35297.pdf

ORDER NO. 35297 1

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF THE PUBLIC
UTILITY COMMISSION’S INQUIRY
INTO THE REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS
TO DETERMINE WHETHER
BROADBAND EQUIPMENT MEETS
THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
FOR INVESTMENT TAX CREDITS
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CASE NO. GNR-T-21-10

ORDER NO. 35297

On November 19, 2021, Commission Staff (“Staff”) of the Idaho Public Utilities
Commission (“Commission”) by and through its legal counsel applied to the Commission
requesting that the Commission initiate a case to inquire into the process for obtaining a broadband
tax credit (“Memo”). See Order No. 28784. Staff recommended the Commission establish an
intervention period followed by a public comment and reply period.
On November 30, 2021, the Commission issued a Notice of Application, Notice of
Intervention Deadline and Notice of Modified Procedure. Order No. 35243.
Ziply Fiber Northwest, LLC and Ziply Fiber Idaho, LLC (collectively “Ziply”)
intervened on December 21, 2021. Order No. 35264.
Staff and Ziply filed comments. Ziply filed additional comments in reply to Staff’s
comments.
Having reviewed the record, including the comments of Staff and Ziply, we approve
Staff’s proposed changes to the necessary criteria for obtaining a broadband tax credit.
BACKGROUND
Beginning in 2001, a taxpayer could obtain a tax credit for installing “qualified”
broadband equipment pursuant to Idaho Code § 63-3029I. Idaho Code § 63-3029I(4) specifically
provides that the Commission “may issue procedural orders necessary to implement” Idaho Code
§ 63-3029I. Procedural Order No. 28784, issued in 2001, clarified what information a taxpayer
must include when applying to the Commission for an order that its installed equipment meets the
statutory definition of “qualified broadband equipment” and is, therefore, eligible for the
broadband tax credit under Idaho Code § 63-3029. Order No. 28784 at 2-3. Specifically, to obtain
an order that installed equipment is qualified broadband equipment under the current criteria, a
taxpayer must provide the information set forth in the following paragraphs.
Office of the Secretary
Service Date
January 21, 2022
ORDER NO. 35297 2

1. The name and address of applicant including the contact person in the event
there are questions regarding the application and its content. An indication whether
the applicant is a telecommunications carrier, a commercial mobile service carrier,
a cable or open video operator, a satellite carrier, or other type of wireless carrier.

2. The area or location where the equipment is installed in Idaho.

3. A description of the type of broadband service(s) offered to the public in Idaho.

4. The network transmission rate in bits per second at which subscribers to the
relevant broadband network can receive and send (download and upload).

5. A specific list of the equipment or types of equipment that the applicant is
requesting that the Commission determine is “qualified broadband equipment” as
defined in Idaho Code § 63-3029I(3)(b) including the brand, manufacturer, model
numbers, or other distinguishing features of the installed equipment.

6. The date(s) or time period(s) when the broadband equipment was installed in
Idaho.

7. A written description (including basic schematics or general drawings) of the
relevant broadband network including a description of how the installed equipment
is “an integral part” of a broadband network.

8. A quantification of the percentage and number of potential Idaho subscribers
that could be served with the broadband equipment and the percentage and number
of non-Idaho subscribers that will be/could be served by the broadband network.

9. A statement certifying that the applicant has read the applicable statutes for
broadband investment income tax credit and the applicant believes that the subject
broadband equipment qualifies for the tax credit under Idaho Code § 63-3029I.

Order No. 28784, Case No. GNR-T-01-10. Staff recommended that the Commission initiate a case
so that it could examine the necessity and relevance the above information has today and to ensure
continued compliance with Order No. 28784.
STAFF COMMENTS
After a careful review of paragraphs one through nine set forth above, Staff concluded
that paragraphs one through three, six, and nine should remain unchanged; that paragraph seven
should be deleted; and paragraphs four, five and eight should be rewritten. Staff Comments at 3.
Staff also recommended that the Commission reiterate the importance of providing a specific list
of the information required under paragraph five. Id. at 4.
ORDER NO. 35297 3

Staff believed it beneficial to update paragraph four to require telecom companies to
indicate the lowest speed they offer to customers, and that such speed should be above 200,000
bits per second to a subscriber and 125,000 bits per second from a subscriber, as required by statute.
Id. at 3. Staff stated that requiring companies to report the lowest transmission rate they offer
customers would also serve to better illuminate the nature and extent of broadband services
available within Idaho. Id.
Staff recommended expanding paragraph five to clarify that number of items and total
cost is required. Staff expressed its concern with taxpayers’ frequent practice of providing a “data
dump” of information to satisfy the requirements of paragraph five. Id. Staff expressed the need
for a detailed description of the proposed broadband equipment to properly vet a telecom
company’s investment. Thus, Staff urged the Commission to reiterate the importance of providing
all the information in paragraph five and the expectation that detailed information was necessary
for any application to be approved. Id. at 4. Specifically, Staff stated that to satisfy the requirements
of paragraph five, it expected a taxpayer to provide a spreadsheet listing the brand or name of the
product, the manufacturer, and the model numbers of the installed equipment, number of items,
and the total cost. Id.
Staff recommended fully eliminating paragraph seven. Id. Staff pointed out that, when
telecom companies first started applying for the tax credit, Staff was not as familiar with the
different equipment and network setups required to provide broadband service. Staff stated that
this type of information is more readily available now and that most companies have stopped
providing it without any deleterious effects. Id. at 3.
Finally, Staff recommended changing the conjunctive ‘and’ to the disjunctive ‘or’ in
paragraph eight. Staff based on this recommendation on that fact that telecom companies generally
only provide either a percentage or customer count but not both.
Staff attached a clean copy of its proposed changes to the list of information required
in applications seeking an order for installed broadband equipment to its comments.1 See
Attachment A to Staff’s Comments.

