20030818Press Release.pdf

IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
For Immediate Release / August 14 2003
Case No. QWE-03-, Order No. 29314
Contact: Gene Fadness [phone]
PU C staff, Qwest reach proposed settlement
BOISE - The fee paid by Qwest customers wanting toll restriction service would increase under a proposed settlement
between Qwest and Idaho Public Utilities Commission staff. In exchange for allowing the slight increase, the commission
would retain full regulatory authority over the service and the installation fee for residential customers ordering the service
would be dropped.
Toll restriction prohibits access to long distance carriers on any line on which it is installed. Qwest has more than
000 Idaho customers who receive toll restriction service. A typical toll restriction customer would be a parent with a teen
line who doesn t want long-distance calls made from thatline. Other toll restriction customers include those who have had
trouble making long-distance payments in the past but want to retain a phone line for local calls only.
The commission is seeking public comment through September 4 on a proposed settlement, which includes the
following features:
The monthly fee for toll restriction would increase from 25 cents per month to 75 cents per month for
residential lines and from $1 to $2 per month for businesses with five or fewer lines. If approved, the
effecti ve date for the increased fee would be Oct.
An installation charge of $13.50 for residential customers requesting the service would be dropped. A
$24.50 installation charge for business lines in Qwest's northern Idaho territory would be reduced to $13.50,
the same charge for business customers in southern Idaho. Customers who qualify for the low-income
Lifeline program would not be assessed the installation charge or the monthly fee.
Any future price changes sought by Qwest for toll restriction would have to be approved by the commission
as a fully regulated service for residential and business customers with five or fewer lines. Staff would agree
to not seek any reductions outside a general rate case.
The settlement, if approved, will resolve a dispute between the commission and Qwest that has been ongoing since
1997. During its rate case that year, Qwest (then U S West) argued that toll restriction should be price-deregulated. The
commission concluded the service should be regulated and U S West appealed to the state Supreme Court.
To settle the Supreme Court case, the commission and Qwest agreed to stipulate that toll restriction could be
deregulated but that there should be no change to the rate for three years and that the $13.50 installation charge would
be waived on the first line for residential customers requesting the service at the same time they sign up for a new line.
Near the end of the three-year period, staff discovered that Qwest had inadvertently assessed the installation charge on
new residential customers ordering toll restriction and had inappropriately billed some low-income customers. Consequently,
the parties entered into another stipulation that ordered Qwest to refund $1.2 million to customers improperly billed. That
stipulation also extended the terms of the original stipulation through the end of 2002, leading up the current renegotiated
settlement.
Persons wishing to submit comments regarding the proposed settlement can do so via e-mail by accessing the
commission s homepage at www.puc.state.id.and clicking on "Comments & Questions." Fill in the case number (QWE-
03-15) and enter your comments. Comments can also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed to (208)
334-3762. Comments are due Sept. 4.
A full text of the commission s order, along with other documents related to this case, are available on the
commission s Web site. Click on "File Room " then on "Telecommunications Cases " and scroll down to the appropriate case
number under Qwest.