations for Washington and Washington intrastate.

     (i) Class A companies that the FCC classified as Tier 1 telecommunications companies in Docket No. 86-182 must file annual report forms adopted by the FCC.

     (ii) All other Class A companies must file annual reports on the form prescribed by the commission.

     (iii) Class B companies must file annual reports as prescribed by RCW 80.04.530(2).

     (2) Quarterly reports for companies not classified as competitive:

     (a) All Class A companies must file results of operations quarterly.

     (b) Each report will show monthly and twelve-months-ended data for each month of the quarter reported.

     (c) The reports are due ninety days after the close of the period being reported, except for the fourth-quarter report which is due no later than May 1 of the following year.

     (3) Methods used to determine Washington intrastate results of operations must be acceptable to the commission.

     (4) This rule does not supersede any reporting requirements specified in a commission rule or order, or limit the commission's authority to request additional information.

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     (2) General information required. A Class B company seeking streamlined treatment for a proposed general rate increase must submit the following information at the time of filing or prior to its first notice to customers, whichever occurs first:

     (a) A copy of its customer notice as specified in subsection (6) of this section.

     (b) A results-of-operations statement, on a commission basis, demonstrating that the company is not presently exceeding a reasonable level of earnings. If the company is exceeding a reasonable level of earnings, the proposed increase must be reduced accordingly.

     (c) All supporting documentation used to develop the results-of-operations statement, including supporting documentation for all adjustments.

     (d) The results-of-operations statement filed under this subsection must include Washington intrastate results of operations. If a company cannot provide Washington intrastate results of operations with reasonable accuracy, the commission may consider the total Washington results of operations including the interstate jurisdiction.

     (3) Adjustments provided for in the results of operations.

     (a) The results-of-operations statement must provide restating actual adjustments and proforma adjustments in accordance with (b) of this subsection.

     (b) Before the achieved return is calculated a company must adjust the booked results of operations for restating actual and proforma adjustments, including the following:

     (i) Nonoperating items;

     (ii) Extraordinary items;

     (iii) Nonregulated operating items; and

     (iv) All other items that materially distort the test period.

     (4) Rate of return. The authorized overall rate-of-return (for purposes of this section only) is eleven and twenty-five one-hundredths percent.

     (5) Rate design. A Class B company filing pursuant to this section must clearly describe the basis for allocating any revenue requirement change proposed by customer class (e.g., residential, business, and interexchange).

     (6) Customer notice. The company must notify customers consistent with the manner outlined in WAC 480-120-194, and must include the following information:

     (a) The proposed increase expressed in (i) total dollars and average percentage terms, and (ii) the average monthly increases the customers in each category or subcategory of service might reasonably expect;

     (b) The name and mailing address of the commission and public counsel;

     (c) A statement that customers may contact the commission or public counsel with respect to the proposed rate change; and

     (d) The date, time, and place of the public meeting, if known.

     (7) Public meeting(s). The commission will ordinarily hold at least one public meeting in the area affected by the rate increase within forty-five days after the date of filing.

     (8) Final action. The commission will ordinarily take final action on a filing under this section within ninety days after the date of filing.

     (9) The commission may decline to apply the procedures outlined in this section if it has reason to believe that:

     (a) The quality of the company's service is not consistent with its public service obligations; or

     (b) A more extensive review is required of the company's results of operations or proposed rate design.

     (10) Nothing in this rule will be construed to prevent any company, the commission, any customer, or any other party from using any other procedures that are otherwise permitted by law.

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     (a) Until legislation creating a new universal service fund is adopted and effective and commission rules to implement the legislation are adopted and effective, each Class A company in the state of Washington and the Washington Exchange Carrier Association, must provide annually:

     (i) The actual demand units for the previous calendar year for each switched access tariff rate element (or category of switched access tariff rate elements, both originating and terminating) it has on file with the commission.

     (ii) Primary toll carriers (PTCs) must file, in addition to the information required in (a)(i) of this subsection, the annual imputed demand units for the previous calendar year that the company would have had to purchase from itself if it had been an unaffiliated toll carrier using feature group D switched access service (including intraLATA and interLATA, both originating and terminating demand units). For purposes of this subsection, a PTC means a local exchange company offering interexchange service(s) to retail customers using feature group C switched access service for the origination or termination of any such service(s).

