PROPOSED RULES
TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 99-11-069.
Title of Rule: WAC 480-120-560 Collocation.
Purpose: The purpose of the proposed rule is to promote competition in the telecommunications industry by providing collocation rules that are fair, just and reasonable to all telecommunications carriers. The proposed rule is neutral in terms of what type of technology can be collocated, it is neutral in terms of where the collocation space is to be located, and it is neutral in terms of what type of collocation is being used. Collocation is a critical aspect of a competitive telecommunications service environment.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 80.01.040 General, RCW 80.04.160 Utility, also 47 U.S.C. 251 (c)(6).
Summary: This proposed rule establishes standard intervals for incumbent local exchange carriers to make collocation space in the incumbents' offices available to competitive local exchange carriers. Intervals are specified for incumbent local exchange carriers to respond to competitive carriers' requests for space availability, to provide price quotes, and to deliver the space requested. In cases where space for collocation is not available the incumbent carrier is required to permit the competitive carrier to tour its premises. If the competitive carrier contests the incumbent carrier's denial of collocation space, the incumbent must file a petition with the commission for final determination of space availability. The incumbent carrier must also file with the commission detailed documentation on the usage of space in the office in question. The commission will decide any petition through an expedited proceeding under WAC 480-09-530. The proposed rule also provides remedies for situations where collocation is difficult to provide, or when schedules are not met.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: State commissions have jurisdiction over transactions that establish collocation and disputes arising out of collocation transactions. Disputes have arisen among parties to interconnection agreements in Washington state on the subject of collocation. The commission does not now have rules specifically addressing collocation arrangements. This proposal implements collocation decisions from orders in interconnection agreements in Washington and from FCC orders.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: David Griffith, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA 98504, (360) 664-1284; Implementation and Enforcement: Carole J. Washburn, Secretary, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA 98504, (360) 664-1174.
Name of Proponent: Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, governmental.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: The purpose of the rule is to provide uniform collocation standards that promote competition in the telecommunications industry and implement policies established by congress. The proposed rule will establish installation intervals that will be available to all competitive local exchange carriers who wish to collocate in incumbent local exchange carrier central office premises. The proposed rule establishes procedures to be followed when the incumbent local exchange carrier indicates that no space is available for collocation in a specific office.
The anticipated effects are a simple standard of intervals which all incumbent carriers can meet. All competitive carriers will have a reasonable expectation that space will be available within a specified time frame. Competitive carriers will also have a formal process to resolve problems which arise when the incumbent carrier denies orders for collocation space for technical reasons or because of space limitations.
Proposal does not change existing rules.
No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. The impact of this proposed rule will be primarily on large incumbent local exchange carriers. Section 251 (f)(2) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allows small carriers (less than 2% of access lines nationwide) to suspend or modify collocation requirements.
RCW 34.05.328 does not apply to this rule adoption. This commission is not an agency to which RCW 34.05.328 applies.
Hearing Location: Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, Hearing Room, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA 98504, on October 25, 2000, at 9:30 a.m.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Pat Valentine by Monday, October 23, 2000, TDD (360) 586-8203.
Submit Written Comments to: Secretary, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, P.O. Box 47250, Olympia, WA 98504-7250, fax (360) 586-1150, by September 15, 2000.
Date of Intended Adoption: October 25, 2000.
August 16, 2000
Paul Curl
for Carole J. Washburn
Secretary
(1) Definitions.
"CLEC" means a competing local exchange carrier that orders collocation from an ILEC.
"Collocation" means the ability of a CLEC to place equipment within, upon, or nearby an ILEC's premises.
"Deliver" or "delivery date" means the point when the ILEC turns the collocation space and related facilities over to the CLEC and the space and facilities are ready for service. Deliver or delivery includes, but is not necessarily limited to, providing the CLEC with access to the collocation space for collocation other than virtual collocation, as well as providing power, telephone service, and other services and facilities ordered by the CLEC for provisioning by the delivery date.
"ILEC" means an incumbent local exchange carrier that is required to provide collocation.
