19970227Notice of Petition for Arbitration.doc

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF SPRINT SPECTRUM L.P.S PETITION FOR ARBITRATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 252(b) OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996 OF THE RATES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS OF INTERCONNECTION WITH U S WEST COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
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CASE NO. USW-T-97-7
SPS-T-97-1

NOTICE OF PETITION FOR
ARBITRATION

To: U S WEST Communications, Inc.
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Sprint Spectrum L.P. on February 14, 1997, filed a Petition for Arbitration with the Commission pursuant to Section 252 (b) of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Petition alleges that Sprint requested interconnection, services, or network elements with U S WEST Communications, Inc. (U S WEST) pursuant to Section 251 of the Act, that negotiations for an agreement have occurred, but that issues between the parties remain unresolved.
The Petition and Section 252 establish the following dates for an arbitration process:
Date negotiation request filed with Sprint September 11, 1996
Date arbitration petition filed February 14, 1997
Date for Sprints response to petition March 11, 1997
Deadline for resolution by arbitration June 11, 1997
To ensure timely resolution of the Petition, the Commission may schedule a pre-arbitration conference. During the pre-arbitration conference, the parties must be prepared to identify specific issues that have been resolved and that remain unresolved, to discuss the need and schedule for exchanging information, and to determine a schedule for providing information and prefiled testimony for the arbitration.
The Petition identifies 12 issues for resolution, identified in the Petition as relating to:

reciprocal compensation arrangements; transiting charges; local traffic measurement and reporting; pricing of Local Transport as an unbundled network element; cross-reference of U S WEST tariffs; the availability of Signaling System 7 (SS7") and access to databases; the use of combined trunk groups; systems for billing and data exchange; the basic form of the interconnection agreement; the nature of a most favored nation provision to be included in the interconnection agreement; cost-sharing of certain interconnection facilities; and certain implementation terms and conditions.

The three-member Commission may serve as an arbitration panel, or the Commission may appoint a neutral third party to arbitrate any or all issues in dispute, with all costs to be paid by the parties. In its response, U S WEST should identify several proposed arbitrators. Following resolution of the disputed issues by arbitration, the Commission will have 30 days to approve the entire agreement of the parties pursuant to Section 252(e) of the Act.
The arbitration will be limited to consideration of issues for resolution set forth in the Petition and in the response, if any, of U S WEST. The arbitrator may require the parties to provide information necessary to reach a decision on the unresolved issues. If any party refuses or fails unreasonably to respond on a timely basis to any reasonable request for information, then the arbitrator may proceed on the basis of the best information available from whatever source derived.
The Commission encourages the parties to continue their discussion to resolve the remaining issues. If the parties reach an agreement, it must be submitted to the Commission for approval pursuant to Section 252(e).
DATED at Boise, Idaho this day of February 1997.

Myrna J. Walters
Commission Secretary

bls/N:spst971.ws

NOTICE OF PETITION FOR ARBITRATION -1-

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
February 27, 1997