Order 15533 - Telephone Subscribers in Lincoln: Petition to Extend Calling Area

 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS

DIVISION OF PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS

PETITION

Richard N. Poisson, a resident of the Manville section in northern Lincoln, filed a petition signed by 128 village residents with the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers ("Division") on February 24, 1997.

The petition has three areas of concern:

1. The petition's primary issue was a request to extend the local telephone calling area of Manville to include the Providence exchange.  [1 The Manville community is located in northern part of the Lincoln municipality and is in the Woonsocket telephone exchange. According to BELL ATLANTIC records, there are 1,284 residence and 84 business telephone customers in Manville. The telephone prefix (first three digits) numbers for Woonsocket exchange customers are 762, 765, 766, 767 and 769 which are sometimes referred to as the "760" exchange numbers. The town of Lincoln is divided into three exchanges - Woonsocket, Pawtucket and Providence. The Manville section is the only portion of the Lincoln municipality that is unable to call Providence on a local basis.]  The petition requests elimination of all intrastate toll calls that originate from the Manville section of Lincoln in the Woonsocket exchange and terminate in the Providence exchange which will minimize the disparity in calling areas for all Lincoln telephone users. The petitioners maintain that the northern portion of Lincoln should have the same local calling capability as other areas of the town and specifically be able to dial "toll-free" into the Providence exchange. The petitioners further argue that about ten years ago the Public Utilities Commission ("PUC"), through a public hearing process and a survey poll, ultimately approved the establishment of a new exchange area with a new exchange prefix for the northerly portion of neighboring Cumberland.  [2 In March, 1985, a petition was filed in a general telephone rate case by residents in the northerly portion of Cumberland ("760" exchanges) requesting similar local calling capability into the Providence exchange area that was previously allowed to ("333 and 334" exchanges) users in the central part (Forest View Plat) of Cumberland. A poll was granted to determine whether a majority of those affected would chose to pay higher monthly rates and would be willing to change their telephone numbers. The survey poll resulted in 50.2% of all the telephone users in the area (56.5% of those who returned ballots) favored the change. On June 19, 1987 in Docket 1780, the Public Utilities Commission decided in a vote with two commissioners affirming and one dissenting that New England Telephone Company (currently BELL ATLANTIC) would establish a new exchange for the 2,222 Cumberland telephone users (later named "Cumberland Hill" exchange). The dissenting opinion came from Commissioner Sapinsley who voted against the change feeling that northern Cumberland is only one isolated situation of a number of statewide local calling disparities within municipalities and the issue should not be addressed by the ("PUC") on a piece meal basis.]  The new Cumberland exchange was provided local calling into the Providence exchange and such a privilege should also be afforded to the Manville area.

2. Another issue expressed in the petition is that Manville telephone users in the Woonsocket exchange are unable to call toll free within the town.  [3 There are about 201 Lincoln telephone subscribers that are located in the southwesterly portion of Lincoln who are in the Providence exchange with the telephone number prefix of "353".]

3. The final concern addressed was the difficulty encountered in obtaining a telephone number of a Manville subscriber through directory assistance ("411") service. The petition states that in many cases the BELL ATLANTIC operators are unable to provide the telephone numbers of Manville telephone users when the information caller identifies the address as being located in the town of Lincoln.

PUBLIC HEARING

Upon receipt of a complaint petition against a public utility signed by a minimum of twenty-five qualified electors, the Division is mandated to conduct a public hearing pursuant to the provisions of Sections Section 39-1-1 and Section 39-4-3 of the Rhode Island General Laws. In accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act, public notice of a scheduled hearing for May 13, 1997 at 7:00 P.M. in the Lincoln Town Hall was placed in the Woonsocket Call and the Providence Journal (Blackstone Valley Edition) newspapers. The public notice explained the financial impact of a rate group reclassification  [4 For the purpose of determining monthly exchange rates for main telephone services, an exchange or zone is classified in a rate group according to the total number of main exchange lines in the local service area. Exchanges and zones are reclassified after a two consecutive annual study period to the applicable higher rate group and shall take the rates of that group when the number of main exchange lines in the local service area exceeds the upper limit of the rate group. In a petitioning matter to extend a local telephone calling area and an accelerated reclassification of the exchange occurs, this agency has exempted Bell Atlantic from the two year requirement and has approved the higher exchange rates to be effective upon approval.] for Manville subscribers in the Woonsocket exchange if they were granted local calling into the Providence exchange. Nine people made statements during the public hearing.

