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PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
March 17, 1997; 3:00 P.M.
State Capitol Building, Room LCR-1
Pierre, South Dakota
MINUTES OF THE AD HOC COMMISSION MEETING
Chairman Burg called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. Present were Commissioner Pam Nelson, Commissioner Laska Schoenfelder, Executive Director Bill Bullard, General Counsel Rolayne Ailts Wiest, Staff Attorneys Karen Cremer and Camron Hoseck, Fixed Utilities Division Director Greg Rislov, Telecommunications Analyst Harlan Best, Utility Analyst Bob Knadle, Engineer Martin Bettmann, Business Manager Sue Cichos, Consumer Representative Leni Hook, Paralegal Intern Richard Keyes and Administrative Secretary Shirleen Fugitt.
Also present were John Lovald, AT&T; Jon Lehner, U S WEST; and Rich Coit, SDITC.
Joining the meeting by phone were Loren Hiatt and Richard Wolters, AT&T; Mary Lohnes and Tom Simmons, Midco Communications; Larry Toll and Bill Heaston, U S WEST; and Robert Marmet, DCT.
Telecommunications
1. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following 23-part Motion pertaining to terms and conditions:
First, that an initial term of five years for the Agreement is reasonable for an Agreement of this length and complexity. Additionally, the parties should agree to the following concepts of mutual responsibility: (1) provide sixty days notice to the other party for termination; (2) termination for breach with thirty days to cure the breach if the cause is non payment; (3) termination for breach if the cause is failure to perform and the breach affects the non-breaching party's subscribers, with ten days to cure the breach; (4) optional termination of Agreement or any of its parts for other breach due to failure to perform if not cured within forty-five days.
Second, that payments of amounts due U S WEST from AT&T shall be made within thirty days of receiving U S WEST's invoice provided a late charge, not to exceed an annual 12% rate, is applied to past due amounts.
Third, that AT&T may audit records of U S WEST up to four times per year to ensure accuracy of U S WEST billings and invoices and for purposes of evaluating compliance with the Agreement. It is reasonable to expect that such work may be done by auditors under contract with AT&T; that U S WEST will promptly correct billing errors; that US WEST will cooperate in providing access to employees, facilities, books and records; that the frequency of audits may be accelerated if variances are over one percent of amounts payable by AT&T during the audit period; that audits are at AT&T's expense unless amounts in variance in the audit are over one percent of the aggregate charges payable to U S WEST during the audit period; that AT&T bear the cost of special data extractions it requests; that overpayments by AT&T to U S WEST are to be reimbursed; and that this provision shall survive the term of the Agreement by two years.
Fourth, that indemnification as proposed by the parties has merit and the indemnifying party should have sole authority to defend an action with counsel of its choosing.
Fifth, that the liability of AT&T should not exceed amounts due from AT&T to U S WEST during a contract year; that U S WEST's liability shall not exceed amounts due and owing AT&T plus amounts owed to U S WEST during a contract year; that there is no liability for either party for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages; and that the limitations do not apply to willful or intentional conduct. Parties shall be liable for lost profits.
Sixth, that U S WEST shall perform its obligations under the Agreement at no less a level than the highest level which U S WEST uses for its own operations or those of its affiliates. U S WEST shall warrant that it shall perform under this standard, in a competitively neutral fashion at technically feasible points, for all rights, products and services AT&T purchases from U S WEST pursuant to this Agreement.
Seventh, that remedies in the Agreement shall be cumulative and not exclusive. In those remedies, the parties shall provide that the failure of U S WEST to switch a subscriber shall be deemed an illegal change in subscriber change selection which merits the reimbursement by U S WEST to AT&T for charges paid by the subscriber during the time that the subscriber remains a U S WEST customer.
Eighth, that informal dispute resolution under the standards of the American Arbitration Association shall be followed. An arbitrator shall not have authority to award punitive damages. Arbitrator fees shall be paid by the losing party and, at the determination of the arbitrator, if neither party has completely won or lost at arbitration, then the arbitrator shall apportion the costs. The laws of South Dakota shall govern the Agreement and the arbitration process.
Ninth, that information transmitted from one party to the other party under the Agreement shall automatically be considered proprietary. Copies of proprietary information may be made by either party but it shall bear copyright or proprietary notices; proprietary status shall continue for a period of five years from the time of receipt of the proprietary information. Exclusions to the obligations of this provision as delineated in AT&T's proposed agreement, Section 12.4, shall be followed.
