20041006Final Order No 29606.pdf

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
October 6, 2004
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE JOINT
APPLICATION OF QWEST CORPORATION
AND QWEST COMMUNICATIONS
CORPORATION FOR APPROVAL OF THE
INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENT FOR
THE STATE OF IDAHO PURSUANT TO 47
. U.C. ~ 252(e)
CASE NO. QWE- T -04-
ORDER NO. 29606
The Commission is asked in this case to approve an interconnection agreement
between Qwest Corporation and Qwest Communications Corporation.
Commission approves the Application.
In this Order the
BACKGROUND
Under the prOVISIons of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996
interconnection agreements must be submitted to the Commission for approval. 47 U.C. ~
252(e)(1). The Commission may reject an agreement adopted by negotiations only if it 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 U.C. ~ 252(e)(2)(A). As the Commission noted in Order No.
28427, companies voluntarily entering into interconnection agreements "may negotiate terms
prices and conditions that do not comply with either the FCC rules or with the provision of
Section 251(b) or(c).Order No. 28427 at 11 (emphasis in original). This comports with the
FCC's statement that "a state commission shall have authority to approve an interconnection
agreement adopted by negotiation even if the terms of the agreement do not comply with the
requirements of (Part 51)." 47 C.R. ~ 51.3.
THE CURRENT APPLICATION
The Joint Application for Approval of an Interconnection Agreement between Qwest
Corporation and Qwest Communications Corporation was filed on August 30, 2004. The
Application seeks approval of the parties ' interconnection agreement for the provision of
Qwest's local exchange services.Included are terms and conditions for interconnection
unbundled network elements, ancillary services, and resale of telecommunications services as
ORDER NO. 29606
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outlined in the Third Revision of Qwest's Idaho Statement of Generally Available Terms and
Conditions (SGAT), effective May 24 2002 (July 25 2002 Errata).
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
The Staff has reviewed the Application and did not find any terms or conditions to be
discriminatory or contrary to the public interest. Additionally, Staff states that similar
Applications between Qwest Corporation and its subsidiary, Qwest Communications
Corporation, have been approved in other states. Staff believes that the new interconnection
agreement is consistent with the pro-competitive policies of this Commission, the Idaho
Legislature, and the federal Telecommunications Act. Accordingly, Staff believes that the
Application merits the Commission s approval.
COMMISSION DECISION
Under the terms of the Telecommunications Act, interconnection agreements must be
submitted to the Commission for approval. 47 U.C. ~ 252(e)(I). The Commission s review is
limited, however. The Commission may reject an agreement adopted by negotiation only if it
finds that the agreement discriminates against a telecommunications carrier not a party to the
agreement or implementation of the agreement is not consistent with the public interest
convenience and necessity. Id. Based upon our review of the Application and the Staff's
recommendation the Commission finds that the agreement is consistent with the public interest
convenience and necessity and does not discriminate. Therefore, the Commission finds that this
Application should be approved. However, approval of this agreement does not negate the
responsibility of either of the parties to this agreement to obtain a Certificate of Public
Convenience and Necessity if they are offering local exchange services or to comply with Idaho
Code ~~ 62-604 and 62-606 if they are providing other non-basic local telecommunications
services as defined by Idaho Code ~ 62-603.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the interconnection agreement between Qwest
Corporation and Qwest Communications Corporation Case No. QWE- T -04-, as discussed
above, is approved. Terms of the agreement that are not already in effect shall be effective as of
the date of this Order.
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order (or in issues finally
decided by this Order) issued in this Case No. QWE- T -04-23 may petition for reconsideration
ORDER NO. 29606
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within twenty-one (21) days of the service date of this Order with regard to any matter decided in
this Order issued in this Case No. QWE- T -04-23. Within seven (7) days after any person has
petitioned for reconsideration, any other person may cross-petition for reconsideration. See
Idaho Code ~ ~ 61-626 and 62-619.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this to
11'-
day of October 2004.
~tftt-,
PAUL KJ LANDER, PRESIDENT
ARSHA H. SMITH, COMMISSIONER
ATTEST:
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(IjilJ a D. Jew
Commission Secretary
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ORDER NO. 29606
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