20030723_557.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
COMMISSIONER SMITH
CO MMISSI 0 NER HANSEN
COMMISSION SECRETARY
COMMISSION STAFF
LEGAL
WORKING FILE
FROM:WAYNE HART
DATE:JULY 21, 2003
RE:FORMAL INVESTIGATION OF QWEST'S DENIAL OF SERVICE
RESPONSE TO CAYLOR COMPLAINT
BACKGROUND
On July 2, 2003, Shoshone resident Tracy Caylor filed an informal complaint with the
Consumer Staff regarding the difficulty she was experiencing with Qwest in establishing
telephone service at her location.
Caylor put a manufactured home on a lot in a new subdivision located north of Shoshone.
The subdivision has 16 lots, with two ofthe lots currently occupied. Qwest indicates the
development is located in a rural area surrounded by small farms. Qwest has facilities in the
general area, but they were designed for the rural nature of the area and are now at capacity.
Qwest provided the developer of the subdivision a Provisioning Agreement for Housing
Developments (P AHD) with a quote of $15 700 for providing facilities to the proposed
development. The developer, Mark Dotson, has apparently decided not to enter into the P AHD.
As a result, Qwest refuses to provide service to the Caylor property absent a P AHD agreement.
STAFF ANALYSIS
Qwest maintains that the P AHD requirement when it provisions facilities to the
development is consistent with the tariff. Qwest also maintains that including the costs of
upgrading existing facilities needed to serve the development in the P AHD is also consistent
with existing tariffs. Staff believes the tarifflanguage regarding applications from an individual
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 1 -JULY 21 2003
customer is applicable in this situation, and that the language regarding P AHD' s is no longer
relevant. The Company and Staff agree that the tariff language regarding an individual applicant
would result in the Company providing service to the applicant with no contribution from the
applicant towards the cost of upgrading the existing facilities.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Commission open a formal case to further investigate the specific
circumstances in this case.
COMMISSION DECISION
Does the Commission wish to open a formal case to investigate the Caylor complaint?
dmemos/qwest caylor complaint wh
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 2 -JULY 21 2003