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1 MOUNTAIN HOME, IDAHO, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1999, 7:00 P.M.
2
3
4 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Good evening. This is
5 the time and place set for the public hearing of the Idaho
6 Public Utilities Commission in Case Nos. GNR-T-97-9 and
7 GNR-T-98-18, further identified as the matter of the
8 petition of customers of Rural Telephone Company to join
9 the Treasure Valley extended service calling area, and the
10 petition of customers of the Rural Telephone Company Boise
11 River Exchange to join the U S WEST Mountain Home Exchange
12 and/or the Treasure Valley extended service calling area.
13 My name is Marsha Smith. I'm one of the
14 three Commissioners. I'll be Chairing tonight's hearing.
15 On my right is Commissioner Dennis Hansen, who is
16 also president of the Commission. And on my left is
17 Paul Kjellander. This is his second day on the job, so
18 please be kind to Commissioner Kjellander.
19 Our process tonight is, I will call the names
20 of those of you who have signed up to testify. And you
21 will come forward, and Commissioner Hansen will ask you to
22 raise your right hand and promise us that you're going to
23 tell us the truth. I think then you will be wired up with
24 a mic so everyone can hear and understand you, and you'll
25 be asked to give your name and your mailing address. And
1
CSB REPORTING COLLOQUY
Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 then you'll be allowed to give your statement. So it's a
2 pretty simple procedure. We sure appreciate your turnout
3 tonight, because it's an important part of our deliberation
4 as to how the customers feel about the changes that are
5 being proposed.
6 First, tonight, I have Bill Davison from
7 Prairie. While he's getting wired up, I have neglected to
8 introduce some of the very important players here, and that
9 is the Company and Staff. Ms. Copsey, would you like to
10 introduce yourself for the record, please.
11 MS. COPSEY: My name is Cheri Copsey. I'm
12 the attorney for the Public Utilities Commission Staff.
13 And in just a few minutes we're going to have Staff read a
14 statement that will discuss the EAS and kind of lay out
15 what the Staff's recommendation has been about the EAS.
16 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Ward.
17 MR. WARD: My name is Conley Ward. I'm an
18 attorney in Boise with the firm of Givens, Pursley. On my
19 right, most of you know Jim Martell, who is the president
20 of Rural Telephone.
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Ms. Hobson.
22 MS. HOBSON: My name is Mary Hobson. I'm
23 from the Boise law firm of Stole, Rives. And I represent
24 U S WEST Communications. You have met my colleague
25 John Souba, who has been trying to answer your questions.
2
CSB REPORTING COLLOQUY
Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 We will be available at any break to try and continue to do
2 that for you. Thank you.
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Well, since we have
4 Mr. Davison ready to go, I think we will let him make his
5 statement. And then if we need to back up and take a Staff
6 statement, we can.
7
8 BILL DAVISON,
9 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
10 sworn, testified as follows:
11
12 EXAMINATION
13
14 BY MS. COPSEY:
15 Q Mr. Davison, could you please state your name
16 for the record and spell it for us and then give us your
17 address?
18 A My name is Bill Davison, B-i-l-l,
19 D-a-v-i-s-o-n, Prairie, Idaho.
20 Q Go ahead and give your full address, please.
21 A It's HC84, Box 54, Mountain Home, Idaho,
22 83647.
23 Q You can go ahead and make your statement.
24 A I'm a rancher at Prairie, Idaho, and we have
25 a family ranch there with about five or six families living
3
CSB REPORTING DAVISON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 there. We have a business in Caldwell and a ranch in Sand
2 Hollow. Ninety percent of our phone calls are long
3 distance to businesses back and forth. We have quite a
4 large monthly long-distance phone bill. We don't want to
5 pay more every month than what it's costing us now, but if
6 we can get a cheaper rate and not have long distance and
7 something that Rural Telephone can afford to do, we would
8 like to have that.
9 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Any questions for
10 Mr. Davison?
11
12 EXAMINATION
13
14 BY MS. COPSEY:
15 Q Can you give us an idea of what your monthly
16 telephone bill has been; just an idea?
17 A It runs -- I think my sister pays the bill,
18 but, for the whole family, about $1,000 to -- well, between
19 $800 and $1,200 a month for the long distance -- or total
20 phone bill.
21 MS. COPSEY: No other questions.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Do you have questions,
23 Mr. Ward or Ms. Hobson?
24
25
4
CSB REPORTING DAVISON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY MR. WARD:
4 Q Mr. Davison, just one question. I know where
5 Sand Hollow is, but there may be people here that don't.
6 Would you explain where that other ranch is?
7 A It's 15 miles west of Caldwell.
8 MR. WARD: Thank you.
9
10 EXAMINATION
11
12 BY MS. HOBSON:
13 Q Mr. Davison, are you interested in having EAS
14 just to Mountain Home, or is your interest in the entire
15 Boise region?
16 A In the Boise region.
17 MS. HOBSON: Thank you.
18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Are there questions from
19 the Commissioners?
20 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: I have none.
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Commissioner Kjellander.
22
23
24
25
5
CSB REPORTING DAVISON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:
4 Q Mr. Davison, just from a quick overview
5 perspective, you mentioned that your phone bill today is
6 presently pretty high. How much would you be willing to
7 pay if EAS was available into the Treasure Valley area?
8 A You mean above our regular hookup fee and
9 that -- a monthly deal? I don't know. Whatever is
10 customary or whatever it would take, but I couldn't answer
11 how much.
12 COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
13 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Commissioner Hansen.
14
15 EXAMINATION
16
17 BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
18 Q Mr. Davison, just to kind of get an idea,
19 would you be willing to pay $15 more a month?
20 A That would make our phone bill a lot
21 cheaper. I know that.
22 Q $20?
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
24 your testimony.
25 THE WITNESS: Thank you. And there's quite a
6
CSB REPORTING DAVISON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 group of Prairie people here that have pretty much the same
2 situation that we have. All of our businesses, every
3 implement place we need to call is long distance from
4 Prairie. Thank you.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you.
6 Next, I have John Malota.
7
8 JOHN MALOTA,
9 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
10 sworn, testified as follows:
11
12 EXAMINATION
13
14 BY MS. COPSEY:
15 Q Mr. Malota, could you please state your name,
16 spell it for the record and then give us your address?
17 A My name is John, J-o-h-n, Malota,
18 M-a-l-o-t-a. I live at 4 Ditto Creek. My address is under
19 Mountain Home. It is the Tipanuk subdivision area.
20 Q Is that the mailing address: D-i-t-t-o?
21 A Yes, Creek.
22 Q Do you have a Zip Code for that?
23 A 83647.
24 Q You can go ahead and give your testimony.
25 A I thought they were going to ask questions?
7
CSB REPORTING MALOTA
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 Q Go ahead.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: This is your time to
3 make your statement.
4 THE WITNESS: Okay. I misunderstood you, I'm
5 sorry. Well, most people are kind of interested in this.
6 You know, I don't understand why we can't get even to
7 Mountain Home on a local-call rate. Boise, well, that
8 would help, but mainly it seems to be in the Boise area.
