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Show Attorney SpedUs Out For METROPAC in Area more aisiani exchanges should be provided by some form of usage-sensitive service." He noted that the counter-petition had already delayed de-layed implementation of METROPAC service one year later than previously proposed. Salisbury quoted portions of a Supplemental Order issued is-sued by the Commission in a previous hearing conducted conduct-ed for METROPAC service in Farmington, Kaysville and Bingham Canyon exchanges. In that order, the Commission Commis-sion said: "It is obvious from the testimony and study in this matter that the solution which exists in North Davis County and other suburban areas of the State is not to simply continue to provide extended area service outward out-ward from the metropolitan exchanges. Serious consideration consider-ation must henceforth be given to the concept of usage-sensitive service in which the subscriber, within with-in certain limitations, is charged for telephone service serv-ice on the basis of frequency, frequen-cy, length and distance of the calls which he makes. "In considering future cases, this Commission will give serious consideration to the concept that EAS (Extended (Ex-tended Area Service) should generally, be provided only between continguous exchanges ex-changes and that calling to Mountain Bell attorney Dave Salisbury said that METROPAC is the solution to the needs of people who desire an economical method of phoning outside their local lo-cal calling area within Utah County. In his opening testimony before the Utah Public Service Ser-vice Commission in Provo, Salisbury said Utah County residents enjoy telephone service on a par with any comparable area in the country coun-try or the world. "Despite some of the suggestions sug-gestions made by prior witnesses, wit-nesses, the issue in case is not one of telephone service or the quality of the same," he said, "The real issue in this case is one of price. What should a customer in this county be required to pay for the privilege of calling call-ing his friends, relatives or business associates in other areas. METROPAC, an optional service would enable customers cus-tomers to place outgoing, direct-dialed calls to persons living in localities within an 18-mile radius of their local telephone office. Customers would pay a monthly package pack-age charge, at substantially reduced rates, rather than separate charges for each long distance call. This service would represent repre-sent a 59 reduction in long distance charges for residence resi-dence customers and a 38 reduction for business customers. cus-tomers. The METROPAC plan is optional only those who need it would subscribe and pay for the service. "METROPAC is the best way we know to expand the Utah County calling areas without raising rates for every ev-ery customer in the county," Salisbury said. The counter-petition entered en-tered by Sen. Ernest Dean of American Fork and others oth-ers asks the Commission to direct Mountain Bell to offer of-fer area-wide toll free calling call-ing in Utah County. Salisbury said he "conceded "con-ceded that everyone naturally natur-ally would like all of the i service he can obtain for the least possible cost." However, he added, Mountain Moun-tain Bell's position is that the counter proposal is not economically sound, does not represent the desires of the majority of residents of the county if the cost is allocated al-located to all subscribers; and the position advocated by the counter-petition does not represent a proper solution sol-ution to the problems of suburban-urban calling under today's conditions. |