200311261st Response of Rural Network Services.pdf

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www.rurainetwork.net
O. BOX 217
MIDVALE, ID 83645
888- 355-4RNS( 4767)
FAX [phone]
November 25 2003
Weldon Stutzman
Idaho PUG
PO Box 83720
Boise, ill 83702-0074
REGARDING CASE NO. GNR-O3-
Mr. Stutzman:
Please find enclosed the response from Rural Network Services to the PUG production
request to CLECs.
Should you need any clarification on this information, please contact me directly.
Karen J. Williams
[phone]
kj wi 11 ~rura1netw ork.net
Rural Network Service
Responses to Production Request
Idaho Public Utility Commission
Case No. GNR-03-
Responses prepared by:Karen J. Williams, Ph.
General Manager
[phone]
Rural Network Services
O. Box 167
Weiser, ID 83672
Request No.1: Provide a list of all switches that you currently use to provide a
qualifying service.
Rural Network Services (RNS) has one such switch, a Mitel GX5000 which is
located in Weiser Idaho.
Request No.2: Identify each ILEC wire center district in which you provide
qualifying service.
RNS provides service in Weiser Idaho. The ILEC Wire Center is Qwest's Weiser
exchange. Information about that exchange is best obtained from Qwest.
RNS's CLL! Code is WESRID04 which is located at 31 West Liberty, Weiser
Idaho, 83672. This switch provides service to the 208-414 NPA-NXX.
Request No.3: Identify the total number of voice-grade lines.
As of November 1 , 2003, RNS had 478 voice-grade lines provisioned.
Request No.4: Identify the approximate capacity of the switch.
The Weiser Mitel GX 5000 has an approximate capacity of 500 voice grade lines.
Request No.5: Identify the number of business and residential customers are being
currently served.
Currently RNS serves 309 business customers, 19 residential customers, and 150
lines are being used by the company for company lines, switch lines and internet
dial-up service.
Request No.6: Ownership of facitilities.
RNS owns its own switch, carrier and cable facilities.
Request No.7: State the average total monthly revenues earned per line.
For local network services, RNS Business customers pay an average of$38.80 per
month regardless of how many lines they have and Residential customers pay an
average of $21.50 per month for basic local service (line charge plus the access
charge).
Access revenues for RNS totaled $182 000 as of December 31 , 2002. Using year
end line count data, access revenues average $39.80 per line per month. RNS
does not track access revenues by whether the service is business or residential, or
based on how many lines a particular customer might subscribe to.
Request No.8: Cost of the switch.
The initial cost ofRNS's switch was $329 929 in 2000, including installation and
engineering, which came equipped with 250 lines.
Request No.9: Use of additional switching facilities.
RNS currently does not use switching facilities other than its own.
Request No. 10: Provision of switching facilities to other carriers.
RNS does not provide switching facilities to any other carriers.
Request No. 11: Detail on multiple line services.
Wire Center: Weiser, Idaho 83672; (208)-414
Qwest's (208)-549
Subscription rates as of November 1 , 20003.
per Customer
Location Business Residence Total Lines
24 or more
333
Request No. 12: Expansion of capacity.
RNS is capable of expanding switching capacity by adding hardware and software
to the current switch. This is true for the immediate future. The Mite1 has made
clear, however, that this particular switch will not be supported beyond the year
2005. Hence we expect it to get increasingly difficult to add to the current
equipment and will have to find switching alternatives within 3-5 years.
Request No. 13: Converting Enterprise service to Mass Market.
RNS is currently serving mass market customers, therefore this question does not
apply.
Request No. 14: Customer Churn.
RNS does not experience much chum in customer base. For RNS , any significant
customer subscription drops are typically more related to economic conditions
rather than competition between service providers. The chart below shows the
steady growth of customer subscription rates for Business and Residential
customers.
Company Lns
Business
Residential
Company Lns
Total Lines
Business
Residential
Total Lines
Request No. 15: Customer Acquisition Costs.
