Appendix I to R9304003 et al. - 271 Compliance Requirements Multiple Checklist Items (Appendix B to D.98-12-069)
Appendix II to R9304003 et al. - Pacific Bell Unbundled Network Element Recurring Prices as of 7/15/02
Appendices III & IV to R9304003 et al. - California OSS Performance Measures and April 2002 Performance Incentives Plan Results
Appendix V to R9304003 et al. - List of Appearances
Commissioner Duque's Partial Dissent in R9304003 et al.
Commissioner Peevey's Concurring Opinion with Partial Dissent
President Loretta M. Lynch's Dissent
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA GRAY DAVIS, Governor

PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

505 VAN NESS AVENUE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102-3298

September 25, 2002

TO: ALL PARTIES OF RECORD IN RULEMAKING 93-04-003 et al.

Decision 02-09-050 is being mailed without the Dissent of President Loretta Lynch and without the Concurrence of Commissioner Michael Peevey. The Dissent and Concurrence will be mailed separately.

Very truly yours,

/s/ CAROL A. BROWN

CAROL A. BROWN, Interim Chief

Administrative Law Judge

CAB/tcg

ALJ/JAR/tcg Mailed 9/25/2002

Decision 02-09-050 September 19, 2002

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Rulemaking on the Commission's Own Motion to Govern Open Access to Bottleneck Services and Establish a Framework for Network Architecture Development of Dominant Carrier Networks.

Rulemaking (R.) 93-04-003

(Filed April, 1993)

Investigation on the Commission's Own Motion into Open Access and Network Architecture Development of Dominant Carrier Networks.

Investigation (I.) 93-04-002

(Filed April, 1993)

Order Instituting Rulemaking on the Commission's Own Motion Into Competition for Local Exchange Service.

R.95-04-043

(Filed April, 1995)

Order Instituting Investigation on the Commission's Own Motion Into Competition for Local Exchange Service.

I.95-04-044

(Filed April, 1995)

DECISION GRANTING PACIFIC BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY'S
RENEWED MOTION FOR AN ORDER THAT IT HAS SUBSTANTIALLY SATISFIED THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE 14-POINT CHECKLIST IN § 271
OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996 AND DENYING
THAT IT HAS SATISFIED § 709.2 OF THE PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

DECISION 2

Findings of Fact 269

Conclusions of Law 306

ORDER 318

Appendix I - 271 Compliance Requirements Multiple Checklist Items
(Appendix B to D.98-12-069)

Appendix II - Pacific Bell Unbundled Network Element Recurring Prices
as of 7/15/02

Appendix III - California OSS Performance Measures

Appendix IV - April 2002 Performance Incentives Plan Results

Appendix V - List of Appearances

DECISION GRANTING PACIFIC BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY'S
RENEWED MOTION FOR AN ORDER THAT IT HAS SUBSTANTIALLY SATISFIED THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE 14-POINT CHECKLIST IN § 271
OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996 AND DENYING
THAT IT HAS SATISFIED § 709.2 OF THE PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

I. Summary

Today, we conclude the California chapter of Pacific Bell's (Pacific) six-year journey to long distance authorization. The length of the journey has been as much about the hard work, determination and collaboration of Pacific, the competitive local exchange carriers, interested parties, our staff, and the public, as it has been about accurately assessing compliance with the 14-point checklist in Section 271 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in the nation's most populous state. We grant Pacific's renewed motion by this order that assesses its compliance with the 14-point checklist.

We hold that Pacific has successfully passed the independent third-party test of its Operations Support System (OSS). We acknowledge the strong performance results Pacific has achieved across numerous service categories, and make slight modifications to the Performance Incentive Plan that we established. In addition, we determine that Pacific has continued to demonstrate compliance with Access to Rights of Way, Access to Telephone Numbers, Dialing Parity, and Reciprocal Compensation, the four checklist items that we held that it satisfied in Decision (D.) 98-12-069. We also determine that Pacific has satisfied eight additional checklist items as well as the technical compliance requirements set forth in our 1998 decision's Appendix B Roadmap. Those checklist items are: Interconnection, Nondiscriminatory Access to Unbundled Network Elements, Unbundled Loops, Local Transport, Unbundled Switching, Access to 911, E911, Directory Assistance and Operator Call Completion Services, White Pages, and Access to Databases.

Before we verify to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Pacific's compliance with Number Portability, Checklist Item 11, we direct Pacific to implement and verify a mechanized enhancement to the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) check Pacific has committed to implementation of the enhancement by the end of September 2002. Mechanization of the NPAC check is crucial for competitors as well as customers: it will mechanically delay a Pacific disconnect before a New Service Provider has completed its installation work. The continuing delay of this process presents a critical barrier to entry for the competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). We do not find that Pacific has complied with the requirements for Resale, Checklist Item 14. Instead, we find that Pacific has erected unreasonable barriers to entry in California's Digital Subscriber Line market both by not complying with its resale obligation with respect to its advanced services pursuant to § 251(c)(4)(A) and by offering restrictive conditions in the SBC Advanced Solutions Inc. (ASI)-CLEC agreements in contravention of § 251(c)(4)(B).

We also deny today Pacific's motion for an order that it has satisfied the requirements of California Public Utilities (Pub. Util.) Code § 709.2. While we make the determination that all competitors have fair, nondiscriminatory, and mutually open access to exchanges, the record does not support our making the determinations that Pacific has manifested no anticompetitive behavior, has established no improper cross-subsidization, or poses no substantial possibility of harm to the competitive intrastate interexchange telecommunications markets. We direct Pacific to submit to us a report on the feasibility of structurally separating the company into wholesale and retail entities. Further, we direct the Telecommunications Division no later than five months from the effective date of this order to submit to prepare for consideration on our meeting agenda an Order Instituting Investigation on the selection and appointment of a competitively neutral third-party Preferred Interexchange Carrier (PIC) administrator for California. Finally, persuaded by Pacific's legal arguments that federal law does not support even a narrow and focused constraint on joint marketing, we shall closely monitor Pacific's compliance with the federal equal access law as it jointly markets the services of its long distance affiliate.

Our findings under Section 709.2 reflect the considerations that California law requires us to weigh and balance. While Pacific largely satisfies the technical requirements of Section 271, in accordance with Section 709.2 we cannot state unequivocally that we find Pacific's imminent entry into the long distance market in California will primarily enhance the public interest. Local telephone competition in California exists in the technical and quantitative data; but it has yet to find its way into the residences of the majority of California's ratepayers. This decision acknowledges the distance Pacific has traveled in order to reach its goal of long distance authorization; and concurrently, it continues to pave the way towards actual and vibrant local competition in California.

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