The following is a synopsis of those statements:

The first statement came from Brian Hunter, owner of Hunter Insurance Inc. who stated, "I think you are going to get some resistance from the elderly people who never call Providence, don't want to change their number, don't want any disruptive services or disruptive numbers I should say. I think however in light of what's coming into this state with the Brooks Fiber Communications and Cox Communications we should hold off on a decision to do this." He later stated at the end of the hearing "We are now going to have open competition. So before we give up our numbers that we've all had for years and years like the businessmen over on this side of the room and myself, I'd rather give competition a chance to work. So what I'm asking the Commission to do is to forego any decision for at least three or four months."

Bruno J. Kurowski, Town Councilor, favored paying the additional $3.11 monthly charge (see page 9, paragraph 2 for explanation of cost) as a residence telephone user to be able to make local calls into the Providence exchange. He stated that he has the Statewide Calling Plan ("SCP")  [5 The Statewide Calling Plan is an optional toll-discount service offered by BELL ATLANTIC to residence telephone users throughout the state. The service currently consist of four toll options to telephone users that provides time periods at a flat monthly rate which is in addition to the basic monthly exchange charge. The original Statewide Calling Plan consisted of only a four-hour service and was implemented in the mid-1980s. The second enhancement to the optional toll-discount plan was approved in 1993 when the one and two-hour plans were introduced. The latest option of an unlimited offering came about in 1996. The current monthly rates for the toll-discount offerings are as such: the one hour plan for $5.00; two hour plan for $7.50; and the four hour plan for $13.00. Each additional minute beyond the monthly time subscription being charged at $0.09. The unlimited statewide option costs $22.00 a month in addition to the basic exchange rate.] and could not see why he has to pay a premium for toll calls to the same places that fellow Lincolnites call at no charge.  [6 BELL ATLANTIC records show that 374 of the 1,284 Manville residences are currently taking one of the four Statewide calling options - 120 one-hour, 110 two-hour, 84 four-hour and 60 unlimited accounts. There were not any businesses taking Selective Calling Service (an optional statewide toll-discount plan for commercial telephone users).]

Muriel Lussier, who owns apartments in the Lincoln area, stated she was unaware that Cox would be providing telephone service in the future and would be able to maintain their current telephone numbers by taking service from a competitive company. She felt that Manville telephone users would be willing to pay three dollars more a month to call Providence but if the decision was to be postponed that a time limit of one year would be a reasonable period to see if competition will be the solution.

Richard Poisson, who led the signature canvassing of the petition, stated that he also has a business with a "769" Woonsocket telephone number and would be willing to give it up to be able to call Providence on a toll-free basis.

Senator Jonathan Oster commented that it is an inadequate situation to have residents from different parts of a town have totally different phone services. He favored that the people of Manville should decide their own calling area and a survey poll was the correct approach.

Paul Armstrong, who owns a local garage since 1953, generally supports establishing a new exchange for Manville so that most businesses could maintain at least the last four digits of their telephone numbers. On the other hand, he stated that he has been constantly getting calls from competitive telephone companies and would be willing to give instate competition a chance to work to alleviate the situation.

Lori Agag pointed out that when a caller dials the old telephone number and it has been changed a BELL ATLANTIC's recording makes reference to the new number for a period of time. She also stated that she believes senior citizens would want the change since many of their doctors are in Providence.

Leon Gagnon, who lived in Manville for thirty years, stated that she generally believes the opposite of Ms. Agag, in that, most elderly have doctors in the Woonsocket area and not in Providence. She further stated that the community of interest has shifted, for the younger generation, to the Providence vicinity.

Dea MacKinnon, a senior citizen working in Providence and has the $5.00 per month one hour Statewide Calling Plan, supports the change to the Providence calling area.

