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Petitioner wants larger local area calling How to get involved People interested in signing or circulating petitions to drop long-distance charges between Central Point and Ashland can find them several ways: At the Central Point Chamber of Commerce, 27 S. Seventh St.; At The Koffee Klatch, 419 E. Pine St.; By calling petitioner Lyle McLaughlin at 941-0973. By SUSAN JAY CENTRAL POINT -- If a local man's petition is successful, long-distance phone rates between Central Point and Ashland will be history by late 2001. Developer Lyle McLaughlin is petitioning the Oregon Public Utilities Commission to change US West's rate structure so calls between the two towns are local instead of long distance. McLaughlin said he is tired of paying a monthly fee to America Online and to a local Internet service provider to avoid being charged long-distance rates to AOL's dial-up access center in Ashland. To change the system, McLaughlin needs 1,990 signatures of people who have 664 and 665 prefixes by April. "I think we're well over 300 going on 400 people," McLaughlin said. "We really haven't given it a good push yet. It takes a tremendous amount of time to get that petition to everyone." America Online in June abandoned one of two Rogue Valley access numbers, leaving customers only a number with an Ashland prefix. That made the AOL call long distance for residents of Central Point, White City, Eagle Point and the rest of the north Rogue Valley. AOL customers in those areas either pay long-distance charges to connect with AOL or connect to AOL through a local Internet service provider, thus avoiding long-distance charges. Changing long-distance charges to local rates would benefit businesses and residents of the two towns, not just AOL users, McLaughlin said. "I have children who live in Ashland and children who live in Minnesota, and my phone bill to Ashland is horrendous," he said. Cities and towns across Oregon, including Shady Cove and Rogue River, have petitioned the PUC to change phone calls to nearby areas from long distance to local. The popularity of the Internet has increased the number of those requests, and the PUC acts on 12 to 15 petitions a year, said Celeste Hari, telecommunication analyst for the commission. Central Point already has local phone service to Medford, Gold Hill, Jacksonville and White City. Ashland has local service to Phoenix, Talent and Medford. The road to changing long-distance to local calls is a long one. Even if all goes smoothly with Central Point's petition, the rates won't change until fall 2001, Hari said. Central Point customers would pay for the service through a monthly fixed rate or a per-minute rate. Ashland customers also might pay additional monthly charges, depending on how many phone lines Central Point adds to Ashland's total area of local service. Everyone in the valley or the state potentially also could see rates rise as requests increase for new areas of local service, Hari said. Once petition signatures are verified, the PUC will determine whether the petitioning service area -- in this case, Central Point -- has met criteria that requires the following in the past six months: An average of at least four calls per phone line per month between Central Point and Ashland, originating in either town. Central Point has 8,336 phone lines and Ashland has 16,312. An average of two calls per line per month from Central Point to Ashland by more than half the customers in Central Point. If the requirements are met, the PUC will ask US West to submit a pricing schedule for PUC review. That information would go on to affected customers, and a public hearing would be held. If the Central Point telephone service area didn't meet the requirements, the petitioners could appeal to the PUC for a hearing. They would need to show that a "community of interest" exists between the two towns, Hari said. "It will be a tough call if they fail on the hard data criteria," she said. Petitioners would have to show why there is a crucial need for Central Point to be able to call Ashland at lower rates. Ashland is unlike Medford, which provides hospitals, medical services and other critical needs, Hari said. "Because you want to call the Shakespeare Festival isn't going to hold a lot of water with the hearings officer." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA