1 Q. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND BUSINESS ADDRESS? A. My name is Theresa Jensen and my business address is U S WEST Communications, Inc. (“U S WEST or Company”) 1600 7th Avenue, Room 3011, Seattle, Washington 98191. Q. BY WHOM ARE YOU EMPLOYED AND IN WHAT CAPACITY? A. I am employed by U S WEST Communications, Inc. as the Director of Regulatory Affairs for the State of Washington. Q. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN EMPLOYED BY U S WEST COMMUNICATIONS, INC. OR ITS PREDECESSORS? A. I have been employed by U S WEST Communications, Inc. or its predecessors since 1972 and in my current assignment since 1991. Q. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR TESTIMONY? A. The purpose of my testimony is to introduce U S WEST’s Tariff Advice No. 2820T in Docket No. UT-961638. I provide the reasons U S WEST is asking the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (Commission) for approval of this tariff and explain why U S WEST finds this tariff consistent with Washington statues, rules and prior Commission Orders. Q. WHAT DOES TARIFF ADVICE NO. 2820T ACCOMPLISH? A. Tariff Advice No. 2820T clarifies the Company’s tariff to indicate the following: The Company, like other telecommunications companies, will utilize in part the facilities of other carriers to provide service in Washington. The Company will use reasonable efforts to make available services to a customer on or before a particular date, subject to the provisions of and compliance by the customer with the regulations contained in the Company’s tariff. The Company does not guarantee availability by any specific date and shall not be liable for any delays in commencing service to any customer. Q. WHAT IS THE CURRENT TARIFF LANGUAGE THAT WILL BE MODIFIED IN THIS FILING? A. The current tariff language is as follows: 2.2.1.A.3. : An application is merely a request for service, and does not bind the Company to serve, except under reasonable conditions, nor does it bind the applicant to take service. 2.2.2: The Company’s obligation to furnish or to continue to furnish service is dependent on its ability to obtain, retain and maintain suitable rights and facilities, and to provide for the installation of those facilities required incident to the furnishing and maintenance of that service. Q. WHAT IS THE LANGUAGE PROPOSED BY U S WEST IN THIS FILING? A. The following language is proposed: 1 2.2.1.A.4.: The Company shall use reasonable efforts to make available services to a customer on or before a particular date, subject to the provisions of and compliance by the customer with the regulations contained in this Tariff. The Company does not guarantee availability by any such date and shall not be liable for any delays in commencing service to any customer. 2.2.2.B.: The furnishing of service under this Tariff is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s existing or planned facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers, from time to time, to furnish service as required at the sole discretion of the Company. 2.2.2.C.: The Company reserves the right to limit or to allocate the use of existing facilities, or of additional facilities offered by the Company when necessary because of lack of facilities or due to some cause beyond the Company’s control. Q. WHAT IS THE INTENT OF THE COMPANY WHEN IT STATES IT “WILL USE REASONABLE EFFORTS TO MAKE AVAILABLE SERVICES TO A CUSTOMER ON OR BEFORE A PARTICULAR DATE, SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF AND COMPLIANCE BY THE CUSTOMER WITH THE REGULATIONS CONTAINED IN THE COMPANY’S TARIFF.”? A. The Company intends to make available services to a customer on or before a particular date, typically the date requested by the customer, where it: Has existing facilities and/or available capacity to easily add facilities. The customer satisfies the provisions of and is in compliance with the regulations contained in the Company’s tariff. Q. WILL THE COMPANY MAKE AVAILABLE SERVICES WHERE IS DOES NOT HAVE EXISTING FACILITIES OR WHERE IT CANNOT EASILY ADD FACILITIES TO EXISTING CAPACITY? A. The Company will make available services where it does not have existing facilities or existing capacity to add facilities when the Company has an existing plan to add additional capacity in the near future or where it makes business sense to do so. Service availability will not occur by a specified date; customers will be advised once such services are available. Q. HOW OFTEN DOES THE COMPANY RECEIVE A REQUEST FOR SERVICE THAT IT CANNOT SATISFY DUE TO THE LACK OF FACILITIES ? A. U S WEST rarely receives an order that it cannot complete due to a lack of facilities. Over the last seven months, the Company generally has had an average of 237 orders each month The 237 order average each month includes orders averaged for the prior month; in other words it is a rolling average. it cannot satisfy due to a lack of facilities or planned facilities. This represents .4% of total annual facility-based orders received by the Company. Q. HOW MANY OF THE 237 ORDERS ARE FOR PRIMARY SERVICE? A. About 33% or 77 of the 237 orders are for primary or initial service. 