Agenda Date:                  April 12, 2000
Item No.                       4A
Docket:                    UT-990355 - First Revision to Interpretive and 
Policy Statement adopted by the              Commission in Docket No. UT-990355.
Company:                   Petition of Advanced Telecom Group, Inc., Nextlink 
Washington, Inc.,                                        Electric Lightwave, 
Inc., Frontier Local Services, Inc., and Frontier Telemanagement, Inc., 
for               a Declaratory Order or Interpretive and Policy Statement on 
47 U.S.C. ' 252(i) and 47 C.F.R.             ' 51.809
Staff:                           Jing Roth, Regulatory Consultant
                                  Glenn Blackmon, Assistant Director - 
Telecommunications 
                          
Recommendation: 
Adopt the attached Interpretive and Policy Statement ( " Policy Statement " ) 
as revised to implement Section 252 (i) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Discussion: 
Procedural Background 
On June 15, 1999, the above-named competitive local exchange companies (CLECs), 
as joint petitioners, filed with the Commission a petition for declaratory 
order or a Commission interpretive and policy statement pursuant to RCW 
34.05.240 and WAC 480-09-200 and 480-09- 230 (Petition). On June 29, 1999, the 
Commission served notice on interested persons calling for a statement of fact 
and law on the matters alleged in the Petition, and the applicability of the 
cited federal statutes and FCC rules to the request for a Commission 
declaratory order or interpretive and policy statement. The Commission was 
persuaded by comments to issue an interpretive and policy statement. 
The Commission released a draft policy statement on October 15, 1999, and asked 
for supplemental comments. In response, the Commission received comments from 
the Joint Petitioners, Airtouch Paging, U S WEST, GTE, American Telephone 
Technology, Inc. (ATTI), Covad Communications Company ( Covad), MCI Worldcom, 
Inc., and Level 3 Communications, Inc. (MCI), and Sprint Communications Company 
L.P. and United Telephone Company of the Northwest d/b/a/ Sprint (Sprint). The 
Commission adopted the Policy Statement on November 30, 1999. 
Contemporaneous with the adoption of an interpretive and policy statement, the 
Commission initiated a rulemaking to consider whether rules would be necessary 
to implement 47 U.S.C. ' 252(i) and 47 C.F.R. ' 51.809, and if so, what rules 
might be necessary. 
At a December 16 workshop to consider the need for such rule, most of the 
parties stressed the need for regulatory flexibility, and stated that the 
Commission's Section 252(i) Interpretive and Policy Statement provides adequate 
guidelines to resolve matters before the Commission. Rhythms Links and MCI 
Worldcom requested a rule to expedite the Commission's approval of Section 
252(i) requests. The California Commission has adopted a rule to permit this 
type of interconnection agreement to become effective 15 days after the parties 
to the agreement notify the Commission, if no objections are received. 
Based on all the comments received, the Commission determined that a policy 
statement is more flexible than a rule with respect to pick and choose. The 
Commission concluded that it would not proceed with the rulemaking proceeding. 
The Commission therefore gave notice to close the rulemaking on January 14, 
2000. 
Revisions to the Policy Statement
Staff believes that expedited treatment for a request to adopt an existing 
agreement in its entirety has merit. Staff recommends that the Commission 
address this issue through modifications to the Interpretive and Policy 
Statement. 
Staff proposes that the following new paragraph (No. 31) be incorporated into 
the Policy Statement:
When a carrier adopts a previously approved interconnection agreement in its 
entirety, the parties to that agreement must notify the Commission of the 
adoption. The notice shall identify the parties, state the intent to adopt a 
specific agreement in its entirety, the effective date, and the term of the 
agreement. If no objection is received within 15 days of the date the notice is 
filed, the carrier's request for adoption will be effective on the 16th day. If 
the Commission receives objections to a carrier's adoption of a previously 
approved agreement in its entirety, the Commission will either approve or 
reject the agreement within 90 days of the date the agreement is filed with the 
Commission. The Commission will reject such an agreement only if it finds that 
the agreement, as adopted by the parties, discriminates against any carrier not 
a party to the agreement, or if the agreement is not consistent with the public 
interest, convenience and necessity.
Conclusion:
Revising the Interpretive and Policy Statement as recommended by Staff will 
enhance local competition, and the policy statement will guide the Commission 
in developing its opinions and decisions regarding interconnection agreements. 
Therefore, Staff recommends that the Commission adopt and issue the revised 
policy statement attached to this memorandum. 
Link to Attachment: Interpretive and Policy Statement, First Revision, 
2000/04/12