In addition to the public statements in the hearing, four letters were submitted and entered into the record of the proceeding. A letter received prior to the public hearing, dated May 8, 1997 from Burton Stallwood, Lincoln Town Administrator, and Bruno J. Kurowski, Town Councilor from the 5th District, supports the investigation into the expansion of Manville's local calling area. Both encourage the PUC to further investigate this issue and to pursue a course of action which would be in the best interest of the residents of Manville.

After the public hearing was held, additional letters were received by the Division. Richard Poisson stressed in his letter dated May 14, 1997 that a polling survey of the area residence should go forward even though Cox Communications will be eventually competing with BELL ATLANTIC in the near future.

Brian Hunter, who spoke at the public hearing and submitted a letter dated May 26, 1997, reiterating his position that any decision regarding the expansion of the local calling area should be delayed for at least six months due to the fact that Cox Cable Vision is in the process of offering telephone service in the area. In addition he stated, "My business has eight telephone lines. Our main number is an easy number for my customers to remember. To change my business numbers would be a major and expensive undertaking. This would also have the same adverse effect on other Manville businesses."

A letter, dated June 13, 1997 from Michelle Goetz, endorses the expansion of the local telephone service for Manville to include Providence and vicinity. She said it is unfair ".... to pay a toll when the rest of Lincoln does not."

DISCUSSION

The answer to the second issue can be dealt with simply. Manville telephone users can call any part of town without incurring a toll charge.

There has been a BELL ATLANTIC tariff in place for years which provides for "toll-free" service for calls between telephone subscribers within the same municipality. The tariff requirement is Municipal Calling Service  [7 Municipal Calling Service (MCS) is a service arrangement provided on a non-optional basis to municipalities served by more than one exchange or zone where Message Toll Service ("MTS") charges would normally apply to calls between the exchanges or localities serving the same municipality. The BELL ATLANTIC filed tariff provides MCS for two specific situations in Rhode Island - Charlestown and Lincoln. Therefore, BELL ATLANTIC is required to provide toll-free calling within Charlestown and Lincoln.]. The tariff is explicit, in that, it recognizes calls within the two municipalities of Charlestown and Lincoln as warranting distinct rate treatment since the towns are divided by three exchanges and a toll call is required from one end of town to the other. These were the only exceptions in the state where a toll call would have been incurred to place a call within the boundaries of a municipality.

After an evaluation by BELL ATLANTIC and the Division of this purported billing error, we have been unable to confirm the existence of such toll billing for calls within the town of Lincoln. We can only conject as to why this misunderstanding came about. Today, Rhode Island telephone users inherently dial seven-digit telephone numbers for both instate local and toll calls. Customers have the option to contact the BELL ATLANTIC business office and block the seven-digit dialing pattern in preference of the traditional 1+(401)+ seven-digit dialing method for instate tolls. It is our belief that Manville customers, who have chosen 1+ ten-digit toll dialing, are unaware they are not being charged for toll calls within the town. The Manville callers are confused by the physical dialing of 1+ calls to the southerly part of Lincoln (Providence exchange) and then believing they will be charged at the toll rates. This also occurs to subscribers throughout the state who have opted for a toll discount plans such as "Statewide Calling Plan" (SCP) or "Selective Calling Service" (SCS) [8 Selective Calling Service (SCS) was initially offered to only residential customers and the service consisted of a discount of 50% on toll calls dialed station-to-station. Telephone users opting for this service are required to pay a $1.55 monthly entry fee for each toll exchange area selected. A customer can chose up to a maximum of ten exchanges outside their local calling area. In the 1993 Settlement Agreement, the PUC approved the Division's proposal to extend SCS to business customers. The business toll rate elements were reduced from $.01 to $.005 per message and from $.10 to $.071 per minute.] and experience 1+ dialing situations for toll calls to any part of the state but are not charged at the higher rates. Another possibility may be that Manville telephone users are dialing a North Providence subscriber assuming they are located in Lincoln based on the telephone prefix.