     (b) The report containing the information required in (a) of this subsection must be filed by July 1 of each year.

     (c) Each company providing information required by this section must include complete work papers and sufficient data for the commission to review the accuracy of the report.

     (2) Annual state certification requirements for interstate (federal) mechanism. Each eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) in Washington receiving federal high-cost universal service support funds must provide the following to the commission not later than August 31 of each year:

     (a) A certification that, during the calendar year preceding the year in which certification is made, the ETC provided the supported services required by 47 U.S.C. § 214(e) and described in the commission order granting it ETC status;

     (b) A certification that, during the calendar year preceding the year in which certification is made, the ETC advertised the availability of supported services and the charges for them as required by 47 U.S.C. § 214(e) and as described in the commission order granting it ETC status;

     (c) A certification that funds received by it from the federal high-cost universal service support fund will be used only for the provision, maintenance, and upgrading of the facilities and services for which the support is intended;

     (d) The amount of all federal high-cost universal service fund support received for the calendar year preceding the year in which the filing must be made (this includes, but is not limited to, High Cost Loop Support or "HCL", Local Switching Support or "LSS", Long Term Support or "LTS", Interstate Access Support or "IAS", and Interstate Common Line Support or "ICLS");

     (e) The loop counts on which federal high-cost universal service support was based for support received during the calendar year preceding the year in which the filing must be made;

     (f) The certifications required in (a) through (e) of this subsection must be made in the same manner as required by RCW 9A.72.085.

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     (2) For purposes of this rule political or legislative activities include, but are not limited to:

     (a) Encouraging support or opposition to ballot measures, legislation, candidates for a public office, or current public office holders;

     (b) Soliciting support for or contributing to political action committees;

     (c) Gathering data for mailing lists that are generated for the purposes of encouraging support for or opposition to ballot measures, legislation, candidates for public office, or current office holders, or encouraging support for or contributions to political action committees;

     (d) Soliciting contributions or recruiting volunteers to assist in the activities set forth in (a) through (c) of this subsection.

     (3) Political or legislative activities do not include activities directly related to appearances before regulatory or local governmental bodies necessary for the utility's operations.

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     (2) Companies must adhere to the retention requirements of Title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 42, Preservation of Records of Communication Common Carriers published by the Federal Communications Commission. The effective date is stated in WAC 480-120-999.

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     (a) File petitions with the commission;

     (b) Publish and file tariffs with the commission; and

     (c) Represent before the commission those members that so authorize. WECA's rules of procedure are on file with the commission under Docket No. UT-920373, and may be obtained by contacting the commission's records center.

     (2) Subject to all the procedural requirements and protections associated with company filings before the commission, WECA must submit to the commission:

     (a) All initial WECA tariffs; and

     (b) All changes to the tariffs.

     (3) A member of WECA may file directly with the commission:

     (a) Tariffs, price lists, and contracts;

     (b) Revenue requirement computations;

     (c) Revenue objectives;

     (d) Universal service support cost calculations;

     (e) Total service long run incremental cost studies;

     (f) Competitive classification petition;

     (g) Other reports; or

     (h) Any other item it or the commission deems necessary.

     (4) The commission has the authority to supervise the activities of WECA. However, such supervision will not compromise the independent evaluation by the commission of any filing or proposal that must be submitted to the commission for approval.

     (5) To the extent that WECA is involved in the collection and redistribution of funds under commission orders authorizing certain revenue sharing arrangements under common tariff, it must maintain, provide, and report to the commission annual financial reports, by July 1 of each year, relating to the arrangements. Annual financial reports must include:

     (a) Actual fund collections and distributions to each member company;

     (b) The basis upon which the collection and distribution is made;

     (c) Board membership;

     (d) Special committee membership; and

     (e) The status and description of any open WECA docket proceedings.

     (6) Each local exchange company in the state of Washington has the option of using WECA as its filing agent, tariff bureau, or both. Companies using WECA collectively may file intrastate rates, tariffs, or service proposals.

