STATE OF CALIFORNIA GRAY DAVIS, Governor

PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

505 VAN NESS AVENUE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102-3298

March 9, 2001

TO: PARTIES OF RECORD IN APPLICATION 00-09-031

This is the draft decision of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Thomas. It will be on the Commission's agenda at the regular meeting on March 15, 2001. The Commission may act then, or it may postpone action until later.

When the Commission acts on the draft decision, it may adopt all or part of it as written, amend or modify it, or set it aside and prepare its own decision. Only when the Commission acts does the decision become binding on the parties.

Rule 77.7(f)(5) provides that the Commission may reduce or waive the period for public review and comment under Pub. Util. Code § 311(g) for a decision under the state arbitration provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. We are convinced that this draft decision falls under Rule 77.7(f)(5), and for that reason, we establish a shortened period for comments on the draft decision.

Comments on the draft decision must be filed within 5 calendar days of its mailing and no reply comments will be accepted.

In addition to service by mail, parties should send comments in electronic form to those appearances and the state service list that provided an electronic mail address to the Commission. Finally, comments must be served separately on the ALJ and the Assigned Commissioner, and for that purpose I suggest hand delivery, overnight mail, or other expeditious methods of service.

/s/ LYNN T. CAREW, CHIEF

Lynn T. Carew, Chief

Administrative Law Judge

LTC:t93

Attachments

ALJ/SRT/t93 DRAFT Item 12

3/15/2001

Decision DRAFT DECISION OF ALJ THOMAS (Mailed 3/9/2001)

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In the Matter of the Petition of Sprint Communications Company LP for Arbitration of Interconnection Rates, Terms, Conditions, and Related Arrangements with Verizon California, dba GTE California Incorporated.

Application 00-09-031 (Filed September 7, 2000)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

OPINION 2

1. Summary 2

2. Background 2

3. Discussion 4

3.1 Negotiated Portions of IA 4

3.2 Arbitrated Portions of IA 5

3.2.1 Issue 1: Local Over Access 6

3.2.2 Issue 2: Resale of Vertical Features 8

3.2.3 Issue 3: New UNE Combinations 9

3.3 Preservation of Authority 9

3.4 Filing the Conformed IA 10

4. Unforeseen Emergency 10

Findings of Fact 11

Conclusions of Law 12

ORDER 13

OPINION

1. Summary

We affirm the results reached in the February 23, 2001 Final Arbitrator's Report (FAR). Within 30 days of the date of this order, parties shall jointly file and serve a signed, complete Interconnection Agreement (IA) that conforms to the decisions herein. Parties shall simultaneously file and serve a statement that cross-references the issues with the adopted language. The conformed IA shall become effective five days after filing, unless suspended by the Director of the Telecommunications Division. The proceeding is closed.