gnrt0040.wsjwc.doc

WELDON B. STUTZMAN
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074
[phone]
IDAHO BAR NO. 3283

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 COMMISSION STAFF'S PROPOSAL FOR INSTALLATION OF A FIBER ROUTE BETWEEN RIGGINS AND GRANGEVILLE, IDAHO. )
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CASE NO. GNR-T-00-40

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. 28606, the Notice of Proposal and Notice of Modified Procedure in Case No. GNR-T-00-40 issued on January 3, 2001, and submits the following comments.
The Commission in Case No. USW-T-99-25/CTC-T-99-2 approved the sale of eight local exchanges of Qwest Communications (formerly U S WEST Communications, Inc.) in northern Idaho to Citizens Telecommunications Company of Idaho. See Order No. 28394 issued June 2, 2000. As part of its approval of the sale, the Commission approved Stipulations the Staff had reached with Qwest and Citizens, with one reservation. As part of their Stipulation, Qwest and Staff agreed that a portion of the gain on the sale should benefit ratepayers, specifically by dedicating $4.94 million to be set aside by Qwest to help fund the new Idaho High Cost Fund when it was established pursuant to Idaho Code § 62-610A-F. In its Order the Commission rejected dedicating the stated amount to the new USF, stating that “the Commission is not convinced the record establishes that deposit to the new USF is the best use of the funds.” Order No. 28394 p. 7.
On December 15, 2000, the Commission Staff filed a Decision Memorandum recommending the Commission open a docket to investigate whether completion of a fiber route between Riggins and Grangeville, Idaho is in the public interest, particularly if it can be funded with part of the $4.94 million that was set aside by the Commission.
As Staff stated in its decision memorandum on this subject, it strongly supports a fiber route between Riggins and Grangeville. There is currently no direct fiber route connecting the northern and southern parts of the state. This is primarily due to the LATA restrictions that are in place for Qwest and the high cost of placing facilities along this route. However, because Citizens is not subject to these same LATA restrictions, it is able to transport traffic across the LATA boundary. Once the sale is completed, Citizens will have one small leg to complete to be able to connect with Verizon in its service territory to the north and will be able to connect with the southern part of the state over the Company's current fiber route and this proposed extension.
For customers in the new Citizens' exchanges this fiber route can help give them access to high-speed broadband service, thereby improving service to these rural exchanges. The importance of broadband access is increasing in the state. In Governor Kempthone's January 2001 budget speech he stated, "All of this talk about the new economy is contingent upon access to broadband -- the ability to move video, voice, and data -- at the same time and at high speed -- over a single connection. And if you aren't connected -- if you don't have access -- then I'm afraid the new economy is going to pass you by." Governor Kempthone further emphasized his commitment to such access by proposing a tax incentive for deployment of broadband services. The opportunity to use the gain money to place a fiber route fits well with the Governor's vision of broadband connectivity for rural Idaho.
Emergency services in Idaho County have also been particularly problematic as a result of the current network. Riggins, White Bird, and Grangeville are in Idaho County, with Grangeville being the county seat. However, because of the lack of economical interLATA facilities, Riggins and Whitebird have been unable to obtain adequate emergency services. Currently, customers in Riggins and White Bird must dial an "800" number to connect with such services. This call is routed from Riggins to McCall to Boise to Spokane to Lewiston and finally to Grangeville. Installation of a fiber route would eliminate this problem and allow improved 911 service throughout Idaho County, a resolution that is long overdue.
Finally, the installation of a fiber route would provide redundancy to the microwave route which currently connects the north and south parts of Idaho. This results in both superior as well as more reliable service.
If installation of this fiber route were approved by the Commission, Staff believes that an investigation should also be undertaken to examine the provision of local calling between White Bird and Grangeville. This issue has previously been before the Commission. In each case, although a strong community of interest was shown, the costs of implementing EAS were prohibitive and the petition was rejected. With the installation of this fiber route, the cost of implementation would change significantly and would warrant a new look at EAS for White Bird.
The Company has estimated that the cost of this fiber route would be in the range of $3.8 million. Approximately 25% of this cost is due to the large amount of rock on this route which makes burying cable difficult. While this is a significant cost for this project, the high cost of installation is one of the reasons why there is not a fiber route today. The availability of the funds from the gain affords the Commission a unique opportunity to see that this project is completed without placing a burden on the ratepayers in the newly purchased exchanges.
A note of caution on this project however is appropriate. It is vitally important that installation of this fiber route be done at such a level to ensure sufficient capacity to provide for a wide range of customers. Given the cost and complexity of the installation, it is critically important to ensure that there is ample spare capacity, either in the form of additional fiber strands or spare ducts, or both.
When all the factors are considered(the increased ability to bring broadband to rural Idaho, the provision of improved emergency services to Idaho county, and the increased reliability brought about by having a redundant north-south route(it seems undeniable that the installation of this route using the money from the gain on the sale is in the public interest and should be approved by the Commission.

Respectfully submitted this day of January 2001.

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Weldon B. Stutzman
Deputy Attorney General
Technical Staff: Joe Cusick

WS.JWC.gdk:uumisc/comments/gnrt0040.wsjwc

STAFF COMMENTS 3 JANUARY 31, 2001