"An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Dental Examiners; and relating to dentists and dental hygienists. "

House Bill 221 was introduced to ensure that Alaskan consumers do not see an increase in their telephone bills for in-state long distance calls. The RCA has developed new charges, called Network Access Fees (NAF) that all local telephone customers will pay. These fees, which went into effect April 1, 2005, used to be part of the charges that long distance carriers had to pay on all in-state long distance calls - but no longer. Long distance telephone companies will see a reduction in access charges to them. This was not intended as an increase in their profits.

In order for customers to not see an increase in their bills, HB 221 directs that a new subsection be added to AS 42.05.830 directing that long distance rates should be reduced to the extent that access fees are being passed on to consumers. It also requires the long distance carriers to provide the commission with information so that compliance can be verified. The long distance companies should have no problem with this since the reduction in retail rates will be equal to the savings they're seeing in access charges. For Alaskan consumers, the reduction in long distance rates will help offset the new Network Access Fees that consumers are now being charged.

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