In order to provide reasonable assurance that the 714/657 overlay PEP can and will be properly planned, administered, and executed, we shall require, at a minimum, the criteria, requirements, objectives, and goals set forth in D.96-12-086, D.98-05-021, D.98-12-081, D.99-02-074, and D.05-08-040 and the activities proposed by the telecommunications industry, which are described in Attachment E.

The PEP shall start on the effective date of this decision and continue until the new 657 telephone numbers become available, 12 months later. The CPUC's Communications Division's Director, or designee(s), (Director) is authorized to oversee the PEP Task Force, and to ensure that the PEP achieves the 70% customer awareness standard adopted in today's decision. The Director is further authorized to require such additional contributions to the PEP budget fund as may be necessary to achieve the customer awareness standard. Due to critical importance of assessing the level of customer awareness, we require the Director to approve only a comprehensive assessment method that measures awareness across all major customer groups.

The Task Force shall implement the PEP. It will include Commission staff and at least one representative from each service provider holding numbering resources in the 714 area code as of the effective date of this decision. A clear delineation of responsibilities between individual service providers and the Task Force is necessary so that appropriate follow-up and monitoring can be performed to make sure that the tasks are carried out on the schedule and on the scale that is set forth in the PEP budget. We shall require the Task Force to develop a reasonable means of delineating the division of responsibility for the above-referenced activities so that adequate tracking and compliance can be assured.

The Task Force should be able to handle the responsibilities for developing the materials and content of the PEP, maximizing the use of prior PEP efforts, and conforming to the requirements of this order. We remain concerned as to whether the Task Force will be able to adequately staff the logistical and administrative functions. In the past 310/424 overlay PEPs, volunteer efforts by employees of individual service providers were sometimes challenging, with much work being done by just a few volunteers and resulting in delays. Some sub-committees had greater participation than others. The Task Force shall allocate volunteers between sub-committees accordingly to prevent any delays in the schedule.

At this time, the Task Force will not be required to solicit the assistance of an outside professional firm to focus on implementing the logistical administration of the PEP. Nonetheless, Commission staff on the PEP shall monitor the steps the Task Force is taking to provide an adequate level of in-house staffing to handle the PEP's responsibilities per this decision. If logistical problems develop during the course of implementation, the Director shall determine whether outside professional assistance is required, and adjust the PEP budget accordingly.

The PEP shall be conducted at the level of effort necessary to achieve at least a 70% public awareness. PEP outreach efforts shall specifically target key governmental agencies and community leaders, chambers of commerce, major airports, hospitals, alarm providers, pay telephone providers, police and fire departments, and the state coordinator for emergency services in the 714 NPA region. The PEP shall also include special outreach to senior citizens, children, the disabled, and principal ethnic minorities in the 714 NPA region. PEP materials must be made available in the native languages applicable to the principal ethnic communities in the 714 NPA region based on the most recent Census data.

The Task Force shall arrange for paid advertising about the overlay in such print, broadcast, internet, and other media as necessary to achieve the 70% customer awareness levels across all major customer groups.

The PEP's message content for all of its educational, outreach, and paid advertising materials shall primarily include the type of area code change being implemented, the new dialing procedure, the region covered by the 714/657 area code overlay, and that the cost or quality of telephone service will not be adversely affected by the change. As applicable, feasible, or logical, the permissive dialing period, the mandatory dialing period, the tasks consumers should do in preparation of the overlay, and the reasons for adding a new area code shall also be included in the message content. The Task Force shall submit all educational, outreach, and paid advertising materials to the Director for review and approval.

We order the Task Force to implement, at a minimum, the public education program plan described in Attachment E. The PEP plan proposed by the telecommunications industry in Attachment D currently does not demonstrate that it will meet the criteria, requirements, objectives, and goals ordered in this decision. Therefore, the Task Force shall, within 15 days of the effective date of today's decision, file and serve the Final PEP plan, which shall include the specific start and due dates for all tasks, activities, and milestones and the delineation of responsibilities needed to comply with this order.

3. Potential for Continuation of the PEP Beyond the Overlay Opening Date

In D.99-06-087, we determined that a second-phase PEP extending beyond the opening of the overlay area code might be necessary to promote necessary public awareness regarding the fact that the 408 and 669 area codes would co-exist in the same geographic area. In the case of overlays implemented in other states, the Commission observed that some customers had expressed confusion, thinking that the overlay area code served a different geographic area, perceived as requiring a toll call. We noted the concern as to the competitive consequences of such a misperception should it emerge in California, since competitive local carriers would be more likely than incumbents to serve customers with the new, less recognized overlay area code.

We agreed that by focusing mainly on the change to mandatory 10-digit dialing, and by ending the PEP before the overlay actually takes effect, public confusion could remain a problem concerning the identification of the new area code with the original area code region. With the 408 area code overlay decision, we agreed that it may prove useful to extend the duration of the PEP beyond the opening of the overlay area code to ensure that customers are not confused as to the location of the new area code and that the rating of calls would not be affected. The Director shall monitor the effectiveness of the PEP through the implementation period, and make a further assessment at a later date as to whether, and to what extent, the PEP should continue to actively disseminate information after the overlay area code is opened. If the customer awareness level does not reach at least 70% by the opening of the new 657 area code, then the Task Force shall continue the PEP beyond the opening of the new 657 area code.

To accurately determine the awareness level, the Task Force shall conduct a well-balanced and statistically significant survey of telephone users and customers with telephone numbers in the 714 area code. The Task Force shall submit the survey questions, process, and methodology to the Director for review and approval.

4. Funding and Budget for the PEP

Similar to the funding mechanism established in D.05-08-040 for the 310/424 PEP, we shall require that the basis for PEP funds related to those tasks jointly assigned to all the service providers come from those service providers holding thousand-blocks in the 714 area code as of the effective date of this decision. The amount collected from these service providers shall be in proportion to the relative percentage of thousand-blocks that they hold as of the effective date of this decision. Any additional assessments or refunds shall be made on the same basis. Individual service provider costs for service provider-specific tasks shall be the responsibility of each service provider.

The Task Force shall arrange for adequate accounting of total PEP costs incurred, to determine the contributions owed by each service provider based on its thousand-block holdings, to follow up for collections and disbursements of PEP funds, to monitor the PEP funds remaining, to keep the expenses within the PEP budget, and to disperse the funds to the appropriate sub-committees to pay for any expenses incurred. The Task Force budget shall not include the labor costs of each service providers' representatives in the Task Force. The Task Force shall provide for periodic reporting to Commission staff concerning the details of collections and disbursements relating to the PEP. Such reporting shall be necessary to confirm that the PEP is carrying out its authorized mandate on schedule and according to this decision's scope and specifications. The specific details of the budgetary reporting framework shall be developed as part of the Task Force administration.

We shall authorize a preliminary budget of $401,000 for the 714/657 PEP as previously authorized in D.05-08-040 for the 310/424 overlay PEP. Of this total amount, we shall require that a minimum of 36% of the PEP budget be allotted to cover paid or mass media advertising, including radio and television, and a minimum of 3% for collateral materials. Subject to continuing review and monitoring of PEP activities' progress and public awareness level, we may find it further necessary to adjust the budgeted PEP amount prospectively. As noted above, we delegate responsibility for approving any subsequent PEP budget adjustments to the Director.

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