20030612Comments.pdf

Jean JewellFrom:Sent:To:Subject:Ed HowellTuesday, June 10 , 2003 8:06 PMJean Jewell; Ed Howell; Gene Fadness; Tonya ClarkComment acknowledgementWWW Form Submission:Tuesday, June 10 , 20037 : 0 5 : 5 0 Case:Name: Quintin PhillipsStreet Addres s: 11720 GoldenrodCi ty: BoiseState: IdahoZIP: 83713HomeTelephone: 208-323-0503E-Mail: QSPCO~Cableone. netCompany: QWESTmailinglist _yes _no: yesCommentdescription: Re:QWEST request for deregulationThe PUC should retain full regulatory authori ty over QWEST.deregulated.QWEST should NOT beFocusing on shareholder value , stock prices , and general economic factors has lead manyAmerican companies to largely compromise their interest in providing goods and services.QWEST had displayed this tendency. After the break up into the "baby bells , the company,which is now largely QWEST , became involved in a number of financial actions , which werenot targeted at providing the essential goods , and services - public communication -
which was the core of their business. As a resul t millions of dollars , which should have
been invested in improving the business , was lost or diluted in other financial
acti vi ties.
As a resul t there has been a decline in the timeliness and quali ty of the serVlce QWEST
provides.
Excellent communications is essential for a safe and productive society. Deregulation of
the company supplying those communications will resul t in overall poorer service and less
efficiency - deregulation will exacerbate QWEST's current record.
The deregulation of essential infrastructure providing companies is unwise as it leads
measurements based upon efficiencies and not upon service to the whole society. While the
needs to the maj ori ty may be better met the essential needs of the minori ty may be largely
ignored.
Given the record of not only QWEST but also other companies , which have moved from
regulation to deregulation I strongly oppose the deregulation of QWEST.
Regards
Quintin Phillips
Transaction ID: 6101905.
Referred by: http: / /www. puc. s tate. id. us scripts /polyform. dll/ ipuc
Use r Add res s: 2 4 . 11 6 . 14 5 . 2 2 6
Us e r Ho s tname: 24. 116 . 145 . 226
Jean JewellFrom:Sent:To:Subject:Ed HowellWednesday, June 11 , 2003 7:03 PMJean Jewell; Ed Howell; Gene Fadness; Tonya ClarkComment acknowledgementWWW Form Submission:Wednesday, June 11 , 20036 : 0 2 : 4 3 Case: QWE-T-02-Name: David TurnmireStreet Addres s: 118 N 11 th AveCity: PocatelloState: IDZIP: 83201HomeTelephone: 208 233-1427E-Mail: turndave~isu. eduCompany: Qwestmailinglist _yes _no: yesCommentdescription: Qwest states that there is "functionally equivalent , competitivelypriced" competition. That may very well be true if you narrowly define their service providing voice communications. I would argue that as part of their service to theaverage Idaho citizen , they offer three other valuable (and exclusive) services.directory listings , support for multiple phones in the home (on same line), andcompatibili ty wi th devices such as modems and fax machines.I believe directory listings (both tradi tional phone book and derived internet listings)remain one of the most common means of Idahoans contacting other people. This is in spi teof the growing number of users wi th ei ther unlisted Qwest numbers or exclusive use ofwireless phones. I am unaware of any "functionally equivalent" services offered forwireless customers. It is admi ttedly a two-headed issue.. and many Idahoans rely on
their listed home number as the tradi tional means of contact , and a wireless cell phone
a means of "fil tering " calls to those only important enough to meri t reaching them
any time/ anyplace. So it is perhaps a good thing that the wireless services don t offer
such a service. None the less , for Idaho customers desiring a widely accessible and
recognized directory listing service , Qwest is the only option in the communities Qwest
serves.
And what Idahoan family hasn t called Grandma wi th Mom and Dad on a bedroom phone whilethe kids huddle around a couple other phones? Where is the functional equi valent wi wireless services?
Likewise , Qwest is the only option for those needing to use a modem (whether wi th computer
or other home devices)That will likely change in the future. But I I m not aware of any
providing that service now , and certainly not the provicer I m wi th (the only one in
southern Idaho to provide practical service in low population density areas of Idaho)
Yet many Idahoans use modems for a variety of purposes. The most common being low cost
access to email (in many cases free) and cheap/infrequent access to the internet ($5 to
$10 per month)And even if you can find (now or in near future) a wireless provider that
supports modems.. at what cost?
In summary, Qwest offers services that are important to many Idahoans (certainly not all)
that are ei ther unavailable from wireless providers or much more costly. There is no
question that Qwest is facing competition for certain subsets of their services (voice
only service and long distance service) and the PUC should make reasonable efforts to
allow Qwest to effectively compete. The PUC should not , however , forget the unique
services provided by Qwest. Idahoans on a tight budget have already seen significant
increases in the cost of "basic " service. They shouldn t be faced wi th further
significant increases in costs just so they can continue being listed in a directory,
having mul tiple phones in the house , and having a few minutes a week of internet access.Transaction ID: 6111802.Referred by: http: / /www. puc. s tate. id. us scripts /polyform. dll/ ipucUse r Add res s: 2 4 . 11 6 . 15 2 . 1 7 2Us e r Ho s tname: 24. 116 . 152 . 172