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Home My WebLink About980609.docxWELDON B. STUTZMAN Deputy Attorney General IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION PO Box 83720 Boise, ID 83720-0074 Tele: (208) 334-0318 FAX: (208) 334-3762 Street Address for Express Mail: 472 W. Washington Boise, ID 83702-5983 Attorney for the Commission Staff BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF THE INVESTIGATION INTO U S WEST COMMUNICATIONS INC.’S COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 271 OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) CASE NO. USW-T-97-14 STIPULATION FOR PROCESSING U S WEST’S SECTION 271 FILING Section 271 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 states the requirements U S WEST must meet before it can offer interLATA long distance services in each state of its 14 state region. Section 271 requires U S WEST to file a Petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and satisfy the requirements set forth by the FCC. The Act also requires the FCC to consult with this Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice to verify U S WEST’s compliance with the requirements of Section 271(c) of the Act. The FCC is required to issue a written decision on any Section 271 application within 90 days of its filing. 47 U.S.C. § 271(d)(3). Because of this short time frame, the FCC has restricted the consultation phase for state commissions to just 20 days. In order for the IPUC to provide a meaningful consultation to the FCC, the Commission should conduct its evaluation prior to the filing of the application with the FCC. Accordingly, this Stipulation is entered into by U S WEST, the Commission Staff, and the undersigned parties to provide a procedural schedule to enable the Commission to complete its evaluation prior to U S WEST’s filing of a Section 271 application with the FCC regarding services within the state of Idaho. The parties to this Stipulation agree that U S WEST will initiate a Section 271 proceeding with the IPUC pursuant to the following schedule: (1) Upon issuance of an Order by the Commission approving this Stipulation, all interested parties shall be given an opportunity to provide notice of intent to participate as a party in U S WEST’s Section 271 case in Idaho. Any party intervenor in this case shall be deemed a party intervenor in the Section 271 case upon the filing of U S WEST’s application with this Commission as described in paragraph (3) of this Stipulation. U S WEST further agrees that no later than the seventh day following entry of the Commission’s Order approving this Stipulation it will present to Staff, interested parties and parties to this Stipulation, a protective agreement to be used by the parties for the disclosure of proprietary and confidential information in connection with U S WEST’s Section 271 application in the subsequent docket. (2) No less than five (5) days prior to making the filing described in paragraph (3) of this Stipulation, U S WEST will file a letter with the IPUC stating its intention to initiate a proceeding requesting the Commission to evaluate U S WEST’s compliance with the requirements of the appropriate federal law pertaining to its entry into the interLATA long distance market. Accompanying this letter will be a copy of the protective agreement provided to interested parties pursuant to paragraph (1) of this Stipulation. Filing this letter will enable the Commission to assign a docket number to the Idaho Section 271 proceeding, to provide notice to interested parties of the pendency of the state proceedings in order to facilitate intervention, to provide more convenient access to confidential information through use of the protective agreement and to generally expedite the procedural schedule. (3) No less than 110 days before filing its Section 271 application for Idaho with the FCC, U S WEST will file with the Commission a formal notice of its intent to file a Section 271 application for Idaho with the FCC and all the supporting sworn evidence, exhibits and workpapers on the issues of actual compliance with Section 271(c) within its possession upon which it intends to rely at the FCC. In addition, U S WEST’s filing will disclose its intentions as to separate affiliates, and will provide all evidence within its possession and upon which it intends to rely relating to the public interest, convenience, and necessity of U S WEST’s entry into the interLATA market, including a detailed account of the current status of local service competition in U S WEST’s Idaho service territory. On the same date, U S WEST will serve its entire filing upon all then-known intervenors. Service is to be made upon one designated individual representative for each intervenor on the day the filing is made at the Commission. Service shall include all confidential information included in the filing, unless the designated individual has failed to sign the protective agreement referenced in paragraph (1) of this Stipulation. On the same date, U S WEST will also serve a copy of its filing to a second designated person for each intervenor by placing it in overnight mail for delivery the following day. The parties agree that all subsequent filings described in this Stipulation will be made through in-hand service on the day specified on no more than two designated individuals. (4) Discovery served on U S WEST must be received no later than day 8 following the filing of the application described in paragraph (3) of this Stipulation. The parties agree that they will provide a computer disk formatted in WordPerfect 5.1 or higher(footnote: 1) containing all discovery requests together with a hard copy of same to facilitate the preparation of discovery responses. To further facilitate the discovery process, the parties hereto agree that all