NOTICES
PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION
Investigation to Reclassify Noncompetitive Telecommunications Services Provided by Interexchange Telecommunications Carriers as Competitive Services
[33 Pa.B. 2448] Public Meeting held
May 1, 2003Commissioners Present: Glenn R. Thomas, Chairperson; Robert K. Bloom, Vice Chairperson; Aaron Wilson, Jr.; Terrance J. Fitzpatrick; Kim Pizzingrilli
Investigation to Reclassify Noncompetitive Telecommunications Services Provided by Interexchange Telecommunications Carriers as Competitive Services; I-00030097
Order By the Commission:
In 1993, the General Assembly, through its enactment of Chapter 30, designated all but two of the telecommunications services provided by interexchange carriers (IXCs) to be competitive services. See 66 Pa.C.S. § 3008(a). The services that retained the ''noncompetitive'' classification were: 1) interexchange services to aggregator telephones; and 2) optional calling plans offered by IXCs. However, the General Assembly gave the Commission the authority to reclassify these two noncompetitive services as competitive. Id.
We are of the opinion that since the enactment of Chapter 30, the intrastate interexchange market in this Commonwealth has become substantially more competitive, and that the time has come to re-examine the state of competition in this Commonwealth's intrastate interexchange market. See 66 Pa.C.S. § 331(a). Nearly 10 years after the enactment of Chapter 30, we want to take a fresh look at the two remaining noncompetitive services in the intrastate interexchange marketplace. Accordingly, under 66 Pa.C.S. § 3008(c), the Commission is hereby instituting an investigation of the intrastate interexchange market in this Commonwealth. We wish to determine whether sufficient competition exists throughout the market, so as to reclassify the two remaining noncompetitive services as competitive. See also 52 Pa. Code § 63.106(c).
We take this opportunity to solicit comments from market participants, industry members and public advocates regarding our belief that competition has substantially increased in the intrastate interexchange market. In accordance with 52 Pa. Code § 63.106(a), interested parties are encouraged to provide detailed factual information concerning how the state of competition in the intrastate interexchange market bears on the classification of the two noncompetitive services in question.
The first thing we want to determine is whether a majority of the IXCs operating in this Commonwealth are even offering the two noncompetitive services or are only offering services that are competitive. Furthermore, in submitting comments on whether the two noncompetitive services in the intrastate interexchange market should be reclassified, we ask that interested parties reference specifically the factors outlined in our regulations at 52 Pa. Code § 63.106(d)(1)--(5). We encourage members of the regulated industry, the public and any other interested parties to file comments on how these factors should bear on our analysis. Only those submitting comments will be considered parties to this proceeding. The Commission is directing the Office of Administrative Law Judge to conduct this reclassification investigation and to hold such hearings as deemed appropriate; Therefore,
It Is Ordered That:
1. The Commission hereby commences an investigation to determine whether the two remaining noncompetitive services offered by intrastate interexchange carriers should be reclassified as competitive services.
2. A copy of this Order, which gives notice of this investigation, shall be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and interested parties shall file comments within 30 days of publication. Comments should reference specifically the factors outlined in our regulations at 52 Pa. Code § 63.106(d)(1)--(5). Only those interested parties that submit comments will be considered parties to the proceeding.
3. The Office of Administrative Law Judge shall conduct the investigation and shall institute such hearings as may be deemed appropriate.
4. Upon conclusion of such hearings, the presiding Administrative Law Judge shall issue a Recommended Decision which shall be served on all parties and submitted to the Commission for its consideration.
5. A copy of this Order shall be served on all jurisdictional IXCs, the Office of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Small Business Advocate and OTS.
JAMES J. MCNULTY,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 03-964. Filed for public inspection May 16, 2003, 9:00 a.m.]
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