     (7) Nothing in this section will be construed as amending or modifying WECA's current methods of administration. WECA's access charge pooling administration plan is on file with the commission and may be obtained by contacting the commission's records center and requesting the "Ninth Supplemental Order in Docket UT-971140 with Attachment" dated June 28, 2000.

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     (2) Switches. End-office switches, in conjunction with remote switches where deployed, must meet the following standards:

     (a) Dial service. For each switch, companies must meet the following minimum standards during the switch's average busy-hour of the average busy season:

     (i) Dial tone must be provided within three seconds on at least ninety-eight percent of calls placed; and

     (ii) Ninety-eight percent of calls placed must not encounter an intraswitch blocking condition within the central office, or blocking in host-remote, or interoffice local trunks.

     (b) Intercept. Central office dial equipment must provide adequate access to an operator or to a recorded announcement intercept to all vacant codes and numbers. Less than one percent of intercepted calls may encounter busy or no-circuit-available conditions during the average busy-hour, of the busy-season.

     (3) Interoffice facilities. Blocking performance during average busy-hour for ninety-nine percent of trunk groups for any month must be less than one-half of one percent for intertoll and intertandem facilities and less than one percent for local and EAS interoffice trunk facilities. The blocking standard for E911 dedicated interoffice trunk facilities must be less than one percent during average busy-hour of the average busy season. Two consecutive months is the maximum that a single trunk group may be below the applicable standard.

     (4) Outside plant.

     (a) Local loops. Each LEC must design, construct, and maintain subscriber loops to the standard network interface or demarcation point as follows:

     (i) For voice grade, local exchange service loops must meet all performance characteristics specified in Section 4 of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standard Telephone Loop Performance Characteristics. Information about this standard regarding the version adopted and where to obtain it is set forth in WAC 480-120-999.

     (ii) For voice grade service, the circuit noise level on customer loops measured at the customer network interface must be equal to or less than 20.0 dBrnC, except that digitized loops and loops in excess of 18,000 feet must have a noise level objective of less than 25.0 dBrnC, and noise levels must not exceed 30 dBrnC.

     (b) Special circuits. Off-premise station circuit loss must not exceed 5.0 dB at 1004 Hz when measured between the customer switch demarcation and the customer station demarcation. LECs with over fifty thousand access lines must maintain design criteria for special circuits. Companies must make channel performance criteria available to customers upon request.

     (c) Digital services. LECs must meet the availability objectives for digital private line circuit performance specified in the American National Standards for Telecommunications, "Network Performance Parameters for Dedicated Digital Services - Specifications." Information about this standard regarding the version adopted and where to obtain it is set forth in WAC 480-120-999. Upon request of a customer, a LEC may provide to that customer digital services that do not meet the performance standards set forth in (b) of this subsection.

     (5) Service to interexchange carriers. LECs must provide service to interexchange carriers at the grade of service ordered by the interexchange carrier. At a minimum, each interexchange carrier must order sufficient facilities from each LEC such that no more than two percent of all calls are blocked at the LEC's switch.

     (6) Companies must monitor the network performance of the equipment they own, operate, or share at frequent intervals so that adequate facilities can be designed, engineered and placed in service when needed to meet the standards of this section.

     (7) Each Class A LEC must arrange and design incoming trunks to the primary repair service center so that traffic overflows during service interruptions can be redirected or forwarded to an alternate repair or maintenance service center location.

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     (a) Provide adequate maintenance to ensure that all facilities are in safe and serviceable condition;

     (b) Correct immediately hazardous conditions endangering persons, property, or the continuity of service when found, reported, or known to exist;

     (c) Promptly repair or replace broken, damaged, or deteriorated equipment, when found to be no longer capable of providing adequate service; and

     (d) Correct promptly transmission problems on any channel when located or identified, including noise induction, cross-talk, or other poor transmission characteristics.

     (2) Each LEC must install and maintain test apparatus at appropriate locations to determine the operating characteristics of network systems and provide sufficient portable power systems to support up to the largest remote subscriber carrier site. For the safe and continuous operation of underground cables, each LEC must establish air pressurization policies and an air pressurization alarm-monitoring program where appropriate.

