AGENDA #1
TO: Mayor and Town Council
SUBJECT: Telephone Service Public Forum
DATE: September 18, 2000
The purpose of tonight’s public forum is to address telephone service issues affecting residents who live along the eastern border of the Town. Upon conclusion of tonight’s forum, we recommend that the Council refer the public comments to the Manager and Attorney for a follow-up report with recommendations.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
On July 5, 2000, the Council received a report summarizing citizen concerns about telephone service in Chapel Hill. These concerns included:
1. Varying costs to nearby telephone numbers.
2. Uncertainties regarding dispatch of emergency medical services through the E-911 Center.
3. Inconsistent telephone number listings in local directories, including directory assistance (see Attachment 1 for a full copy of the July 5 report).
The report included description of an Extended Area Service (EAS) Plan that would provide unlimited, consistent, flat-rate calling instead of a long-distance charge based on different calling plans. Chapel Hill’s GTE customers currently must select between different local calling plans. The existing Chapel Hill Border Plan, designated by a “408” telephone number prefix, allows unlimited calls to Chapel Hill, Research Triangle Park, and Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Calls to Durham (except 408 numbers), Cary, and Raleigh cost a 6-cent hook-on charge and 4.5 cents per minute (Attachment 1).
The N.C. Utilities Commission could authorize an Extended Area Service Plan after studying the community of interest and the costs involved in establishing a flat-rate system.
Residents who attended the July 5 meeting shared their concerns about the routing of Emergency 911 calls to the appropriate County 911 Center. The Town Manager reported that the 911 routing had been corrected and encouraged residents to test the system by calling the 911 Center to be sure that calls were appropriately routed to Orange County (Attachment 2).
At the July 5 meeting, Chandler’s Green resident Robert A. Reda also submitted a spreadsheet to the Council, detailing various telephone service problems experienced by Mr. Reda and his neighbors (Attachment 3).
On July 5, the Council scheduled a public forum for September 18. The Council directed the Manager to invite representatives of BellSouth, GTE, and BTI to the forum.
On September 7, we mailed notifications of the forum to homeowners in the Chandler’s Green, Silver Creek, and Oaks Villas neighborhoods, which are located along the eastern portion of Chapel Hill (Attachment 4). We also printed a display advertisement, which was published in the September 13 and September 17 editions of The Chapel Hill News (Attachment 5).
The attached map illustrates the irregular dividing line between telephone service districts in Chapel Hill along the eastern border with Durham (Attachment 6). In some Chapel Hill neighborhoods, two different companies provide service to next-door neighbors.
We continue to believe that Extended Area Service is a feasible option for the Council to pursue in order to provide a uniform cost to customers, regardless of the provider. Utilities Commission representatives recommend that the Council enlist the support of the local legislative delegation if the Council wishes to pursue Extended Area Service. However, Extended Area Service is not likely to correct problems with telephone number listings within directories and directory assistance.
Some residents have stated that they would prefer to choose their local telephone service provider rather than rely on a new Extended Area Service plan. The telephone service providers could also agree to redraw the service lines, although the Utilities Commission says that it cannot require them to do so. In State of North Carolina ex rel. Utilities Commission v. Southern Bell Telephone and Central Telephone Company (1974), the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the Utilities Commission does not have the authority to compel a telephone company to provide local exchange service to an area already receiving such service from another public utility.
That the Council refer the public comments to the Manager and Attorney for a follow-up report with recommendations.
1. July 5, 2000 Report on GTE and BellSouth Customer Concerns (begin new p. 1).
2. Summary Minutes of Regular Business Meeting 07-05-00, “Item 12” (p. 26).
3. “Chandlers Green Homeowners GTE Phone Issues,” (Spreadsheet by Robert A. Reda) 7/6/00 (p.29).
4. September 7, 2000 Letter to Residents from Town Manager (p.31).
5. Telephone Service Public Forum Announcement, The Chapel Hill News, (p.33).
6. Telephone Service District Map (p.34).