2012 PSC Annual Report - Missouri Public Service Commission

REGULATORY ACTIVITYAs part of its response to Halo’s complaint, AT&T fileda counterclaim seeking to cease performance underits interconnection agreement with Halo. After Halo’sjurisdictional objections were rejected by the FCC and thefederal courts, the Commission convened an evidentiaryhearing on June 26, 2012.The Commission issued an order on August 1, 2012,concluding that Halo had violated the ERE Rule and thatit had committed a material breach of its interconnectionagreement with AT&T. The Commission directed AT&T toimmediately cease performance with Halo, and found thatHalo was liable for access charges on the interexchangelandline traffic Halo had delivered for termination toMissouri end-user customers.On March 1, 2012, Big River Telephone Company fileda complaint (Case No. TC-22-28 against AT&T overallegations that Big River’s enhanced services traffic issubject to exchange access charges. After a June 29, 2012mediation session concluded with the parties unable toreach agreement, the Commission approved a proceduralschedule and set the matter for a January 8, 2013 evidentiaryhearing.Local Telephone Rate IncreasesIn response to FCC efforts to reform intercarriercompensation and the federal Universal Service Fund,Choctaw Telephone Company and MoKan Dial TelephoneCompany filed notices of proposed local rate increases onMarch 14, 2012.Choctaw and MoKan filed the increases to residentialand business customers because base telephone rateswere below recently established FCC benchmark levels. Inoverturning objections to the increases, the Commissionfound the rate proposals reasonable. These cases (CaseNos. TR-22-298 & 299 preceded similar rate increasesas other local telephone companies filed to meet the federalbenchmarks in order to avoid losing federal universalservice high cost support funds.8006004002000Annual Number of Filings5335Tariffs 2 2240353025201510502InterconnectionAgreementAnnual Number of Filings3685Video CasesCompleted MattersIVoIP Cases 2 22On December 21, 2011, the Commission released theMissouri Broadband Report. The report was compiled inresponse to a request from the Missouri Senate Committeeon Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and theEnvironment. A case (Case No. TW-2-362 wasestablished to engage in a fact-finding process in order to:(1) Review the FCC’s National Broadband Plan and makerecommendations to the Missouri General Assembly onhow to maximize broadband development in Missouri; (2)Solicit input from the public and all providers of broadbandservice in Missouri regardless of technology; (3) Assessthe current level of technology, including advertised andactual speeds; (4) Identify unserved and underserved areasof the state and identify barriers to broadband deployment;and (5) Recommend potential public policy decisions toincrease deployment and availability of broadband servicesin Missouri.Overall the report indicates 1% to 13.5% of Missourianslack access to broadband service depending on broadbanddata sources.A case (Case No. TC-2-396 was established on June20, 2011 where the Commission was asked to rule on theapplicability of AT&T’s tariff regarding AT&T’s consumerback-billing of franchise and other municipal taxes. TheCommission issued its order and summary determinationon September 13, 2011. This case is currently pendingbefore the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.The Commission, in collaboration with the State’sEmergency Management Agency (SEMA), hosted a workshopon June 28, 2012, regarding disaster planning. Theworkshop exchanged information about SEMA’s processfor gathering data related to communications recoveryand restoration efforts, including the Commission’s role inresponse to a disaster event. The Commission conducteda survey of the disaster recovery plans for 97 facility-basedproviders offering landline or wireless service in Missouri.Survey results were revealed and discussed at the workshop.23PSC Annual Report 23