86-136 Adjacent exchange; application approval.
86-136. Adjacent exchange; application approval.Upon the completion of the hearing on such an application made pursuant to section 86-135, if a hearing is required, the commission may grant the application, in whole or in part, if the evidence establishes all of the following:(1) That such applicant is not receiving, and will not within a reasonable time receive, reasonably adequate exchange telephone service from the telecommunications company which furnishes such service in the exchange service area in which the applicant resides or operates. The fact that an applicant is required to pay toll charges for long-distance telephone calls to an exchange service area adjacent to the territory in which the applicant resides or operates shall not be deemed to constitute inadequate exchange telephone service from the telecommunications company which furnishes such service;(2) The revision of the exchange service area required to grant the application will not create a duplication of facilities, is economically sound, and will not impair the capability of any telecommunications company affected to serve the remaining subscribers in any affected exchanges;(3) The community of interest in the general territory is such that the public offering of each telecommunications company in its own exchange service area involved should include all the territory in its service area as revised by the commission's order; and(4) The applicant is willing and will be required to pay such construction and other costs and rates as are fair and equitable and will reimburse the affected telecommunications company for any necessary loss of investment in existing property as determined by the commission. SourceLaws 1969, c. 601, § 2, p. 2457; Laws 1982, LB 229, § 1; Laws 1994, LB 414, § 109; R.S.1943, (1996), § 75-613; Laws 2002, LB 1105, § 35. AnnotationsApplicants are required, irrespective of whether phone company currently providing service participates, to present evidence to establish their case. Public Service Commission may consider, in determining the adequacy of service the applicant receives, the evidence that toll charges deter others in the applicant's community of interest from calling him. In re Application of Jantzen, 245 Neb. 81, 511 N.W.2d 504 (1994).A toll charge as contemplated in subsection (1) of this statute (formerly section 75-613) is a charge for a single long-distance call, not a monthly flat fee for service. In re Application of George Farm Co., 233 Neb. 23, 443 N.W.2d 285 (1989).The determination of what is economically sound under this section (formerly section 75-613) is peculiarly within the discretion and expertise of the Public Service Commission. Where the evidence is in conflict, the weight of the evidence is for the determination of the commission and not the appellate court. Reis v. Glenwood Telephone Membership Corp., 207 Neb. 575, 299 N.W.2d 771 (1980).Terminology of this section (formerly section 75-613) has acquired new meanings requiring case-by-case evaluation. Hartman v. Glenwood Tel. Membership Corp., 197 Neb. 359, 249 N.W.2d 468 (1977).An applicant may obtain authority from the State Railway Commission for telephone service furnished in adjacent service area without proving inadequacy of service or unfairness of rates in the tradition of public utility law. Schoen v. American Communication Co., Inc., 189 Neb. 78, 199 N.W.2d 716 (1972).