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Home My WebLink About20030422Motion to Strike or Vacate Hearing Date.pdf~l.f'f WELDON B. STUTZMAN DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION PO BOX 83720 BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074 (208) 334-0318 IDAHO BAR NO. 3283 HECEIVED mFILED 2003 APR 22 PH 2: 18 Iljj\r;(j i;UbLjC UTILITIES COMMISSION Street Address for Express Mail: 472 W. WASHINGTON BOISE, IDAHO 83702-5983 Attorney for the Commission Staff BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF QWEST CORPORATION FOR DEREGULATION OF BASIC LOCAL EXCHANGE RATES IN ITS BOISE, NAMPA CALDWELL, MERIDIAN, TWIN FALLS, IDAHO FALLS, AND POCATELLO EXCHANGES. CASE NO. QWE-O2- STAFF'S MOTION TO STRIKE OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE TO VACATE HEARING DATE On Tuesday, April 22, 2003, seven days before the scheduled start of the hearing in this case, Qwest filed rebuttal testimony prepared by John Souba, Douglas Lincoln, Harry Shoushan, and David Teitzel, and James Schmit, along with Exhibit Nos. 20 and 21. The rebuttal filing was due no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 21 , 2003. In addition to being late, the testimony and exhibits filed by Qwest are voluminous and contain substantial information not responsive to the direct testimony filed by Staff witnesses on March 19, 2003. Accordingly, Staff files this Motion to Strike some or all of the testimony and exhibits pre filed by Qwest on April 22, 2003. In the alternative, Staff moves for an Order Vacating the Hearing Date, currently scheduled to commence April 29, 2003 , to provide Staff an opportunity to conduct discovery on the new material filed by Qwest and to prefile its own rebuttal testimony. The information in Qwest's rebuttal testimony Staff believes is inappropriate and should be stricken will be more specifically identified at oral argument. At the least, Staff STAFF'S MOTION TO STRIKE OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE TO VACATE HEARING DATE requests that the entire testimony of James Schmit be stricken, as well as Qwest's new Exhibits , and 22. Mr. Schmit's testimony should be stricken because it purports to relay second or third hand comments made by people that attended public workshops scheduled by the Commission Staff. The meetings were informal, umecorded, and no notes were taken. Mr. Schmit purports to tell the Commission, apparently from his own recall, what people said at the workshops. Mr. Schmit's self-serving recollection of individual comments is inadmissible hearsay. Qwest also addresses for the first time public interest concerns in Mr. Schmit's testimony. Qwest failed entirely to seriously discuss public interest issues in its direct testimony, and should not be permitted by its late filing to correct its failure to address public interest concerns. Staff also requests that Qwest's new Exhibits 20 , 21 , and 22 be stricken. Those exhibits apparently are, finally, a serious effort by Qwest to attempt a meaningful price comparison between its local service and various wireless plans. As explained in David Teitzel' rebuttal testimony, Exhibits 20, 21 , and 22, consisting of some 36 pages, contain significant amount of detail Qwest now offers to make price comparisons between its local service and wireless plans. Contrast that with Exhibit 13 , filed in Qwest's direct filing, which is merely " snapshot of the wireless market in Idaho as of November 2002. It (Exhibit 13) was not intended to represent all possible permutations of service to which individual customers may subscribe but rather, to be a point of reference in examining the similarities between Qwest landline and competitive wireless service alternatives.Teitzel Rebuttal, p. 38.Exhibit 22, on the other hand , " contains a full and current listing of each and every plan offered by the umegulated wireless carriers addressed in this docket." Id. There is no reason Qwest could not have prepared Exhibits 20, 21 and 22 and included them as part of its direct testimony filing. Instead, Qwest filed the flimsiest evidence on price comparisons, waited until after Staff completed its discovery and testimony on Qwest's earlier testimony and exhibits, and then filed comprehensive exhibits one week before start of the hearing. Staff of course focused its attention on Exhibit 13 and related testimony and now has no time to conduct discovery to test the assumptions or otherwise to verify the reliability of the information contained in the new exhibits. Staff has not had an opportunity to fully review Qwest's late filing on April 22 , 2003 and so has not identified all the material it believes should be stricken. Given the short period STAFF'S MOTION TO STRIKE OR IN THE AL TERNA TIVE TO V ACA TE HEARING DATE before the hearing date and the amount of material filed by Qwest, Staff requests an oral argument on its Motion to Strike or to vacate the hearing date on Friday, April 25 , at 10:30 a. in the hearing room of the Commission. RESPECTFULLY submitted this /. "l r.J.. day of April 2003. Weldon B. Stutzman Deputy Attorney General Vld/N :QWETO225 - ws3 STAFF'S MOTION TO STRIKE OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE TO V ACA TE HEARING DATE CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE HEREBY CERTIFY THAT I HAVE THIS 22nd DAY OF APRIL 2003 SERVED THE FOREGOING STAFF'S MOTION TO STRIKE OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE TO VACATE HEARING DATE, IN CASE NO. QWE-02-, BY FAXING A COpy THEREOF TO THE FOLLOWING: MARY S HOBSON STOEL RIVES LLP SUITE 1900 101 S CAPITOL BLVD BOISE, ID 83702 ADAM L SHERR QWEST 1600 7TH AVE, ROOM 3206 SEATTLE, WA 98191 CONLEY WARD GIVENS PURSLEY LLP 277 N 6TH ST, SUITE 200 PO BOX 2720 BOISE, ID 83701-2720 CLAY R STURGIS MOSS ADAMS LLP 601 W RIVERSIDE, SUITE 1800 SPOKANE, WA 99201-0663 DEAN J MILLER McDEVITT & MILLER LLP PO BOX 2564 BOISE, ID 83701 BRIAN THOMAS TIME WARNER TELECOM 223 TAYLOR AVE NORTH SEATTLE, WA 98109 SUSAN TRAVIS WORLDCOM INe. 707 17TH STREET, SUITE 4200 DENVER, CO 80202 MARY JANE RASHER AT&T COMMUNICATIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN STATES INC. 10005 S GWENDEL YN LANE HIGHLANDS RANCH, CO 80129-6217 MARLIN D ARD WILLARD L FORSYTH HERSHNER, HUNTER, ET AL 180E 11 TH AVE POBOX 1475 EUGENE, OR 97440-1475 DEAN RANDALL VERIZON NORTHWEST INC. 17933 NW EVERGREEN PKWY BEAVERTON, OR 97006-7438 JOHN GANNON ATTORNEY AT LAW 1101 W RIVER, SUITE 110 BOISE, ID 83702 BEN JOHNSON BEN JOHNSON ASSOCIATES INC. 2252 KILLEARN CENTER BLVD TALLAHASSEE, FL 32308 fo1~ SECRETARY CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE