During 2008, Alabama’s Public Service Commission reviewed 100 int...

CLEC service. Commission staff worked on four mediations or arbitrations of interconnection issues and helped resolve 244 matters raised by industry, consumers and other agencies, the agency said. The commission worked with industry and the North American Numbering Plan Administrator to promote conservation in the state’s four area codes, it said. Area code 256 is in jeopardy, with relief planning under way and the regulator monitoring number assignment and use and moving to reclaim unused resources. This has caused area code 256 numbering assignments to shrink significantly, as shown by the latest Numbering Resource Utilization Forecast data, said the commission. Area code 205 is nearing relief status, it said. Besides monitoring numbering assignments and usage, the commission is promoting conservation to fend off exhaustion of numbering assets in this area, the regulator said. An update is pending to rules on phone service offered inmates of state penal facilities. Pursuant to Alabama law, the regulator developed E911 programs and Web sites during 2008 and mandated that companies quoting prices for services fully disclose the actual and estimated charges customers can expect on average monthly bills. The agency widened Lifeline/Link-Up services, and began work on a third-party billing database, said the commission. The agency helped implement Universal Service requirements of the 1996 Telecommunications Act and FCC mandates on universal service. State reviews in this area included analysis of plans by BellSouth, CenturyTel and rural ILECs to use rural and non-rural federal universal service high-cost fund allocations. The commission developed detailed monitoring plans and did on-site inspections to verify that funds were used as it directed, it said.