TR's State NewsWire 2/5/01 P.M. Edition ,
 Telecommunications Reports presents . . . . . TR's State NewsWire
February 5, 2001 2 P.M. Edition


STATES
CALIF. -- CLECs ask PUC to 'refresh' record on Pacific Bell interLATA
service bid
ARIZONA -- ALJ recommends adopting proposed rate settlement with minor
changes
MISSISSIPPI -- Bill to create emergency telephone service charge passes
House
TENNESSEE -- Bill aims to offer property tax relief for telecom firms
N.D. -- House to consider bill applying excise tax to E911
implementation
DELAWARE -- PSC opts to take partial jurisdiction over 'slamming'
N.Y. -- Bill would exempt cable TV franchise transfers from notice and
comment rules
NEW MEXICO -- Bill would prohibit Qwest from selling exchanges with poor
facilities
NORTH DAKOTA -- Resolution would require study of cellphone use while
driving
TENNESSEE -- Bill aims to upgrade discarded computers for students
CALIFORNIA -- PUC seeks comment on number pooling cost recovery
ILLINOIS -- Yellow Book USA to serve Chicago


LONG DISTANCE
CALIFORNIA
CLECs ask PUC to 'refresh' record on Pacific Bell interLATA service bid

The Office of Ratepayer Advocates, several trade associations
representing competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), and nine
individual CLECs have asked the Public Utilities Commission to take the
time to "refresh" its record on Pacific Bell's compliance with federally
mandated market-opening standards before deciding whether the telco has
met those standards.  In a joint petition filed Feb. 2, they argued that
the record in the proceeding was "too stale" for the PUC to be able to
reach credible conclusions about Pacific Bell's compliance by May 24,
the date the commission is scheduled to issue its final decision.

Compliance with a 14-point competitive "checklist" outlined in section
271 of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a prerequisite to
Bell companies' receiving FCC authorization to provide in-region
interLATA (local access and transport area) service.  The FCC is
required to consult with the relevant state commissions and the U.S.
Department of Justice before reaching a decision on a Bell company's
section 271 application, and the Bell companies typically try to
convince the state regulators of their compliance before submitting an
application to the FCC.

The joint petitioners told the PUC that the record could be supplemented
"in a relatively prompt and efficient manner."  They asked that if
"Pacific Bell intends to include updated or other additional information
in its application to be filed with the FCC, then it should make that
information available to the [PUC] and the parties to this proceeding
now, consistent with the FCC's goal that the state commission be the
principal forum for resolving factual disputes in the first instance,
rather than require the [PUC] and the parties to address Pacific Bell's
showing for the first time after being thrust into an expedited review
process before the federal agency in Washington, D.C."

In addition to the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, the joint petitioners
were the California Association of Competitive Telecommunications
Companies, the Association of Communications Enterprises, the
Competitive Telecommunications Association, AT&T Communications of
California, Inc., WorldCom, Inc., Advanced Telcom, Inc., XO California,
Inc., Spring Communications Co. L.P., New Edge Network, Inc., ICG
Telecom Group, Inc., Rhythms Links, Inc., and Time Warner Telecom of
California, Inc.  (Docket R.93-04-003)



ALTERNATIVE REGULATION
ARIZONA
ALJ recommends adopting proposed rate settlement with minor changes

A state Corporation Commission administrative law judge has issued a
proposed order to approve, in part, a settlement reached by Qwest Corp.
and the ACC staff in a Qwest rate case.  (10/23/00 a.m.)  The proposed
decision, which was released late Friday, is subject to review by the
full commission during an open meeting.  No date has been set yet.

Under the proposed decision, Qwest would be able to recover $17.6
million of its revenue requirement through a combination of rate
increases and decreases.  It also could recover $25.3 million in revenue
from flexibly priced competitive services.

The proposed decision would provide that Qwest's "fair value rate base"
for the test year ending Dec. 31, 1999, is about $1.4 million, and a
reasonable rate-of-return on that base is 9.61%.

The ALJ recommended deleting one provision (section 4(g)) from the
settlement that would allow Qwest to attain flexible pricing for all
services offered within a particular wire center, provided there were
other competitors within the wire center.  The ALJ said the provision
could open the door for Qwest to price a competitive service "very
aggressively" in a targeted area but be able to price the same service
or package much higher in areas where it doesn't face competition.

The ALJ approved the settlement's provision placing Qwest's services
into three different baskets.  Basket one would include basic
noncompetitive services, basket two would include wholesale services,
and basket three would include competitive services.  The ALJ also
approved a portion of the settlement that allowed new services and
service packages to be included in basket three without having to meet
all of the requirements contained in the commission's rules.