     (3) Central offices equipped with automatic start generators must have three hours' reserve battery capacity. Central offices without automatic start generators must have a minimum of five hours' reserve battery capacity. Central offices without permanently installed emergency power facilities must have access to readily connectable mobile power units with enough power capacity to carry the load and that can be delivered within one half of the expected battery reserve time.

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     (2) Notice to commission and public safety answering point (PSAP). When a company receives notice of or detects a major outage, it must notify the commission and any PSAP serving the affected area as soon as possible.

     (3) Notice to county and state emergency agencies and coordination of efforts. When a major outage affects any emergency response facility, a company must notify immediately the county E911 coordinator and the state emergency management authorities, and provide periodic updates on the status of the outage. The company must coordinate service restoration with the state emergency management authorities if it requests it, and, if requested to do so by the commission, report daily to it the progress of restoration efforts until the company achieves full network recovery.

     (4) Major outages repair priorities.

     (a) Outages affecting PSAPs and emergency response agencies must receive attention first and be repaired as soon as possible.

     (b) Companies must restore other services within twelve hours unless conditions beyond a company's reasonable ability to control prevent service restoration within twelve hours.

     (c) Companies must restore outages to their facilities affecting intercompany trunk and toll trunk service within four hours after the problem is reported unless conditions beyond a company's reasonable ability to control prevent service restoration within four hours. If the problem is not corrected within four hours, the company must keep all other affected companies advised of the status of restoration efforts on a twice-daily basis.

     (5) Information to public. Unless heightened security concerns exist, during major outage recovery efforts all companies must implement procedures to disseminate information to the public, public officials, and news media. All companies must provide a statement about the major outage that includes the time, the cause, the general location and approximate number of affected access lines, and the anticipated duration.

     (6) Notice of intentional outage. When a company intends to interrupt service to such an extent that it will cause a major outage, it must make a reasonable effort to notify all customers who will have their telephone service affected and the state emergency management authorities not less than seven days in advance if circumstances permit or as soon as it plans to interrupt service if circumstances do not permit seven days' advance notice. A notice is not required for planned service interruptions that have a duration of less than five minutes and occur between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

     (7) Records. All companies must keep a record of each major outage and a statement about the interruption that includes the time, the cause, the location and number of affected access lines, and the duration.

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     (a) The titles and telephone numbers of the company's disaster services coordinator and alternates; and

     (b) Upon request of the commission, the company's current plans for emergency operation, including current plans for recovery of service to governmental disaster recovery response agencies within the state of Washington.

     (2) For coordination of disaster response and recovery operations, each company must maintain on file with the Washington state emergency management division the titles and telephone numbers of the managers of the company's:

     (a) Local network operations center;

     (b) Regional network operations center; or

     (c) Emergency operations center.

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     (a) Provision of drop facilities. The company is responsible for all work and materials associated with drop facilities.

     (b) Provision of support structure. The company may require the applicant to provide a support structure that meets company standards. Once the company provides service, the company is responsible for maintenance and repair of the existing drop facilities and support structure as provided for in WAC 480-120-437.

     (c) Nothing in this rule prohibits the company from offering the applicant an alternative to pay the company a tariffed or price listed rate for provision of the support structure.

     (2) Requests for initial service or additional service at a premise where all existing pairs within a drop facility are not in use. A company is responsible for all work and materials associated with the drop facilities and if applicable the support structure so long as the total number of lines requested by the customer does not exceed the original capacity of the drop facility.

     Any work or materials associated with repair of abandoned or defective pairs is considered maintenance and repair under WAC 480-120-437.

     (3) Requests for additional service to premises where all existing pairs within a drop facility are not in use or where the total number of lines requested by a customer exceeds the original capacity of the existing drop facility.

     (a) The company is responsible for all costs, including the costs of work and materials, associated with placement of additional drop facilities.

     (b) The company may require the applicant to provide a support structure for placement of the new drop facility.

     (c) A company must use an existing support structure for placement of the new drop facility when:

     (i) The support structure it is large enough to support placement of the new facility; and

     (ii) It follows a path which remains suitable to the company; and

     (iii) The customer makes the support structure accessible to the company (e.g., uncovers the entry to the conduit and removes any items that would impede the use of the conduit, such as tree roots).