1 This attachment is also attached to this Order.
ORDER NO. 35297 4

ZIPLY INITIAL AND REPLY COMMENTS
Ziply initially commented that the language in paragraph four asking applicants to state
the “network transmission rate in bits per second at which subscribers to the relevant broadband
network can receive and send . . . .” should be modified to reflect a megabits per second rate to
acknowledge the technological advancements since 2001. Ziply Comments at 1-2 (emphasis
added.)
Ziply then replied that it concurred with the entirety of Staff’s recommendations except
Staff’s recommendation for paragraph five. Specifically, Ziply stated that requiring an applicant
to report all “the listed items [in paragraph five] would force a carrier to publicly reveal
competitively sensitive and trade secret information that could be useful to a competitor planning
to deploy and/or market its network in the same or adjacent geography in Idaho.” Id. at 2. Ziply
urged “the Commission to find that, taken as a whole, the list required by rewritten [paragraph] 5
constituted confidential information and should be available only to Staff, and where appropriate,
admitted parties in any future docket (or other proceeding) who sign a standard protective order.”
Id.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The Commission is empowered to issue orders confirming that installed equipment is
qualified broadband equipment pursuant to the statutory provisions of Idaho Code § 63-
3029I(3)(b)(i)-(vi) and is vested with the authority to issue procedural orders necessary to
implement those statutory provisions. See Idaho Code § 63-3029I(4).
Based on our review of the record, we find Staff’s recommended modifications to the
requirements set forth in Order No. 28784 to be just and reasonable. We have considered Staff’s
concern that taxpayers have failed to provide all the required information in paragraph five. We
direct taxpayers applying for the broadband tax credit to include a list of all equipment they seek
to have approved as “qualified broadband equipment” consistent with paragraph five.
We acknowledge Ziply’s concern that paragraph five may require sensitive
information. Trade secrets or other confidential information required to be disclosed per paragraph
five shall be filed and processed pursuant to the procedures outlined in Rule 67, IDAPA
31.01.01.067.
This Order is intended modify the information—initially set forth in Order No. 28784—a
taxpayer is required to provide to the Commission to receive the broadband tax credit.
ORDER NO. 35297 5

O R D E R
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that taxpayers applying for Commission determination of
whether installed broadband equipment is eligible for the Idaho state tax credit must include the
information set out in Attachment A to this Order.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this Order shall update Order No. 28784.
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 §§ 61-626 and 62-619.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this 21st day
of January 2022.

ERIC ANDERSON, COMMISSONER

KRISTINE RAPER, COMMISSIONER

JOHN CHATBURN, COMMISSIONER

ATTEST:

Jan Noriyuki
Commission Secretary

I:\Legal\TELECOM\GNR-T-21-10\orders\GNRT2110_final_rn.docx
ORDER NO. 35297 6

ATTACHMENT A

1. Name and address of applicant including the contact person in the event there are
questions regarding the application and its content. Indicate whether the applicant is a
telecommunications carrier, a commercial mobile service carrier, a cable or open video
operator, a satellite carrier, or other type of wireless carrier.

2. Identify the area or location where the equipment is installed in Idaho.

3. Describe the type of broadband service(s) offered to the public in Idaho.

4. Provide the lowest transmission rate offered to customers, in bits per second, that
subscribers to the relevant broadband network can receive and send (download and
upload).

5. Provide a specific list of the equipment or types of equipment that the applicant is
requesting that the Commission determine is “qualified broadband equipment” as defined
in Idaho Code § 63-3029I(3)(b). List the brand, manufacturer, model numbers, of the
installed equipment, number of items, and total cost.

6. Provide the date(s) or time period(s) when the broadband equipment was installed in
Idaho.

7. Quantify the percentage or number of potential Idaho subscribers that could be served
with the broadband equipment and the percentage or number of non-Idaho subscribers that
will be/could be served by the broadband network.

8. Enclose a statement certifying that the applicant has read the applicable statutes for
broadband investment income tax credit and the applicant believes that the subject
broadband equipment qualifies for the tax credit under Idaho Code § 63-3029I.

ATTACHMENT A
Case No. GNR-T-21-10
Order No. 35297