First Regular Session

Sixty-second General Assembly

LLS NO. R99­0880.01 Duane Gall

STATE OF COLORADO

BY SENATOR Chlouber;

also REPRESENTATIVE Miller.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-039

CONCERNING WAIVER OF LOCAL ACCESS AND TRANSPORT AREAS.

WHEREAS, As a result of the breakup of the AT&T monopoly in 1982, telephone service territories nationwide were divided into local access and transport areas (LATAs) by federal court order; and

WHEREAS, LATA boundaries are integrally involved in the determination of whether a telephone call between two points is charged to the customer as a local call or a long­distance (toll) call; and

WHEREAS, A telephone call that crosses a LATA boundary can only be charged as a long­distance call; and

WHEREAS, Colorado was assigned two LATAs, divided by an imaginary east­west boundary line; and

WHEREAS, This boundary line artificially splits many Colorado communities of interest, resulting in economic hardship, disruption of commerce, and needless complication in what otherwise would be a simple task, namely, the placing of a routine telephone call between points that are so close together that the person placing the call may actually be able to see the destination by line of sight; and

WHEREAS, In a world in which telecommunications promises to bring the world ever closer together, such divisive elements in the regulatory structure are, at best, an anachronism; and

WHEREAS, Under federal law, changes to LATA boundaries can only be made by the Federal Communications Commission in response to a request by a Bell Operating Company such as U S West; and

WHEREAS, U S West has indicated that it would be willing to apply for a change to the LATA boundaries for Colorado; and

WHEREAS, The Public Utilities Commission of the State of Colorado (PUC) may, but is not required to, join in such an application; and

WHEREAS, The PUC exercises authority delegated by the General Assembly; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly has determined that the PUC should join in an application by U S West to dissolve the existing LATA boundary in Colorado and thereby more accurately reflect current economic and social reality; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty­second General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:

That the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Colorado join in any application by U S West to the Federal Communications Commission to dissolve the existing LATA boundary in Colorado.