27738.docx

(text box: 1)BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF AT&T COMMUNICA­TIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN STATES, INC.  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.  
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CASE NO.   USW-T-96-15
ATT-T-96-2
ORDER NO.  27738
On August 17, 1998, U S WEST Communications and AT&T Communications of the Mountain States, Inc. submitted an interconnection agreement for approval by the Commission.  The agreement was executed following a lengthy arbitration proceeding before the Commission, and was submitted for approval pursuant to Section 252(e) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  See 47 U.S.C. § 252(e)(1).  On August 27, 1998, the Commission issued a Notice of Interconnection Agreement and Notice of Modified Procedure to process approval of the agreement.  The Notice of Modified Procedure provided for a fourteen-day comment period, which expired on September 10, 1998.  No comments were filed during the comment period.
Section 252(e) provides that a state commission may reject an arbitrated agreement only if it does not meet the requirements of Section 251 (terms for resale, access to unbundled elements, collocation, etc.) or the pricing standards set forth in Section 252(d).  We find that the agreement meets the requirements of Section 251 and the standards in Section 252(d), and therefore should be approved.
O R D E R
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the interconnection agreement filed August 17, 1998, between U S WEST and AT&T is approved.
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER approving an interconnection agreement arrived at through an arbitration proceeding.  Any party aggrieved by the Commission’s approval of the agreement may bring an action in an appropriate federal district court to determine whether the agreement meets the requirements of 47 U.S.C. § 251 and § 252.  In the event an action is filed in federal district court, either party may request a stay of the effect of this Order pursuant to Commission Rule of Procedure  324.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this                  day of September 1998.
                                                                                                                                      DENNIS S. HANSEN, PRESIDENT
                                                                                           RALPH NELSON, COMMISSIONER

MARSHA H. SMITH, COMMISSIONER
ATTEST:

Myrna J. Walters
Commission Secretary
vld/O:USW-T-96-15.ws6
COMMENTS AND ANNOTATIONS
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Service Date
September 17, 1998