20151124final_order_no_33423.pdf

Office ofthe Secretary
Service Date
November 24,2015
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF SILVER STAR TELEPHONE)
COMPANY,INC.AND COLUMBINE TELEPHONE)CASE NOS.COL-T-15-O1
COMPANY,INC.’S APPLICATION TO APPROVE )SIL-T-15-O1
TRANSFER OF IDAHO ASSETS,OPERATIONS )
AND CERTIFICATE )ORDER NO.33423
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
)
On October 29,2015,Silver Star Telephone Company,Inc.and Columbine
Telephone Company,Inc.filed an Application for Commission approval of the transfer of Silver
Star’s Idaho local exchange assets,operations and certificated service area under Certificate No.
207 to its sister company,Columbine.The proposed asset transfer does not involve
discontinuance of service and will not affect customer service,but is essentially a corporate
structure name change.Accordingly,we approve the Application as more fully described herein.
BACKGROUND
Silver Star is a certificated telephone corporation organized under Wyoming state
laws and provides telecommunication services,including regulated Title 61 local exchange
services within Idaho and Wyoming.Silver Star is the incumbent local exchange carrier
(‘ILEC”)in Idaho’s Irwin and Wayan exchanges under Certificate No.207.The Company has
served the two exchanges for over 50 years and currently serves about 500 local exchange
customers.Application at 2.
Columbine is a certificated telephone corporation organized under Wyoming state
laws and provides telecommunications services,including regulated Title 61 local exchange
services within Idaho.Columbine is the ILEC in the Idaho exchanges of Driggs,Tetonia,and
Victor,under Certificate No.329.Id.Columbine acquired these exchanges from U S WEST
Communications in 1997,during the sale of its rural telephone exchanges in southern Idaho.Id
Columbine was specifically incorporated to serve these exchanges,to facilitate a rate freeze in
the acquired exchanges following the acquisition,and to accommodate the then-existing IRS
Section 1031 exchange restrictions.Id.
Since the 1997 acquisition,Columbine has upgraded the local exchange switching
and transmission facilities to provide state-of-the-art digital telecommunications service to all of
its customers.Id.at 3.Silver Star’s exchanges have also been upgraded to state-of-the-art
ORDER NO.33423 1
digital telecommunications facilities.Id.Silver Star is a designated eligible telecommunications
carrier (“ETC”)in Idaho and Wyoming.Id.Both Companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of
Horizon Communications,Inc.and hold Certificates of Good Standing with the Idaho Secretary
of State’s Office.Id.(Exh.A and B).
THE APPLICATION
Silver Star proposes to transfer all of its customer information and accounts,
including any customer deposits,to Columbine.Customer deposits will be handled by
Columbine,consistent with Commission Rules (see Telephone Customer Relations Rules
31 .41.01.100-.109)and Columbine’s revised tariff (see Confidential Preliminary Revised Tariff).
These changes will be transparent to the Irwin and Wayan exchange customers.Application at
4.Silver Star and Columbine currently maintain separate cost accounting for purposes of Title
61 operations in the exchanges,and Columbine intends to maintain the exchange separation.Id.
Silver Star and Columbine affirm that no costs associated with the asset transfer will be assigned
as costs to the Title 61 customers.Id.Silver Star has provided customer notification of the
intended transfer of service responsibility to Columbine.Id.(Exh.C).Finally,Silver Star asks
to surrender Certificate No.207,contingent upon approval of the asset transfer and amendment
of Columbine’s Certificate No.329,to include Irwin and Wayan exchanges.Id.at 4.
The Companies assert that the proposed asset transfer will simplify the management,
operations,and accounting for both companies.According to the Companies,the requested
relief “amounts in essence to a corporate structure name change that will not affect individual
customer service.”Id.at 5.Silver Star and Columbine request an effective date of November
30,2015,for Silver Star’s discontinuance of service.Id.
COMMISSION FINDINGS AND DECISION
We have reviewed the Application,including revised tariffs,and Staffs decision
memorandum recommending approval.Although the Application cites Rule 20,which concerns
discontinuance of telecommunications service,we note that the Companies’requested relief will
not impact customers’telecommunications service,but effectively seeks a “corporate structure
name change”only.Application at 5.Accordingly,we find it unnecessary to process this case
under our Modified Procedure rules,IDAPA 31.01.01.201-210.Because the asset and
operations transfer will be transparent to Silver Star’s customers,and will not disrupt customers’
service,we approve the requested relief without further process.See IDAPA 31.01.01 .021-022.
ORDER NO.33423 2
Specifically,we approve:(1)the transfer of Silver Star’s Idaho Title 61 assets and
certificated service area for the Irwin and Wayan exchanges to Columbine;(2)the
discontinuance of Silver Star’s local exchange service in the Irwin and Wayan exchanges and
cancellation of Certificate No.207;and (3)the amendment of Columbine’s Certificate No.329
to incorporate the Irwin and Wayan exchanges.Columbine must still seek Commission approval
of financing aspects related to the completion of the transfer,approved herein,through a separate
Application.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Silver Star and Columbine’s Application to approve
transfer of Idaho assets,operations,and Certificate is granted as discussed above.The
Certificate will be issued upon the Commission’s receipt of the amended tariffs from Columbine.
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER.Any person interested in this Order may petition for
reconsideration within twenty-one (21)days of the service date of this Order.Within seven (7)
days after any person has petitioned for reconsideration,any other person may cross-petition for
reconsideration.See Idaho Code §6 1-626.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise,Idaho this
day of November 2015...f7/r
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/1
PAUL KJELLANDER PRESIDENT
MARSHA H.SMITH,COMMISSIONER
KRfINE RAPER,COMMISSIONER
ATTEST:
Jel
mmission Secretary
O:COL-T-15-O1SIL-T-15-Oldjh
ORDER NO.33423 3