20090309Qwest Report.pdf

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Mary S. Hobson
Attorney & Counselor
999 Main, Suite n03
Boise, il 83702
208-385-8666
20U9 M~R -6 PM 4: 48
March 6, 2009
VIA HAD DELIVERY
Jean D. Jewell, Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 West Washington
Boise, ID 83702-5983
RE: Docket No. GRN- T -08-4
Dear Ms. Jewell:
Enclosed for filing with this Commission are an original and seven (7) copies of the Report of
Qwest Corporation concerning the Petition of the Pearl area residents. Confidential
Attachment A to said report is being filed under separate cover and with an Attorney's
Cerificate.
If you have any questions, please contact me. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Ver trly yours,
At . 1bC-
Mar:.on
Enclosures
Mar S. Hobson (ISB. No. 2142)
999 Main, Suite 1103
Boise, ID 83702
Tel: [phone]
mary.hobsonØlgwest.com
Q C\ r::if;. ~..,.. ~:,
zong MAR -6 PM 4: 1;8
Uïl
Adam L. Sherr
Corporate Counsel, Qwest
1600 7th Avenue, Room 1506
Seattle, WA 98191
Tel: [phone]
adam.sherØlqwest.com
Attorneys for Qwest Corporation
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION
REGARING THE QUALITY OF LOCAL
TELEPHONE SERVICE IN AND TO THE
PEAR, IDAHO ARA
Case No. GNR-T-08-04
REPORT OF QWEST CORPORATION
Qwest Corporation ("Qwest"), by and through its attorneys of record, pursuat to
the direction of the Commission Staff contained in the letter of Grace Seaman, Utilties
Analyst, dated February 13,2009, fies the following report in response to the Petition of
the Pearl area residents.
Construction, Timeframes and Costs
To Serve the Pearl Area
In preparing to file this report Qwest conducted a field surey of what it
understands to be the "Pearl area" and identified twenty-two living units spanning a
distance of 13.4 miles staring at 6500 Chaparal and ending at 10505 Pearl Road. If
Report of Qwest Corporation - 1 -
Qwest were to construct telecommunications facilities to serve the twenty-two living
units it has identified with basic local exchange and MTS servces, it estimates the total
cost would be $520,134.00.1
This cost estimate includes over 71,000 feet of buried copper cable backbone
facilities and nearly 40,000 feet of buried service wire connecting the identified housing
units with backbone facilities. The estimate includes all costs associated with
engineerng, constrction, and splicing the above-descrbed facilties. The total includes a
cost of $160,000.00 associated with cutting and/or removal of an estimated 8,000 feet of
rock along the roughly 13 miles of the constrction route. Should Qwest constrct these
facilities, it would customarly charge customers the actual cost of dealing with rock,
which could be either greater or smaller than this estimate.
Qwest's preliminar constrction design is depicted on Confidential Attachment
A. Qwest estimates it could complete this constrction project in 90 days. 2
Sources of Funding for Qwest Construction
Constrction by Qwest in the Pearl area does not qualify for funding under either
state or federal "high cost" or "universal service" funding mechansms as they are
currently configured. Therefore, under Qwests line extension policies, applicants for
service would be asked to fud the constrction associated with providing service,
subject to a line extension credit of$1600 per customer. See Qwest Corporation's
Exchange and Network Serices Catalog § 4.2.2
On a project such as this one, all applicants for serice would share the total
constrction cost minus their combined credits on an equal basis. For example, assuming
there are twenty-two wiling applicants (i.e., one applicant for service in each identified
housing unit who is wiling to pay the constrction costs), the total line extension credit
available would be $35,200, which would be subtracted from the constrction cost of
1 Qwest recognizes that this estimate is substantially higher than estimates that it has
provided on an informal basis to Pearl residents in the past. This is because on prior
occasions only the cost to deliver service to a single location or group of relatively
closely placed locations was estimated. These estimates did not represent the full scope
of the Pearl area. The estimate contained in this report represents the most economical
approach available to Qwest for providing serice to the entire Pearl area.2 This estimate is subject to weather factors that could ~ffect overall constrction time.
Report of Qwest Corporation - 2 -
$520,134, leaving $484,935 to be divided among the twenty-two applicants.
Alternative Options
Qwest has spent a considerable amount of time looking into this issue and is
convinced that its proposed construction design as described in this report represents the
most cost-effective method of providing serice to the Pearl area. Due to terain
characterstics that significantly limit alteratives based on line-of-sight transmissions,
Qwest is not aware of feasible or cost-effective alternatives to bured telecommunications
facilities as discussed here that could be deployed in the Pearl area.
Respectfully submitted this 6th day of March, 2009.
~
Mar S. H bson (ISB. No. 2142)
999 Main. Suite 1103
Boise, ID 83702
Adam L. Sher
Corporate Counsel, Qwest
1600 7th Avenue, Room 1506
Seattle, WA 98191
Attorneys for Qwest Corporation
Report of Qwest Corporation - 3 -
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I do hereby certify that a tre and correct copy of the foregoing REPORT OF QWEST
CORPORATION was served on the 6th day of March, 2009 on the following individuals:
Jea D. Jewell
Idaho Public Utilties Commssion
472 West Washigton Street
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83702
Telephone [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
j j ewell(ä),puc. state.id. us
i Hand Delivery
U. S. Mail
Overnght Delivery
Facsimile
Email
Michael Creamer
Givens Pursley LLP
601 W Banock S1.
Boise, ID 83702
-. Hand Delivery
U. S. Mail
Overnght Delivery
Facsimile
Email
Pearl Petitioners
c/o Grace Seamn
Utilties Analyst
Idaho Public Utilties Commssion
472 West Washington Street
Boise, Idaho 83702
-L Hand Delivery
U. S. Mail
Overnght Delivery
Facsimile
Email
Æ:t l6/; _
MaryS. son
Attorney r Qwest Corporation