67% or 159 orders are for additional lines. Q. HOW MANY OF THE 237 ORDERS ARE WITHIN THE BASE RATE AREA? A. About 97% or 230 of the 237 orders are within the base rate area, which is generally the exchange boundary or the area of highest population density within an exchange. Q. WHY DOES THE COMPANY ON OCCASION LACK FACILITIES WITHIN THE BASE RATE AREA? A. The Company may not have facilities to fulfill any given order in the base rate area due to the dynamic changes that are occurring in the telecommunications marketplace and the nature of the market in Washington. When facilities were originally installed, it was common for most households to subscribe to only one line. With the advent of work-at-home, electronic messaging and Internet access, many homes now subscribe to more than one line and some require as many as six to ten lines. This has created a strain on the original network architectural design and has limited the number of available facilities to provide service upon demand. It is next to impossible to determine which homes will have subscribers that require six lines verses only one line. The nature of the market also contributes to the occasional lack of available facilities in the base rate area. U S WEST currently serves over 1.7 million customers and processes over 500,000 orders annually for facility-based service. The orders are for customers who move from one address to another, who are new to the state or who require additional lines. However, U S WEST’s net access line growth is only 3-5% annually or about 60,000 additional lines. This data illustrates that nine out of ten orders are not for purely new service but for customers who move frequently from one location to another within Washington. As customers move from one location to another, the home with six lines may require only one line to meet the needs of the new occupant. However, the opposite occurs as well - the home with one line now is occupied by a family that requires five lines. This demand fluctuation also creates a facilities shortage - most typically in the base rate area. Q. DO YOU EXPECT THE NUMBER OF ORDERS THAT CANNOT BE COMPLETED DUE TO A LACK OF FACILITIES TO CHANGE IN THE NEAR FUTURE? A. Yes. The demand for unbundled loops by new telecommunications providers may contribute to greater shortages of available U S WEST facilities because in a multiple carrier environment the level of and location of demand for facilities becomes even more unpredictable. Q. HOW MANY ORDERS DOES U S WEST GENERALLY COMPLETE EACH MONTH FOR BASIC EXCHANGE SERVICE (ACCESS LINES)? A. On average, 52,750 orders are completed by U S WEST each month. In the first seven months of 1997, U S WEST received 369,251 orders for facility based service. Over 95% of the orders were completed within five business days and 99.6% were completed within ninety days. Q. WHAT IS THE INTENT OF THE COMPANY WHEN IT STATES IT “ DOES NOT GUARANTEE AVAILABILITY BY ANY SPECIFIC DATE AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DELAYS IN COMMENCING SERVICE TO ANY CUSTOMER.”? A. The Company will not guarantee availability by a specific date when it does not have available facilities over which it can make service available. The Company will attempt to advise customers of when such facilities may be available where it has an existing plan to add additional capacity in the near future. However, the Company will not commit to service availability by a specific date and will not be liable if the projected date of availability is not met. As just one of many carriers providing local service in Washington, U S WEST alone cannot be liable to provide service on demand in every instance, without regard to the reality that facilities don’t exist in every instance, and cannot economically be provided, or that in some cases required permits and rights of way cannot be obtained on a timely basis. Q. WHAT IS THE INTENT OF THE COMPANY WHEN IT STATES IT “ WILL UTILIZE THE FACILITIES OF OTHER CARRIERS TO PROVIDE SERVICE IN WASHINGTON”? A. The Company plans to lease service from other registered Washington telecommunication providers, particularly where it has limited or no available facilities. Q. DOES THE PROPOSED TARIFF LANGUAGE INTERPRET OR LIMIT THE APPLICATION OF RCW 80.36.090 AS SUGGESTED BY THE COMMISSION STAFF MEMORANDUM DATED JANUARY 22, 1997? A. No it does not. In fact the Commission has routinely accepted this tariff language for all other carriers providing service in the geography served by U S WEST. The staff has not suggested how a demand that just one carrier be held