Volcano Telephone Co. v. Public Utilities Com.

I. BACKGROUND

Volcano Communications Company is the holding company for six subsidiaries including Petitioners Volcano Telephone and Volcano Vision. Volcano Telephone is a local exchange carrier furnishing local, toll, and access telephone service over broadband-capable facilities to residential and business customers in Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, and El Dorado counties. Volcano Vision provides broadband service to customers inside and outside of Volcano Telephone’s service territory. In Volcano Telephone’s territory, service is enabled through Volcano Vision’s purchase of wholesale Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service from Volcano Telephone through the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) FCC Tariff No. 5. The A-Fund program provides rate subsidies to small telephone companies like Volcano Telephone that service rural areas to offset the high cost of serving these areas.

1 “In 1934, Congress adopted the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.) and created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC’s purpose was to regulate interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio and make available, insofar as possible, communication…