9 I have had a couple problems. I know other
10 people have. I don't know if it's the correct area to
11 bring this up, but I know a lot of people like to have
12 their computers and have them tapped into the lines. In
13 fact, we have one teacher out there that can't even run her
14 computer, because, you know, it's not compatible with the
15 line.
16 But years ago when this came in I had two
17 ways to go. I'm ain't saying all areas are that way, but
18 there is other phone lines within a half mile of my place
19 that can be tapped into that should go back to the regular
20 phone system. I'm not saying all the areas are that way,
21 but to my knowledge that's the way it has been run. And,
22 you know, that's why I don't understand why it's so hard to
23 get the local phone service.
24 And, you know, on this 911 I still don't
25 understand why we're being billed for it and we don't have
8
CSB REPORTING MALOTA
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 it, you know. Because, just for kicks, I tried it today,
2 and there's no way you can get through. So, you know,
3 maybe it's the wrong place again, but they're just
4 questions we want to kind of get answered. That's about
5 all I have.
6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
7 questions for you.
8 Ms. Copsey.
9 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Ward.
11 MR. WARD: No questions. Thank you.
12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Ms. Hobson.
13
14 EXAMINATION
15
16 BY MS. HOBSON:
17 Q Mr. Malota, I guess I'm not clear on what you
18 are really looking for in the way of a calling area. Is it
19 just Mountain Home, or do you want to be able to call Boise
20 and the other cities in the Boise region?
21 A I'm kind of flexible on that. I'm not --
22 Mountain Home would be a great help, but, you know, if
23 Boise happened to come along, that would even be better.
24 I'm flexible. A lot of people say to me, "God, you live
25 out there? You're in between. Why is it long distance
9
CSB REPORTING MALOTA
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 both ways?" Because I have people come in off the
2 Interstate and want to use our phone. They have never
3 heard of that. That's why I ask. It would help but --
4 Mountain Home would help, and Boise would be a feather in
5 the hat, I guess, so to speak.
6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you. Are there
7 questions from the Commissioners?
8 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: I have none.
9 MS. COPSEY: Could I just ask one?
10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Ms. Copsey.
11
12 EXAMINATION
13
14 BY MS. COPSEY:
15 Q I'm a little unclear. How much would you be
16 willing to pay in addition to your regular phone service in
17 order to have toll-free calling?
18 A Is that above what we have now?
19 Q Yes.
20 A Our total bill right now would be $8 above
21 that -- or whatever -- more?
22 Q For whatever your basic local service is plus
23 the addition for EAS, what would you be willing to pay?
24 A Well, see, our basic service right now is
25 about $15, if memory serves me right. Then, above that,
10
CSB REPORTING MALOTA
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 you know -- I don't know what the going rate is myself, but
2 I've never, you know, been in a position to really talk to
3 other people on the phone service. Ours is through MCI,
4 and generally that is at 9 cents a minute. And I don't
5 remember what it was on this one here, you know. If you
6 take $15 plus whatever -- and our phone calls are all going
7 to be local; right? Is that what you're saying?
8 Q Yes.
9 A It would be $15 plus whatever it would take
10 to hook in for the whole area.
11 Q How much would you be willing to pay in
12 addition to the $15?
13 A That would be all toll free, though?
14 Q Just to either Mountain Home or to the Boise
15 region, that's correct.
16 A I think probably -- at least for me even $50
17 would be a lot cheaper than what I'm doing right now,
18 because I'm getting up to $180 a month or better.
19 MS. COPSEY: Thank you.
20 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I just had one
21 question.
22
23
24
25
11
CSB REPORTING MALOTA
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
4 Q How long have you lived in Tipanuk?
5 A Getting pretty close to about 28 years.
6 Q So you lived there before there was phone
7 service?
8 A Oh, you bet.
9 Q You remember when we first instituted phone
10 service?
11 A You got it.
12 Q You remember that you were told clearly there
13 would not be local service to Mountain Home?
14 A Yes.
15 Q I'm glad somebody remembers besides me.
16 A But they also told us after 15 years it was
17 going to change.
18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: We thank you very much
19 for your testimony, Mr. Malota.
20 Next, I have Mary Kaye Jenks.
21
22 MARY KAYE JENKS,
23 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
24 sworn, testified as follows:
25
12
CSB REPORTING MALOTA
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 THE WITNESS: My name is Mary Kaye Jenks. I
2 live at 504 Ditto Creek Road in Mountain Home at 83647.
3 MS. COPSEY: Could you spell your name for
4 us, please?
5 THE WITNESS: M-a-r-y, K-a-y-e, J-e-n-k-s.
6 MS. COPSEY: Go ahead with your statement.
7 THE WITNESS: We've lived in Tipanuk, which
8 is the area that we live in, about eight years. Our
9 average phone bill is above $100. The local cost to us is
10 about $20 a month. So in addition to that we're paying at
11 least $80. Ninety-nine percent of all of our calls are
12 made to Mountain Home or to Boise. I feel it's important
13 that we have equal access both to Mountain Home and to
14 Boise.
15 The safety issue is a major issue. I do not
16 feel our current phone lines are sufficient. On Sunday,
17 for at least half an hour, we had tried to access our phone
18 lines and were unable to do so due to being told that all
19 phone lines were busy.
20 The major thing that was important to us is
21 that we institute 911. I have five children at home, and
22 it's important that they know how to do that. We do have
23 all of our phones listed with the Sheriff's office, because
24 that is the way that we access 911. When we first moved to
25 Tipanuk we tried 911, called the Sheriff, and she actually
13
CSB REPORTING JENKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 let us practice it even though it was not in service at
2 that time.
3 Some of the important things I feel is that
4 across the way -- if you were to drive exactly across the
5 way to where we live, there is U S WEST local service to
6 Boise. It is a local Boise number in the exact opposite
7 area from where we are in situation to the freeway.
8 Another thing that I feel is, it's important
9 in these modern days that we have access to the computer.
10 I would be willing to pay $20 to $30 more a month to have
11 equal access to both Mountain Home and Boise just so that I
12 would be able to access on-line services for both my
13 children and for myself. I'm currently going to Boise
14 State and am required to maintain an on-line service as
15 part of my education. And that's part of the way that the
16 instructors communicate. And they are amazed that we are
17 unable to access that without having the charge.
18 Prior to the recent changes in our phone
19 service, within the last 30 days we were paying 35 cents a
20 minute for daytime no matter where we were calling, whether
21 it was in Boise or Mountain Home. Since we signed up with
22 MCI in the last 30 days that has dropped to 12 cents a
23 minute and 9 cents out of state. I feel our prices are
24 expensive.
25 I feel the lines are close enough that we can
14
CSB REPORTING JENKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 access U S WEST. I feel that we can have the equal access
2 without too much trouble, and I also feel that we need to
3 have our lines upgraded to be able to handle the amount of
4 service that's necessary to maintain the area for which we
5 live. We're not in the middle of the mountains. We are 17
6 miles from Boise and 17 miles from Mountain Home. Thank
7 you.
