20040607Decision Memo.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
COMMISSIONER SMITH
CO MMISSI 0 NER HANSEN
COMMISSION SECRETARY
LEGAL
WORKING FILE
FROM:WAYNE HART
DATE:JUNE 4, 2004
RE:STAFF REVIEW OF INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENTS AND
AMENDMENTS: CASE NOS. QWE-02-3; QWE-03-3; QWE-04-
QWE-04-9; QWE-04-12; USW-99-3; USW-99-14; VZN-04-
BACKGROUND
Under the provisions of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, interconnection
agreements must be submitted to the Commission for approval. 47 U.C. 9252(e)(1). The
Commission may reject an agreement adopted by negotiations only ifit finds that the agreement:
(1) discriminates against a telecommunications carrier not a party to the agreement; or (2)
implementation of the agreement is not consistent with the public interest, convenience and
necessity. 47 V.C. 9252(e)(2)(A).
THE CURRENT APPLICATIONS
1. Owest and ICG Telecom Group. Inc. (Case No. QWE- T -02-3)~This Application is for
an amendment to update the agreement to reflect changes in regulatory requirements implemented
in the Federal Communications Commission s Triennial Review Order (TRO). This amendment
deals with those TRO elements that were not delegated to states for further analysis
2. Owest and Contact Communications. Inc. (Case No. QWE-03-3)~This Application
is for two amendments to an existing interconnection agreement dealing with Collocation
Available Inventory. The first amendment identifies general terms and conditions for such
collocation inventory, while the second provides promotional rates for Collocation Available
Inventory for a limited time period.
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 1 -JUNE 2004
3. Qwest and Sprint Communications Company L.P. (Case No. QWE-04-This
Application is for an amendment to an existing interconnection agreement providing terms for
Qwest DSL provided with UNE-
4. Qwest and AT&T Communications of the Mountain States. Inc. (Case No.
QWE- T -04-09t This Application seeks approval of a new agreement (replacing a previous
agreement). The new agreement is based upon voluntary negotiations between the parties. The
terms and conditions generally appear to be similar to those available through Qwest's Statement
of Generally Available Terms (SGAT).
5. Qwest and 1-800-Reconex. Inc. dba USTel (Case No. QWE-04-12t This
Applications seeks approval of a new agreement. The new agreement is based upon the Statement
of Generally Available Terms (SGAT).
6. Qwest and Covad Communications Company (Case No. USW - T -99-3)~This is an
Amendment to an existing agreement that provides terms and conditions for Line Sharing provided
on a commercial basis. Qwest and Covad have entered into a commercial agreement for Covad to
purchase line sharing on a continuing basis.
7. Qwest and Fretel Communications, LLC. (Case No. USW-99-14) This is an
Amendment to an existing interconnection agreement providing terms for local number portability.
8. Verizon Northwest. Inc and YOLO Communications of Idaho. Inc. (Case No. VZN-
04- 7). This Application seeks approval of a new interconnection agreement.
STAFF ANALYSIS
Staff has reviewed all of these Applications and did not find any terms and conditions that
it considers to be discriminatory or contrary to the public interest. Staff believes that the
Agreements and Amendments are consistent with the pro-competitive policies of this Commission
the Idaho Legislature, and the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. Accordingly, Staff
believes that the Agreements and Amendments to previously approved interconnection agreements
merit the Commission s approval.
However, the Amendment to the Qwest-Covad Agreement (Case No. USW-99-3) is the
result of negotiations between Qwest and Covad to provide Covad with access to line sharing on a
commercial basis after line sharing is no longer available as an unbundled network element, due
the Triennial Review Order (TRO) of the FCC. The submitted amendment allows Covad to obtain
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 2-JUNE 4, 2004
line sharing under this interconnection agreement, at the same terms as identified in the
commercial basis agreement, until the TRO becomes effective and the commercial agreement is
implemented. While Staff has no objections to the terms of this amendment, the issue of whether
the Qwest-Covad commercial agreement upon which it is based needs to be submitted to this
Commission for approval is a matter of considerable controversy and dispute. Staff recommends
that the Order approving this Amendment clarify that the Commission s approval of this
Amendment does not in any way address the issues associated with the filing requirements of the
Qwest -Covad commercial agreement.
COMMISSION DECISION
Does the Commission wish to approve the Applications for Approval of the
Interconnection Agreements and Amendments listed above?
Does the Commission wish to clarify that the decision on the Qwest-Covad Amendment
does not in any way address the issues associated with the filing requirements of the Qwest-Covad
commercial agreement?
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DECISION MEMORANDUM - 3 -JUNE 4, 2004