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     (b) The customer is responsible for maintaining facilities on the customer's side of the SNI.

     (2) A company, in its sole discretion, may determine to replace or reinforce any existing facilities or support structures for which it is responsible for maintenance or repair. If the company decides to replace existing facilities or support structures, all the work and materials associated with the installation of facilities and support structures is considered repair and maintenance, and not new construction.

     (3) With respect to cost, subsection (1)(a) of this section does not apply when damage has been caused by a customer or third party, in which case, the company may charge that individual the cost of repair, maintenance, or replacement of company facilities and, if applicable, support structure. Nothing in this subsection is intended to limit the company's ability to recover damages as otherwise permitted by law.

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     (2) Class B companies. Class B companies need not report to the commission as required by subsection (1) of this section. However, these companies must retain, for at least three years from the date they are created, all records that would be relevant, in the event of a complaint or investigation, to a determination of the company's compliance with the service quality standards established by WAC 480-120-105, 480-120-107, 480-120-112, 480-120-132, 480-120-401, 480-120-411, and 480-120-440.

     (3) Missed appointment report. The missed appointment report must state the number of appointments missed, the total number of appointments made, and the number of appointments excluded under (b), (c), or (d) of this subsection. The report must state installation and repair appointments separately.

     (a) A LEC is deemed to have kept an appointment when the necessary work in advance of dispatch has been completed and the technician arrives within the appointment period, even if the technician then determines the order cannot be completed until a later date. If the inability to install or repair during a kept appointment leads to establishment of another appointment, it is a new appointment for purposes of determining under this subsection whether it is kept or not.

     (b) When a LEC notifies the customer at least twenty-four hours prior to the scheduled appointment that a new appointment is necessary and a new appointment is made, then the appointment that was canceled is not a missed appointment for purposes of this subsection. A company-initiated changed appointment date is not a change to the order date for purposes of determining compliance with WAC 480-120-105 and 480-120-112.

     (c) A LEC does not miss an appointment for purposes of this subsection when the customer initiates a request for a new appointment.

     (d) A LEC does not miss an appointment for purposes of this subsection when it is unable to meet its obligations due to force majeure, work stoppages directly affecting provision of service in the state of Washington, or other events beyond the LEC's control.

     (4) Installation or activation of basic service report. The report must state the total number of orders taken, by central office, in each month for all orders of up to the initial five access lines as required by WAC 480-120-105. The report must include orders with due dates later than five days as requested by a customer. The installation or activation of basic service report must state, by central office, of the total orders taken for the month, the number of orders that the company was unable to complete within five business days after the order date or by a later date as requested by the customer.

     (a) A separate report must be filed each calendar quarter that states the total number of orders taken, by central office, in that quarter for all orders of up to the initial five access lines as required by WAC 480-120-105. The installation or activation of basic service ninety-day report must state, of the total orders taken for the quarter, the number of orders that the company was unable to complete within ninety days after the order date.

     (b) A separate report must be filed each six months that states the total number of orders taken, by central office, in the last six months for all orders of up to the initial five access lines as required by WAC 480-120-105. The installation or activation of basic service one hundred eighty day report must state, of the total orders taken for six months, the number of orders that the company was unable to complete within one hundred eighty days.

     Orders for which customer-provided special equipment is necessary; when a later installation or activation is permitted under WAC 480-120-071; when a technician arrives at the customer's premises at the appointed time and prepared to install service and the customer is not available to provide access; or when the commission has granted an exemption under WAC 480-120-015 from the requirement for installation or activation of a particular order, may be excluded from the total number of orders taken and from the total number of uncompleted orders for the month.

     For calculation of the report of orders installed or activated within five business days in a month, orders that could not be installed or activated within five days in that month due to force majeure may be excluded from the total number of orders taken and from the total number of uncompleted orders for the month if the company supplies documentation of the effect of force majeure upon the order.

     (5) Major outages report. Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2) of this section, any company experiencing a major outage that lasts more than forty-eight hours must provide a major outage report to the commission within ten business days of the major outage. The major outages report must include a description of each major outage and a statement that includes the time, the cause, the location and number of affected access lines, and the duration of the interruption or impairment. When applicable, the report must include a description of preventive actions to be taken to avoid future outages. This reporting requirement does not include company-initiated major outages that are in accordance with the contract provisions between the company and its customers or other planned interruptions that are part of the normal operational and maintenance requirements of the company.

