Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. The
Commission may, at any time after initiation of an EAS inquiry, order a
subscriber survey by mail to be made of all affected subscribers by the local
exchange company or companies.
B.
The subscriber survey shall contain an explanatory letter stating all pertinent
information that would enable the subscriber to make an informed choice of
acceptance or rejection of the proposal. The explanatory letter shall contain
at least the following items, along with such other items as the Commission may
order:
(1) A clear and brief explanation of
the purpose of the subscriber survey.
(2) A tabulation showing, by class of
service, any increase in rate, rate additive or other rate change to which
subscribers would or might be subject. The explanatory letter shall state
separately for each exchange required to be surveyed the amount of local
service rate increase, rate additive, or other rate change applicable to that
exchange both in the event EAS is granted in all exchanges under consideration,
or only the petitioning exchange.
(3) A listing of the exchanges and
three-digit telephone number prefixes which would become accessible as a local
call if the EAS were approved, as well as the number of access lines currently
available to subscribers and the number of access lines which would be
available as a local call if the EAS were approved, along with current
comparable rates in the exchange (so that a comparison could be made with any
resulting rate increase).
(4) A
statement that only signed survey ballots will be counted.
(5) The date by which survey ballots must be
postmarked to be considered. The return date shall provide, at a minimum, a
period of thirty days from the date on which the subscriber survey is mailed to
the subscriber, unless such time period is altered by the Commission.
C. The subscriber survey shall
include a pre-addressed, return postage-paid survey ballot which shall provide
at least the following information:
(1) A
brief statement of the service proposal being voted on as more fully described
in the subscriber survey explanatory letter.
(2) Spaces for the subscriber to indicate his
or her preference for or against the proposal.
(3) Lines for signature, telephone number and
date.
(4) A space for subscriber
comments.
(5) A statement of the
date by which the ballot must be postmarked in order to be considered in the
determination of voting results.
D. The subscriber survey shall be a separate
mailing, shall contain no additional material or information not contemplated
by this rule or ordered and approved by the Commission.
E. Both the subscriber survey explanatory
letter and the ballot, as well as the envelope (and any graphic or printed
material contained thereon) shall require approval of the Commission prior to
mailing.
F. All costs incurred in
connection with preparation of all materials, costs of mailing and cost of
collection and tabulation shall be borne by the local exchange company or
companies and such costs shall be only those costs found by the Commission to
have been reasonable, prudent and necessary.
G. The requested EAS may be denied by the
Commission upon a finding that:
(1) A simple
majority of affirmative votes of those voting was not realized, in the
aggregate, from the total votes cast in all exchanges in the subscriber
survey;
(2) A simple majority of
affirmative votes of those voting was not realized from a given petitioning
exchange (denial in this instance may be only as to that exchange);
(3) A simple majority of subscribers of only
one exchange vote in favor of the proposal and a simple majority of subscribers
of the other affected exchange or exchanges vote against the proposal;
or
(4) Granting the EAS would not
be in the public interest.
