— Regional District says it will help residents and area businesses —

(OSOYOOS TIMES — August 2, 2006) —

Residents and businesses in Osoyoos and the rest of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) could be making free local phone calls in a much larger area by sometime next year, if RDOS gets its way.
The regional district's corporate board voted July 20 to use a process set out by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to ask the TELUS phone company to prepare a report on how much it would cost to expand free local calling throughout the region.
RDOS Special Projects Co-ordinator Diane Vaykovich says the board also voted to ask all municipal governments within the RDOS area to pass motions supporting the idea of increased local calling.
Vaykovich says the CRTC's rules for expanding local calling areas require a phone company to prepare a cost analysis for expanded local calling when asked to do so by the local governments of the communities involved.
The TELUS economic study will determine any increased costs of a larger local-calling area as well as revenue lost by the reduced long-distance charges. The phone company is allowed to bill customers for these costs and lost revenue for three years, after which the larger local-calling service remains in operation without the additional charges.
Vaykovich says it's important that the local governments of Osoyoos and the other communities in the RDOS area show TELUS that they support the idea of expanded local toll-free phoning.
She says the RDOS board has had expanded local calling on its list of priority projects for the past year. The region believes the move will improve phone service and lower costs for residents, and will help support local businesses by encouraging more communication with them by more people from neighbouring communities.
Vaykovich says she has been in touch with TELUS representatives, and they tell her they will be able to start on the RDOS economic study when they finish a study underway now in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
I think they're quite supportive of the RDOS initiative, Vaykovich says. She thinks the region should be able to get some data from TELUS by sometime this fall.
She notes the project won't necessarily mean the whole RDOS region will become one large local-calling area. The TELUS cost analysis is expected to show various options and associated costs, with different combinations of communities in local calling areas.
Currently, Osoyoos residents can make free local calls in town and to Oliver. Oliver residents can make free calls in that town as well as to Osoyoos and Penticton. Hedley residents can make free calls in their town and to Penticton. Keremeos residents can only make free calls within the Keremeos area. And Princeton residents can only make free calls within the Princeton area.
Vaykovich says costs of TELUS' economic study will be borne by the phone company. She adds that a referendum would be held before local government makes any final decision to proceed with changes. If the decision is made to go ahead, TELUS would apply to the CRTC for the change, and interested parties would have the opportunity to comment.