     The commission staff may request oral reports from companies concerning major outages at any time and companies must provide the requested information.

     (6) Summary trouble reports. Each month companies must submit a report reflecting the standard established in WAC 480-120-438. The report must include the number of reports by central office and the number of lines served by the central office. In addition, the report must include an explanation of causes for each central office that exceeds the service quality standard established in WAC 480-120-438. The reports, including repeated reports, must be presented as a ratio per one hundred lines in service. The reports caused by customer-provided equipment, inside wiring, force majeure, or outages of service caused by persons or entities other than the local exchange company should not be included in this report.

     (7) Switching report. Any company experiencing switching problems in excess of the standard established in WAC 480-120-401 (2)(a), must report the problems to the commission. The report must identify the location of every switch that is performing below the standard.

     (8) Interoffice, intercompany and interexchange trunk blocking report. Companies that experience trunk blocking in excess of the standard in WAC 480-120-401 (3) and (5) must report each trunk group that does not meet the performance standards. For each trunk group not meeting the performance standards, the report must include the peak percent blocking level experienced during the preceding month, the number of trunks in the trunk group, the busy hour when peak blockage occurs, and whether the problem concerns a standard in WAC 480-120-401 (3) or (5). The report must include an explanation of steps being taken to relieve blockage on any trunk groups that do not meet the standard for two consecutive months.

     (9) Repair report.

     (a) For service-interruption repairs subject to the requirements of WAC 480-120-440, companies must report the number of service interruptions reported each month, the number repaired within forty-eight hours, and the number repaired more than forty-eight hours after the initial report. In addition, a company must report the number of interruptions that are exempt from the repair interval standards as provided for in WAC 480-120-440.

     (b) For service-impairment repairs subject to the requirements of WAC 480-120-440, companies must report the number of service impairments reported each month, the number repaired within seventy-two hours, and the number repaired more than seventy-two hours after the initial report. In addition, a company must report the number of impairments that are exempt from the repair interval standard as provided for in WAC 480-120-440.

     (10) Business office and repair answering system reports. When requested, companies must report compliance with the standard required in WAC 480-120-133. If requested, companies must provide the same reports to the commission that company managers receive concerning average speed of answer, transfers to live representatives, station busies, and unanswered calls.

     (11) The commission may choose to investigate matters to protect the public interest, and may request further information from companies that details geographic area and type of service, and such other information as the commission requests.

     (12) If consistent with the purposes of this section, the commission may, by order, approve for a company an alternative measurement or reporting format for any of the reports required by this section, based on evidence that:

     (a) The company cannot reasonably provide the measurement or reports as required;

     (b) The alternative measurement or reporting format will provide a reasonably accurate measurement of the company's performance relative to the substantive performance standard; and

     (c) The ability of the commission and other parties to enforce compliance with substantive performance standard will not be significantly impaired by the use of the alternative measurement or reporting format.

     (13) Subsection (12) of this section does not preclude application for an exception under WAC 480-120-015.

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     For purposes of this section an out-of-service interruption is defined as a condition that prevents the use of the telephone exchange line for purposes of originating or receiving a call and does not include trouble reported for nonregulated services such as voice messaging, inside wiring, or customer premises equipment.

     (2) A company must repair all other regulated service interruptions within seventy-two hours, unless the company is unable to make the repair because it is physically obstructed from doing so or because of force majeure, in which case the repair must be made as soon as practicable. The seventy-two hour requirement does not apply to out-of-service interruptions that are part of a major outage under WAC 480-120-412.

     (3) The forty-eight-hour and seventy-two-hour standards do not apply during company work stoppages directly affecting provision of service in the state of Washington.

     (4) When the company informs the customer that repair requires on-premises access by the company with the customer present, the company must offer the customer an opportunity for an installation appointment that falls within a four-hour period.

     (5) A company is considered to have met its obligations under this rule if it conducts tests during the prescribed period that indicates that the customer's service is operating within industry standards. The company must make all test information available to the commission upon request.

