MTA looks to deregulation vote

WASILLA — The second round of ballots have hit mailboxes for Matanuska Telephone Association customers in what the cooperative hopes will be a vote of confidence for deregulation.

MTA customers are being asked to vote against Regulatory Commission of Alaska fees for local landline telephone service as part of a special election that began last month. A first round of ballots from the RCA were sent out with the Jan. 18 billing, and a second followed Feb. 3. MTA serves around 28,000 members.

The cooperative is hoping to eliminate what’s called a Regulatory Cost Charge that is sent to the RCA each month. Removing the charge would save between $150,000 and $175,000 in regulatory fees annually, according to MTA.

That charge, according to MTA officials, serves no benefit to customers, since the RCA instituted “relaxed regulation” of landline rates — essentially letting MTA set its own — when Anchorage-based General Communications Inc. entered the service area more than 10 years ago.

On Friday, MTA Chief Executive Officer Michael Burke said now that all the ballots are out, he’s hopeful co-op members will take the time to vote.

“So far the feedback has been positive — we’re hopeful customers will send the ballots in and not throw them away,” Burke said. “It is kind of an archaic issue. The ballot talks about deregulation, but what we are essentially talking about is self-regulation.”

MTA already is exempt from RCA regulations for Internet, digital television and wireless telephone services, and petitioned the RCA to initiate the election.

“This means the RCA does not approve any of our rates, however we still go through all the motions as if they were approving them,” Burke said in a Jan. 17 Frontiersman opinion piece. “We still prepare tariff sheets, file it with the RCA, and go through a public notice process but the RCA does not review any of the costs and they don’t approve the tariff.”

Burke added staff members still have to drive to Anchorage to file the paper tariff.

MTA officials also estimate that some $75,000 annually is spent on management and staff time to prepare the RCA filings.

For a residential customer, the line-item landline charge amounts to around 25 cents a month.

“It’s not much, but it nickels and dimes people,” Burke said, adding that the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District will save $18,000.

“We would like to save them some money,” Burke added.

According to MTA, the telephone cooperative is one of only two — the other is OTZ Telephone in Kotzebue — remaining in the state regulated by the RCA.

Once received, customers have 30 days to return the ballots to the RCA. According to MTA, the cooperative needs 15 percent of members — or around 4,200 — to vote and a simple majority of that total for the election to be valid.

If the vote fails, MTA will have two wait two years for another balloting opportunity.

Rodney Crum, chief of the RCA’s Consumer Protection and Information Section, said last week that once the deadlines pass, his agency will begin hand-counting the ballots around March 14.

“After that, we will be looking to certify the total on April 1 or before,” Crum said.

Burke was quick to point out that removing the RCA charge wasn’t going to translate to a rate increase.

“Our plan is not to raise rates,” he said. “We’re not going to give an edge in a competitive market.”

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com