Equal Access Corp. v. Utilities Board, Utilities Division, Iowa Department of Commerce

LARSON, Justice.

Equal Access Corporation is in the business of furnishing telephones in correctional facilities, such as prisons, throughout the country. Equal Access first installed its telephones in Iowa prisons in August 1989. Despite the fact that it had fewer than 15,000 customers in Iowa, and would therefore ordinarily be outside the scope of the utility board’s jurisdiction, Iowa Code § 476.1(3) (1991), the board determined that Equal Access was an “alternative operator service” (AOS) under Iowa Code section 476.91.

Equal Access was therefore found to be subject to the jurisdiction of…