19990428Comments.doc

WELDON STUTZMAN
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074
[phone]

Street Address for Express Mail:
472 W WASHINGTON
BOISE ID 83702-5983

Attorney for the Commission Staff

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF INLAND TELEPHONE COMPANY FOR APPROVAL OF ITS PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF INTRASTATE, INTRALATA DIALING PARITY. )
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CASE NO. INL-T-99-1

COMMENTS OF THE COMMISSION STAFF

COMES NOW the Staff of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, by and through its attorney of record, Weldon Stutzman, Deputy Attorney General, and in response to the Notice of Application and Notice of Modified Procedure issued on April 7, 1999, submits the following comments.

BACKGROUND
On March 18, 1999, Inland Telephone Company (Inland; Company) filed an Application with Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) for an Order approving its intraLATA toll dialing parity implementation plan. Inland offers local telephone exchange service to approximately 325 customers in its two northern Idaho exchanges of Leon and Lenore. Under the FCCs release of the FCCs Order 99-54, all local exchange carriers (LECs) are required to file a plan for implementing intraLATA toll dialing parity with the relevant State Commission(s) in which they operate by April 22, 1999.

At this time, Inland has not implemented interLATA or intraLATA toll dialing parity in any of its exchanges. Inlands plan for its Washington exchanges proposed interLATA dialing parity coincident with intraLATA implementation. This plan was approved by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission on January 27, 1999. Accordingly, Inland seeks authorization from the IPUC to implement interLATA and intraLATA toll dialing parity in its Leon and Lenore exchanges under the same terms and conditions approved by the WUTC.

INLANDS PROPOSAL
Inland has identified the Spokane LATA as the LATA with which its exchanges in Idaho will associate for the purposes of providing interLATA and intraLATA toll dialing parity. (see 47 CFR  51.213). Upon implementation of toll dialing parity, customers will be able to presubscribe a carrier for both its interLATA and its intraLATA calls. This means that originating customers will be able to dial toll calls without having to use any extra digits or access codes (other than the prefatory 1 or 0). In addition, originating customers will continue to be able to use dial-around 10-10-XXX to route their specific calls to a carrier other than their presubscribed carrier if they so choose.
Schedule of Implementation Inlands original Washington filing conveyed an effective date of May 31, 1999, for parity implementation in its switches. During subsequent conversations with Staff, Inland has expressed a need to push its cut-over date to July 7, 1999 for the Idaho exchanges of Leon and Lenore. In light of the FCC action dates of July 1999, Staff believes July 7, 1999 is reasonable. Inland is scheduled to send notification to approximately eighty-six interexchange carriers listed on a national registry pending IPUC approval of their implementation plan. These companies have until June 3, 1999 to let Inland know if they wish to be listed as a choice for intraLATA presubscription on Inlands notification to its Idaho customers. Those companies that have not already established Feature Group D connectivity with Inlands network will need to do so in order to be a choice for presubscription. While Inland presently utilizes some Feature Group C trunking with AT&T and U S WEST, Inland has expressed that, in connection with its upgrade to equal access, all connectivity will be upgraded to Feature Group D by July 7, 1999 or shortly thereafter.

Notification to Customers Inland has proposed that customers in the Leon and Lenore exchanges will receive notification of the coming intraLATA and interLATA carrier choices via a separate mailing on June 4, 1999. This proposed customer notification includes definitions of LATA boundaries, explanations of available choices, IXC choices and contact information, and descriptions of what carriers will be utilized if no response is received by the prescribed date. Inland will follow up with a second notification in its July billing cycle. Staff has reviewed Inlands notification to Washington customers and believes that, with some modification, it will adequately inform Idaho customers regarding intraLATA and interLATA equal access options and dates. Staff has recommended that the notification to Idaho customers reflect the July 7, 1999 cut-over date. To comport with the Washington plan, Staff accepts the ninety-day grace period for free PIC changes, but believes that this should not set a precedent for other dialing parity plans currently before the IPUC. Staff accepts the Companys intention of including a map showing the Idaho and eastern Washington LATA boundaries. In addition, Staff recommends that the Commission require Inland to modify its charge for PIC changes from $15 each to $5 each to coincide with the approved NECA rate.
Customers That Do Not Actively Choose Current Inland customers who do not actively choose a carrier for their intraLATA toll calls by July 7, 1999 will automatically default to the existing carrier, U S WEST. Those customers who do not actively choose their interLATA toll carrier by July 7 will default to what was previously the sole interLATA carrier, AT&T. After July 7, 1999, new customers in the exchanges of Leon and Lenore who do not designate carrier choices for toll calls will have to dial around using 10-1XXXX carrier access codes until they choose their presubscribed carrier(s).
Because the FCC has not clearly defined the requirements regarding customers who do not affirmatively choose a carrier, Staff favors the default method outlined above. This strategy seems the most reasonable and the least confusing to customers compared to no-PIC or pooling allocation methods.

Cost Recovery Inland has proposed to recover the incremental costs of implementing intraLATA toll dialing parity by way of a surcharge on the intraLATA toll originating access minutes of all carriers over three years. Staff believes that the cost recovery methodology is reasonable, but cannot ascertain what the amounts will be until those costs are submitted by the Company. Once that data is submitted, Staff will review Inlands cost recovery data to determine appropriateness of the implementation of interLATA equal access coincident with intraLATA dialing parity. Staff does not believe the intraLATA dialing parity costs will be very significant.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approval of Inlands toll dialing parity plan as submitted in the State of Washington with the following modifications. First, implementation dates should reflect the five week delay for approximately 325 Idaho customers. The actual conversion date for Idaho proposed by the Company is July 7, 1999. Next, Staff recommends that the Commission require Inland to set charges for interLATA PIC changes and intraLATA PIC changes at $5 each. Finally, Staff recommends that Inlands cost recovery method include a true-up period at or near the end of the first year of recovery.
Staff also recommends that the approval of Inlands toll dialing parity implementation plan does not set precedent for other Idaho companies that are required to file. Those implementation plans may require more or less modifications depending on the individual company situation.

Respectfully submitted this day of April 1999.

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Weldon Stutzman
Deputy Attorney General

Technical Staff: Doug Cooley

WS:DC:gdk:i:umisc/comments/inlt991.wsd

STAFF COMMENTS 1 APRIL 28, 1999