DE 98-085
BELL ATLANTIC
PETITION TO EXPAND THE PLAINFIELD (675) LOCAL CALLING AREA
Order Establishing Customer Polling Schedule to
Consider the Addition of White River & Hartland, Vermont
O R D E R N O. 23,169
March 22, 1999
On October 7, 1998, the New Hampshire Public Utilities
Commission (Commission) issued Order No. 23,037, after holding a
public hearing on August 6, 1998 at the Plainfield Town Hall in
response to a petition from customers requesting expansion of the
Plainfield Extended Area Service (EAS), also known as the local
calling area, to include Hanover, Lebanon and White River
Junction, Vermont. In its decision, the Commission ordered that
customers in the Plainfield exchange be polled to determine
whether the Hanover and Lebanon exchanges should be included in
the Plainfield local calling area. Based on the written and oral
comments provided during and after the public hearing, the
Commission found that no community of interest was established
between White River Junction and Plainfield and declined to poll
customers on expansion of the local calling area to White River
Junction.
By letter dated November 2, 1998, the Petitioners,
Laura Wilder and Margaret Drye, requested reconsideration of the
finding regarding White River Junction and requested, for the
first time, inclusion of the Hartland, Vermont exchange in the
Plainfield local calling area. The letter presented information
not raised at the public hearing, providing support for the
assertion that a community of interest does exist between
Plainfield customers and the White River Junction and Hartland,
Vermont exchanges.
To prevent delaying the poll for proposed New Hampshire
EAS exchanges (Hanover and Lebanon), and give further
consideration to Vermont exchanges (White River Junction and
Hartland) the Commission issued Order No. 23,084 on December 14,
1998. This order segregated the New Hampshire and Vermont issues
and ordered Staff to research and report the requirements for
appropriate consideration of interstate EAS.
The Commission Staff has investigated, to the extent
possible, the average toll calling from Plainfield to White River
Junction and Hartland, Vermont, provided by the various toll
carriers. Based on available information, Staff estimates the
average number of calls per customer per month from Plainfield to
White River Junction is 5.9 and from Plainfield to Hartland is
1.4. In quantifying a community of interest, N.H. Admin. Rule
Puc 410.04(a) states:
A traffic study shall demonstrate a community of
interest sufficient to require a hearing as described
in Puc 410.05 if calling from the petitioning exchange
to the requested exchange shows:
1) An average of 5 or more calls per month per access
line; and
2) That 40% of access lines make 3 or more calls per
month.
Data was not available on the percent of access lines that make 3
or more calls per month. However, based on the petition and the
available traffic information, we believe a community of interest
exists from Plainfield to White River Junction.
Customers in Hartland, Vermont currently enjoy local
calling to Plainfield, New Hampshire. However, Plainfield
customers incur toll charges to call customers in Hartland.
Therefore, despite the fact that N.H. Admin Rules Puc 410 require
two-way EAS, this one-way EAS route exists. We were not aware
this one-way EAS route existed until the petition for
reconsideration was filed on November 2, 1998. Although the
average number of calls per customer per month does not seem to
support a community of interest from Plainfield to Hartland,
one-way local calling from Hartland would logically reduce toll
calls originating from Plainfield and a community of interest may
actually exist. In order to eliminate the only known one-way EAS
in Vermont and New Hampshire, we will include Hartland with our
consideration of White River Junction in the local calling area
of the Plainfield exchange.
Consistent with prior orders regarding expanded local
calling areas, we believe Bell Atlantic customers in Plainfield
should pay any basic service rate group change that would result
from the addition of White River Junction and Hartland to the
local calling area. With the addition of the contiguous
exchanges of West Lebanon and Meriden, and with Lebanon and
Hanover added by this docket on May 31, 1999, the local calling
area for Plainfield will include access to approximately 30,000
customers. This will place it at the upper limit of Rate Group
C. The addition of either of the proposed Vermont exchanges will
move Plainfield to Rate Group D (31,000-75,000) which would
result in an approximate $1.16 monthly increase for one party
residence customers. Through normal growth of customers in all
of the local calling area without White River Junction or
Hartland, the aforestated rate group increase was expected to
occur some time in the year 2000.
Based on the above information, we find that a
community of interest exists between Plainfield and White River
Junction that was not demonstrated at the hearing on August 6,
1998. We further believe the benefits of maintaining consistent
two-way EAS require an opportunity to consider adding Hartland to
Plainfield's local calling area. Therefore, we direct that the
balloting of customers in the Plainfield exchange determine if
customers are willing to pay rates associated with Rate Group D
to add White River Junction and Hartland, Vermont to the local
calling area according to the following schedule:
Ballot sent by Commission.... April 19, 1999
Ballots returned by...........May 10, 1999
Ballots tabulated by..........May 17, 1999
The poll shall be considered conclusive if ballots are
returned by 25% or more of the customer base. The outcome of a
conclusive vote will be determined by a simple majority of the
returned ballots.
Should Plainfield customers vote in the affirmative for
the addition of White River Junction and Hartland it will be
necessary to obtain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and
Vermont Board of Public Service approval.
Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby
ORDERED, that a vote on Plainfield's EAS expansion to
include the White River Junction and Hartland, Vermont exchanges
shall be conducted based on the local rate increase listed on the
ballot; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, that if Plainfield customers vote in
the affirmative that Bell Atlantic-New Hampshire shall file for
approval of the EAS expansion with the FCC and coordinate with
Bell Atlantic-Vermont for approval by the Vermont Department of
Public Service; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, that Bell Atlantic provide mailing
labels for Plainfield Exchange customers by April 12, 1999.
By order of the Public Utilities Commission of New
Hampshire this twenty-second day of March, 1999.
Douglas L. Patch Susan S. Geiger Nancy Brockway
Chairman Commissioner Commissioner
Attested by:
Thomas B. Getz
Executive Director and Secretary