A Minnesota Public Utilities Commission hearing officer denied Qw...
A Minnesota Public Utilities Commission hearing officer denied Qwest’s motion to close a PUC investigation into the wholesale rates because the commission lacked jurisdiction over prices for unbundled network elements provided under section 271 of the Telecom Act. Qwest…
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cited federal court rulings and decisions by seven state commissions to support its claim that the PUC lacked jurisdiction to set rates for network elements no longer subject to section 251’s cost- based unbundling obligations. But the PUC said the cases that Qwest cited involved state orders compelling incumbents to provide network elements delisted by the FCC from section 251, or ordering that rates for such delisted UNEs be set at total element long run incremental cost. The PUC said neither of these requirements is under consideration in the Minnesota wholesale rate review (Case P-421/CI-05-1996). The commission said no federal edict has preempted the PUC’s duty under state law to ensure intrastate wholesale telecom service rates are just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory. The commission said it has legal authority to ensure that telecom carriers provide “reasonably adequate services and facilities,” and guarantee that rates for all services “are fair and reasonable for the intrastate use thereof.” Qwest also asked that the PUC delay the wholesale rate review until the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis decides an appeal involving the same jurisdictional issues, which the carrier raised in Minnesota. But the PUC said Qwest offered no compelling reason to wait for the federal court’s action and set an April 8 date to open wholesale rate review hearings.