ALJ/CMW/tcg DRAFT 3

5/24/01

Decision DRAFT DECISION OF ALJ WALWYN (Mailed 4/24/01)

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Order Instituting Rulemaking on the Commission's Own Motion into Monitoring Performance of Operations Support Systems.	Rulemaking 97-10-016 (Filed October 9, 1997)
Order Instituting Investigation on the Commission's Own Motion into Monitoring Performance of Operations Support Systems.	Investigation 97-10-017 (Filed October 9, 1997)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

OPINION............................................................................................ 3

Summary 3

I. Procedural Background 4

II. The Revised Joint Partial Settlement Agreement 8

III. Comments on the JPSA 9

IV. The Revised JPSA is Reasonable, Consistent with the Law,
and in the Public Interest 11

A. Summary 11

B. Discussion 12

C. Next Steps 17

V. Comments on Draft Decision 17

Findings of Fact................................................................................... 17

Conclusions of Law.............................................................................. 18

ORDER............................................................................................... 19

Appendix A - List of Appearances

Appendix B - Summary of Changes to OSS Performance Measurements Contained in the November 6, 2000 Joint Partial Settlement Agreement (JPSA) and Disputed Issues Remaining for Commission Resolution

Appendix C - Joint Partial Settlement Agreement

OPINION

Summary

Today we adopt revisions to the comprehensive framework for Operations Support Systems (OSS) performance measurements and standards that we adopted over a year ago in Decision (D.) 99-08-020.¹ These OSS measurements and standards are critical to ensuring that California's consumers have choices in local exchange telephone companies. OSS performance measurements and standards allow the Commission, the industry, and consumer advocates to measure and analyze the performance of Pacific and Verizon in providing their competitors nondiscriminatory access to their mechanized operating systems which store customer records and dispatch and monitor all network operations.

The revisions that we adopt today were proposed by Pacific, Verizon, and several of their major competitors (known as competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs)) after a comprehensive review of the OSS measurements, submeasurements, standards, and rules that we adopted last year in D.99-08-020. This group, collectively the Settling Parties, undertook the initial review of which OSS performance measurements and standards should be modified.² These are the companies providing or using OSS on a daily basis and therefore they have the greatest knowledge and experience with Pacific's and Verizon's operating problems and capabilities. In addition to adopting major revisions to our OSS performance measurements and standards, we also adopt timetables for implementing the modifications and set a firm date to begin our 2001 review.

This decision does not address performance incentives for access to OSS subfunctions. On January 18, 2001, the Commission issued interim opinion D.01-01-037 in the incentive phase of this proceeding, which will establish remedies to ensure our OSS performance standards are met.

Although the parties agreed to significant modifications in the Joint Partial Settlement Agreement (JPSA) we adopt today, several issues regarding OSS performance measurements and standards remain in dispute. The Commission will address these issues in a later decision.