If Qwest asks to combine a basket one service with a basket three
service, all the commission rules would apply.  Under the proposed
decision, basket one services could be combined with other services and
placed in basket three, provided that the basket one service remain
available as a basket one service.

The Department of Defense, the Communications Workers of America, and
the Arizona Payphone Association support the proposed settlement.  The
Residential Utility Consumer Office, the Arizona Consumers Council, AT&T
Corp., and Cox Communications, Inc., oppose it.

The commissioners previously discussed holding additional public comment
sessions in Phoenix or Tucson.  These sessions would precede the open
meeting, which has yet to be scheduled.  (11/9/00 p.m.)

The ALJ's proposed decision and settlement are available at
http://www.cc.state.az.us/utility/telephon/qwest_rate_case.htm.  (Docket
nos. T-01051B-99-0105, T-01051B-00-369)



WIRELESS
MISSISSIPPI
Bill to create emergency telephone service charge passes House

The House has passed HB 469 to provide for a surcharge to fund emergency
response telephone services.  (1/30/01 p.m.)  Meanwhile, the Senate has
approved a similar bill (SB 2393).

The bills would enact an emergency telephone service charge of up to $1
per month for a residential telephone subscriber line and up to $2 per
month for a commercial telephone subscriber line for local exchange
telephone service.

HB 469 and SB 2393 also would establish a commercial mobile radio
service (CMRS) board.  The five-member panel would require a CMRS
emergency telephone service charge of $1 per month for each CMRS
connection.  CMRS providers would collect the CMRS service charges as
part of their regular monthly billing process.  HB 469 and SB 2393 also
would require CMRS providers to offer wireless E911 service.

Rep. Tim Ford (D., District 18) introduced HB 469, and Sen. Thomas E.
Robertson (R., District 51) introduced SB 2393.



TAXATION
TENNESSEE
Bill aims to offer property tax relief for telecom firms

Sen. Robert Rochelle (D., District 17) has introduced SB 1484 to offset
a state property tax that places some telecom companies at "a
competitive disadvantage."

Under the current property tax law, some telecom companies' properties
are categorized as "public utility property" and assessed at the ratio
of 55% of their fair market values.  Meanwhile, the properties of other
companies, including some firms in the telecom industry, are classified
as "industrial and commercial property" and assessed at lower ratios of
their fair market values.  SB 1484 would attempt to level the playing
field by giving firms whose properties were considered public utility
property a franchise and excise tax credit to balance out the higher
property tax.

SB 1484 also would increase the sales tax on interstate telecom services
to prevent the new franchise and excise tax credits from cutting into
the state's revenue.  Telecom firms that obtained any net tax savings as
a result of the bill would be required to pass along the savings to
consumers by lowering the cost of services.

The bill's text is available at
http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/BILL/SB1484.pdf.



WIRELESS
NORTH DAKOTA
House to consider bill applying excise tax to E911 implementation

The Senate has passed and sent to the House a bill to amend state law to
allow cities and counties to apply an excise tax to the use of wireless
service.  (12/22/00 a.m.)  Current law restricts application of the tax
to telephone access lines.

Revenue from the excise tax would have to be used for implementation,
maintenance, and operation of an E911 wireless service.

Senate President Pro Tem Karen K. Krebsbach (R., District 40) prefiled
SB 2067.



CUSTOMER-AFFECTING
DELAWARE
PSC opts to take partial jurisdiction over 'slamming'

The Public Service Commission has decided to keep primary responsibility
for resolving complaints of "slamming" involving intrastate service,
while referring slamming cases involving interstate service to the FCC.
Slamming is the unauthorized switch of a customer's telecom carrier.

Last fall the FCC adopted antislamming rules that allow state utility
commissions to opt in to oversight of slamming.  If a state doesn't opt
in, the FCC will continue to handle and resolve slamming complaints that
arise in that state.  (10/30/00 a.m.)

The PSC said, "While some may label [the decision] as a 'partial
opt-in,' the PSC believes that it is not 'opting' into anything."  The
PSC said that instead it "will simply be exercising the authority
granted it by state law and reaffirmed by Congress" to prevent slamming
in the context of local exchange, intrastate toll, and other intrastate
services.

The PSC admitted that its decision doesn't "allow Delawareans to have a
single, 'one stop,' location to lodge all of their slamming complaints,"
but concluded that it had no choice.  The PSC said it doesn't have
authority under state law to accept the FCC's offer to regulate
interstate slamming.