"ILEC premises" means an ILEC wire center, central office, or any other location owned and/or controlled by the ILEC at which interconnection with the ILEC's network or access to ILEC unbundled network elements is technically feasible.
"Points of interface (POI)" means the demarcation between the networks of an ILEC and a CLEC. The POI is the point where the exchange of traffic takes place.
(2) ILEC response to CLEC order for collocation. Within fourteen calendar days of receipt of an order for collocation, an ILEC must notify the CLEC whether sufficient space exists in the ILEC premises to accommodate the CLEC's collocation requirements. As part of that notification, the ILEC must also notify the CLEC of any extraordinary circumstances, as defined in subsection (3)(c) of this section, that may delay delivery of the ordered collocation space and related facilities.
(3) Provisioning collocation. If the ILEC notifies a CLEC that sufficient space exists to accommodate the CLEC's order for collocation, the following procedures apply:
(a) Within twenty-five calendar days of receipt of the order, the ILEC must provide the CLEC with a written quote detailing the nonrecurring and recurring charges applicable to provisioning the ordered collocation. After providing the written quote and upon reasonable notice of a request by the CLEC, the ILEC must permit the CLEC at least one accompanied site visit to the designated collocation space without charge to the CLEC, to enable the CLEC to verify and inspect the space the ILEC offers for collocation.
(b) The ILEC must complete construction of, and deliver, the ordered collocation space and related facilities within forty-five calendar days after the later of the CLEC's acceptance of the written quote or payment of one-half of the nonrecurring charges specified in the quote, except in the case of extraordinary circumstances, as defined in subsection (3)(c) of this section. The CLEC's acceptance of the quote or payment of any quoted charges does not preclude the CLEC from later disputing the accuracy or reasonableness of those charges.
(c) If extraordinary circumstances exist, the ILEC must complete construction of, and deliver, the ordered collocation space within ninety calendar days of the later of the CLEC's acceptance of the written quote or payment of one-half of the nonrecurring charges specified in the quote. Extraordinary circumstances do not include standard work and equipment required to provide the requisite collocation, but may include (i) the need to reclaim space for collocation by removing inactive or underutilized equipment; or (ii) the unavailability of necessary equipment and facilities if that unavailability is not due to the ILEC's failure to timely arrange for such equipment or facilities. Extraordinary circumstances do not exist for any collocation order that was included in a periodic collocation forecast submitted by the CLEC to the ILEC at least three months in advance of the order.
(d) Following any initial notification as required in section (2) above, the ILEC must notify the CLEC of any extraordinary circumstances as soon as the ILEC is aware of those circumstances and must take all reasonable steps to avoid or minimize any delays caused by those circumstances, including but not limited to joint provisioning of collocation elements by the ILEC and CLEC, or sole construction by the CLEC, through a mutually acceptable third party contractor.
(e) If the ILEC fails to deliver the collocation space by the required delivery date, the ILEC must credit the CLEC in an amount equal to one-tenth of the total nonrecurring charge for the ordered collocation for each week beyond the required delivery date. Recurring charges will not begin to accrue for any element until the ILEC delivers that element to the CLEC. To the extent that a CLEC self-provisions any collocation element, the ILEC may not impose any charges for provisioning that element.
(f) The ILEC must notify the CLEC when construction of the CLEC's collocation space is approximately 50% completed, including scheduled completion and delivery dates. At that time, but in any event at least thirty calendar days prior to the scheduled delivery date, the ILEC must provide the CLEC with sufficient information to enable the ILEC and the CLEC to establish firm Common Language Location Identifier (CLLI) codes and any other codes necessary to order interconnection and cross-connection circuits for the equipment the CLEC intends to collocate, and the ILEC must accept and process CLEC orders for such circuits. The ILEC must provision points of interface (POIs) and other circuits concurrent with delivery of the collocation space and related facilities, unless the CLEC agrees to a later date.
(g) The ILEC must conduct an inspection with the CLEC of the collocation space at least five business days prior to completion of construction of the collocation space. The ILEC must correct any deviations to the CLEC's original or jointly amended requirements after the inspection, at the ILEC's sole expense.
