(a) Purpose. This section establishes procedures for processing requests for extended area service (EAS) in accordance with Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA), Chapter 55, Subchapter B. On or after September 1, 2011, the commission will not require a telecommunications provider to provide mandatory or optional extended area service to additional metropolitan areas or calling areas.
(b) Extended Area Service. The term "utility" in this section refers to a dominant certificated telecommunications utility.
  (1) Filing requirements.
    (A) In order to be considered by the commission, a request for EAS must be initiated by at least one of the following actions:
      (i) a petition signed by the greater of 5.0% or 100 of the subscribers in the exchange from which the petition originates;
      (ii) a resolution adopted and filed with the commission by the governing body of a political subdivision provided that said governing body properly represents the exchange requesting EAS;
      (iii) a resolution adopted and filed with the commission by the board of directors or trustees of a community association representing an unincorporated community; or
      (iv) an application filed by one or more of each affected utility.
    (B) A request for establishment of a particular EAS arrangement in accordance with subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this paragraph must not be considered sooner than three years after either a determination of the failure of a previous request to meet eligibility requirements, or final commission action on a previously docketed request. An exception to this requirement may be granted to any petitioning exchange which demonstrates that a change of circumstances may have materially affected traffic levels between the petitioning exchange and the exchange to which EAS is desired.
    (C) A request for EAS must state the name of each exchange to which EAS is sought.
    (D) The petition must set forth the name and telephone number of each signatory and the name of the exchange from which the subscribers receive service.
    (E) Each signature page of a petition for EAS must contain information which clearly states that establishment of the requested EAS route may require that subscribers to the service change their telephone numbers and pay a monthly EAS rate in addition to their local exchange service rates, as well as applicable service connection charges.
    (F) Requests for EAS into metropolitan exchanges will be grouped by relevant metropolitan exchange. For each metropolitan exchange, commission staff will file a motion to docket a proceeding for the determination of uniform EAS rate additives as directed by paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of this subsection for all pending EAS requests to that metropolitan exchange. Upon the docketing of such a proceeding, the petitioned utility must publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the metropolitan area for two consecutive calendar weeks. The notice must contain such information as deemed reasonable by the presiding officer in the proceeding. The demand studies required by paragraph (3) of this subsection must be initiated no earlier than 60 days from the date of final publication of notice. New petitions for EAS into the metropolitan exchange may be accepted prior to the initiation of the demand studies.
  (2) Community of interest.
    (A) Upon receipt of a proper filing under the provisions set out in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the utility involved will be directed by the commission staff to initiate appropriate calling usage studies. Within 90 days of receipt of such direction, the utility must provide the results of such studies to the commission staff and to a representative of each petitioning exchange. The message distribution and revenue distribution detail from the studies must be considered proprietary unless the parties agree otherwise and must not be released for use outside the context of the commission's proceedings. The data to be provided must be based upon a minimum 60 day study of representative calling patterns, must be in such form, detail, and content as the commission staff may reasonably require and must include at least the following information:
      (i) for business customers and residential customers and for the combined total, the number of messages and either minutes-of-use or billed toll revenues per customer account per month, in each direction over the route being studied;
      (ii) a detailed analysis of the distribution of calling usage among subscribers, in each direction over the route being studied, showing the number of subscriber accounts placing zero calls, one call, etc., through ten calls, the number of subscriber accounts placing between 11 and 20 calls, the number placing between 21 and 50 calls, and the number of subscriber accounts placing more than 50 calls, per month;
      (iii) data showing, by class of service, the number of subscriber accounts in service for each of the exchanges being studied;
      (iv) the distance between rate centers, and the average revenue per message for the calls during the study period;
      (v) the number of foreign exchange (FX) lines in service over each route and the estimated average calling volumes on these lines expressed as messages per month;
      (vi) a listing of known interexchange carriers providing service between the petitioning exchange and each exchange to which EAS is desired.
    (B) A community of interest between exchanges must be considered to exist from one exchange to the other when:
      (i) there is an average of no less than ten calls per subscriber account per month from one exchange to the other, and
      (ii) no less than two thirds of the subscribers' accounts place at least five calls per month from one exchange to the other.
    (C) A request for EAS must be assigned a project number and notice must be provided, in accordance with paragraph (7) of this subsection, when a community of interest is found to exist as described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph:
      (i) on a bilateral basis between exchanges, or
      (ii) on a unilateral basis from the petitioning exchange to the other exchange.
    (D) The project must be established as a formal docket upon the motion of the commission staff.
    (E) Following the docketing of a request, a prehearing conference must be scheduled to establish each exchange to which EAS is sought, and to report any agreements reached by the parties. The utility involved must conduct appropriate demand and costing analyses according to paragraphs (3) and (4) of this subsection.
  (3) Demand analysis.
    (A) The utility involved must conduct analyses of anticipated demand for the requested EAS. The data must be in such form, detail, and content as the commission staff may reasonably require and must include, at a minimum, the following information:
      (i) the number of subscribers who are expected to take the requested service at the estimated rates recommended in accordance with paragraph (5) of this subsection and the associated probability of that level of subscribership;
      (ii) how call traffic within the requested extended area is expected to change given the rates and subscribership under clause (i) of this subparagraph; and
      (iii) the total volume of traffic upon which to base the anticipated switching and trunking requirements resulting from clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph.
    (B) Unless the utility demonstrates good cause to expand the time schedule, the utility must provide to the commission staff and to other parties to the proceeding, no later than 120 days after the prehearing conference, the results of these analyses, together with supporting schedules and detailed documentation needed to understand and verify the study results.
  (4) Determination of costs.
    (A) The utility involved must conduct studies necessary to determine the changes in costs and revenues which may reasonably be expected to result from establishment of the requested EAS. These studies must consider and develop the long run incremental costs as follows:
      (i) switching and trunking costs associated with existing toll traffic which converts to EAS traffic plus the costs of switching and trunking required to handle the additional traffic as determined in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of this subsection;
      (ii) the increases and decreases in expenses resulting from the new service and the net effect on operating expenses; and
Cont'd...