20001025Comments.doc

JOHN R. HAMMOND
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074
[phone]
IDAHO BAR NO. 5470

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 JOINT APPLICATION
OF QWEST CORPORATION AND SILVER STAR TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC. FOR APPROVAL OF AN INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENT PURSUANT TO 47 U.S.C. § 252(e).
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CASE NO. QWE-T-00-11

COMMENTS OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF
COMES NOW the Staff of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, by and through its Attorney of record, John R. Hammond, Deputy Attorney General, in response to Order No. 28529
the Notice of Joint Application and Notice of Modified Procedure in Case No. QWE-T-00-11 issued on October 4, 2000, submits the following comments.
On September 18, 2000, Qwest Corporation and Silver Star Telephone Company, Inc. filed a Joint Application requesting approval of an interconnection agreement. The Application states that Silver Star adopts the terms for interconnection as provided in Qwest’s Statement of Generally Available Terms (SGAT) which was filed with the Commission in June 2000. The Joint Application states that the Agreement was reached through voluntary negotiations without resort to mediation or arbitration and is submitted for approval pursuant to Section 252(e) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Staff reviewed the language of this Agreement and did not find any terms or conditions that Staff would consider discriminatory. The Agreement essentially incorporates the rates and terms contained in Qwest's Statement of Generally Available Terms (SGAT), which was filed by Qwest with the Commission. As the SGAT contains language that indicates that Qwest will provide these terms and conditions to every competitive local exchange carrier, Staff finds none of the terms or conditions to be discriminatory. Therefore, Staff concurs with the companies claim that the Agreement is consistent with the pro-competitive policies of the Commission, the Idaho Legislature, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and therefore is consistent with the public interest.
The Commission chose to allow Qwest's SGAT to become effective without Commission approval, and to defer any consideration of whether the terms and conditions contained in the SGAT complied with the requirements of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Act) to a more appropriate venue (Case No. USW-T-00-3). Staff believes that Commission approval of an agreement based upon the SGAT does not represent approval of the SGAT itself or a finding that any of the SGAT terms and conditions are consistent with the requirements of the Act. Therefore, Staff recommends that the Commission's Final Order in this case clarify that it is restricted to the specific agreement, and is not to be considered as a Commission decision or finding on the SGAT as a whole or any of the specific terms or conditions contained in the SGAT.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Commission approve the Interconnection Agreement as filed, and that the Commission's final Order in this case clarify that it is restricted to this specific agreement, and is not to be considered as a Commission decision or finding on the SGAT as a whole or any of the specific terms or conditions contained in the SGAT.

DATED at Boise, Idaho, this day of October 2000.

________________________
John R. Hammond
Deputy Attorney General
Technical Staff: Wayne Hart
WH:JH:gdk:i:umisc/comments/qwet0011.jh wh
The SGAT contains terms, conditions and prices for interconnection, unbundled elements, ancillary services and resale telecommunication services.

STAFF COMMENTS 1 OCTOBER 25, 2000