RNS has two customers who have over 24 lines: Appleton s Produce, and
Washington County. We do not track expenses by the type of customers
however, our advertising expense for 2002 totaled to $1 430.
Acquisition of any business customer for RNS does involve two expenses not
associated with regular marketing or advertising. In particular, we provide free
call forwarding and one month's free service as an incentive for customers to
convert their service. This applies to the main line of a hunt group and to any fax
line that a customer might currently subscribe to. The call forwarding charge by
Qwest of$17.50 per line is credited to RNS's new customer s account, as is the
$30.00 line charge, for a total cost of $47.50 per customer (main line only; double
this for a main line plus a fax line). Thus for the approximately 60 new lines
added in 2003 , we have incurred approximately $4 200 in costs associated with
making the transition from Qwest service to RNS service more manageable for
the customer.
Request No. 16: Churn rate for large customers.
RNS has experienced no chum for its largest customers. Each of our largest
customers has added lines since they initially started service with us, and none has
cancelled services to go to another provider.
Request No. 17: Churn rate.
See response to Request No. 14.
Request No. 18: Rate Plans.
RNS does not offer specialized rate plans.
Request No. 19: Rate Plans.
Not applicable; see response to Request No. 18.
Request No. 20: CLEC to CLEC Cross Connects.
RNS has performed no CLEC-to-CLEC cross connects.
Request No. 21: Hot Cut Process.
RNS does not really use a hot cut process. When a customer switches service
from Qwest to RNS , their service is disconnected at Qwest and established with
RNS. We pay to leave the main line of service connected for one month to
provide an overlap of service for our Business customers.
Request No. 22: Tasks to install new service.
The definition of a "hot cut process" is ambiguous and as such mayor may not
describe RNS ' s process for migrating a customer off of Qwest service onto RNS
service with a minimum of inconvenience or loss of service to the customer. The
steps we currently take are described below:
1. Customer turns in signed application and authorizes RNS representative on their
Qwest account at this time.
2. RNS representative calls Qwest for Call Forwarding to be added to the main
line and any fax line(s) (usually 3 business days in advance). Time spent on this
call can be anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour. RNS credits the customer
at a rate of$17.50 per main line and/or fax line to cover the customer s expense
of the call forwarding.
3. Order is processed and sent to switch to be scheduled for installation. Actual
installation scheduling is at the discretion of the customer and coordinated with
the workload of the technicians. Generally a new install can be completed
within 24 hours.
4. On the day that the service is installed, the RNS representative will call Qwest
to cancel any secondary lines that the customer may have. This process usually
takes about a half hour or more. The main line (and fax line if applicable) is left
on during the first month. The RNS customer is given a credit of one month of
RNS local exchange service to offset the duplicated services.
5. Thirty days after date of install, RNS representative calls Qwest to request the
final disconnect of the main number and account. At this time a request for a
referral recording is done. This process usually takes about a half hour to an
hour.
Request No. 23: Describe a batch hot cut process we would implement.
We cannot see how cutting over customers in large batches would be practical for
RNS. Because we have our own NP A-NXX and own facilities, there is no local
number porting or UNEs involved when we convert a customer from Qwest. The
impetus for converting a customer off of Qwest over to our service is completely
driven by customer needs, and since each customer is unique, batch cutting is not
practical.
RNS would like to see call forwarding provided at no cost or at least shared cost.
Each customer who comes over to our service from Qwest requires a minimum
expense of$17.50 for call forwarding and $30.00 for local service on the main
line, for a total of 47.50 - this amount is doubled if they have a fax line
(secondary lines that hunt off the main line are not effected in this process).
Especially for business customers, providing the overlap of service is essential in
getting the customer to convert over to our service, giving the customer time to
change their signs, stationary, business cards, and contact any creditors and
customers.
Request No. 24: Cost or proposed process.
Not applicable; see response above.
Request No. 25: UNE-
The availability ofUNE-P does not affect RNS at this point in time.