discovery responses shall be filed on or before eight calendar days following the date of in-hand service of the discovery requests. Discovery responses will be provided on disk in WordPerfect 5.1 or above or, if appropriate, in a spreadsheet format designated by Staff. However, those documents that are requested for production that do not exist in electronic form, and which cannot reasonably be produced in electronic form, may be produced in hard copy form only. All discovery responses will also be provided in “hard copy” on the specified service date. (5) On or before day 39 after the filing in paragraph (3) of this Stipulation, intervenors will file sworn evidence, exhibits and workpapers related to the question of whether U S WEST should be allowed to provide interLATA service for calls originating in Idaho. Discovery directed to intervenors must be received no later than seven (7) days after the date on which the intervenors filed their evidence. Discovery responses are to be filed as provided in paragraph (4) of this Stipulation. (6) On or before day 64 from the filing described in paragraph (3) of this Stipulation, U S WEST will file reply sworn evidence, exhibits and workpapers. (7) A hearing to allow cross-examination of prefiled testimony will be initiated between day 69 and day 74 after the filing described in paragraph (3) of this Stipulation. To facilitate the hearing process, the parties agree that they will not make oral opening statements. Parties wishing to file written opening statements or prehearing memoranda must file them with the Commission and on all parties no less than three business days prior to the commencement of the hearing. (8) Simultaneous post-hearing briefs of all parties will be filed no later than day 89 after the date of the filing of the application described in paragraph (3) of this Stipulation. (9) On or before day 110 following the filing of U S WEST’s formal notice as described in paragraph (3) of this Stipulation, the parties request that the Commission enter its decision regarding U S WEST’s compliance with the Section 271 requirements for entry into the interLATA long distance market, noting in its decision that it is based upon an evaluation and review of the record presented to it through the proceedings conducted pursuant to the procedures set out in this Stipulation. (10) Within one business day of its filing of a Section 271 Petition for Idaho with the FCC, U S WEST will file with this Commission a complete copy of that filing, including copies of any evidence filed with the FCC that was not included in the Commission’s proceeding. The following chart reflects the schedule set forth in the above paragraphs: DESCRIPTION DUE DATE Letter to Commission, including proprietary agreement 5 days before filing with Commission Filing of Section 271 application with Commission Filing Date — Day 1 Discovery to U S WEST — Day 8 Responses to U S WEST discovery — Day 16 Testimony by Intervenors, Staff — Day 39 Discovery requests to Intervenors — Day 46 Discovery responses by Intervenors — Day 54 U S WEST’s reply testimony — Day 64 Hearing begins — Day 69-74 Post-hearing briefs — Day 89 Commission Decision — Day 110 This Stipulation reflects the best efforts of the undersigned interested parties to form consensus regarding the procedural process for the upcoming Section 271 proceeding for Idaho. As such it represents considerable compromise on the part of all concerned in order to reconcile conflicting interests and concerns. Of critical import to U S WEST in agreeing to a process in the state commission that extends beyond the 90 day period provided for in the NARUC “Best Practices” outline is the provision that the Commission issue a decision no later than the one hundred tenth (110) day following its filing with the Commission. While all parties recognize the Commission cannot be bound by this Stipulation, the Commission’s Order adopting this Stipulation in total will satisfy the undersigned interested parties. In the event that the Commission declines to adopt the Stipulation, or any part of it, all parties reserve the right to individually assert their rights to procedural due process and none shall be bound by the terms agreed herein. bls/N-uswt9714.ws2 DATED at Boise, Idaho this day of June 1998. IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION STAFF By: Weldon B. Stutzman Deputy Attorney General Idaho Public Utilities Commission 472 W. Washington Street Boise, ID 83702 U S WEST COMMUNICATIONS, INC. By: Mary S. Hobson Stoel Rives LLP 101 S. Capitol Blvd., Suite 1900 Boise, ID 83702-9011 and Peter Butler U S WEST Communications, Inc. 1600 7th Avenue, Suite 3206 Seattle, WA 98191 ELECTRIC LIGHTWAVE, INC. By: Peter J. Richardson Davis Wright Tremaine LLP 877 W. Main Street, Suite 604 Boise, ID 83702-5858 MCI TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION By: Dean J. Miller McDevitt & Miller, LLP 537 W. Bannock, Suite 215 PO Box 2564 Boise, ID 83701 CITIZENS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CO OF IDAHO By: Barbara L. Snider Associate General Counsel 7901 Freeport Blvd., Suite 100 Sacramento, CA 95832 SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY L.P. By: Andrew Jones Corporate Counsel 8140 Ward Parkway Kansas City, MO 64114 AT&T COMMUNICATIONS By: Peggy Graham AT&T Communications 1875 Lawrence St., Room 1575 Denver, CO 80202 TOUCH AMERICA, INC. By: Tom McGee 208 N Montana Ave., Ste 208 Capital One Center Helena, MT 59620 GST TELECOM IDAHO, INC. By: Ronald L. Williams 805 W Idaho St, #302 PO Box 2128 Boise, ID 83701-2128 TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESELLERS ASSO. By: Andrew O. Isar 4312 92nd Ave. NW Gig Harbor, WA 98335 FOOTNOTES 1: This format has been selected by the Commission’s court reporter for use in official Commission proceedings.