to furnish facilities on demand in all cases can be squared with both state law and the Federal Act of 1996. Q. WHAT OTHER WASHINGTON TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS HAVE APPROVED TARIFFS/PRICE LISTS THAT INCLUDE THIS SAME TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. MCImetro Access Transmission Services, Inc., NextLink, TCG, and GST Lightwave, Inc. have approved tariffs/price lists that mirror the tariff language proposed by U S WEST. The only exception to this is that some of the tariffs/price lists also include language that designates the type of technology over which the carriers facilities are provided, making the tariff/price list more restrictive than U S WEST’s proposal. Q. WHAT DOES THE MCIMETRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES, INC. TARIFF STATE? A. The MCImetro Access Transmission Services, Inc. WN U-2 tariff, Original Sheet No. 13, states: 2.1.2.1 The Company reserves the right to limit or allocate the use of existing facilities, or of additional facilities offered by the Company when necessary because of lack of facilities or due to some other cause beyond the Company’s control. 2.1.2.2 The furnishing of service under this tariff is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s fiber optic cable facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers, from time to time, to furnish service as required at the sole discretion of the Company. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was January 1, 1996. Q. WHAT DOES THE TCG SEATTLE PRICE LIST STATE? A. The TCG Seattle price list, Original Price Sheet 20, states: 2.12.2 The furnishing of service under this price sheet is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company's facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers to furnish service from time to time as required at the sole discretion of the Company. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS PRICE LIST LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this price list language was July 26, 1995. . Q. WHAT DOES THE NEXTLINK TARIFF STATE? A. The Nextlink WN U-2 tariff, Original Page 14, states: 2.1.2.1 The Company reserves the right to limit or allocate the use of existing facilities, or of additional facilities offered by the Company when necessary because of lack of facilities or due to some other cause beyond the Company’s control. 2.1.2.2 The furnishing of service under this tariff is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s fiber optic cable facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers, from time to time, to furnish service as required at the sole discretion of the Company. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was July 4, 1996. Q. WHAT DOES THE GST LIGHTWAVE (WA), INC. TARIFF STATE? A. The GST Lightwave (WA.) Inc. WN U-1 tariff, Original Page 2-49, states: 2.27 The furnishing of service under this price list is subject to the availability of a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers to furnish service from time to time as required at the sole discretion of the Company. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was April 11, 1996. Q. WHAT OTHER WASHINGTON TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS HAVE APPROVED TARIFFS THAT INCLUDE SIMILAR TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. Electric Lightwave, International Telcom, LTD, Cable Plus Company, L.P., Winstar Wireless of Washington, MIDCOM Communications, WorldCom Technologies, Inc. (formerly MFS Intelenet of Wa., Inc.), Metropolitan Fiber Systems of Seatttle, Inc., AT&T Communications of the Pacific Northwest, Inc. and Citizens Telecommunications Company have approved tariffs with tariff language that is similar to that proposed by U S WEST Q. WHAT DOES THE INTERNATIONAL TELCOM, LTD TARIFF STATE? A. The International Telcom, LTD WN U-2 tariff, Original Sheet No.10 states: 5.1.1.3 Limitation Of Service. Service is offered subject to the availability of the necessary facilities and/or equipment and subject to the provisions of this tariff. The Carrier reserves the right not to provide service to or from a location where the necessary facilities or equipment are not available. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was June 15, 1996. Q. WHAT DOES THE CABLE PLUS COMPANY, L.P. TARIFF STATE? A. The Cable Plus Company, L.P. WN U-1 tariff, Original Tariff Sheet No. 7 states: 2.2 Service is offered subject to the availability of necessary Facilities and subject to the provisions of this Tariff. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was September 16, 1996. Q. WHAT DOES THE WINSTAR WIRELESS OF WASHINGTON, INC. TARIFF STATE? A. The WinStar Wireless of Washington, Inc. WN-U-1 tariff, First Revised Sheet No. 9 states: 2.1.2 The Carrier reserves the right to limit or to allocate the use of existing facilities or additional facilities offered by the Carrier, when necessary, because of a lack of facilities or due to any other cause beyond the Carrier’s control. