7. Advice Letter Approval of Future Product Orders

SCE identifies the following reasons in support of its request to use the advice letter process:

1. The Commission will have already reviewed the detailed framework of the Lease Agreement between SCE and Sprint in this proceeding.

2. The prompt review process that can be accomplished via advice letter is important for Sprint in quickly responding to a competitive telecommunications marketplace. The § 851 application process can take much longer for the Commission to render its decision.

3. The advice letter process reduces the burden on the Commission and the parties but still permits the Commission to review each new product order lease prior to Sprint's access to the fiber.

4. The Commission continues to have the authority to reject a particular product order through the advice letter process and require that the product order be approved through the application process.

ORA recommends that the Commission, as part of its § 851 approval of the Lease Agreement and specific product orders, should allow SCE to submit future product orders involving existing fiber - but not new unapproved fiber - through the advice letter process under certain conditions agreed to by SCE and ORA.

ORA states that it generally agrees with SCE's characterization of the advantages of SCE's proposal. Extending the scope of the Commission's approval of this Lease Agreement to additional Sprint product order leases, with notice and an opportunity to review the proposed leases through the advice letter process, will enable the Commission to continue fulfilling its regulatory responsibility, while improving regulatory efficiency. As long as the additional product order leases confer the same benefits presented by SCE, they will meet the standards that the Commission has traditionally applied to § 851 applications. Minimizing the burdens on both the Commission and parties associated with obtaining Commission approval of those additional product order leases, when the review required is likely to be minimal, is therefore in the public interest. Accordingly, our order today approves the use of the advice letter process, subject to certain conditions specified in our order.