Tenth, that consistent with the federal Act, if U S WEST enters into an agreement with a party other than AT&T during the course of this Agreement which contains terms and conditions different from those available under this Agreement, AT&T may substitute terms and conditions of that agreement for terms and conditions contained in this Agreement.
Eleventh, that each party shall have an obligation to provide any customer's payment history to the other party upon request.
Twelfth, that nothing in the Agreement creates a license for a patent, trademark, or logo except that a limited license is created to use patents and copyrights necessary for the parties to use any facilities or equipment or to receive any service solely under this Agreement. Neither party shall have a right, unless otherwise agreed, to use the other party's logo, trademark, service mark, name, language, pictures or symbols or words from which the other party's name may be inferred or implied in any product, service, advertisement, promotion, or any other publicity matter. Neither party shall be obligated to defend or save harmless the other party based on a claim, demand, or proceeding by any third party for patent, trademark, or copyright infringement claims.
Thirteenth, that the Agreement shall contain a force majeure provision.
Fourteenth, that no waiver of any provision of the Agreement or consent to default under the Agreement shall be effective unless it is in writing.
Fifteenth, that the laws of the state of South Dakota shall govern this Agreement and U S WEST shall be responsible for maintaining such regulatory approvals as are necessary for it to perform under this Agreement. AT&T shall have a similar obligation with regard to approvals necessary for it to perform under this Agreement. Each party shall have an obligation to cooperate with the other in obtaining and maintaining necessary regulatory approvals.
Sixteenth, that the Agreement shall not be intended to confer any rights on third party beneficiaries.
Seventeenth, that neither party may assign the Agreement without the prior written consent of the other party. U S WEST may assign the Agreement to one of its affiliates which is wholly owned by U S WEST. U S WEST shall not subcontract for the performance of the Agreement or any part thereof without prior written consent of AT&T. In the event such subcontracting occurs, U S WEST shall retain full responsibility for performance under the Agreement.
Eighteenth, that the Agreement shall contain a severability provision which allows the Agreement to function in the event parts of it are found to be invalid or unenforceable. In the event part of the Agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the parties shall negotiate replacement language.
Nineteenth, that the Agreement shall contain a provision for notices and who within each party's organization shall be notified of specific contractual events. Parties may change their designated representative by giving seven days' written notice to the other party. Notices are to be deemed effective when received.
Twentieth, that the Agreement shall be binding on and to the benefit of all successors and permitted assigns.
Twenty-first, that AT&T shall be responsible to have a letter of authorization from an end user for handling disconnection of end user's service with U S WEST, for the providing of service by AT&T, and the providing of ancillary services. AT&T shall be responsible for providing written evidence of its authority to U S WEST.
Twenty-second, that reciprocal services which U S WEST may wish to purchase from AT&T are not germane to nor the proper subject matter of this Agreement for interconnection.
Twenty-third, that the Agreement is jointly produced by AT&T and U S WEST and that it shall not be deemed to be drafted by any one party thus dispelling with any presumptions or inferences which may be drawn against either party on the basis of who drafted the document.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
2. Commissioner Nelson made the following four-part Motion pertaining to Points of Interconnection:
First, that AT&T may select for itself those points in U S WEST's network to which it wishes to interconnect. U S WEST may not require AT&T to have one point of interconnection for exchange of local traffic to be within the local calling area.
Second, if an interconnection point requested by AT&T is found to be technically feasible through a bona fide request process, AT&T shall not be required to request substantially similar interconnection through the bona fide request process.
Third, that if the meet point arrangement is requested for purposes of interconnection pursuant to 47 U. S. C. ' 251(c)(2), each party shall pay its portion of the cost to build out the facilities to the meet point. However, if the meet point arrangement is for access to network elements pursuant to 47 U. S. C. ' 251(c)(3), then AT&T shall pay all of the economic costs of the meet point arrangement.
Fourth, that U S WEST's request for a specific distance limitation for meet points for interconnection be rejected. However, U S WEST may contest a particular meet point request by showing that the distance to AT&T's meet point is unreasonable.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
3. Commissioner Schoenfelder moved that U S WEST may require separate trunks for toll and local traffic due to the different rate structures.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
4. Commissioner Nelson made the following three-part Motion pertaining to Collocation of Equipment:
First, that AT&T is not required to go through a bona fide request process to collocate equipment in locations other than end offices or tandem offices. U S WEST may restrict collocation only if it can show that a particular location is not technically feasible.