8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you. Let's see if
9 there are questions.
10 MS. COPSEY: I don't have any questions.
11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Ward, I believe your
12 client has a question.
13 MR. WARD: We need to make a statement about
14 the 911 later, but I don't think I can ask a formidable
15 question and get the right answer.
16 COMMISSIONER SMITH: It wouldn't be very fair
17 to Ms. Jenks, would it?
18 MR. WARD: No.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Ms. Hobson.
20 MS. HOBSON: No questions.
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Commissioner Kjellander.
22
23
24
25
15
CSB REPORTING JENKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:
4 Q Ms. Jenks, you mentioned that 99 percent of
5 the calls that you make are long distance to Boise. Do you
6 have an idea what the breakdown of percentage is to
7 Mountain Home and to Boise?
8 A Approximately 20 percent to Mountain Home and
9 80 percent to Boise.
10 COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Commissioner Hansen.
12
13 EXAMINATION
14
15 BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
16 Q If EAS was granted and it was a local call to
17 Mountain Home or Boise, would you make three times as many
18 calls as you make now, or maybe twice as many, or do you
19 think you would make about the same amount of calls?
20 A I don't feel our usage would increase
21 whatsoever. We are limited by the cost, but not
22 necessarily by the phone usage. And we would not make any
23 more than what we currently do.
24 Q Even though it might be a local call?
25 A Even though it would be a local call.
16
CSB REPORTING JENKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I just had one
3 question.
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
8 Q You said yesterday or some day you
9 encountered the all-circuits busy?
10 A Correct.
11 Q Does that happen frequently or how
12 frequently?
13 A Every Sunday, specifically between the times
14 of 2:00 and 4:00.
15 Q Were you attempting to call Boise or Mountain
16 Home at that time?
17 A We were attempting to call Boise at that
18 time.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Ward.
20
21 EXAMINATION
22
23 BY MR. WARD:
24 Q Ms. Jenks, you said you wouldn't make any
25 additional calls if you had EAS, but I think you testified
17
CSB REPORTING JENKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 earlier that you would like an on-line service?
2 A Correct.
3 Q You don't have Internet access now, I take
4 it?
5 A No, we do not.
6 Q Do you think Internet access might change
7 your useage of the phone somewhat?
8 A The Internet access would definitely increase
9 our phone usage, but most of the time you can buy a $20
10 package with any of the on-line services and it's a flat
11 fee.
12 Q You understand, don't you, that's just for
13 the Internet access, that's not for the telephone use which
14 comes free?
15 A If our telephone use was free, then, yes.
16 MR. WARD: Thank you.
17 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you,
18 Ms. Jenks, for your testimony.
19 Bill Holland-Smith.
20
21 BILL HOLLAND-SMITH,
22 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
23 sworn, testified as follows:
24
25
18
CSB REPORTING JENKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 THE WITNESS: My name is Bill Holland-Smith,
2 B-i-l-l, H-o-l-l-a-n-d-S-m-i-t-h. I live at 272 Squaw
3 Creek, which is in the Tipanuk Telephone Exchange.
4 MS. COPSEY: Did you say Squaw Creek?
5 THE WITNESS: Squaw Creek.
6 MS. COPSEY: What is the Zip Code on that?
7 THE WITNESS: 83647.
8 MS. COPSEY: Go ahead with your statement.
9 THE WITNESS: I, probably like a lot of the
10 other people here, didn't know that we would be presenting
11 anything to you. I thought we were going to get
12 information from you. And before the meeting started I
13 heard bits and pieces of some of the questions that had
14 been asked.
15 And from what I understand, for those of us
16 who live out in the Tipanuk area, all we're looking at is
17 toll free back to Mountain Home. And I didn't hear exactly
18 what the increase in that charge for that service was going
19 to be, if you could enlighten me a little bit on that.
20 MS. COPSEY: Charlene --
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Ms. Copsey, this is kind
22 of awkward when the court reporter is taking it down, and
23 it really doesn't lend itself to question-and-answer.
24 Maybe if you could ask him if it was a certain amount, is
25 that within reason?
19
CSB REPORTING HOLLAND-SMITH
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 THE WITNESS: I'll make it easier. I
2 understand it was substantially more than what I'm paying
3 now. My phone bill averages right around $100 a month.
4 And 95 percent of everything that's on that bill are calls
5 to Boise. To have an increase in my phone bill for the
6 privilege of calling back to Mountain Home isn't doing
7 anything for me. I would like to have the Commission at
8 least consider or reconsider the position of adding Boise
9 to our calling area.
10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: If, for example, your
11 phone bill were to increase by $8 a month, I believe that
12 would bring it to about $29. You're residents, are you
13 not?
14 THE WITNESS: Yes.
15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: It would be about $29 a
16 month. Would that be something you would find acceptable?
17 THE WITNESS: I would have no problem with
18 that.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Go ahead.
20 THE WITNESS: The other thing, the usage, I
21 think was one of the questions you asked the last person
22 that was up here. I don't foresee -- if I had free
23 calling, I don't foresee any increase. I only call when I
24 need to call. Cost isn't relevant in terms of whether I
25 need to make the call or not make the call. The
20
CSB REPORTING HOLLAND-SMITH
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 convenience of having it certainly is a reduction to my
2 long-distance charge, certainly. Just because it's free, I
3 wouldn't sit on the phone and call everybody I know three
4 or four times a day.
5
6 EXAMINATION
7
8 BY MS. COPSEY:
9 Q Can you give me an idea of how much your
10 long-distance charges right now are running, calling to
11 Mountain Home?
12 A My calls to Mountain Home are almost
13 nonexistent.
14 Q How about to Boise?
15 A About 95 percent of everything I do is
16 long-distance calls into Boise.
17 Q Do you have an idea of how much they're
18 running?
19 A I would say probably somewhere in the
20 vicinity of $56 to $60 a month, our Boise calls. And
21 everything else is our long-distance carrier out of state.
22 MS. COPSEY: Thank you.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Ward.
24
25
21
CSB REPORTING HOLLAND-SMITH
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY MR. WARD:
4 Q Mr. Smith, you asked about how much
5 additional you would be willing to pay. And there
6 have been several figures bandied around in the
7 question-and-answer period beforehand, and in this hearing,
8 about how much EAS would cost. But let me tell you that in
9 all the prior cases the Commission has decided on
10 independent telephone companies and Extended Area Service,
11 the rates for the Extended Area Service have been $24 for
12 residents and $42 for business. Is that a rate you would
13 pay for Extended Area Service to the Boise EAS?
14 A Yes.
15 MR. WARD: Thank you.
16 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Ms. Hobson.
17 MS. HOBSON: No questions.
18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Commissioners.
19 COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: No questions.
20 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
21 your testimony.
22 Geri Perkins from Atlanta.
23
24
25
22
CSB REPORTING HOLLAND-SMITH
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 GERI PERKINS,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: Geri Perkins, G-e-r-i, last
6 name is P-e-r-k-i-n-s. Post Office Box 133, Atlanta. And
7 Zip Code is 8601 -- 83601.
8 MS. COPSEY: You can go ahead and give your
9 statement.
