CCC PPPPP U U CCC N N EEEEE W W W SSS C C P p U U C C NN N E W W W S S C P P U U C N N N E W W W S C PPPPP U U C N N N EEE W W W W SSS C P U U C N N N E WW WW S C C P U U C C N NN E W W S S CCC P UUUU CCC N N EEEEE W W SSS California Public Utilities Commission 505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 5301 San Francisco, CA 94102 CONTACT: Dianne Dienstein March 18, 1997 CPUC - 10 415-703-2423 (I.________) CPUC INVESTIGATION INTO CALL ROUTING/RATING The California Public Utilities Commission today began an investigation into a call routing dispute between competing local telecommunications service providers in Northeastern California which may signal similar problems statewide as competition in local telecommunications service expands. Pac-West Telecomm Inc. (Pac-West) filed a complaint with the Commission alleging that Evans Telephone Company (Evans) and Volcano Telephone Company (Volcano) improperly routed calls so that calls to Pac-West customers were not completed. Evans and Volcano in turn charged that Pac-West manipulated the telecommunications network to avoid paying Evans and Volcano for access to their network. It appears that Pac-West entered into an interconnection agreement with Pacific Bell (PacBell) where prefixes associated with PacBell's Jackson and Crow's Landing central offices were sold to Pac-West. Pac-West then sold service using those prefixes to its customers, including internet providers and regional businesses, located in the Stockton area. Evans and Volcano contend that calls originating from the towns of Patterson (served by Evans) and Volcano to those prefixes have been rated local calls because Crows Landing and Jackson were deemed 'communities of interest' by the Commission and afforded 'extended local area service'. Evans and Volcano argue that the calls to Pac-West customers are toll calls because customers who have those prefixes are located in Stockton, not the communities of interest. Evans and Volcano contend these calls should be rated - more - as toll and Pac-West should pay access charges to Evans and Volcano. Instead of continuing to route these calls to Stockton (where they would be switched to Crows Landing and Jackson), Evans and Volcano changed the routing so the calls went directly to Crow's Landing and Jackson where there are no switching facilities. As a result, none of the calls originating from Patterson or Volcano to the prefixes sold to Pac-West could be completed. Pac-West filed the complaint to protest Volcano's and Evan's rerouting of calls which, in effect, made call completion to its customers impossible. Pac-West argues that the Commission's local competition rules no longer require that prefixes be fixed to specific rate centers geographically, and are more flexible regarding rating and routing to promote local competition. Pac- West contends calls should continue to be routed as provided for by industry guidelines, for instance via PacBell's Stockton switching facilities, and continue to be rated as local calls. The Commission will investigate this specific complaint, and perhaps more importantly, look at the generic issue of rating and routing inconsistencies and how prefixes previously assigned to local calling areas should be handled when they are purchased for use in different geographic areas. Consideration will be given to the potential revenue impact on small phone companies in these cases. The Commission will consider whether rating and routing practices that promote local competition create an unreasonable burden on small phone companies in instances where expanded local service is offered, and whether such practices are unreasonable or unlawful in any other respect. Commissioner Josiah Neeper and Administrative Law Judge Meg Gottstein have scheduled a prehearing conference for Wednesday, April 30, 10 a.m., State Building, 505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. The prehearing conference will identify parties and issues to be covered by this investigation, and set a procedural schedule. ###