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TR's State NewsWire . . .daily intelligence on communications industry news and policy from the editors of Telecommunications Reports. . . ====================================================== *Table of Contents* November 26, 2001 STATES FLORIDA -- Staff proposes tandem interconnect rate rules ARIZONA -- Cable TV providers to link networks TEXAS -- Small ILECs oppose CPNI 'win-back' restrictions NEW YORK -- PSC mulls putting UNE rate case on hold DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA -- PSC sets carrier-to-carrier guidelines CALIFORNIA -- ALJ sets hearings on state LD entry requirements ARKANSAS -- SBC begins offering LD service SOUTH DAKOTA -- Telecom complaints top list TEXAS -- American Lightwave rolls out national, reverse DA NEVADA -- PUC to hear Global NAPs, Sprint dispute MICHIGAN -- PSC mulls Westphalia TSLRIC study ALASKA -- Cable Co. wants to exit market NEW JERSEY -- Acting Gov. DiFrancesco nominates Supreme Court justice PENNSYLVANIA -- Tech conference to focus on 'e-government' CALIFORNIA -- New appeals court judge confirmed CONNECTICUT -- Gov. Rowland nominates Appellate Court justice WISCONSIN -- Verizon Wireless adds cell sites ______________________________________________________ FLORIDA -- Staff proposes tandem interconnect rate rules The Public Service Commission staff has recommended rules for determining when incumbents must pay competitive local exchange carriers the tandem-interconnection rate for reciprocal compensation. Competitors that don't qualify for the tandem- interconnection rate are paid the cheaper end-office switching rate for reciprocal compensation. A competitor is entitled to receive the incumbent's tandem interconnection rate when its switch either "serves a comparable geographic area to that served by an [incumbent's] tandem switch, or performs functions similar to those performed by an [incumbent's] tandem switch," the staff said. A competitor "serves" a comparable geographic area when it has deployed a switch and has opened "NXXs" to serve the exchanges within the area, the staff said. The staff rejected BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.'s and Verizon Florida, Inc.'s argument that competitors must "serve" actual customers within a comparable geographic area. FCC rules permit competitors to qualify for the tandem interconnection rate if they serve "a comparable geographic area, not a comparable customer base within this area," the staff said. A "comparable geographic area" includes an area that is "roughly the same size in comparison but not necessarily identical" to the area served by an incumbent's tandem switch, the staff said. Similar functionality is trunk-to-trunk switching, the staff said. The commission is scheduled to vote on the staff's recommendation Dec. 5. (Docket 000075-TP) ______________________________________________________ ARIZONA -- Cable TV providers to link networks A group of about 11 cable TV providers operating in Arizona have established a consortium called First Mile Arizona to link up their networks. The consortium was launched by Cox Communications, Inc., the state's largest cable TV operator, in cooperation with the Arizona Cable Television Association (ACTA). ACTA Executive Director Susan Bitter Smith told TR that the consortium consisted of large and midsize cable TV companies that use combinations of hard wire and microwave facilities to serve their customers. She said the first link of the statewide network would be activated in the eastern part of Arizona during first-quarter 2002. She added that connecting the northern part of the state would be the next milestone. The statewide network plan stemmed from an ASP (application service provider) contract Cox was awarded by the state. Under the $28 million contract, Cox will provide ASP services to state school facilities, which includes close to one million users, a staff member from the Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) told TR. The contact also obliged Cox to deliver these services statewide although the company doesn't offer services everywhere in the state. The consortium will help Cox fulfill its contract with the state by providing a network for its ASP services. Ms. Bitter Smith said the consortium plans to do more than just providing ASP services to the school systems. She added that the consortium may help bring cable TV services to unserved parts of the state. ______________________________________________________ TEXAS -- Small ILECs oppose CPNI 'win-back' restrictions The Texas Statewide Telephone Cooperative, Inc., has asked the Public Utility Commission to eliminate a rule prohibiting telecom carriers from using a former customer's CPNI (customer proprietary network information) to "win back" customers who have switched their service to another provider. The PUC has proposed revising its CPNI rules to make them consistent with recent changes to FCC rules. (10/22/01) The PUC requested comments on whether the FCC's rules permit telecom providers to use a former customer's CPNI to "win back" customers. The FCC's rules permit carriers to use a former customer's CPNI to regain that customer's business, the cooperative said. The cooperative represents 19 telecom cooperatives and 16 small commercially owned telecom companies. (Project 22490) ______________________________________________________ NEW YORK -- PSC mulls putting UNE rate case on hold The