10 THE WITNESS: I represent about 40 people
11 that live in Atlanta year-round. And then it doubles in
12 size approximately in the summer. And we do have a
13 petition in where 25 or more of those people were very
14 interested in having an increased amount on their -- to
15 have the extended service.
16 I utilize my parents' phone. Their
17 last name is Schraff, and their bill is approximately
18 between $75 and $100 a month. We are very interested as is
19 the rest of the community. A lot of -- all of our medical
20 care is directly in Boise, Idaho, the majority of the
21 people there. So appointments, any medical care, canceling
22 appointments, prescription medications, pharmacy, and
23 things like that.
24 The school -- we are in Elmore County, but
25 we're kind of a long ways in the winter. We have to go
23
CSB REPORTING PERKINS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 through Boise to get there. So the school system does --
2 we do have school going so they have computers. There's
3 several businesses -- our Highway Commission business is
4 done with Boise and we're very interested in having the
5 extended service.
6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Any questions?
7 Ms. Copsey.
8 MS. COPSEY: Just a quick question.
9
10 EXAMINATION
11
12 BY MS. COPSEY:
13 Q How much would you be willing to pay in order
14 to have that Extended Area Service? You indicated that
15 your parents' bill is $75 to $100 a month.
16 A They would go with the reasonable amount of
17 what you stated to the gentleman before which you said what
18 was reasonable. Was it $24?
19 A $29 to $31.
20 Q I'm not speaking for the rest of the
21 community to that statement.
22 MS. COPSEY: Thank you.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Any other questions?
24 Ms. Hobson.
25
24
CSB REPORTING PERKINS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY MS. HOBSON:
4 Q Is Boise itself your chief interest, or do
5 you also call, say, to Idaho City and other communities
6 around Boise?
7 A For my parents and myself, our majority of
8 calls are to Boise, about 90 percent. For the community as
9 a whole, just when I was talking to the people -- I kind of
10 was the person appointed to do a lot of this -- about 50
11 percent of the calls are to Boise, about 25 percent are to
12 Mountain Home, because of our accounting and our licensures
13 and forms and things, and then the other 25 percent is kind
14 of Caldwell/Nampa, those areas. But we feel like for the
15 community that Boise probably is the majority of our phone
16 calls. It definitely is for my parents and myself.
17 Q Do the children in Atlanta go to school in
18 Atlanta itself or where do they go?
19 A In Atlanta itself.
20 MS. HOBSON: Good. Thanks for your
21 testimony.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Do we have questions
23 from the Commissioners?
24 Commissioner Hansen.
25
25
CSB REPORTING PERKINS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
4 Q To be fair, I need to ask you the same
5 question. Would you utilize your phone a lot more if it
6 was local calling than it is the way it is? Would you call
7 twice as much? Three times as much? Or about the same?
8 A All my grandkids live in Boise.
9 Q Ten times?
10 A I call them a lot and my family calls me, so
11 it also would help them on their end of it. Probably it
12 wouldn't be that much more, but I don't know for sure.
13 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Okay. Thank you.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
15 your testimony.
16 Dewey Cooper.
17
18 DEWEY COOPER,
19 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
20 sworn, testified as follows:
21
22 EXAMINATION
23
24 BY MS. COPSEY:
25 Q Mr. Cooper, could you state your name and
26
CSB REPORTING COOPER
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 spell it for the record, and then give us your full
2 address, please?
3 A My name is Dewey Cooper. I live at
4 HC87, Box 345, Pine, Idaho.
5 Q Could you spell your first name, please.
6 A D-e-w-e-y.
7 Q Last name is C-o-o-
8 A C-o-o-p-e-r.
9 Q I'm sorry, I didn't catch the address?
10 A HC87, Box 345.
11 Q Thank you. Go ahead.
12 A I read a little bit of this here, the
13 handout, and it says that you're quasi-legislative and
14 you're quasi-judicial and quasi-commission. And I'm not
15 too sure what that means. But as far as I'm concerned, I
16 don't think anybody here wants anything for free. We're
17 willing to pay a going rate. That's not for me to decide,
18 it's for everybody here.
19 It seems to me a lot of people here have
20 already paid. They've got to pay for the access for the
21 Internet for public schools. I think it's about
22 $5 apiece for a month. There's probably 200 or 300 people
23 in here, $1,000 bucks more a month.
24 We have pretty poor phone lines. If we had
25 free access or equal access or something, it was, oh,
27
CSB REPORTING COOPER
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 monetary, a small charge. We would still be on a long
2 time, because even on the Internet everybody has got --
3 what I've found it to be -- slow lines, so you have to stay
4 on to get a download or upload anyway.
5 We have a business. We spend a lot of money,
6 thousands a month, on the phone lines. So with the 911
7 charge, which I think is not operational, we're paying for
8 it. And I think you're also ruled by the FCC on the charge
9 maybe a little bit. Of the $3 or $5 a month charge, which
10 is going to be up every year, perhaps to the tune of these
11 people here $1,500 a month, I think we've already paid. I
12 would like to see us have a little bit more flexability and
13 that might free up some money and might free up some jobs.
14 That's all I have to say.
15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
16 any questions from the Commission.
17 Commissioner Kjellander.
18
19 EXAMINATION
20
21 BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:
22 Q Just a quick question. You mentioned
23 something about an Internet fee that you're paying. Could
24 you describe to me about how that is assessed and who you
25 pay that to?
28
CSB REPORTING COOPER
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 A Our Internet fee, right now I think we pay it
2 to Micron. But there's IP providers -- Internet providers
3 in Boise. If that was free access or equal access or --
4 plus a small charge, we could call them directly and just
5 pay a monthly fee. We do a lot of work on the Internet.
6 We talk to people in congress. We do a lot of research.
7 We have a lot of resources on the Internet and it's a vital
8 part of our business.
9 COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
11 your testimony.
12 John Mason.
13
14 JOHN MASON,
15 appearing as a public witness, having first affirmed,
16 testified as follows:
17
18 EXAMINATION
19
20 BY MS. COPSEY:
21 Q Mr. Mason, would you state your name and
22 spell it and give us your address, please?
23 A John Mason, M-a-s-o-n, HC87, Box 497,
24 Featherville, Idaho, 83647.
25 Q You can go ahead with your statement.
29
CSB REPORTING MASON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 A Yes. I am having some difficulty this
2 evening with obtaining information as to what I'm supposed
3 to be testifying about. I had the same problem when we
4 were sent the form with regard to equal access. When I
5 received the equal access form it listed many companies
6 that were going to provide service. We took the time to
7 contact each of those. Representations were made to us by
8 each of those carriers.
9 Based upon the information which we were
10 furnished by Rural Telephone, it was my understanding that
11 the information that we were to obtain from those carriers
12 would be what we could rely upon. I found that to be
13 incorrect.
