20041202Final Order No 29650.pdf

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
December 2, 2004
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE JOINT
APPLICATION OF VERIZON NORTHWEST
INC. AND AMERICAN FIBER NETWORK,
INC. FOR APPROVAL OF AN
INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENT
PURSUANT TO 47 U.C. ~252(e)
CASE NO. VZN-04-
ORDER NO. 29650
In this case the Commission is asked to approve an amendment to an existing
interconnection agreement.
BACKGROUND
Under the prOVISIons of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996
interconnection agreements must be submitted to the Commission for approval. 47 U.C. 9
252(e)(I). 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. 9252(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 J." 47 C.F .R. 9 51.3.
THE CURRENT APPLICATION
On October 28, 2004, Verizon Northwest Inc. (Verizon) and American Fiber
Network (AFN) filed Amendment No.1 to an existing agreement between Verizon and AFN.
The original agreement was set forth in a letter dated June 23 , 2000, wherein AFN adopted the
interconnection agreement between New Edge Network, Inc. and Verizon. Staff discovered that
the Adoption letter and agreement had never been assigned a case number, nor had a final Order
ORDER NO. 29650
been issued. Staff contacted the Company and requested copies of the adoption documents to
complete the record, which the Company provided.
The current filing is an amendment to make changes to the interconnection
agreement based on the Triennial Review Order (TRO) issued by the FCC. Some of the TRO
elements that are being amended with this filing include: Dedicated Transport; Enterprise
Switching; Entrance Facilities; Local Switching; Line Sharing; Mass Market; and other federally
mandated TRO elements.
ST AFF RECOMMENDATION
The Staff has reviewed the Application and did not find any terms or conditions to be
discriminatory or contrary to the public interest. Staff believes that this Agreement is consistent
with the pro-competitive policies of this Commission, the Idaho Legislature, and the Federal
Telecommunications Act of 1996. Accordingly, Staff believes that this Agreement 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. 9252(e)(l). 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
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 the
agreement should be approved. However, approval of this agreement does not negate the
responsibility of either of the parties to these agreements to obtain a Certificate of Public
Convenience and Necessity if they are offering local exchange services or to comply with Idaho
Code 99 62-604 and 62-606 if they are providing other non-basic local telecommunications
services as defined by Idaho Code 9 62-603.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the amended interconnection agreement of Verizon
Northwest Inc. and American Fiber Network, Inc., Case No. VZN-04-, is approved.
ORDER NO. 29650
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order (or in issues finally
decided by this Order) may petition for reconsideration within twenty-one (21) days of the
service date of this Order. Within seven (7) days after any person has petitioned for
reconsideration, any other person may cross-petition for reconsideration. See Idaho Code 99 61-
626 and 62-619.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this /.$1-
day of December 2004.
Out of the Offic~ on thi ~ n~te
MARSHA H. SMITH, COMMISSIONER
, COMMISSIONER
ATTEST:
Je D. Jewell
Commission Secretary
O:VZNT0411 dw
ORDER NO. 29650