Second, that the collocation of remote switching units (RSUs) is both used and useful for interconnection and for access to unbundled network elements. AT&T will be allowed to collocate RSUs on U S WEST premises.
Third, that subject to U S WEST's approval, AT&T may select its own vendors for the installation and engineering of both virtual and physical collocated equipment. If U S WEST objects to the vendor, it will have the burden of proof to show why the vendor is unacceptable.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
5. Commissioner Schoenfelder moved that U S WEST's proposed prices for collocation be approved with the following adjustments: Because U S WEST's entrance facility nonrecurring charge of over $3,000.00 and its quote preparation nonrecurring charge of over $2,000.00 may pose a barrier to entry, U S WEST shall charge $1,000.00 as a nonrecurring charge for each of these services and may recover the remainder of the charges in its recurring charge over a two-year period.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
6. Commissioner Nelson moved that U S WEST's proposal for provisioning and pricing of the expanded interconnection channel termination (EICT) be rejected on the basis that U S WEST has not shown that it is appropriate or necessary.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
7. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following two-part Motion pertaining to the Extent of Unbundling:
First, that AT&T does not need to go through the bona fide request process if it has already requested and has been granted access to a particular subloop element. It is up to U S WEST to show that the provision of the subloop element is substantially different from the previous provisioning. AT&T shall pay for the cost of redesigning and reconfiguring the loop facilities in the requested location to allow for such access to subloop elements.
Second, that dark fiber does not meet the definition of a network element because it is not used in the provision of telecommunications service. However, U S WEST may not refuse a request by AT&T for fiber based on lack of lit fiber if it has dark fiber that it can make functional in order to meet the capacity request. U S WEST will not be required to light its dark fiber if it needs to retain the dark fiber to accommodate its customers in the future. The burden is on U S WEST to show that the dark fiber is needed for its own customers.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
8. Commissioner Nelson made the following two-part Motion pertaining to Vertical Features:
First, that U S WEST shall make vertical features available only as retail services to be purchased through the resale provisions of the federal Act.
Second, that the unbundled local switching element shall contain all vertical features that the switch is capable of providing.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
9. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following two-part Motion pertaining to Combining Unbundled Elements:
First, that U S WEST must combine unbundled elements in any manner requested, unless it can prove to this Commission that a request to combine particular elements in a particular manner is not technically feasible, or that the request would undermine the ability of other carriers to access unbundled elements and interconnect.
Second, no rebundling charge shall apply to AT&T when it purchases the equivalent of basic exchange service solely through the purchase of unbundled elements as U S WEST has failed to show that its rebundling charge is justified on the basis of cost as required by the federal Act.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
10. Commissioner Nelson moved that this Commission not geographically deaverage prices for network elements in this proceeding and that unbundled network element prices should not be deaveraged unless retail rates are deaveraged.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
11. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following eighteen-part Motion pertaining to the model this Commission should use in determining Prices for Unbundled Network Elements:
First, that the Hatfield Model's assumptions on structure sharing are erroneous. AT&T's assumption that U S WEST will pay only 33% of aerial placement costs, buried placement costs, and underground placement costs is unreasonable.
Second, that AT&T's Hatfield Model over counts the number of lines by incorrectly counting digital special access lines on a per channel basis. U S WEST's proposal to count each DS-1 and DS-3 as one line shall be adopted.
Third, that AT&T's Hatfield Model underestimates the drop investment per line.
Fourth, that the Hatfield Model understates the required distribution cable.
Fifth, that the record is unclear as to whether additional costs of unbundling are included in the Hatfield Model.
Sixth, that AT&T's reduction of the estimated non-plant specific operating and maintenance expenses by 30% is unreasonable.
Seventh, that although the Hatfield Model contains over 400 default inputs for state specific circumstances, AT&T changed only 15 of these inputs which all related to depreciation lives.
Eighth, that AT&T's reduction of U S WEST's corporate overhead from 21% to 10% is unreasonable.
Ninth, that the Hatfield Model calculates the installation expense factors based on the historical cost of materials and placement but does not properly apply these expense factors fully to the investment in materials.
