Staff Report

A study of calling patterns between Claypool and Warsaw was ordered by a state agency Wednesday to determine if nontoll service is justified.

GTE North, which operates the Claypool exchange, and United Telephone, which operates the Warsaw exchange, have been ordered by the Indiana Regulatory Commission to conduct the study.

For extended area service to be approved, the study must show that three or more calls are made to Warsaw by each Claypool customer account per month and that at least 50 percent of Claypool customers make three or more calls to Warsaw.

If extended service is approved, customers in the two exchanges would be able to make and receive calls without paying long distance charges.

A surcharge would be added to customers' bills in place of the toll charges, but the surcharge would be eliminated after five years.

Approval involves a four-step process:

• A petition with the requisite signatures.

• A successful call usage study.

• A determination of cost study.

• Successful balloting of the community or communities.

The petition seeking extended service contains 156 customers. There are 578 customers in the Claypool exchange.

More than 160 petitions for extended service have been filed since 1986 statewide, when the current extended area service rules were implemented. Sixteen requests have been granted.

For more information on Claypool's petition, call the commission's comsumer affairs division at 800-851-4268. [[In-content Ad]]