Idaho Public Utilities
Commission
Case No.
GNR-T-11-01, Order No. 32277
July 5, 2011
Contact: Gene
Fadness (208) 334-0339, 890-2712
PUC creates registration
process for wholesale telecoms
The Idaho
Public Utilities Commission has created a process that allows telephone
companies who provide services other than traditional local exchange to
register as wholesale providers of telecommunications services in Idaho. Companies that do provide local exchange
services must be issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
(CPCN) from the commission.
The
wholesale providers said the registration process will make it easier for them
to enter into interconnection agreements with existing companies that have
telecommunications infrastructure in place.
The need
for the registration process surfaced in 2010 when Time Warner Cable
Information Services applied to the commission to receive a CPCN. The
commission denied the certificate because Time Warner did not plan to offer
local exchange service, but sought only to offer Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) services to commercial customers in Idaho using facilities owned by its
cable affiliate. The commission said the CPCN was not necessary because Time
Warner is a wholesale provider that offers services to other telecommunications
companies, not to the public or end-users.
The commission said Time Warner was free to offer its wholesale service
without commission involvement.
However,
Time Warner officials asserted that existing providers in Idaho wouldn’t
interconnect with them without a certificate. Further, Time Warner alleged that
without a certificate it won’t be assigned telephone numbers and connections
with E-911 emergency service.
The Time
Warner case led to a commission investigation that determined there are a
number of competitive local exchange companies that, while operating with a
certificate, are still not providing local service to end-users. A number of
the companies objected to a commission letter suggesting the commission may
rescind their certificates.
In
response, the commission opened a docket to investigate whether a process short
of issuing a CPCN could be created for competitive providers who do not offer
local exchange services. As a result,
the commission created the registration process, which allows companies to use
Sections 1 and 5-8 of its existing Rule 114 to register. Those sections require the companies to
provide certain identifying information and a commitment to adhere to number
pooling and reporting requirements to assist the commission in preserving
telephone numbers and delaying further the creation of more than one area code
in the state.
A
full text of the commission’s order, along with other documents related to this
case, is available on the commission’s Web site at www.puc.idaho.gov. Click on “File Room”
and then on “Telecommunications Cases” and scroll down to Case No. GNR-T-11-01.
Interested parties may petition the
commission for reconsideration by no later than July 21. Petitions for
reconsideration must set forth specifically why the petitioner contends that
the order is unreasonable, unlawful or erroneous. Petitions should include a
statement of the nature and quantity of evidence the petitioner will offer if
reconsideration is granted.
Petitions can be delivered to the
commission at 472 W. Washington St. in Boise, mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise,
ID, 83720-0074, or faxed to 208-334-3762.