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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 ) ) ) In the Matter of ) ) U S West Communications, Inc. ) Petition for Waiver of Part 69 of the) Commission's Rules to Provide Addtional ) SONET-Based Switched Access Services ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: February 19, 1998 Released: February 20, 1998 By the Chief, Common Carrier Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. On February 26, 1997, US West Communications, Inc. (US West) filed a petition for waiver of sections 69.110, 69.111, and 69.112 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  69.110-69.112, to permit it to introduce two new rate elements in connection with the use of its Synchronous Service Transport (SST) for switched access service. US West's petition is unopposed. For the reasons stated below, we conclude that good cause exists to grant U S West's petition for waiver. II. US WEST'S PETITION 2. In its petition, US West proposes two new rate elements in connection with the use of its SONET-based Synchronous Service Transport (SST) for switched access service. The two SST rate elements US West seeks to introduce are: (1) OC3c Node; and (2) SST Central Office (CO) Multiplexing. The OC3c Node proposed by US West will be an optional feature of its SST services that provides a concatenated signal with either the multimode or single mode fiber. US West states that the purpose of the OC3c Node is to provide automatic switching from the working fiber pair to the protected fiber pair within the OC3c Node, and to provide a synchronous optical network interface for alarms, performance monitoring, and loop-back testing. US West states that the OC3c Node Single Mode and Multimode options will be available and charged on a per node basis. 3. US West states that the SST CO Multiplexing is an optional feature of SST that provides existing DS1 and DS3 with CO Multiplexing options for utilization with SST. US West states that the DS1 Multiplexing option converts a 1.544 Mbps DS1 channel to 23 or 24 64.0 Kbps DS0 channels. The DS3 Multiplexing option converts a 44.736 Mbps DS3 channel to 28 1.544 Mbps DS1 channels. A new OC3 CO Multiplexing option, specifically for SST, converts an OC3 to 84 1.544 Mbps channels or three 44.736 Mbps channels or any combination of 1.544 Mbps channels and 44.736 Mbps channels. The OC3 CO Multiplexer monthly recurring rate element will be assessed on a per multiplexer basis. 4. In support of its petition, US West argues that it has received customer requests for routing of switched access services over their SST Special Access facilities under US West's tariff regulations for shared use, and that the establishment of these two rate elements would serve the public interest by enabling US West to offer its switched access service customers expanded choices and increased network reliability. Further, US West asserts that granting its petition would allow it to maintain pricing parity between switched and special access transport services, and will allow US West to recover costs in a more efficient manner. III. DISCUSSION 5. Under Section 1.3 of the Commission's rules, we are authorized to grant waivers "if good cause therefor is shown." As interpreted by the courts, this requires that a petitioner demonstrate that "special circumstances warrant a deviation from the general rule and that such a deviation will serve the public interest." 6. The Bureau has previously granted Part 69 waivers to enable carriers to establish new rate elements "that are tailored precisely to their respective services" stating that "the creation of new rate elements would advance the goals of the Commission's access charge regime by enabling the carriers to better match relevant costs and rate elements," thus allowing recovery of costs from the customers using those services. Indeed, the Bureau has granted several Part 69 waivers allowing certain carriers, including US West, to establish new rate elements to recover the costs of their SONET-based switched transport services. Based on detailed descriptions of SONET technology, the Bureau has found that the existing transport rules do not reflect the manner in which SONET-based switched transport costs are incurred and that precluding LECs from recovering costs in a manner that reflects the way those costs are incurred may result in one group of transport customers paying costs incurred to serve other transport customers. Accordingly, the Bureau has concluded, in some cases, that special circumstances exist to justify granting a waiver to create new SONET-based transport rate elements. 7. For the same reasons, we conclude that good cause exists to grant US West's request for waiver of Part 69 to establish its OC3c Node and SST CO Multiplexing rate elements. Our existing Part 69 transport rate elements do not include rate elements that reflect the costs of US West's SONET-based transport service. Granting US West's petition to establish these two new rate elements will allow US West to respond to customer requests to route switched access services over their SST special access facilities using a rate structure that more accurately reflects the way in which the costs of providing that service are incurred, resulting in more efficient use of US West's existing network resources. Accordingly, we grant US West's petition to waive Part 69 of the Commission's rules to establish its OC3c Node and SST CO Multiplexing rate elements. III. ORDERING CLAUSE 8. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 1.3 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.3, the petition for waiver field by U S West IS GRANTED. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION A. Richard Metzger, Jr. Chief, Common Carrier Bureau