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was October 29, 1995. Q. WHAT DOES THE MIDCOM COMMUNICATIONS TARIFF STATE? A. The MIDCOM Communications WUTC No. 1 Telephone tariff, Original Page No. 31 states: 2.1.1 Obligation of the Company In furnishing facilities and service, the Company does not undertake to transmit messages, but furnishes the use of its facilities to its Customers for communications. The Services are offered subject to the availability of facilities and under the terms and conditions contained in this Tariff. The Company’s obligation to furnish facilities and service is dependent upon its ability (a) to obtain, retain and maintain without unreasonable expense access to suitable facilities, including service arrangements with underlying carriers; (b) to secure and retain, without unreasonable expense, suitable space for its plant and facilities in the building where service is or will be provided to the Customer; or (c) to secure reimbursement of all costs where the owner or operator of a building demands relocation or rearrangement of plant and facilities used in providing service therein, and is subject to transmission, atmospheric and like limitations. The Services may be temporarily refused or limited due to limitations in system capacity or to other circumstances beyond the Company’s control. The Services may be temporarily interrupted or curtailed due to equipment modifications, upgrades, relocations, repairs, or similar activities necessary for the proper or improved operation of the Services. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was November 18, 1996. Q. WHAT DOES THE WORLDCOM TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (FORMERLY MFS INTELNET OF WA, INC.) TARIFF STATE? A. The WorldCom Technologies, Inc. (Formerly MFS Intelnet of WA, Inc.) WN U-2 tariff, Section 2, 1st Revised Sheet 1 states: 2.1.2 Shortage of Equipment or Facilities The Company reserves the right to limit or to allocate the use of existing facilities, or of additional facilities offered by the Company, when necessary because of lack of facilities, or due to some other cause beyond the Company’s control. The furnishing of service under this tariff is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers to furnish service from time to time as required at the sole discretion of the Company. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was September 12, 1997. Q. WHAT DOES THE METROPOLITAN FIBER SYSTEMS OF SEATTLE, INC. TARIFF STATE? A. The Metropolitan Fiber Systems of Seattle, Inc., WN U-1 tariff, Original Sheet No. 11 states: 2.1.2 Shortage of Equipment or Facilities 2.1.2.1 The Company reserves the right to limit or to allocate the use of existing facilities, or of additional facilities offered by the Company, when necessary because of lack of facilities or due to some other cause beyond the Company’s control. 2.1.2.2. The furnishing of service under this tariff is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s fiber optic cable facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers to furnish service from time to time as required at the sole discretion of the Company. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was February 14, 1994. Q. WHAT DOES THE AT&T COMMUNICATIONS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, INC. WASHINGTON PRICE LIST STATE? A. The AT&T Communications of the Pacific Northwest, Inc. Washington Local Exchange Services, Price List, Schedule 7, Section 2, Page 3, Release 1 states: 2.1.5. Shortage of Equipment or Facilities The Company reserves the right to limit or to allocate the use of existing facilities or additional facilities offered by the Company when necessary because of lack of facilities or due to some other cause beyond the Company’s control. The furnishing of service under this price list is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers to furnish service from time to time as required at the sole discretion of the Company. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS PRICE LIST LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this price list language was September 2, 1997. Q. WHAT DOES THE CITIZENS TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY (DBA CITIZENS TELECOM) TARIFF STATE? A. The Citizens Telecommunications Company WN U-3 tariff, Original Sheet 8, B., second paragraph states: Provision of service under this tariff is subject to the availability, on a continuing basis, of the required plant and facilities, and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s plant and facilities, as well as plant and facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers. Service will be furnished at the discretion of the Company. The procedure which will be followed by the Company in rendering service is set forth in Section 2. