ID PSC Cusick Letter 8-1-16.pdf

@att.com
Director- ID, MT, UT

August 1, 2016

Idaho Public Utilities Commission
c/o Joe Cusick
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0074

VIA EMAIL AND FIRST CLASS MAIL

Dear Mr. Cusick,

AT&T appreciates this opportunity to provide information as a follow-up to the meeting you
convened with industry on July 12, 2016 regarding the regulation of Internet Protocol (“IP”) or
Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) services.

AT&T strongly believes that Idaho’s current practice of not regulating IP or VoIP should be
codified into state law. Doing so will create a stable regulatory environment that encourages
network investment and will benefit the citizens of Idaho. Although the Commission to date
has not regulated IP/VoIP service, codifying this current practice in state statute will create
economic certainty and incent companies to invest, innovate and grow without the threat of
unnecessary regulations.

Thirty-four states plus Washington DC have adopted legislation to exempt IP and/or VoIP
service from legacy telephone regulations and promote the development of these advanced
services. This means that the majority of states have taken steps to prevent state regulation of
VoIP communication. We encourage Idaho to do the same.

AT&T supports the Legislature’s request to limit the review to the question of the regulation for
VoIP and IP-Enabled services and not attempt to undertake a comprehensive review that would
lead to a broad sweeping rewrite of Idaho’s code. In the past two legislative sessions, it is these
other issues that have prevented the legislation from passing. AT&T believes that the
legislation proposed in 2015 is consistent with the Legislature’s request as it addresses
regulation of VoIP/IP without getting into a sweeping rewrite of Idaho’s code. A copy of that
legislation is attached to this letter.

As mentioned above, there have been several extraneous telecom issues that have been
layered onto this narrow issue of VoIP/IP exemption. In AT&T’s previous negotiations on this
matter, we have addressed matters such as video franchise agreements, universal service fund
issues, etc. all in attempts to appease various parties looking to either maintain the status quo
or address fee structures related to VoIP.

While these issues are all important, this working group has not been charged by the legislature
with addressing them, only addressing how this issue can impact these statutes. We again
encourage this group to maintain a narrow focus on whether to codify in statute the current
practice of exempting IP and VoIP services from state regulation.

We look forward to participating in the Commission’s review of potential VoIP/IP exemption
and recommendations and are available to answer any questions.

Sincerely,

Tara Thue
AT&T Regional Director for Idaho, Utah and Montana

Enclosures: 1