PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Telecommunications Division RESOLUTION T-16483

Carrier Branch January 4, 2001

R E S O L U T I O N

RESOLUTION T-16483. PACIFIC BELL (1001-C). REQUEST FOR APPROVAL TO APPLY THE SAME RETAIL EXCHANGE AND TOLL SERVICE SURCHARGE/SURCREDIT BILLING ADJUSTMENTS TO ITS CORRESPONDING RESALE EXCHANGE AND TOLL SERVICE RATES AND CHARGES TO REFLECT AN EXACT 17% DISCOUNT AS MANDATED BY DECISION (D.) 96-03-020 AND D.97-04-090.

BY ADVICE LETTER (AL) NO. 20469, FILED AUGUST 10, 1999. _________________________________________________________________

SUMMARY

Pacific Bell's (Pacific) request in AL No. 20469, to apply the same retail exchange and toll service surcharge/surcredit billing adjustments to its corresponding resale exchange and toll service rates and charges (rates or prices), is approved. This approval will correct an on-going error created when the access billing surcharge/surcredit, applicable to access services, is used to adjust the rates for resale exchange and toll services contained in Pacific's access tariff schedule.

Pacific's billing surcharge/surcredit changes are reflected in its Tariff Schedule Cal. P.U.C. No. A2, General Regulations, Rule 2.1.33, Rule 33 - Billing Surcharges.

Currently, Pacific is erroneously applying the "access" billing surcharge/surcredit to all its resale services even though Pacific's access tariff schedule contains not only access services, but also resale exchange and toll services, which have different respective retail billing surcharges/surcredits than access services. Consequently, this results in other than a 17% discount on resale service rates as mandated by D.96-03-020 and D.97-04-090.

Pacific is ordered to correct its resale rates in its Tariff Schedule Cal. P.U.C. 175-T, Section 18, to restore the mandated 17% discount pursuant to D.96-03-020 and D.97-04-090. The revised tariff sheets shall be filed in time to become effective on June 1, 2001.

BACKGROUND

With some exceptions, D.96-03-020 requires Pacific to make available to its resale customers the same telecommunications services that are provided to its retail customers. The decision further requires a 17% discount for business services and 10% discount for residential access services when offered for resale. Subsequently, D.97-04-090 changed the resale discount for residential access services from 10% to 17%.

Pacific's resale tariff, Schedule Cal. P.U.C. 175-T, is commonly called the "Access Tariff". Pacific has been erroneously applying the "access" billing surcharge/surcredit to all its resale services even though Pacific's access tariff schedule contains not only access services, but also resale exchange and toll services. The exchange and toll services offered for resale have different respective retail billing surcharges/surcredits than access services. Since the billing surcharges/surcredits for access, exchange and toll services are not identical, Pacific recognized that the exact 17% discount is not being maintained on its resale exchange and toll services. To correct this error, Pacific filed AL No. 20469 on August 10, 1999, seeking Commission authority to revise its Tariff Schedule Cal. P.U.C. A2, General Regulations, Rule 2.1.33, Rule No. 33 - Billing Surcharges, which consists of the billing surcharges/surcredits for access, exchange and toll services. Pacific is requesting that the same Rule 33 billing surcharges/surcredits applicable to its retail exchange and toll services also be applied to its corresponding resale services in order to maintain the Commission mandated 17% discount.

After the adoption of the new regulatory framework in D.89-10-031, Pacific accumulated revenue adjustments associated with its annual price caps filing in the form of a permanent surcharge component in Rule 33 - Billing Surcharges in its Tariff Schedule Cal. P.U.C. No. A2, General Regulations. Ordering Paragraph (OP) 62 of D.94-09-065 provides that when the cumulative permanent surcharge exceeded 5%, Pacific would be required to revise all of its tariffed rates. As a result, OP 4 of Resolution T-16265, dated January 20, 1999, required Pacific to change its rates when its surcharges and/or surcredits exceeded the 5% threshold specified in D.94-09-065 in 1999. Accordingly, Pacific filed AL No. 20400 on July 1, 1999, which became effective November 1, 1999, to make the required reductions in its entire tariff schedules. However, Pacific now advises that one impact of this rate reduction was that only the access billing surcredit for access services of 5.421% was used to adjust all of its resale exchange and toll services rates. Thus, Pacific's existing resale exchange and toll services rates (adopted with AL No. 20400) do not reflect the mandated 17% discount.

NOTICE/PROTESTS

Pacific states that copies of AL No. 20469 were mailed to competing and adjacent utilities/and or other utilities, and interested parties, as requested. In addition, this AL was published in the Commission Daily Calendar of August 16, 1999. There have been no protests.