Public Service Commission has asked for comments by Nov. 28 discussing whether its unbundled network element (UNE) rate case should be postponed for a limited time. The PSC staff filed comments last week asking that the UNE case be held in abeyance "to permit the parties in the two captioned proceedings to fashion a comprehensive resolution. . .through a negotiated process." (Case 00-C-1945 and 98-C-1357) ______________________________________________________ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA -- PSC sets carrier-to-carrier guidelines The Public Service Commission has adopted new carrier-to-carrier (C2C) guidelines based on a Verizon Washington, D.C., Inc., proposed model. The C2C guidelines measure Verizon's performance in providing operations support systems and other services to competitive local exchange carriers. The new guidelines are based on metrics adopted last year by the New York Public Service Commission, but they were modified to "reflect systems and conditions in the District of Columbia that varied from those in New York." (12/19/00) The new guidelines are in effect now, but plans related to the C2C reporting requirements and performance assurance plans, which were submitted by Verizon and AT&T Corp., are under still under consideration by the PSC. (Case 990, In the Matter of the Development of Local Exchange Carrier Quality of Service Standards for the District, Order 12230) ______________________________________________________ CALIFORNIA -- ALJ sets hearings on state LD entry requirements A Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge has scheduled hearings for Dec. 3-5 to discuss Pacific Bell's compliance with the instate interLATA (local access and transport area) market-entry requirements in the California code. Section 709.2 directs the PUC to find that permitting Pacific Bell to enter the California interLATA market poses no substantial harm to the interexchange market. The commission also must find that Pacific Bell's entry is based on fully open local exchange access and that the company isn't engaging in anticompetitive behavior or improper cross-subsidization. (5/7/01) The ALJ said she set the hearings because several parties requested them. The ALJ limited the parties to only presenting arguments that highlight the central points of their written comments, which were submitted in August. She said no new evidence could be presented and parties that didn't submit comments therefore won't be able to participate in the hearings. The hearings will begin with a presentation by Pacific Bell. The other parties will respond in accordance with their August comments, and Pacific Bell will have an opportunity to reply. Parties interested in arguing more than one issue must send a list to the ALJ by Nov. 28. (Rulemakings 93-04-003 and 95-04-043 and Investigations 93-04-002 and 95-04-044) ______________________________________________________ ARKANSAS -- SBC begins offering LD service SBC Long Distance, a Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. affiliate, today began offering long distance service to residential and business customers in Arkansas. SBC already offers long distance service in Connecticut, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Residential customers who pay no monthly fee will pay 10 cents- per-minute for interstate long distance calls and 12 cents-per- minute for intrastate long distance calls. Customers who pay a $4.95 monthly fee qualify for a 7 cents-per-minute rate for interstate and intrastate long distance calls. Customers may also pay $24.95 per month for 500 minutes of long distance service, which equals about 5 cents-per-minute. Calls that exceed the 500-minute threshold are billed at 7 cents-per-minute. Business customers that subscribe to the company's local and long distance service qualify for a 7 cents-per-minute rate for interstate long distance calls and a 9 cents-per-minute rate for intrastate long distance calls. Businesses that spend more than $50 a month on long distance service are charged 6-8.9 cents-per- minute for switched long distance service and 4.2-7 cents-per- minute for dedicated long distance service. The rate depends on the customer's call volume and term commitment. The FCC authorized SBC to offer interLATA (local access and transport area) long distance services in Missouri and Arkansas beginning Nov. 26. SBC's application to provide long distance service in Missouri is pending before the Missouri Public Service Commission, which is scheduled to vote on it Nov. 27. ______________________________________________________ SOUTH DAKOTA -- Telecom complaints top list The Public Utilities Commission has received more than 164 telecom complaints since its Nov. 8 meeting, compared to about 21 electricity complaints and 16 natural gas complaints. The telecom complaints included billing issues, telemarketing concerns, unauthorized billing, poor service, increased telephone rates, and "slamming." Slamming is the unauthorized switch of a customer's telecom carrier. The PUC received 2,721 consumer complaints during 2001 and addressed or resolved 2,571. ______________________________________________________ TEXAS -- American Lightwave rolls out national, reverse DA American Lightwave Communications, Inc., has started offering its local service customers national and reverse directory assistance for $1.25 per call. Reverse directory assistance provides the name and address associated with "published" phone numbers. ______________________________________________________ NEVADA -- PUC to hear Global NAPs, Sprint dispute The Public Utilities Commission has scheduled a Dec. 11 hearing to consider an interconnection dispute between Global NAPs, Inc., and Central Telephone Co.