     (6) A company is considered to have met its obligations under this rule if it conducts tests during the prescribed period which demonstrate that the reported problem may only be cleared from within the customer's premises and the company is either unable to reach the customer to arrange access or is refused access by the customer. The company must make all test information and customer contact logs available to the commission upon request.

     (7) For the purposes of this section, Sundays and legal holidays are not considered working days and are therefore excluded from the forty-eight-hour and seventy-two-hour periods.

     (8) In instances when repair requires construction work, the forty-eight-hour and seventy-two-hour periods begin when a company has received appropriate authorization from the applicable governing body associated with the repair (e.g., utility location services are completed and, if applicable, a permit is granted). A company must contact the appropriate authorities to request applicable utility location services and permits when the company determines that a repair situation requires construction work to correct. Upon receiving any repair report that requires construction work, a company must contact the appropriate authorities as soon as practicable to request utility location services and permits, if applicable.

     (9) When a company plans a service interruption, it must make reasonable efforts to notify customers that it determines service will be affected not less than seven days in advance or, if seven days' notice is not possible, as soon as the interrupted service is planned. A notice is not required for planned service interruptions that have a duration of less than five minutes and occur between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

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     "Data base management system (DBMS)" means a data base used by local exchange companies (LECs) to provide automatic location information (ALI) to public safety answering points (PSAPs).

     "Emergency location identification number (ELIN)" means a telephone number that is used to route the call to a PSAP and is used to retrieve the automatic location information (ALI) for a PSAP.

     "Emergency response location (ERL)" means a location to which a 911 emergency response team may be dispatched.

     (1) Local exchange companies (LECs) must provide enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) services including:

     (a) For single line service, the ability for customers to dial 911 with the call and caller's ELIN transmitted to the E911 selective router serving the location associated with the ERL for that line;

     (b) For multiline customers, the ability for customers to dial 911 with common signal protocols available which permit the call and caller's ELIN to be transmitted to the E911 selective router serving the location associated with the ERL for that line;

     (c) For pay phones served by pay phone access lines (PALs) the ability for customers to dial 911 with the call and the ELIN transmitted to the E911 selective router serving the location of the ERL for that line. The ELIN must be that of the pay phone.

     (2)(a) LECs that provide or make available E911 data base management, whether directly or through contract, must provide to all PBX owners or their agents (including LECs) a simple, internet-based method to maintain customer records in the E911 data base, and the LEC may provide an option of a secure dial up access method for the PBX owner or agent to maintain customer records in the E911 data base. The method must use a generally accepted national format for customer record information.

     (b) LECs that provide or make available E911 data base management, whether directly or through contract, must provide or make available to all other LECs a simple, internet-based method to maintain customer records in the E911 data base for their non-PBX customers, and the LEC may provide an option of a secure dial up access or direct data link method for LECs to maintain customer records in the E911 data base. Methods for maintaining station location information that are not internet-based may be offered in addition to the required internet-based method.

     (c) LECs that provide pay phone access lines must maintain customer record information, including ELIN and ERL information, for those access lines using a method required by (b) of this subsection. Records must be forwarded to the data base manager within one business day of a record's posting to the company records system.

     (d) For single line services, PBX main station lines, and pay phone lines, LECs must transmit updated location information records to the data base management system (DBMS) within one business day of those records being posted to the company record system.

     Records that do not post to the DBMS because of address errors must be corrected within two working days unless modifications are necessary to the audit tables of the master street address guide, in which case the record must be resubmitted within one business day of notification that the master street address guide has been updated.

     (e) E911 data base errors and inquiries, including selective routing errors, reported by county E911 data base coordinators or PSAPs must be resolved by the LEC or its agent administering the data base within five working days of receipt.

     (3) LECs choosing to provide E911 services including selective routing, data base management and transmission of the call to a PSAP must file with the commission tariffs and supporting cost studies or price lists, whichever applies, that specify the charges and terms for E911 services.

     (4)(a) PBX customers who choose to maintain their own E911 data base, or contract that maintenance to a third party, must be permitted to do so if the customer maintains the data in a generally accepted national format for customer record information.