14 We ultimately chose to sign up with AT&T.
15 When I received my first telephone bill, I had not received
16 the discounts which I had been told I would obtain. I
17 contacted Rural Telephone and they were very polite to me
18 and told me there was nothing they could do; it was AT&Ts
19 problem. I contacted AT&T and they immediately told me it
20 was Rural Telephone's problem. Well, this made me mad.
21 I then continued to make numerous telephone
22 calls until such time as I reached an individual at
23 AT&T who finally said, "Well, we will stand by the
24 representation made by the AT&T representative, and
25 we will manually, by hand, every month, make the
30
CSB REPORTING MASON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 calculations." Now, I realize that this is not germane
2 to what we're discussing this evening, but, on the other
3 hand, I think it is because I've listened to several people
4 stand here and testify and they don't know what they're
5 supposed to be testifying about.
6 I have heard at least five to six different
7 quotes as to what the cost would be in the event the
8 service were provided. Now, I think that's unfair. I
9 think that people should have the right to know what the
10 dollar amount or the range is without having some type of
11 an option as to how much am I willing to pay. Would I pay
12 $10? $20? $30? $40? I don't know. What am I going to
13 get for it? I don't think that's the proper way to do
14 this. I think you folks know darn good and well what the
15 range is we're talking to, and I think it should be made
16 clear to everyone here tonight as to what those dollar
17 amounts are.
18 In the question-and-answer period it was my
19 understanding that the Staff has written a report. Maybe I
20 misunderstood, but that's what I was told. And the Staff's
21 recommendation was to be made public. It would appear to
22 me that that should have been made public so we would know
23 what we are addressing, and then we could have commented in
24 an intelligent and informed way. However, so be it.
25 I can only speak for myself, but I, myself,
31
CSB REPORTING MASON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 am interested in having the service extended into Mountain
2 Home and into the Treasure Valley. I am primarily
3 interested in the Treasure Valley because most of my
4 telephone calls are made to that area. But I do have some
5 difficulty with the explanations which I received earlier
6 with regard to how the cost is calculated.
7 Now, I do have some knowledge with regard to
8 rate base and utility commissions, et cetera, et cetera,
9 et cetera, but when I have people standing up and telling
10 me that the state is subsidizing it and then others are
11 telling me, no, the state doesn't subsidize it, another
12 says it comes from here and another says it comes from
13 here, that's confusing to people and is confusing to me.
14 And it makes me wonder about the process. I can't speak
15 for anyone else in the Featherville area, but I sincerely
16 request that you extend the service into both Mountain Home
17 and into the Treasure Valley.
18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
19 any questions.
20 MS. COPSEY: I don't have any questions.
21 MR. WARD: No questions.
22 MS. HOBSON: I guess I have one.
23
24
25
32
CSB REPORTING MASON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY MS. HOBSON:
4 Q Are you a full-time resident?
5 A I am a full-time resident. I have lived
6 there for five years. When I moved there -- in response to
7 your previous response to a gentleman -- yes, I recognized
8 that there was only a limited telephone service, but I
9 don't think that was germane either. I think that the age
10 is coming when people have got to have access. And if what
11 you hear is true, you know, if this is the information age,
12 not the industrial age any longer, then I think we all
13 should recognize that.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I think we do. That's
15 why we're here tonight.
16 THE WITNESS: I have one more comment. If I
17 understood what the Staff was recommending, which we
18 haven't heard -- yes, I do mean to keep reiterating that.
19 I'm going to address it. It was my understanding that the
20 Staff was going to recommend that it only be extended to
21 Mountain Home. Well, now, if that's the case, then what
22 good does it do me to testify, because a decision has
23 already been made with regard to the Staff's position? So
24 it would appear to me that that's kind of a meaningless
25 exercise in futility. Maybe I'm wrong.
33
CSB REPORTING MASON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I think you are.
2 THE WITNESS: In what regard am I wrong?
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Well, the Staff can
4 propose anything, but the Commission listens to all the
5 evidence.
6 THE WITNESS: Am I correct that the Staff has
7 already made or is in the process of making its
8 recommendation and they have made their determination?
9 COMMISSIONER SMITH: They have filed
10 testimony, but the technical hearing in this case is not
11 scheduled, I believe, until March 2.
12 THE WITNESS: That's not responsive to my
13 question. My question is: Has the staff made a
14 recommendation to the Commission?
15 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Mason, you would
16 have to take it up with them, and please do it off the
17 record.
18 THE WITNESS: I don't want to do it off the
19 record.
20 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Mason, you are now
21 out of order and you are excused.
22 THE WITNESS: Well, that's your opinion not
23 mine.
24 COMMISSIONER SMITH: David Shaw.
25
34
CSB REPORTING MASON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 DAVID SHAW,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: My name is David Shaw,
6 S-h-a-w. I live at 510 Ditto Creek Road, Mountain Home,
7 Idaho, 83647. A lot of the points have already been
8 covered. What my wife and I feel basically is not everyone
9 can live in the city. All of us have chosen to live out in
10 the rural areas. A lot of us make our living out in the
11 rural area, whether it be a ranch or businesses or whatever
12 the case may be, or to have our children live out in that
13 type of environment. Yet, I feel that we're being
14 penalized because of that choice that we have made.
15 My wife and I run two businesses in Boise,
16 also a small ranch. Our phone bill runs probably, average,
17 $135 to $155 every month. Sixty percent of that is long
18 distance to Boise. And the rest of that is to Mountain
19 Home. But all of it -- 98 percent of it -- 99 is all long
20 distance in-state, and maybe one percent of it is
21 out-of-state calling.
22 As far as what we would pay -- of course, we
23 would like to pay zero for equal access. I think all of us
24 here would be more than happy to pay quite a bit more.
25 Just my analyzation of what we would pay, an extra $25 to
35
CSB REPORTING SHAW
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 $30 a month extra, because I think that would whittle
2 everybody's phone bill down probably 80 percent.
3 Again, we would like to have equal
4 access to both Boise and Mountain Home, and not be
5 penalized for where we live. And have the access, as my
6 children get older and want to use the Internet, and be
7 able to get on the Internet without having to say, "Well,
8 it's long distance. You have to get off it." Or "I need
9 to call mom or dad." And "No, you can't, because it's long
10 distance." Again, being penalized. That's not what the
11 equal access is all about, and we feel that things have to
12 change for the better of our children as they get older.
13 That's about it.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
15 questions.
16 MS. COPSEY: I have no questions.
17
18 EXAMINATION
19
20 BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
21 Q I guess if we got EAS and you were paying in
22 the range that's been mentioned between $24 and 10 cents,
23 between that and $31, would you then get a second line so
24 your kids could be on the Internet all the time?
25 A Well, of course I would, I think, just
36
CSB REPORTING SHAW
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 because of that line being tied up. But, then, again,
2 you're going to be paying for that extra line. Which it's
3 been brought up before, nobody minds paying more for what
4 they're getting.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay. Thank you.
6 That's the end of the people who have signed
7 up previously on the list to testify. If there's anyone
8 now who wishes to make a point and their point hasn't been
9 made, please come forward. There's a couple back there.
