STATE OF CALIFORNIA GRAY DAVIS, Governor

PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

505 VAN NESS AVENUE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102-3298

June 14, 2001 Item 1

6/28/2001

TO: PARTIES OF RECORD IN APPLICATION 00-09-045

This is the draft decision of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Duda. It will be on the Commission's agenda at the meeting on June 28, 2001. The Commission may act then, or it may postpone action until later.

When the Commission acts on the draft decision, it may adopt all or part of it as written, amend or modify it, or set it aside and prepare its own decision. Only when the Commission acts does the decision become binding on the parties.

Pursuant to Rule 77.7(f)(9), comments on the draft decision must be filed within seven days of its mailing and no reply comments will be accepted.

In addition to service by mail, parties should send comments in electronic form to those appearances and the state service list that provided an electronic mail address to the Commission, including ALJ Duda at dot@cpuc.ca.gov. Finally, comments must be served separately on the Assigned Commissioner, and for that purpose I suggest hand delivery, overnight mail, or other expeditious methods of service.

Lynn T. Carew, Chief

Administrative Law Judge

LTC:sid

Attachments

ALJ/DOT/sid DRAFT Item 1

6/28/2001

Decision DRAFT DECISION OF ALJ DUDA (Mailed 6/14/2001)

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Application for Authority for Country Road Communications, Inc. and Evans Telephone Holdings, Inc., to Acquire and Control Evans Telephone Company.

Application 00-09-045 (Filed September 19, 2000)

O P I N I O N

1. Summary

Country Road Communications, Inc. (Country Road), its subsidiary Evans Telephone Holdings, Inc. (Evans Holdings), Evans Telephone Company (Evans Telephone) and J. H. Evans, Inc. (jointly "Applicants") seek approval under Section 854(a) of the Public Utilities Code¹ for the acquisition of Evans Telephone by Evans Holdings and Country Road. The application also seeks approval for Evans Holdings to exercise direct control and Country Road to exercise indirect control over Evans Telephone through transfer of the stock of Evans Telephone to Evans Holdings. The application is unopposed. The application is approved subject to conditions which insulate Evans Telephone ratepayers from the debt repayment obligations of Country Road and Evans Holdings, and require Evans Telephone to maintain service that is safe, reliable, and in compliance with applicable statutes and Commission orders. In addition, Applicants are required to invest approximately $11 million in network infrastructure for Evans Telephone over the next five years and increase the offering of broadband and other services to Evans Telephone customers without increasing local rates.