     (b) PBX customers who choose to not use LEC data base management may transmit, or have a third-party transmit, customer record information to their LEC's national data service gateway at no additional charge.

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     All LECs must provide an E911 data base maintenance contact who is available during business day hours to the county E911 data base coordinators in those counties in which they provide service.

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     (2) Absent a judicial order, reverse search must not be used for criminal or legal investigations or other nonemergency purposes.

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     (1) American National Standards for Telecommunications - "Network Performance Parameters for Dedicated Digital Services - Specifications" (ANSI T1.510-1999) is published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

     (a) The commission adopts the version in effect on December 29, 1999.

     (b) This publication is referenced in WAC 480-120-401.

     (c) The American National Standards for Telecommunications "Network Performance Parameters for Dedicated Digital Services - Specifications" is a copyrighted document. Copies are available from the publisher and third-party vendors.

     (2) The Institute of Electrical And Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standard Telephone Loop Performance Characteristics (ANSI/IEEE Std 820-1984) is published by the ANSI and the IEEE.

     (a) The commission adopts the version in effect on March 22, 1984, and reaffirmed September 16, 1992.

     (b) This publication is referenced in WAC 480-120-401.

     (c) The IEEE Standard Telephone Loop Performance Characteristics is a copyrighted document. Copies are available from the publishers.

     (3) The National Electrical Safety Code is published by the IEEE.

     (a) The commission adopts the version in effect in 1997.

     (b) This publication is referenced in WAC 480-120-402.

     (c) The National Electrical Safety Code is a copyrighted document. Copies are available from the publishers and from third-party vendors.

     (4) Title 47 Code of Federal Regulations, cited as 47 CFR, is published by the United States Government Printing Office.

     (a) The commission adopts the version in effect on October 1, 1998.

     (b) This publication is referenced in WAC 480-120-302 and 480-120-322.

     (c) Copies of Title 47 Code of Federal Regulations are available from the Government Printing Office and from third-party vendors.

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     The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed:

WAC 480-120-029	Accounting requirements for competitively classified companies.
WAC 480-120-031	Accounting.
WAC 480-120-032	Expenditures for political or legislative activities.
WAC 480-120-033	Reporting requirements for competitively classified companies.
WAC 480-120-041	Availability of information.
WAC 480-120-042	Directory service.
WAC 480-120-043	Notice to the public of tariff changes.
WAC 480-120-045	Local calling areas.
WAC 480-120-046	Service offered.
WAC 480-120-051	Availability of service--Application for and installation of service.
WAC 480-120-056	Establishment of credit.
WAC 480-120-081	Discontinuance of service.
WAC 480-120-087	Telephone solicitation.
WAC 480-120-088	Automatic dialing-announcing devices.
WAC 480-120-089	Information delivery services.
WAC 480-120-101	Complaints and disputes.
WAC 480-120-106	Form of bills.
WAC 480-120-116	Refund for overcharge.
WAC 480-120-121	Responsibility for delinquent accounts.
WAC 480-120-126	Safety.
WAC 480-120-131	Reports of accidents.
WAC 480-120-136	Retention and preservation of records and reports.
WAC 480-120-138	Pay phone service providers (PSPs).
WAC 480-120-139	Changes in local exchange and intrastate toll services.
WAC 480-120-141	Operator service providers (OSPs).
WAC 480-120-340	911 Obligations of local exchange companies.
WAC 480-120-350	Reverse search by E-911 PSAP of ALI/DMS data base -- When permitted.
WAC 480-120-500	Telecommunications service quality -- General requirements.
WAC 480-120-505	Operator services.
WAC 480-120-510	Business offices.
WAC 480-120-515	Network performance standards applicable to local exchange companies.
WAC 480-120-520	Major outages and service interruptions.
WAC 480-120-525	Network maintenance.
WAC 480-120-530	Emergency services.
WAC 480-120-531	Emergency operation.
WAC 480-120-535	Service quality performance reports.
WAC 480-120-541	Access charges.
WAC 480-120-542	Collective consideration of Washington intrastate rate, tariff, or service proposals.
WAC 480-120-543	Caller identification service.
WAC 480-120-544	Mandatory cost changes for telecommunications companies.
WAC 480-120-545	Severability.

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