🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello! I'm making up for the silence with a long missive! I
hope you find it informative, and will help out where you
can as explained below.

Well, 6 weeks and 30,000+ hits later, we have some news for
you concerning PacBell's ISDN filing.  Before we present
that, however, I would like to take this opportunity to
thank each of you who took the time to write to me, and/or
register.  Over 2,000 of you have registered with the site.
 Thanks for all the kind words. You might be intesterest in
learning that the Public Advisor's Office of the CPUC
informs me that to date they have recieved over 900
protests via email, a very strong showing indeed!

The PacBell ISDN Rate Hike protest pages have also recieved
some teriffic publicity as well.  The site was featured on
page 1 on the San Francisco Chronicle business section, as
well as MacWeek magazine. It was also a featured "What's
New?" site on Yahoo! If you are aware of any additional
publicity the site has recieved, ***please*** drop me a
line!  A new feature I hope to have up and running by this
weekend is a "New Tariff Caluclator", where you can see
what your new bill will look like if PacBell gets its' way!
(This has been a great excuse for me to work on my awk and
PERL programming skills!)

Also, for those of you who are unaware of it, I suggest you
check out the California ISDN Users Group at
<http://www.ciug.org>.  They have some great information on
their server, including instructions on how to join their
own mailing list.


And now, the news.....


On Wednesday, February 21, a pre-hearing conference was
held at the CPUC in San Francisco.  Among the many in
atendance or represented were TURN, UCAN, The California
ISDN Users Group, Intel, InterNex, representives of cable
TV interests, Pacific Bell, and myself. Many others were in
attendance, in fact, the hearing room with over 60 seats
was filled over capacity!

What should have been a routine meeting to set the schedule
for upcoming hearings, evolved into a minor skirmish over
the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that Pacific Bell has
required all parties to sign prior to recieving a copy of
its' cost study which it has submitted to the comission
under seal. The NDA is much more restrictive than those
that Pacific Bell has drafted in the past for disclosure of
similar material, and imposes much harsher liability for
disclosure, accidental or otherwise.  When asked why the
more restrictive NDA was required, Pacific Bell
specifically cited this website as a potential problem. I
expressed to the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that I was
fully aware of the meaning of *non-disclosure* and would
never knowingly violate any agreement I signed.

The ALJ has given all the parties a week to come to an
agreement and draft a mutually acceptable NDA. If no
agreement is reached, the ALJ will draft one herself.  In
either case, until the issue is resolved, it is not
possible to examine the cost studies.

A motion has also filed to completely reconsider the
necessity of keeping the cost studies under seal. Arguments
were presented that beacause ISDN is currently a
non-competive product offering, that this information
should be protected. Pacific Bell expressed concern over
other products that may be competing with ISDN in the near
future (in their opinion), such as "cable modems" and other
such.

A suggestion was offered that Pacific Bell could prepare a
redacted (i.e. blacked out) version of the cost study, so
that the methodology Pacific Bell employed in its' cost
study could be made available to the public, while
concealing the actutal figures. The ALJ's decision on this
matter will be forthcoming. A schedule for the evedentiary
hearings (EH) will also be forthcoming from the bench.

Clearly Pacific Bell is concerned (and was likely
caught-off guard) about the scrutiny the proceedings have
been and will continue to recieve.


What you can do next  (for only 29 cents)!
==========================================

Pacific Bell has stated in their filings and other postings
that most Home users will see an increase of 13 percent in
their bill.  Most of us aren't buying that, and I'd like to
de-bunk this myth.

I am asking each of you who recieve this notice to dig up
your last (or last 2) ISDN bills, and mail it (or a legible
copy) to me. Please feel free to redact (black-out) any
personal information (such as called numbers).  All I need
is the "meat" of the billing - how many minutes did you use
your line? How much was ZUM (local) vs. non-ZUM calling? 
Do you currently subscribe to the "popular" feature package
PacBell is tossing us?  While you are at it, it would also
be useful if you could indicate when your two-year
commitmant began/expires.

Please mail your bills (or complete copies) to:

David Barry
ISDN Protest
19400 Wyandotte St. #36
Reseda, CA 91335

I would appreciate if you would include your email address
and/or voice telephone number so that I can contact you
should I have any questions. ****Please be aware**** that I
may share the statistical information with other (anti-rate
hike) intervenors in these proceedings, and by mailing them
to me, you consent to my sharing this information with
them. Again, this information will be used only for the
statistical purposes stated.

By the way, to head off any obvious question, yes, it might
be easier to collect this information online, however, to
insure the integrity of the data, this would seem to be the
best method, even if it is a bit "lo-tech".


More you can do.....
=====================

It is likely that Pacific Bell will argue that human costs
are a significant portion of its' costs in providing ISDN.
It is my belief (and shared by many of you, no doubt), that
Pacific Bell has in many cases been incompetant in
provisioning lines and providing service in general.  How
many of you had to have multiple service visits or had to
wait several weeks for an installation?  Every time PacBell
has to do something right the second (or third, or fourth)
time, that's wasted dollars!  We've all heard many horror
stories.  Now, I want to hear yours.

If you have had problems with your ISDN install or service
which is clearly due to Pacific Bell incompetance, please
briefly but clearly tell me your tale of woe.  The best
letters (evidence) will state specific information -- What
did PacBell do (or fail to do) that cost them (and now us)!

Please email your horrors to dcbarry@pacificnet.net , or
write me at the address above. Again, this information may
be shared with other intervenors in this proceeding. Please
include in your note a daytime telephone number where you
can be contacted.

Again, thanks for your interest, and lets work together to
keep ISDN an affordable technology!  Who knows, PacBell
might thank us later!  (Ok, so that was really
far-fetched!!!)


Regards,

David Barry

http://www.pacificnet.net/~dcbarry/isdn/main.html