10
11 JAMES FRANKLIN HOPSON,
12 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
13 sworn, testified as follows:
14
15 EXAMINATION
16
17 BY MS. COPSEY:
18 Q Do you want to state your name for the
19 record.
20 A My name is James Franklin Hopson, J-a-m-e-s,
21 H-o-p-s-o-n.
22 Q Can you tell us your mailing address?
23 A My address is 140 Squaw Creek Road, Mountain
24 Home, Idaho.
25 Q Thank you. You can go ahead and testify.
37
CSB REPORTING HOPSON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 A I have kids in school here in Mountain Home.
2 We had a snowstorm. I could not call the school without
3 calling long distance to find out where the hell the bus
4 was. I worry about my kids. A week before, an idiot run
5 the stop sign and hit the bus. I didn't know nothing about
6 it. It's long distance.
7 I'm a disabled veteran. I have to call Boise
8 to check about VA appointments. What is the garbage in
9 this? I left this country 30 years ago. I grew up in
10 Burley. I come back here and all I find is a bunch of
11 bogus garbage, and I think we have had just about enough of
12 it. And I'd sure appreciate it if you people would get it
13 straightened out.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Any questions? Thank
15 you for your testimony.
16
17 KELLEY RODGERS,
18 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
19 sworn, testified as follows:
20
21 EXAMINATION
22
23 BY MS. COPSEY:
24 Q Could you please state your name for the
25 record and spell it for us?
38
CSB REPORTING RODGERS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 A My name is Kelley Rodgers, K-e-l-l-e-y,
2 R-o-d-g-e-r-s. I live at 127 Squaw Creek Road, Mountain
3 Home, 83647. We were at the first meetings that they had
4 when Rural Telephone decided to come out when Mr. Martell
5 offered us all service. We were very happy at the time to
6 get anything that we could get, because it's better than
7 having nothing.
8 We are now in a situation. I live, I guess,
9 maybe five miles west of Tipanuk. We're not really a part
10 of Tipanuk, but they consider us in that calling area. The
11 people out there -- the population has probably doubled or
12 tripled. From my understanding, U S WEST lines run pretty
13 close to where we live. I see no reason why we cannot have
14 equal access.
15 I believe it's been mandated that enhanced
16 911 be out in our area. We pay $1 a month. I believe 75
17 cents of that dollar is given to the phone company, Rural
18 Telephone, I believe. I looked it up in the records. And
19 yet we don't have -- we don't even have access to 911. We
20 live in a very rural community out there. We need equal
21 access to Mountain Home and to Boise -- not one or the
22 other.
23 You have asked repeatedly "How much would you
24 be willing to pay for this equal access?" You know, I
25 imagine that at first there's going to be a honeymoon
39
CSB REPORTING RODGERS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 period and everybody is going to be calling everybody in
2 Boise or Mountain Home, and then things are going to settle
3 down. I think our rate is $15 a month. I think, you know,
4 $35 a month -- $25 to $35 for a basic rate for access to
5 Mountain Home and Boise is reasonable. Why should we be
6 left out of the loop when it's going to be equal access to
7 Boise and Mountain Home? Why are we being penalized
8 because we have private service from a private phone
9 company?
10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Does that conclude your
11 statement? Let's see there if there are any questions.
12 I just have one.
13
14 EXAMINATION
15
16 BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
17 Q When you say "equal access," you mean
18 toll-free calling? Calling that's not long distance?
19 A Yes, to Boise and to Mountain Home.
20 Q That's what you mean when you say "equal
21 access"?
22 A Yes.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much.
24 There was a gentleman -- right there.
25
40
CSB REPORTING RODGERS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 BOB SWANSON,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: My name is Bob Swanson. That's
6 B-o-b, S-w-a-n-s-o-n. Right now I live at 1825 Lincoln
7 Street, Mountain Home. My mailing address is HC87, Box
8 202, Pine, Idaho. I was the originator of the petition
9 from the Boise River Valley to the IPUC to get Extended
10 Area Service, not equal access. And a lot of people get
11 confused about that.
12 As a matter of fact, I have a couple letters
13 over in my jacket that I have to bring over yet. The
14 majority of people that I've talked to in the Boise River
15 are in favor of Extended Area Service not only to Mountain
16 Home, but also to the Treasure Valley EAS, primarily for
17 business and for governmental offices and things of that
18 nature.
19 Myself, I am retired, also. And I'm a
20 disabled person, as you can probably see. And I do the
21 majority of my doctoring in Mountain Home at the base or I
22 do my doctoring in Boise. So I make these calls. And
23 people talk about long-distance phones bills. My average
24 is around $200 a month. Now, a lot of that is out of state
25 because I also call my children frequently. But my instate
41
CSB REPORTING SWANSON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 calls are quite high, also.
2 And while living up on the mountain I had two
3 telephone numbers at the 653 exchange, one for Internet
4 access and the other one for a private line. I also paid
5 for not having people call me, but -- and I did receive
6 from the IPUC the testimony -- I can't remember the
7 gentleman's name, and I reviewed that. And the indication
8 that I got in that testimony was it would be reasonable if
9 they included Atlanta, Prairie, Tipanuk, and Boise River in
10 the Treasure Valley Exchange.
11 The increase from current bill for service
12 would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $18 a month. And
13 the other recommendation that I saw in there was to include
14 Boise River, Tipanuk into the Boise -- or into the Mountain
15 Home EAS only at an increase of about $4, roughly. So I'm
16 a little bit confused about those figures, also.
17 And when I talk about -- or when people are
18 sitting up here and they're talking about they would be
19 willing to pay $25, $35 a month, I'm not sure if they meant
20 that was increased over what they currently are being
21 charged or if that's what they would totally like to see.
22 In other words, what I'm saying is, yes, it wouldn't bother
23 me. Like I say, I had two numbers up there and I will have
24 another one up there again this summer, because I'll be
25 living back up there again this summer.
42
CSB REPORTING SWANSON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 But, you know, it was kind of unclear to
2 me -- what are you proposing for an increase? Are you
3 talking about an $18 increase over my current rate or are
4 you talking about like a $35 rate hike or $17 or whatever
5 the dollar figure is? That's what I don't understand. And
6 there is a lot of people that get confused.
7 I have no problem and the majority of people
8 don't have any problem with paying an increase of $3 or $4
9 a month more for equal access from Boise River to Mountain
10 Home. But the majority of their business -- or a lot of
11 their business, I should say, probably, is maybe -- let's
12 put it, oh, maybe 60 percent Boise, 40 percent Mountain
13 Home. So they're also very interested in getting that
14 Treasure Valley extended area, not just Mountain Home.
15 And I think that this hearing and the
16 opportunity for us to be able to sit here and discuss this
17 is very important, and for the IPUC to even consider our
18 petition were it being included in any form of an equal
19 access service.
20 I'm also very big on the Internet, and I use
21 it frequently. When I lived at Pine I used AOL. I paid
22 $20 a month plus 10 cents a minute through their 800
23 service. So it is available, but it's very spendy. And I
24 was on and off the Internet very frequently.