- Nevada, d/b/a Sprint of Nevada. (11/05/2001) The disputed issues include (1) whether either party should be required to install more than one point of interconnection per LATA (local access and transport area), (2) whether each party should be responsible for the costs associated with transporting telecom traffic to the single point of interconnection, (3) whether Sprint's calling area boundaries should be imposed on Global NAPs, and (4) whether Global NAPs can assign its customers "NXX" codes that are "homed" in a central office switch outside of a customer's local calling area. Both companies and the PUC staff must file testimony by Dec. 4 (Docket 01-10018) ______________________________________________________ MICHIGAN -- PSC mulls Westphalia TSLRIC study The Public Service Commission has asked for comments by Dec. 28 on Westphalia Telephone Co.'s proposed total-service long-run incremental cost (TSLRIC) model, which was filed Nov. 2. The commission asked parties to comment on the proposed TSLRIC metrics. Replies are due Jan. 9, 2002. (Case U-13177) ______________________________________________________ ALASKA -- Cable Co. wants to exit market The Cable Co., Inc., has asked the Regulatory Commission of Alaska for authority to abandon its cable TV service area in Aniak. The company said it has attempted to sell the utility, but added that it was "improbable" that such a sale would be consummated because of declining demand for cable TV service in the Aniak area. Comments on the request are due Dec. 21. (Docket U-01-103) ______________________________________________________ NEW JERSEY -- Acting Gov. DiFrancesco nominates Supreme Court justice Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco (R.) has renominated Justice James H. Coleman to the state Supreme Court. Mr. Coleman's term expires Dec. 16. Mr. Coleman was nominated to the state's highest court by former Gov. Christie Whitman (R.) in 1994. Before his service in the Supreme Court, Mr. Coleman was presiding judge of the state's Appellate Court. Mr. Coleman's nomination is subject to Senate approval. ______________________________________________________ PENNSYLVANIA -- Tech conference to focus on 'e-government' The state's Intergovernmental Technology Conference has been set for Dec. 11-12 and will focus on Internet-based government services. The seminars will include "e-government" sessions for technical and nontechnical government audiences, conference organizers said. The event will also include sessions on "e- learning," wireless technology, Internet technology, cybercrime, security, and privacy. James Pawelczyk, assistant professor of physiology and kinesiology at Penn State University, will be the keynote speaker. He will discuss managing technological change. ______________________________________________________ CALIFORNIA -- New appeals court judge confirmed Judge Candace Cooper has been confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments to be presiding justice on the Court of Appeals, Second Appellate District, Division Eight (Los Angeles). Ms. Cooper has been an associate justice is division two of the second appellate district since November 1999. The commission is composed of Chief Justice Ronald Davis, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey of the second appellate district. ______________________________________________________ CONNECTICUT -- Gov. Rowland nominates Appellate Court justice Gov. John G. Rowland (R.) has nominated Thomas A. Bishop to the Connecticut Appellate Court. Mr. Bishop has been a judge of the state Superior Court since November 1994. Before joining the bench, he worked for the New London law firm of Suisman, Shapiro, Wool, Brennan & Gray, PC, for 25 years. The nomination is subject to review by the Legislature's Judiciary Committee next session. The nomination will then be sent to the Legislature for final confirmation. ______________________________________________________ WISCONSIN -- Verizon Wireless adds cell sites Verizon Wireless has expanded service in the state by adding eight cell sites to enhance coverage in Franklin/Muskego, Madison, Milwaukee, Rochester, Sheboygan/Cleveland, Union Grove, and Windsor. The expansion is part of a $25 million investment in network improvements in the state. ======================== END ========================= To view this issue online, go to http://www.tr.com/statenews/. Federal law prohibits duplication in any form, including electronic, without permission of the publisher. TR's State NewsWire Copyright 2000, 2001 Telecommunications Reports International, Inc. (ISSN 1082-9350) is transmitted each business day, except holidays. Telecommunications Reports International, Inc. 1333 H St. NW, Suite 100-E Washington, DC 20005-4707 Gayle Kansagor, E-mail: mailto:gkansagor@tr.com Editor Susan McGovern, E-mail: mailto:smcgovern@tr.com Associate Editor Victoria Curtis, E-mail: mailto:vcurtis@tr.com Senior Research Analyst Michael Johnson, E-mail: mailto:mjohnson@tr.com Senior Telecommunications Analyst Account Services: Christy Iredell (202) 312-6051, (202) 312-6065 (fax), E-mail: mailto:ciredell@tr.com
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