BELL ATLANTIC's billing computers are programmed to negate any toll charges in a municipal calling situation, such as in Lincoln, by utilizing zip codes and placing the appearance of a code on the customer's account. In essence, a Manville customer may perceive that a toll call was placed when dialing a 1+ ten-digit number but the actual monthly telephone statement would not reflect a toll charge.

Since this issue has been brought to our attention, BELL ATLANTIC was required to immediately examine this situation at the behest of the Division and has not found any evidence of improper billing regarding the matter. At the public hearing, the Division requested any member of the audience to come forward with any monthly telephone statement substantiating that a toll was charged for a call within the boundaries of Lincoln. The Division's request to identify this possible billing infraction was made public in the newspapers by noticing a BELL ATLANTIC telephone number as the single point of contact. The information appeared in two articles in the Pawtucket Times on May 14, 1997 and in the Providence Sunday Journal on May 18, 1997. To date, the Division has not identified one instance in which a toll charge was billed for calls within the Lincoln municipality.

The third issue can also be resolved expeditiously. BELL ATLANTIC directory assistance operators are now able to identify the telephone number of any person residing in Manville. The Division's review of this matter determined that all Lincoln telephone subscribers are listed in the appropriate white pages of their home directory but in some instances were not listed in a neighboring foreign Pawtucket directory.  [9 A free listing in one foreign directory is considered an additional secondary listing for a telephone subscriber. The secondary listing is automatically provided by the local telephone company if a customer is in the local calling area of a separate directory.]  Manville telephone users are listed in the Woonsocket directory while central and southern Lincoln subscribers are listed in the Pawtucket and Providence directories respectively. In addition to the home directory listings, all Lincoln telephone users should have a free secondary listing in a foreign directory when they are in the local calling area of another exchange served by a foreign directory.

The problem occurred when some of the Manville subscribers were inadvertently omitted from the foreign Pawtucket directory which resulted in a similar omission to BELL ATLANTIC's directory assistance records. When it was brought to the attention of BELL ATLANTIC by the petitioners, they immediately began working on the problem. The identification process was further complicated by the fact that some customers have their monthly statements sent to locations other than the telephone service address. BELL ATLANTIC has reported that it was a time-consuming process however, they have corrected the situation and now telephone numbers of all Manville subscribers can be obtained via directory assistance.

The prime concern requires considerable discussion. The Division hoped that the introduction of competitive suppliers would provide a resolution such that all Manville residents would be able to call the Providence exchange without incurring toll charges. As of this date, competitive suppliers have not provided a Resolution. In order to understand the complexity of the issue, the following information is provided. There generally are two methods that could be employed to expand the calling area. One, is to institute a new exchange with a new exchange prefix (first three digits of a seven-digit telephone number). A second approach would be to expand an existing exchange to include the area in question, such as the Pawtucket or Cumberland Hill exchange whereby Manville customers would have to incur number changes.

Manville subscribers currently have the ability to call toll free between 115,001 - 130,000 subscribers in Rate Group 13. Expanding the calling area results in a rate group shift from Group 13 to Group 21 which encompasses 297,000 - 334,000 subscribers. Whether a new exchange is established or Manville is included in an existing exchange, the petitioning area is reclassified from Rate Group 13 to Rate Group 21. Unlimited residence telephone service in Rate Group 13 is $14.15 while the same service in Rate Group 21 is $17.26. Therefore, an increase in the monthly rate for residence would be $3.11. In regards to existing unlimited (flat-rate) business service, customers in the Manville area would be required to change their service to measured business service as unlimited is no longer a tariff offering. Measured service telephone customers would not experience any change in basic monthly rates as these are uniformed throughout the state.

The Division has always argued diligently through the administrative hearing process for implementation of calling areas that are responsive to the calling needs of all classes of telephone users. We have examined and re-examined the statewide calling structure through the years with the impetus to ease the financial burden for toll users in the business and residential sectors. We worked to eliminate toll charges for contiguous exchange calling and we were directly responsible for enhancing the features of the Statewide Calling Plan from an original four-hour option to an additional one and two-hour alternative and extending the optional Selective Calling Service to business customers. In 1995 the Division, with the assistance of the Attorney General's Office, negotiated with BELL ATLANTIC in a multifaceted five-year Price Regulation Plan that introduced an unlimited statewide toll calling option for residence customers at a flat rate. In January of 1998, an increase to $25 monthly was approved.