25 And I know you're going to ask this
43
CSB REPORTING SWANSON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 question: Would I increase the frequency of my calls to
2 Boise or to the Pine/Featherville area? Heck, I think I
3 make enough phone calls as it is now. I'm on the phone --
4 my wife tells me I'm on the phone 24 hours a day. I call
5 up and down -- like I say, my phone bill is expensive, but
6 I'm paying for that. And I think it would be great if we
7 could get equal access and lower those costs and bring us
8 into the fold. Thank you.
9 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you. Let's see if
10 there are any questions.
11 MS. COPSEY: I don't have any questions.
12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
13 your testimony.
14 THE WITNESS: You're welcome.
15
16 LARRY PIRKEY,
17 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
18 sworn, testified as follows:
19
20 EXAMINATION
21
22 BY MS. COPSEY:
23 Q Do you want to go ahead and state your name
24 and spell it for us and then give us your address?
25 A My name is Larry Pirkey, L-a-r-r-y,
44
CSB REPORTING PIRKEY
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 P-i-r-k-e-y, and I live at 45 Ditto Creek Road in Tipanuk
2 Farms.
3 Q Go ahead with your statement.
4 A The reason I asked to be allowed to testify,
5 my wife and I represent a spectrum of the population that
6 hasn't been discussed yet. But we moved out to Tipanuk and
7 started talking to Rural Telephone Company and found out
8 what services were not available. We opted not to get the
9 telephone, because why pay that monthly charge for the
10 privilege of making every call a long-distance call.
11 Tipanuk Farms is a small enough community
12 that if I want to talk to our neighbors, we just walk
13 across the street and talk to them. If I want to call
14 anybody else, I'm talking long distance. That includes my
15 retired relatives up in Placerville; a dear aunt and
16 uncle.
17 So we opted to go with a cell phone, because
18 there was no service provided by Rural Telephone other than
19 they run a line to the house and we pay long-distance
20 charges. Once we got the cell phone, we found out the area
21 we live in is a dead spot. So now we have a telephone that
22 we can use if we drive into Boise or Mountain Home, but
23 from our own home we cannot use a cell phone because we
24 usually have to make -- throw maximum on the power.
25 I've heard many different charges discussed
45
CSB REPORTING PIRKEY
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 tonight for people like myself. The charges are
2 immaterial. We're looking for service. I mean, I have
3 a -- I don't want to get morbid, but I have a diabetic
4 condition. I have a heart problem. It would be nice if my
5 wife felt secure knowing that she could pick up a phone and
6 dial 911 without having to go long distance and hope the
7 lines aren't tied up, et cetera.
8 So when you consider your proposals, I would
9 just like you to think about the people like us that
10 decided not to pay what we thought was an exorbitant amount
11 of money to get hooked up and the minimal $15 a month just
12 to have a telephone line. Everything else was long
13 distance. That's all I have to say.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there are
15 questions for you.
16 MS. COPSEY: I have no questions.
17 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Well, we can consider
18 making toll-free areas, but I can tell you it is not within
19 our control to give you 911. Okay?
20 THE WITNESS: I understand, but I just
21 thought the comment had to be made.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: It's so noted. Thank
23 you very much.
24
25
46
CSB REPORTING PIRKEY
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 FLOYD VENABLE,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MS. COPSEY:
8 Q Do you want to state your full name and spell
9 it for us?
10 A My name is Floyd Venable, F-l-o-y-d,
11 V-e-n-a-b-l-e. I live at Prairie, Idaho.
12 Q Could you give us the mailing address,
13 please?
14 A HC84, Box 62, Mountain Home, Idaho, 83647.
15 Q Thank you. Go ahead and give your
16 testimony.
17 A Now, the majority of the people that -- we
18 only have about actually slightly over 20 people on the
19 Prairie that you can actually call local -- slightly over
20 20. Maybe, you know -- now, some of them -- Davisons, and
21 some of those, do a tremendous amount of calling because
22 they're a larger business, you see. Then there are retired
23 people that cannot -- don't want a large increase in their
24 power bill. We're already paying -- I'm not sure, but -- I
25 pay the bill every month. But I think that we're paying
47
CSB REPORTING VENABLE
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 approximately $20, with the fees that you get along with
2 that, for approximately 20 local phones.
3 Now, our microwave that our Rural Telephone
4 Company provides for us -- now, we appreciate this, of
5 having access to the world, you know, but our microwave
6 goes right to Deer Point, I think, goes through Boise, back
7 to Glenns Ferry. So we're willing to pay the Rural
8 Telephone Company. And I am quite sure that they are
9 subsidized. Now, I'm not positive of this, but I'm pretty
10 sure they're subsidized. Rural -- it's just like ERA or
11 something like that, these types of things are subsidized
12 for second-class citizens or, say, whatever, country boys,
13 whatever, you know.
14 The majority of our calls go to Boise, I am
15 sure. And we would like to be -- personally, and I think
16 the majority of the people on the Prairie would like to be
17 local with Boise. I think -- I don't know what their basic
18 rate is, but I would say it wasn't much different than
19 ours. They have access to, what, two or three hundred
20 thousand phones, and we have access to 20.
21 We appreciate the government or the --
22 helping the Rural Telephone system put us into the ability
23 to call, but I do think we're being stomped on a little
24 here. Because when the Rural Telephone Company came up
25 there, and I'm sure that if there's -- there's some here
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1 from the Prairie. That when they met in the community
2 hall, they told us that we could have local access with
3 someone.
4 Now, here we've got -- I can damn near throw
5 a potato over to Fallwick's, you know. We're not even
6 local with them. And another thing, I think that the
7 people who don't use the phone much should not be
8 assessed -- I use it a lot, okay, so I'm not stating this
9 for myself. But there's a lot of people up there, quite a
10 few, that don't use the phone that much but they shouldn't
11 be assessed this higher fee to get in the local system with
12 the rest of the community.
13 And I'm sorry that I couldn't find this
14 place, and I was a little late getting here, so I don't
15 know if this subject was brought up or not. Our school
16 can't even get in on the Internet, you know. So I think
17 they should have that. I'm not interested in the Internet
18 personally, but I have a grandson who spends his summers
19 with me constantly. I don't even know how to turn a
20 computer on. But he is exceptionally bright on it, and
21 it's a necessity now. And when he comes up and spend his
22 summers, he will be on there. I want him to excel.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay. Let's see if
24 there are any questions for you.
25 MS. COPSEY: I don't have any questions.
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1 MS. HOBSON: No questions.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
3 your testimony.
4 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Were there other hands?
6 Yes, sir.
7
8 DAVE OWEN,
9 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
10 sworn, testified as follows:
11
12 EXAMINATION
13
14 BY MS. COPSEY:
15 Q State your full name, please?
16 A Just one thing before my testimony. I will
17 be a hell of a lot more honest than our Commander in
18 Chief.
19 Q I certainly appreciate that. Would you,
20 please, give us your name?
