OAR 860-032-0035: Petition to Price List Telecommunications Utility Services

(1) Pursuant to ORS 759.054, a telecommunications utility may petition the Commission to price list a service. The petition shall contain the following information: (a) The name of the petitioner; (b) A description of the proposed price-listed service, including the initial price list with the proposed terms and prices of the service; (c) Documentation and information to support findings the Commission must make and the criteria the Commission must consider as set forth in sections (4), (5), and (6) of this rule; and (d) A statement from: (A) Each joint telecommunications provider of the service that it agrees to the price list; or (B) The petitioner indicating how the price list will affect the rates and services of all joint telecommunications providers of the service. (2) A telecommunications utility seeking to price list a service shall identify other telecommunications providers who provide the service in the same geographic area as does the petitioner. (3) After notice and investigation, the Commission may, by order, grant a petition to price list a service. (4) The petition to price list a telecommunications service may be granted, subject to reasonable conditions, if the Commission finds: (a) The service is subject to competition; or (b) The service is not essential. (5) Before finding that a service is subject to competition, the Commission shall consider: (a) The extent to which services are available from alternative telecommunications providers in the relevant market; (b) The extent to which the services of alternative providers are functionally equivalent or substitutable at comparable rates, terms, and conditions; (c) Existing economic or regulatory barriers to entry; and (d) Any other factors deemed relevant by the Commission. (6) Before finding that a telecommunications service is "not essential," for purposes of ORS 759.054 and section (4)(b) of this rule, the Commission will apply the following criteria: (a) There is a rebuttable presumption that a service listed in OAR 860-032-0200 is also essential for purposes of ORS 759.054 and this rule; (b) A service required for emergency 9-1-1 calls is essential; (c) A service is essential if customers require it to efficiently establish, sustain, or discontinue a telecommunications call by means of the public switched network; (d) A service may be deemed "not essential” only if it is not essential for all customer classes. If a service is found to be essential for one customer class, it shall be considered an essential service, and it shall not be deemed "not essential." Customers include end-users, telecommunications providers, enhanced service providers, and radio common carriers; (e) If the Commission determines that a service is "not essential," it will be deemed not essential for all areas in Oregon served by the petitioner; (f) Presence of alternatives to the service will be considered. The presence or absence of alternatives, in and of itself, is not sufficient to determine whether a service is essential; (g) For telecommunications utilities certified prior to January 1, 1999, there is a rebuttable presumption that a telecommunications service which is first offered after January 1, 1999, is not essential; (h) For any person certified as a telecommunications utility after January 1, 1999, all services proposed to be offered initially shall be deemed essential. However, the telecommunications utility may, with the application for a certificate of authority or thereafter, petition under this rule to price list some or all of its telecommunications services. (i) A service is not new if it merely renames, repackages, or is a variation of an existing service; and (j) There is a rebuttable presumption that a package of telecommunications services is not essential, provided each service within the package is readily available to customers on a separate basis. (7) The rate set for a price listed service shall not be lower than the long-run incremental cost of providing the service. (8) The rate set for a package of services must be equal to or greater than the tariffed rate(s) for the essential service(s) plus the long-run incremental cost(s) of the "not essential" service(s) in the package. (9) Unless the Commission finds the petition is contrary to the public interest, a petition to price list a service shall be granted, subject to reasonable conditions. (10) After notice and investigation, the Commission may amend or revoke an order price listing a service. The Commission may take such an action upon a finding that the circumstances under which the service was price listed no longer exist, or that the public interest requires that the telecommunications utility’s authority to price list a service be changed. (11) If the Commission authorizes a telecommunications utility to price list a service, the telecommunications utility shall file a price list consistent with the terms of the order. The telecommunications utility may revise the price list by filing revisions with the Commission. Unless otherwise required by the Commission, a price list shall be effective on the date specified by the telecommunications utility. The price list may be effective immediately on filing with the Commission. The procedures in ORS 759.180 to 759.190 do not apply to filing or revising a price list. (12) The Commission may at any time order a telecommunications utility to appear before the Commission and establish that any or all of its price listed service rates or terms and conditions are just, reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and in the public interest. After hearing, the Commission may order the telecommunications utility to change the terms and condition or rates of its price listed services. The telecommunications utility may not thereafter change any terms and conditions or rates of price listed services contrary to the terms of the Commission order without approval by the Commission.