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TARIFF LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this tariff language was April 11, 1997. Q. WHAT DOES THE ELECTRIC LIGHTWAVE, INC. WASHINGTON PRICE LIST STATE? A. The Electric Lightwave, Inc. Washington Price List, 1st revised page 19 states: 2.3 Shortage of Equipment or Facilities The Company reserves the right to limit or to allocate the use of its existing and future facilities when necessary because of a lack of facilities or due to any cause beyond the Company’s control. The furnishing of service under this price list is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all facilities necessary to provide the service. Services will be provided using the Company’s fiber optic and other facilities as well as facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers. Q. WHAT WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS PRICE LIST LANGUAGE? A. The effective date of this price list language was December 2, 1996. Q. ARE THERE PENDING CARRIER APPLICATIONS THAT INCLUDE TARIFFS WITH LANGUAGE SIMILAR TO THAT ABOVE? A. Yes. Group Long Distance, Inc, U S ONE Communications Services Corp., and LCI International Telcom, Corp. have illustrative tariff language similar to that addressed above. Q. WHAT DOES THE GROUP LONG DISTANCE, INC (GLD) ILLUSTRATIVE TARIFF STATE? A. The Group Long Distance, Inc. (GLD) WN U-2 tariff, Original Sheet 12 states: 2.1 Undertaking of the Company 2.1.2 Shortage of Equipment or Facilities The furnishing of service under this tariff is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s facilities as well as the facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers to furnish service from time to time as required at the sole discretion of the Company. And Original Sheet 13 states: 2.1.4 Liability of the Company 2.1.4.1 Service is offered subject to the availability of the necessary facilities and subject to the provisions of this tariff. The obligation of the Company to provide service is dependent upon its ability to procure, construct, and maintain facilities which are required to meet the Customer’s order for service. The Company will make all reasonable efforts to secure the necessary facilities, providing such new service will not adversely affect the Company’s present services. Q. WHAT DOES THE U S ONE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES CORP. ILLUSTRATIVE TARIFF STATE? A. The U S ONE Communications Services Corp. WN U-1 tariff, Original Sheet No. 8 states: 2.2.2 The furnishing of service under this Tariff is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s facilities as well as facilities the company may obtain from other carriers, from time to time, to furnish as required at the sole discretion of the company. Q. WHAT DOES THE LCI INTERNATIONAL TELCOM, CORP. ILLUSTRATIVE TARIFF STATE? A. The LCI International Telcom, Corp. Tariff P.S.C. No. - Telephone tariff states: Section 2 - Regulations 2.1.2 Shortage of Equipment or Facilities The furnishing of service under this tariff is subject to the availability on a continuing basis of all the necessary facilities and is limited to the capacity of the Company’s facilities as well as the facilities the Company may obtain from other carriers to furnish service from time to time as required at the sole discretion of the Company. Q. HAVE ANY OF THESE TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS CHANGED THEIR TARIFF PROVISIONS CONCERNING THEIR OBLIGATION TO SERVE SINCE U S WEST FILED THE TARIFF AT ISSUE IN THIS PROCEEDING? A. No they have not. Q. DOES THE PROPOSED U S WEST TARIFF LANGUAGE CONFLICT WITH THE FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT? A. No, it does not. In fact, the Federal Act requires that no carrier be subjected to a competitive disadvantage by State rules designed to preserve and advance universal service. Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, Section 253(b). U S WEST would be subjected to a competitive disadvantage if it alone is expected to build facilities on demand, especially where that investment would be uneconomic. Universal service is an important public policy goal. However there is no mechanism in place or even reasonably in prospect for U S WEST to gain funding for uneconomic investment undertaken to assure everyone has as much service as desired, on demand. It must clarify its tariffs, as all other carriers have done, to remove any inference that it will build facilities to meet any order. That in fact was never the historic practice, and is certainly not appropriate in today’s competitive environment. Q. DOES THIS FILING CHANGE A RATE OR CHARGES FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE? A. No, it does not. Q. DOES THIS CONCLUDE YOUR TESTIMONY? A. Yes it does.