The PSC asked the FCC to inform Delaware customers about where they
should bring slamming complaints.  For its part, the PSC promised to
refer complaints involving interstate service to the FCC.  (Notice by
Delaware Public Service Commission of Its Intention to Enforce Preferred
Carrier Verification Procedures for a Customer's Selection of Carriers
to Provide Local Exchange and Intrastate Toll Services)



VIDEO
NEW YORK
Bill would exempt cable TV franchise transfers from notice and comment
rules

Sen. James S. Alesi (R., District 55) has introduced SB 875 to amend the
state's Administrative Procedure Act to exempt transfers of cable TV
franchises from Public Service Commission notice and comment
requirements.

Municipal authorities regulate cable TV franchise transfers and also
provide the public with a chance to comment on them.  The bill's sponsor
hopes that removing state-level notice and comment requirements will
speed the approval process for cable TV franchises and encourage faster
roll-out of advanced services, such as high speed Internet access
through cable modems.

The bill has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Economic
Development, and Small Business.



FUTURE OF REGULATION
NEW MEXICO
Bill would prohibit Qwest from selling exchanges with poor facilities

Sen. Timothy Z. Jennings (D., District 32) has introduced SB 262 to
prohibit the Public Regulation Commission from approving the sale of
local exchange facilities unless the system capabilities, switching
technologies, and related facilities in that exchange are equal or
greater than those of the selling company's largest local exchange in
the state.  The measure would apply only to telecom companies serving
more than 80,000 access lines in the state.

SB 262 has been referred to the Senate Public Affairs Committee.



WIRELESS
NORTH DAKOTA
Resolution would require study of cellphone use while driving

Several legislators have introduced a resolution to direct the
legislative council to study safety issues related to using cellphones
while driving.  The resolution has been referred to the House
Transportation Committee.

Reps. Ole Aarsvold (D., District 20), Dave Weiler (R., District 30), and
Janet Wentz (R., District 3) and Sen. Carolyn Nelson (D., District 21)
introduced HCR 3025 Feb. 2.



CUSTOMER-AFFECTING
TENNESSEE
Bill aims to upgrade discarded computers for students

Sen. James M. Kyle (D., District 28) has introduced SB 1180 to create a
program that would refurbish used computers and provide them to public
school students.  Private or public organizations could donate computers
that would otherwise be discarded.  The commissioner of the Department
of Education would establish procedures for accepting contributions to
the program and promulgate the rules necessary to enact the bill.

Students would be encouraged to use the computers at home or after
school, as appropriate.  SB 1180 also would allow the commissioner to
form an agreement with the Department of Correction whereby inmates
would help restore the computers.  The state could purchase any
necessary computer parts or tools, or these items could be donated.

The bill's text is available at
http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/BILL/SB1180.pdf.


NETWORK MANAGEMENT
CALIFORNIA
PUC seeks comment on number pooling cost recovery

The Public Utilities Commission has asked carriers to comment by Feb. 26
on the appropriate recovery mechanism for the carrier-specific costs of
1,000-number block pooling.  The commission asked carriers to detail how
they should recover the costs from end-users and what additional
procedural actions are needed from the PUC to implement their proposals.

The commission also asked the carriers to submit a detailed list of
carrier-specific costs they want to recover.  For each category, the
carrier should present a detailed description of the costs involved
together with a dollar amount of the costs associated with the
category.  The commission also said it wants carriers to identify
one-time costs versus monthly ongoing costs associated with number
pooling.

Replies are due March 12.  (Rulemaking 95-04-043 and Investigation
95-04-044)



DIRECTORIES
ILLINOIS
Yellow Book USA to serve Chicago

Yellow Book USA, a yellow pages publisher and wholly owned subsidiary of
British Telecommunications plc, today announced that it's entering the
Chicago market.  Ameritech-Illinois is currently the only yellow pages
publisher in the city.

Yellow Book USA said it will offer a "one book solution," which combines
complete consumer yellow pages, business-to-business yellow pages, and
business white pages into one directory.



Federal law prohibits duplication in any form, including electronic,
without permission of the publisher.

TR's State NewsWire Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 Telecommunications
Reports International, Inc. (ISSN 1082-9350) is transmitted each
business day at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., except holidays.
Telecommunications Reports International, Inc.
1333 H St. NW, Suite 100-E
Washington, DC 20005-4707

Associate Editor for Online Publications: Jennifer Erschen, E-mail:
jerschen@tr.com
Senior Legislative & Regulatory Analyst: Gayle Kansagor, E-mail:
gkansagor@tr.com
Senior Research Analyst: Steve Arlowe, E-mail: sarlowe@tr.com
Senior Analyst: Barney McManigal, E-mail: bmcmanigal@tr.com
Account Services: Eileen Callahan (202) 312-6116, (202) 842-3023 (fax)
E-mail: ecallahan@tr.com
cwall@tr.com