Tenth, that AT&T improperly used the FCC's depreciation lives rather than the Commission approved depreciation lives which was approved in Docket TC94-121 and which more accurately reflect South Dakota circumstances on a forward looking basis.
Eleventh, that based on the current flaws in the Hatfield Model as presented by AT&T, the Commission shall reject the use of the Hatfield model in determining the prices for unbundled network elements.
Twelfth, that because the Hatfield Model and U S WEST's RLCAP were the only models presented to the Commission, it must choose one or the other of these models. Based on the specified flaws in the Hatfield Model, the Commission will rely on RLCAP in this docket.
Thirteenth, that the Commission may open a docket to evaluate whether it shall set prices based on a different model or on improved versions of the models presented in this case.
Fourteenth, that although the Commission shall base the price for the unbundled local loop on U S WEST's RLCAP Model, U S WEST shall make modifications to the model's inputs.
Fifteenth, that the Commission will modify U S WEST's network operations factors which reduces U S WEST's network operations expenses by 10%.
Sixteenth, that U S WEST shall reduce its corporate overhead by 10% which would reduce it to 18.9%.
Seventeenth, that U S WEST's equity ratio shall be its actual ratio on the date of this Order or 60% whichever is lower and that the cost of equity will be 11.9%.
Eighteenth, that loop conditioning costs shall be based on what U S WEST currently charges to condition loops to provide ISDN which is $58.50.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
12. Commissioner Nelson made the following five-part Motion pertaining to the Pricing of Unbundled Switching:
First, that U S WEST's requested recovery of $101.15 for nonrecurring charges for the first end office port and a nonrecurring charge of $54.43 for each additional port be approved.
Second, that U S WEST's proposal to recover its alleged depreciation reserve deficiency be rejected.
Third, that U S WEST's proposed recurring charges of $1.84 fixed per month and a per minute usage of $.003334 per minute of use be approved.
Fourth, that U S WEST's request to recover an additional recurring charge for the inclusion of custom calling, CLASS features, and Centrex features in the provisioning of the unbundled switch is denied.
Fifth, that U S WEST shall not charge for custom routing on an individual case basis.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
13. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following two-part Motion pertaining to Prices for Dedicated Transport:
First, that U S WEST's proposed mileage based rates for dedicated transport on DS-1 and DS-3 lines be approved.
Second, that U S WEST shall offer dedicated transport per a DSO line at the same rate it charges for signalling links.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
14. Commissioner Nelson made the following two-part Motion pertaining to the Pricing for Tandem Switching:
First, that since direct transport, common transport and tandem switching are all unbundled network elements, U S WEST cannot refuse to provide direct transport for tandem switching.
Second, that U S WEST's proposed rate less its depreciation reserve deficiency be adopted as the tandem switching rate.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
15. Commissioner Schoenfelder moved that U S WEST's proposed per minute fixed rate and per minute per mile charge with mileage bands for common transport be adopted.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
16. Commissioner Nelson made the following two-part Motion pertaining to the Pricing of Common Channel Signalling:
First, that rates for signalling and data base services shall be usage sensitive which more accurately reflects the underlying costs of the service.
Second, U S WEST's multiplexing rate shall be adopted as U S WEST will need multiplexers to convert from analog to digital or vice versa.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
17. Commissioner Schoenfelder moved that U S WEST's proposed monthly price of $28.28 for ISDN loop extension for the provisioning of ISDN capability on an unbundled loop that is greater than 18,000 feet in distance be adopted.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
18. Commissioner Nelson made the following eight-part Motion pertaining to Services to be Made Available:
First, that it is reasonable and nondiscriminatory for U S WEST to prohibit AT&T from offering services that U S WEST makes available only to residential customers or to a limited class of residential customers from offering those services to classes of customers that are not eligible to subscribe to such services from U S WEST.
Second, that enhanced services are not telecommunications services as defined in the federal Act and, therefore, U S WEST is not required to make enhanced services available for resale.
Third, that U S WEST shall be required to provide Lifeline and Link-Up services for resale, however, these services may not be offered to end users not eligible to subscribe to such service offerings.
Fourth, that U S WEST's wholesale services such as special access services are not required to be offered for resale at a discount.
Fifth, that U S WEST must comply with the 90 day time-frame for its promotions.