21 A Dave Owen. Box 272, Pine, Idaho.
22 Q Could you spell your name?
23 A Dave, D-a-v-e, Owen, O-w-e-n.
24 Q Thank you. Go ahead.
25 A My question to you is this: This
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1 Exhibit 101, are you the folks that prepared that, or who
2 did?
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: You can talk to those
4 folks about that, and it's easier if you do it off the
5 record. If you have a statement you would like to make to
6 us, that's what we're using this time for.
7 THE WITNESS: My question -- or my statement
8 to you folks, then, whoever prepared this document, the way
9 it appears to me like the total estimated cost per month
10 would be $17.27, and that's for the access of the entire
11 region, Boise. If these figures are accurate, I don't know
12 why we would be questioned as to "What are you going to be
13 willing to pay?"
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I think if you look at
15 that, that's the total cost per line per month that is
16 calculated by this person and may be disagreed to by the
17 Company -- I don't know -- for EAS only. And that would be
18 in addition to the part that you have to pay below in your
19 basic rate.
20 THE WITNESS: That's the way I understand
21 it. Is this somewhere in the ballpark?
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I think it's probably in
23 the ballpark somewhere.
24 THE WITNESS: Well, I would just state, then,
25 if this is in the ballpark, I would sure as heck be willing
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1 to pay that $17.27 to have access to the Valley as well as
2 Mountain Home, because my calls are about equally divided.
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: That's why we're here is
4 to find out what kind of service people need and what
5 they're willing to pay.
6 THE WITNESS: I don't know how many people
7 have had access to this document.
8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: All right. Let's see if
9 there are any questions.
10 MS. COPSEY: I don't have any questions.
11 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you, sir, for your
12 testimony.
13 Is there any one else who wishes to make a
14 statement or feels that their point hasn't been made? Yes,
15 ma'am.
16
17 RETA BROWN,
18 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
19 sworn, testified as follows:
20
21 EXAMINATION
22
23 BY MS. COPSEY:
24 Q Do you want to go ahead and state your name
25 for the record, spell it for us, and give us your address?
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1 A Reta Brown, 508 Ditto Creek Road, 83647,
2 R-e-t-a, B-r-o-w-n.
3 Q Thank you. Go ahead and give your
4 testimony.
5 A Do you realize that if anybody -- all of them
6 could call someplace without it being long distance, maybe
7 you guys would have a lot more customers and then the cost
8 would not be so high? And a lot of us have to have our
9 phones. My husband is in the military. I had to wait two
10 years without having a phone. Then we were ordered to have
11 a phone. Now, how many out here absolutely have to have a
12 phone? Myself, I would like to throw it out. I hate a
13 phone. But because we have to have it, we're paying for
14 nothing but a telephone to sit in the house.
15 For us to call long distance -- for my
16 husband to call his work is long distance, and that is
17 ridiculous. How many people have to call the hospital? A
18 doctor? I made five phone calls the other day just to get
19 a dentist appointment. Every one of them is long
20 distance. My mother is 74. I call her. That's long
21 distance. And we are in a new age. We're not in the Stone
22 Age.
23 We're not that far from Boise or Mountain
24 Home. I know people that live out of Idaho City about 10,
25 15 miles, clear up in boondocks and they get every place:
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1 Emmett, Boise, Caldwell, Nampa. Not one of it is long
2 distance. So why us? We're a heck of a lot closer.
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Are there any
4 questions?
5 MS. COPSEY: No questions.
6 MS. HOBSON: No questions.
7 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much for
8 your testimony.
9 It appears that we've taken the statements of
10 all those who wish to make a statement -- oh, one more.
11 Please, sir.
12
13 RON RAYDET,
14 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
15 sworn, testified as follows:
16
17 THE WITNESS: My name is Ron Raydet,
18 R-a-y-d-e-t. Mailing address is Post Office Box 521,
19 Mountain Home, Idaho, 83647.
20 MS. COPSEY: You beat me to it.
21 THE WITNESS: First of all, I would like to
22 say this to the Commission. Thank you for giving us the
23 opportunity to speak. To your Staff, to U S WEST, Ponderay
24 Telephone Company. We appreciate you dearly. It may not
25 sound like that, but we love you and we hope you see things
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CSB REPORTING RAYDET
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 our way.
2 I represent and am one of the owners of a
3 development north and east of the freeway about halfway
4 between Boise and Mountain Home off of Highway 30. We
5 anticipate a density -- 160 acres. In fact, I'll give you
6 a legal description: Section 29, Township 1 South, Range 5
7 East, 160 acres. We anticipate a density 15 to 25 watts.
8 We're dealing with Mr. Martell and his family trying to
9 obtain telephone service at this time. And all the
10 interest we have either in the form of earnest money,
11 purchase agreements, signer interested parties have been
12 primarily from the Boise area or Mountain Home retirees,
13 military working in Boise. All of the interests we have
14 are people that would be commuting to Boise to work, and
15 they're awfully disappointed that we don't have a little
16 better -- a little less costly service for the Treasure
17 Valley and Mountain Home.
18 We hope that you can see your way clear to
19 maybe include us within the Mountain Home/Treasure Valley
20 proposal that's been approved already. That area between
21 Boise and Mountain Home is probably going to grow quite a
22 bit in the future. It's only limited by the services that
23 are available, and that includes the water and electricity
24 and telephone. Again, thank you for coming and giving us
25 an opportunity to speak.
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1 MS. COPSEY: Before you leave --
2 unfortunately, we didn't write down your first name.
3 THE WITNESS: Ron, R-o-n.
4 MS. COPSEY: Thank you.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Are there any
6 questions? Thank you very much for your testimony.
7 Okay. I think we have come to the end of
8 those who wish to make a statement, and the Commission
9 wants to thank all those who attended tonight. Our process
10 probably does seem strange, overly long and cumbersome to
11 you all, but it is a process that works. It has changed
12 telephone service dramatically over the last two or three
13 years in terms of the size of local calling areas, and we
14 are pleased to consider your petition.
15 And, like I say, there's a technical hearing
16 scheduled for -- I think it's March 2 at the Commission
17 office. And as soon thereafter as we can make a decision
18 and let you know, we will. So we thank you for coming
19 tonight and the hearing is adjourned.
20 (The hearing was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.)
21
22
23
24
25
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1 AUTHENTICATION
2
3 This is to certify that the foregoing
4 proceedings held in the matter of the petition of customers
5 of the Rural Telephone Company to join the Treasure Valley
6 extended service calling area, and the petition of
7 customers of the Rural Telephone Company Boise River
8 Exchange to join the U S WEST Mountain Home Exchange
9 and/or the Treasure Valley extended service calling area,
10 the proceedings commencing at 7:00 p.m., on Tuesday,
11 February 16, 1999, at Mountain Home Senior High School,
12 300 S. 11th East, Mountain Home, Idaho, is a true and
13 correct transcript of said proceedings and the original
14 thereof for the file of the Commission.
15
16
17
18
19
JEANNE M. HIRMER
20 Certified Shorthand Reporter #318
21
22
23
24
25
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