(a) The
commission may, on its own initiative or at the written request of any person,
investigate and determine whether it is in the public interest to direct the
placement of a public interest pay telephone at or about a particular location.
If a written request to the commission for the installation of a public
interest pay telephone is made, the original plus eight copies must be filed
with the commission. The commission will notify the following persons of the
commission's investigation:
(1) The
telecommunications carrier or carriers providing telecommunications service to
the geographical or exchange area in which the targeted location is
situated;
(2) The pay telephone
service providers providing pay telephone service in the geographic or exchange
area described in paragraph (1); and
(3) The consumer advocate.
Each person receiving notification of the commission's
investigation shall, within fifteen days of the notification, file a response
to the proposed placement of a public interest pay telephone. The respondent
shall indicate in its response whether it has any objection to the placement of
a public interest pay telephone at or about the targeted location. The original
plus eight copies of the response must be filed with the commission.
(b) In determining
whether a public interest pay telephone should be placed at or about the
targeted location, the commission shall consider, among other things:
(1) The public interest to be served by the
placement of a public interest telephone at or about the targeted
location;
(2) The relative
proximity of the targeted location to another pay telephone;
(3) The accessibility of any existing pay
telephone in the neighborhood of the targeted location;
(4) The potential for a freely competitive
marketplace to provide pay telephones at or about the targeted location;
and
(5) Any other factors deemed
relevant by the commission.
(c) If the commission deems it in the public
interest to place a public interest pay telephone at a particular location, the
commission may direct any telecommunications carrier or any pay telephone
service provider to install and maintain a public interest pay telephone at
that location. The commission may, at its option, select the public interest
pay telephone service provider through a competitive bidding process, in which
event the applicable provisions of §
6-81-55(a) and (b) will
apply.
