Section 6-82-49 - Installation of public interest pay telephone(a) The commission may, on its own initiative or at the written request of any person, investigate and determine whether it is in the public interest to direct the placement of a public interest pay telephone at or about a particular location. If a written request to the commission for the installation of a public interest pay telephone is made, the original plus eight copies must be filed with the commission. The commission will notify the following persons of the commission's investigation: (1) The telecommunications carrier or carriers providing telecommunications service to the geographical or exchange area in which the targeted location is situated;(2) The pay telephone service providers providing pay telephone service in the geographic or exchange area described in paragraph (1); and(3) The consumer advocate. Each person receiving notification of the commission's investigation shall, within fifteen days of the notification, file a response to the proposed placement of a public interest pay telephone. The respondent shall indicate in its response whether it has any objection to the placement of a public interest pay telephone at or about the targeted location. The original plus eight copies of the response must be filed with the commission.
(b) In determining whether a public interest pay telephone should be placed at or about the targeted location, the commission shall consider, among other things: (1) The public interest to be served by the placement of a public interest telephone at or about the targeted location;(2) The relative proximity of the targeted location to another pay telephone;(3) The accessibility of any existing pay telephone in the neighborhood of the targeted location;(4) The potential for a freely competitive marketplace to provide pay telephones at or about the targeted location; and(5) Any other factors deemed relevant by the commission.(c) If the commission deems it in the public interest to place a public interest pay telephone at a particular location, the commission may direct any telecommunications carrier or any pay telephone service provider to install and maintain a public interest pay telephone at that location. The commission may, at its option, select the public interest pay telephone service provider through a competitive bidding process, in which event the applicable provisions of § 6-81-55(a) and (b) will apply.[Eff ] (Auth: HRS §§ 269-6, 269-16.9, 269-34) (Imp: §276)