(h) Upon order of the CLEC and concurrent with delivery of the collocation space and related facilities, the ILEC must provide basic telephone service to the collocation space under the rates, terms, and conditions of the ILEC's current tariff or price list offering for the service ordered. The ILEC must also provide CLEC employees, contractors, and representatives with reasonable access to basic facilities, such as restroom facilities and parking, while at the ILEC premises.
(4) Denial of order for collocation. If the ILEC notifies a CLEC that insufficient space exists to accommodate the CLEC's order for collocation, the following procedures apply:
(a) As part of its notification of lack of space, the ILEC must notify the CLEC if any space is available for collocation and, if so, how much space is available. The ILEC must also verify that the ILEC cannot reclaim space for collocation by consolidating or removing inactive or underutilized equipment.
(b) The ILEC must permit the CLEC to tour the ILEC premises within fourteen calendar days of the CLEC's request.
(c) If the CLEC notifies the ILEC that it contests the denial of an order for collocation, the ILEC must, within twenty-five calendar days of the notification, file a petition asking the Commission to determine that the space requested by the CLEC is not available. Upon request and execution of an appropriate confidentiality agreement, the ILEC must also provide a copy of the petition to the CLEC. The ILEC must prepare the petition at its sole expense, and the petition must include the following information:
(i) Central Office CLLI, where applicable;
(ii) Ordering CLEC, including the amount of space sought by the CLEC;
(iii) Written inventory of active, inactive, and underutilized equipment, including the signatures of ILEC personnel certifying the accuracy of the information provided;
(iv) Color-coded floor plans that identify office space work areas, provide spatial dimensions to calculate the square footage for each area, and locate inactive and underutilized equipment;
(v) Narrative of the central office floor space use;
(vi) Total amount of space occupied by interconnecting collocators for the sole purpose of interconnection;
(vii) Total amount of space occupied by third parties for purposes other than interconnection, and a narrative of the space use;
(viii) The number of central office employees employed and job titles;
(ix) Description of central office renovation/expansion plans and time frames for completion;
(x) Description of conversion of administrative, maintenance, equipment, and storage space plans and timeframes for completion; and
(xi) Description of any internal policies for conversion of administrative, maintenance, equipment, and storage space in central offices.
(d) The Commission will decide any petition filed under subsection (4)(c) through an expedited proceeding conducted in accordance with the relevant procedural requirements and time lines established in WAC 480-09-530. The ILEC bears the burden to prove to the Commission that the ordered collocation is not practical for technical reasons or because of space limitations. The ILEC may be relieved of its obligation to provide collocation at a particular ILEC premises only to the extent expressly provided by Commission order.
(e) Each ILEC must maintain a list of all of its central offices in Washington in which insufficient space exists to accommodate one or more types of collocation. The list must specify which types of collocation are unavailable in each office and whether the Commission has approved the ILEC's denial of collocation in that office. The ILEC must post this list on its publicly accessible web site and provide a copy of the list to any CLEC upon request. The ILEC must update this list within ten business days of (i) denying a CLEC's order for collocation; (ii) the service date of any order from the Commission approving or disapproving such a denial; (iii) providing notice to CLECs previously denied collocation that space has become available in a central office; or (iv) obtaining knowledge through any other means that space for one or more types of collocation is no longer available or has become available in a particular central office.
(f) Each ILEC must maintain for each central office a waiting list of all unfilled orders for collocation space and the date of each order. After an ILEC has announced that one or more types of collocation space are not available in an office, any CLEC may submit a letter of intent to order collocation space in lieu of a collocation order, and this letter of intent must be included on the waiting list. If space for collocation becomes available in any central office, the ILEC must inform CLECs, in the order in which they ordered collocation or submitted a letter of intent to order collocation, of the availability of that space and must provide each such CLEC with thirty calendar days to renew its original collocation order. The ILEC must provision collocation to these CLECs on a first-come, first-served basis according to the dates on which each ordered collocation or submitted a letter of intent to collocate in that central office.
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