Sixth, that even if a retail service of U S WEST is offered below cost it must still be offered for resale at a wholesale discount.
Seventh, that U S WEST has not shown that any specific discounted service should be excluded from the wholesale obligations of the federal Act and, therefore, its volume discounts are subject to the wholesale discount.
Eighth, that resale restrictions beyond promotional and residential restrictions have not been shown to be reasonable and nondiscriminatory and, therefore, U S WEST shall not be allowed to restrict resale services only for its intended or disclosed use, under the same terms and conditions applicable to U S WEST's end users, or only to the same class of customers that are eligible to purchase the service from U S WEST.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
19. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following three-part Motion pertaining to Branding:
First, that with respect to branding requirements for repair and maintenance, U S WEST's personnel shall identify themselves as representing AT&T when they make a service call on behalf of AT&T.
Second, that U S WEST's personnel shall not be required to leave AT&T informational material at the customer's premise, however, given that U S WEST may have numerous competitors requesting the same treatment, the parties are encouraged to agree to some form of neutral information that can be used by all competing LECs.
Third, that AT&T's request to review and approve the training of U S WEST personnel is rejected as it is an unnecessary intrusion into U S WEST's business.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
20. Commissioner Nelson moved that U S WEST is not entitled to impose a deposit requirement on AT&T based on AT&T's credit history. However, in the event that U S WEST can prove that a particular carrier poses a risk of default on its obligation, a deposit may not be unreasonable.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
21. Commissioner Schoenfelder moved that AT&T shall only pay those nonrecurring charges of construction that U S WEST charges to an end user.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
22. Commissioner Nelson moved that a reasonable charge for a customer transfer is a nonrecurring charge of $5.00.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
23. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following nine-part Motion pertaining to the Wholesale Discount Rate:
First, that AT&T's simplified avoided cost study be rejected on the basis that it does not properly match revenues and cost elements in its discount calculation; it unreasonably assumes the elimination of all product management expenses; it unreasonably assumes all marketing and billing expenses would be avoided; it fails to incorporate property tax expense, interarea rent, equal access depreciation, and other operating expenses; and, it did not include any return on U S WEST's investment.
Second, that U S WEST's TELRIC cost study be rejected on the basis that it would only be appropriate if U S WEST's current retail rates were established using the TELRIC methodology. In South Dakota, the Commission sets U S WEST's retail rates using an embedded cost methodology.
Third, that the Commission shall rely upon U S WEST's embedded cost study, with Commission adjustments, as a basis for determining avoided costs.
Fourth, that U S WEST should have included the costs and revenues associated with E911, semi-public pay phone, PAL pay phone, Centrex and nonrecurring charges. If AT&T does not provide its own billing and collection, operator services, and directory assistance, those costs and revenues should also be included in the calculation of avoided costs.
Fifth, that U S WEST will avoid 100% of its costs with respect to uncollectibles.
Sixth, that the avoided cost discount shall be applied on an aggregate basis to all resold services and that U S WEST's request for aggregated discounts for specific areas be rejected.
Seventh, that the wholesale discount rate be set at 15.55% which includes billing and collection, operator services, and directory assistance.
Eighth, that if AT&T provides its own operator services and directory assistance, the discount shall be reduced by 2.68 percentage points.
Ninth, that if AT&T performed its own billing and collection, the discount shall be reduced by .06 percentage points.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
24. Commissioner Nelson moved that U S WEST's web page interface proposal does not comply with the federal Act or the FCC Order and that U S WEST be ordered to take the necessary steps to create electronic interfaces that will provide AT&T with ordering processes that are equal to the ordering processes U S WEST has available to itself.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
25. Commissioner Schoenfelder moved that it would not be fair to assess the first company that requires access to U S WEST's data bases to pay the full cost for the development of the gateway since other companies will also use U S WEST's gateway. In addition, there will be ongoing, recurring costs associated with the continued use of the gateway. Therefore, a company shall be allowed to assess the users of its gateway on a per transaction basis. The company may include the costs incurred for the development of the gateway in its costs used to derive the transaction charge.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
26. Commissioner Nelson made the following three-part Motion pertaining to Interim Number Portability:
First, that the Commission reject U S WEST's position whereby all costs of interim number portability should be borne by new entrants.