A long-term policy of the Division has been to gradually develop, on a statewide basis, optional services in order to provide moderate and high toll users with an alternative in lieu of local calling area expansions throughout the state. The desire of telephone ratepayers to expand their toll-free calling areas will always be an issue confronting the Division as communities of interest and communications technology change. The perceived disparities in telephone calling areas have been exacerbated by the differences in monthly exchange costs.  [10 The basic monthly exchange ranges from a low of $12.44 for Block Island and Newport to a high of $17.26 for Centredale, Providence, Pawucket and Cumberland Hill.]

The most recent request to extend local calling to Providence came via a petition from the central and westerly part of Gloucester (Pascoag exchange) in 1995. The Division was in the midst of negotiations with BELL ATLANTIC regarding a price regulation mechanism and one of the outcomes in the final telephone agreement was the introduction of the unlimited statewide toll plan. It was determined that this new statewide offering would provide reasonable toll relief to Gloucester telephone users and of course, to the state in general. The Division is mindful that fulfilling the local calling needs of some telephone users will impact others who may be adverse to rate increases or to any change to their telephone number or service. Many municipalities and communities have requested calling area changes: Woonsocket to Providence; Pawtucket to Warwick; Little Compton to Newport; the southerly part of North Kingstown to Providence; etc. The Division must weigh its decisions on telephone calling area modifications with the potential indirect effects on local exchange rates and other telephone services in the long term.

On August 1, 1997, the Public Utilities Commission ordered the implementation of statewide Intralata Presubscription [11 Intralata Presubscription requires BELL ATLANTIC to provide toll dialing parity to all competitive telephone companies on a nondiscriminatory basis. Rhode Island telephone users will be able to opt for toll services from telephone companies other than BELL ATLANTIC and will be able to dial 7-digit or 1+10-digits for such toll calls without dialing a five-digit carrier access code.] which affords customers the opportunity to select a toll provider to carry their instate toll calls. The PUC has authorized and registered approximately two hundred and twenty-five providers to offer such instate toll services in Rhode Island  [12 The PUC has also begun the process of permitting local exchange competition by tariffing telecommunication providers (called "Competitive Local Exchange Carriers - CLECs") who will be marketing both local and toll services in the state.]. Although all of these telecommunications providers are not prepared to offer service at this time or may initially concentrate on the business sector, there will be service promotions in the residence marketing place.

It is our belief that instate telecommunications competition will eventually reduce toll and local rates and genuine savings for consumers similar to what has occurred at the interstate level. Telephone customers will ultimately experience more choices in services and lower rates as the free market flourishes. It is our optimism that the advent of local telephone competition will alleviated many past concerns expressed by the public as a greater diversity of services become available.

It is the Division's desire to have the market determine telecommunications offerings and associated rates rather than have them dictated by regulatory mandates. If market place needs are not being met by existing suppliers, new entrants will establish a niche by filling the voids. It is the task of the Division to assure the environment exists in which healthy competition can flourish rather than restrict its development with unnecessary mandates.

A review of the administrative record of this hearing has not produced any factual evidence demonstrating that unjust rates were applied to Manville telephone users nor was there any violation of regulatory statutes. In addition, sufficient time was allowed, as suggested by many commentors at the public hearing, to monitor the development of competitive telecommunication factors.

Therefore accordingly, it is

(15533) ORDERED:

1. The PETITION is denied and rejected.

2. BELL ATLANTIC will be required to investigate the potential for listing omissions in foreign directories and directory assistance records for other exchanges throughout the state with emphasis on municipalities served by two or more exchanges. In addition, when more than one directory serves a municipality a review must be conducted to assure proper directory coverage is maintained. Bell Atlantic will be required to submit a written report to the Division within 30 days from the date of this decision revealing the status of the review.

DATED AND EFFECTIVE AT PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ON FEBRUARY 20, 1998.