Coulee Dam Hearing Will Explore Rural Phone Costs

Washington regulators will hold a hearing in Coulee Dam on Thursday to find out what Eastern Washington residents consider basic telephone service, and what it should cost.

The comments will become part of a Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission report to the Legislature that is due by year-end, said Bob Shirley, a telecommunications analysts with the commission.

The Legislature, in turn, will use the information to help create a universal service fund for subsidizing the cost of telephone use in high-cost, rural areas, he said.

For example, Shirley said, the monthly cost of providing a residential line in Coulee Dam is about $53. The commission allows US West Communications to bill $10.50 for the service.

That’s the same rate charged in Spokane, where the cost of service is significantly less.

There are many issues, Shirley said.

Is one voice-grade line basic when many homes have computers with modems that require much faster links to the Internet?

What about voice-messaging and caller-identification?

Shirley said the commission has a list of 11 questions to stimulate consumer and business comment.

The commission, he said, has never formally defined “basic service,” although there are a number of criteria which service providers are expected to meet when they enter the market.

Nor is there any definition of “affordable,” he said. That bench-mark will determine when the universal service fund will kick in.

Shirely said state action is required by the Federal Communications Commission, which has created its own definition of basic service.

The FCC, as directed by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, has created a federal fund that will cover 25 percent of universal service cost.

The federal fund will be supported by a surcharge on interstate communications.

According to a state commission fact sheet, Washington’s fund would likely be underwritten by a levy on all telecommunications.

The exact method will be up to the Legislature and Gov. Gary Locke.

The Thursday hearing starts at 6 p.m. at the A.E. Wright Elementary School, 201 Crest Drive.

Shirley said the location was chosen because three of Washington’s major local service providers - US West, GTE and PTI - serve local exchanges nearby.

, DataTimes