20040311Staff Comments.pdf

WELDON B. STUTZMAN
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074
[phone]
IDAHO BAR NO. 3283
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Street Address for Express Mail:
472 W. WASHINGTON
BOISE, IDAHO 83702-5983
Attorney for the Commission Staff
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF
ACN COMMUNICATION SERVICES, INC. FOR)
A CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE
AND NECESSITY TO PROVIDE LOCAL
EXCHANGE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.
CASE NO. ACN-O4-
COMMENTS OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF
COMES NOW the Staff of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, by and through its
Attorney of record, Weldon B. Stutzman, Deputy Attorney General, in response to Order No.
29427, the Notice of Petition and Notice of Modified Procedure in Case No. ACN-04-1 issued
on February 19, 2004, and submits the following comments.
On January 8, 2004, ACN Communication Services, Inc. (ACN; Company) filed an
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to provide facilities-based and
resold competitive local exchange and interexchange services within the State ofldaho. ACN is
incorporated in the State of Michigan with headquarters located in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
The Company has filed copies of its Certificate of Authority issued by the Idaho Secretary of
State.
STAFF COMMENTS MARCH 11 , 2004
STAFF ANALYSIS
Staff has reviewed the infonnation provided by ACN in its application and believes it
satisfies the requirements of the Commission s Rule of Procedure 111 , IDAPA 31.01.01.111 , and
Procedural Order No. 26665 issued November 7, 1996, which sets out the necessary infonnation
to be included with an application for a certificate.
The application indicated ACN intended to provide basic resold and facilities based
local exchange services to both residential and business customers. The Company would
initially provide services primarily via the unbundled network element platfonn (UNE-P). The
application indicated the Company s primary market is residential customers, and that the
Company would initially provide service in the area currently served by Qwest.
ACN is a telecommunications company that has been providing long distance
services nationwide, including Idaho. The application indicated the Company was authorized to
provide local exchange service in over 20 states and has more than 30 000 residential customers.
The application included resumes of key individuals that indicated extensive experience in the
telecommunications field. The application includes confidential financial infonnation indicating
the Company is in a relatively strong financial position, considering the downturn in the
telecommunications industry. Staff is satisfied that the Company has the technical, managerial
and financial strength to provide the services identified in the application.
The application as originally filed includes requests for variances from five separate
Commission rules. However, these requests were based on an out-dated version of the rules, and
some of the specific rules cited in the application have been eliminated. The remaining requests
did not seem necessary, based on the current requirements of the rules and the reasons identified
for requesting the variances in the application. After discussing these requests with Staff, the
Company submitted a letter amending its application and withdrawing all of its requests for
varIances.
ACN specifically indicated in its application it will comply with all Commission
rules. It has provided an illustrative tariff with its application that demonstrates an understanding
of tariff requirements and processes.
STAFF COMMENTS MARCH 11 2004
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staffrecommends that a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to provide
competitive local exchange service in Idaho be provided to ACN Communications Services, Inc.
Respectively submitted this Vi~ day of March 2004.
Weldon B. Stutzman
Deputy Attorney General
Technical Staff:Wayne Hart
i:umisc/comments/acntO4, 1 wswh
STAFF COMMENTS MARCH 11 , 2004
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
HEREBY CERTIFY THAT I HAVE THIS 11 TH DAY OF MARCH 2004
SERVED THE FOREGOING COMMENTS OF THE COMMISSION STAFF, IN
CASE NO. ACN-04-, BY MAILING A COpy THEREOF, POSTAGE PREPAID
TO THE FOLLOWING:
DANIEL CROWLEY
VICE PRESIDENT/ FINANCE
ACN COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES INC
32991 HAMILTON CT
FARMINGTON HILLS MI 48334
MONIQUE BYRNES
CONSULTANT
TECHNOLOGIES MANAGEMENT INC
PO DRAWER 200
WINTER PARK FL 32790-0200
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SEC
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE