T16881 Notice letter to resolution for comments SBC's request to change and withdraw services like inside wire repair

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Agenda ID # 3924

DRAFT 10/28/2004

PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Telecommunications Division

RESOLUTION T-16881

Carrier Branch

October 28, 2004

R E S O L U T I O N

Resolution T-16881. SBC California (U-1001-C). Request to revise Schedule Cal. P.U.C. Nos. A5. Exchange Services; D7. Inside Wire Repair Services; and 175-T. Access Service for grandfathering of

a) Advantage Plan, and b) 2-Line Voice Discount and bolt-on discounts¹ for both Retail and Resale customers.

By Advice Letter No. 25383, filed on August 20, 2004.

________________________________________________________________

Summary

This Resolution approves SBC California's (SBC's) request to revise Schedule Cal. P.U.C. Nos. A5. Exchange Services; D7. Inside Wire Repair Services; and 175-T. Access Service for grandfathering of a) Advantage Plan, and b) 2-Line Voice Discount and bolt-on discounts for both Retail and Resale customers.

SBC indicates that this filing will not increase any rate or charge, cause the withdrawal of service, or conflict with other schedules or rules as a result of grandfathering the above services.

No protest to the Advice Letter has been filed.

Background
By AL No. 25383, filed on August 20, 2004, SBC requests authority to revise Schedule Cal. P.U.C. Nos. A5. Exchange Services; D7. Inside Wire Repair Services; and 175-T. Access Service for grandfathering of Advantage Plan, 2-Line Voice Discount and bolt-on discounts for both Retail and Resale customers.

The Advantage Plan is a customized package in which the customer has the flexibility to choose from six custom calling features and Caller ID².

a) The qualifying features for the Advantage Plan, which must include Caller ID are:

Privacy Manager³*

Call Waiting ID*

Call Forwarding*

Call Return*

Three-Way Calling*

Call Waiting*

Alternatively, any of the six qualifying features (*) above may be substituted with any of the following features:

Call Screen

Select Call Forwarding

Priority Ringing

Speed Calling-8

Repeat Dialing

Metro Plan^SM

To subscribe to Metro Plan^SM , a one-party residence customer pays a fix monthly rate to have the ability within their Zone Usage Measurement (ZUM) area for unlimited calling on directly dialed calls to ZUM Zone 3 exchanges.

b) 2-Line Voice Discount offers any residential customer pricing discount on selected Custom Calling Services and WirePro⁴ when the customer subscribes to both a Primary Line with the Advantage Plan and WirePro, and an additional access line with Caller ID, 3-Way Calling, Call Waiting and WirePro.

SBC states that grandfathering of above services is to simplify its product offerings.

There are two packages; uSelect 3 and uSelect 6, currently offer customers a broader choice when selecting services to meet their needs.

uSelect 3 offers customers with two Custom Calling Features and Caller ID. uSelect 6 offers customers with five Custom Calling Features and Caller ID.

Notice/Protests

SBC states that copies of the Advice Letter had been mailed to adjacent utilities and/or other utilities. Notice of Advice Letter No. 25383 was published in the Commission Daily Calendar of August 25, 2004. SBC will inform customers of these changes through a bill insert.

No protest to Advice Letter No. 25383 has been filed.

Discussion

Telecommunications Division (TD) has reviewed SBC's AL No. 25383, and obtained more information through a data request regarding custom calling services. TD believes that SBC's proposal to grandfather a) Advantage Plan, and b) 2-Line Voice Discount and the bolt-on discounts for various product groupings is in the interest of customers, as existing customers will be allowed to maintain their service with its applicable discounts, or choose to migrate to one of SBC's new package offerings at a lesser cost. Therefore, TD concludes that SBC's request for authority to revise Schedule Cal. P.U.C. Nos. A5. Exchange Services; D7. Inside Wire Repair Services; and 175-T. Access Service for grandfathering of Advantage Plan, 2-Line Voice Discount and bolt-on discounts for both Retail and Resale customers is reasonable. TD recommends that the Commission approve this filing.

Approval should be based on the specifics of this AL filing and does not establish a precedent for the contents of future filings for Commission approval of similar requests.

Findings

1. SBC filed Advice Letter No. 25383 on August 20, 2004, requesting Commission authorization to revise Schedule Cal. P.U.C. Nos. A5. Exchange Services; D7. Inside Wire Repair Services; and 175-T. Access Service for grandfathering of

a) Advantage Plan, and b) 2-Line Voice Discount and bolt-on discounts for both Retail and Resale customers.

2. SBC has alternative calling plans at slightly less monthly rates; described in this resolution, as substitutes for the above grandfathered services in Finding No. 1.

3. Customers who currently subscribe to above services will receive notification via bill insert of the proposed changes.

4. There will be no increase in rates to SBC's customers who currently subscribe to the services described in this resolution as a result of SBC's proposed grandfathering request.

5. After reviewing AL No. 25383, TD recommends that the Commission approve this filing.

6. SBC's request for authorization to revise Schedule Cal.P.U.C. Nos. A5. Exchange Services; D7. Inside Wire Repair Services; and 175-T. Access Service for grandfathering of a) Advantage Plan, and b) 2-Line Voice Discount and bolt-on discounts for both Retail and Resale customers is just and reasonable and should be granted.

THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that:

1. Authority is granted to make AL No. 25383 and the associated tariff sheets effective October 28, 2004.

2. AL No. 25383 and accompanying tariff sheets shall be marked to show that they were authorized by Resolution T-16881.

This Resolution is effective today.

I hereby certify that this Resolution was adopted by the Public Utilities Commission at its regular meeting on October 28, 2004. The following Commissioners approved it.

STEVE LARSON

Executive Director

T16881 Notice letter to resolution for comments SBC's request to change and withdraw services like inside wire repair

¹ Bolt-on discounts are discounts that a customer receives, when the customer who has selected Advantage Plan or 2-Line Voice Discount, the customer will receive $1.68 bolt-on discount from the WirePro rate $2.99.

² Caller ID provides for the display of a incoming name and telephone number on a customer provided display device attached to the customer's telephone line or on a telephone or answering machine with a build-in display screen.

³ With Privacy Manager, calls that previously came across caller ID display as "anonymous," "private," "out of area," or "unavailable" will not ring through, unless the caller choose to identify themselves.

⁴ WirePro is a Category III Service. The rates are charged monthly for repair of inside wire and/or jacks within customers' premises.