Second, that the Commission adopt the New York Method for allocating costs of interim number portability. This method allocates the incremental costs of currently available number portability measures, through an annual surcharge assessed by the incumbent LEC from which the number is transferred. This surcharge is based on each carrier's telephone numbers relative to the total number of active telephone numbers in the local service area.
Third, that with respect to the treatment of terminating access charges, the terminating carrier shall receive the carrier common line and local switching charges. Transport charges shall be shared based on a meet point billing arrangement.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
27. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following five-part Motion pertaining to Poles, Ducts, Conduits, and Access to Rights-Of-Ways:
First, that U S WEST must provide nondiscriminatory access to any pole, duct, conduit, or right of way owned or controlled by it, however, U S WEST may deny AT&T access to its poles, ducts, conduits, or rights-of-way, on a nondiscriminatory basis where there is insufficient capacity or for reasons of safety, reliability and generally applicable engineering purposes.
Second, that U S WEST may not reserve space for its local exchange service to the detriment of an entrant into the local exchange business and that it shall provide nondiscriminatory access on a first come, first served basis.
Third, that when AT&T becomes a local exchange carrier then it also has the same duty as U S WEST to afford access to poles, ducts, conduits, and rights-of-ways.
Fourth, that U S WEST must take all reasonable steps to accommodate requests for access. Before denying access based on lack of capacity, U S WEST must explore potential accommodations in good faith with the party seeking access.
Fifth, that U S WEST shall, to the extent permitted by state law, exercise its eminent domain powers to expand an existing right-of-way to accommodate a request for access.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
28. Commissioner Nelson moved that U S WEST may charge three types of fees for Access to Rights-Of-Ways: an annual usage fee for the use of poles and conduits if any facility rearrangements are necessary; a charge for what U S WEST terms a "make ready charge," and fees related to charges for labor expenses incurred for inspection or supervision of facilities. If U S WEST must modify a facility on behalf of AT&T, AT&T, along with all parties that obtain access to the facility as a result of the modification, shall pay the cost of modifying the facility.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
29. Commissioner Schoenfelder made the following two-part Motion pertaining to the Pricing of Transport and Termination:
First, that bill and keep be rejected as the method for establishing reciprocal compensation arrangements for the transport and termination of telecommunications on the grounds that it is not reasonable to assume that traffic will be in balance.
Second, that U S WEST's proposed prices for call termination, call transport, and call transit be used in establishing the reciprocal compensation arrangements for the transport and termination of telecommunications be accepted. However, U S WEST shall not be allowed to recover its alleged depreciation reserve deficiency in these prices. Therefore, U S WEST shall subtract from the prices listed in Exhibit M, any costs related to its alleged depreciation reserve deficiency. Reciprocal call termination charges will be waived if, within a given month, the traffic is within a 5% threshold.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
30. Commissioner Nelson moved that U S WEST shall furnish one white page listing to AT&T at no cost, but that any other issues with respect to directory listing must be negotiated with U S WEST Direct.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
31. Commissioner Schoenfelder moved that direct measurements of quality and business process standards are voluminous and comprehensive; that the record was not sufficiently developed to accurately consider the effect of these standards, their enforceability, and the propriety of liquidated damages which may be incurred. The Commission may open a separate docket or dockets on these issues to determine what quality or business process standards U S WEST will be required to meet.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
32. Commissioner Nelson moved that U S WEST shall not be required to give AT&T its own NXX number at each central office.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
33. Commissioner Schoenfelder moved that since the FCC will soon assign number administration to an independent third party it would make no sense for this Commission to require U S WEST to assign this task to a third party prior to the FCC's decision on this. U S WEST shall continue to treat this information as proprietary.
Commissioner Nelson seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
34. Commissioner Nelson moved that U S WEST's request that it have a right to pursue a transitional charge that would apply to AT&T and other new entrants that would recover universal service support until rates are rebalanced be denied.
Commissioner Schoenfelder seconded and Chairman Burg concurred. Motion passed 3-0.
35. Commissioner Nelson moved to amend the Motion regarding the unresolved issues pertaining to vertical features [Motion #8 on Page 6] as follows: that the unbundled local switching element shall contain all vertical features that the switch is capable of providing.
Chairman Burg seconded. Commissioner Schoenfelder did not vote. Motion passed 2-0.
The meeting was adjourned.
____________________________
Shirleen Fugitt
Administrative Secretary
