ORDER NO. 97-464

ENTERED DEC 02 1997

This is an electronic copy.

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION

OF OREGON

UM 867

DISPOSITION: PLAN ACCEPTED FOR FILING; FINAL PLAN REQUIRED BY DECEMBER 31, 1997.

On October 27, 1997, the Commission issued Order No. 97-411, finding U S WEST Communications, Inc. (USWC) in violation of its administrative rules on service quality. The order found that USWC's held order total exceeds the level allowed by OAR 860-023-0055(2)(d). The order concluded that the rule allowed USWC up to 154 held orders. As of August 1997, USWC had 722 held orders. The Commission ordered USWC to submit a written report showing why it is not in compliance with the rule. The Commission's also ordered USWC to present a plan for bringing its operations into compliance with the rule.

On November 26, 1997, U S WEST Communications, Inc. filed its report and plan. USWC proposes to bring its operations into compliance with the rule by the end of the third quarter 1999 and remain in compliance thereafter. The report does not propose details of the plan. Instead, USWC proposes that the Commission's Staff and the company work in a collaborative process over the next 30 days to finalize details of an agreement. The final plan would include monthly or quarterly targets for held orders. Although not required by the rule, USWC also committed to reduce the number of orders held over 30 days for business and residence primary and business additional lines as part of a final stipulation. Formal review of progress and targets would be completed by November 30, 1998. A copy of USWC's filing is attached to this order as an Appendix.

The Commission has reviewed USWC's report and plan and considers the plan an acceptable first step for USWC in achieving compliance with the rule. We accept USWC's proposal to meet with Staff over the next 30 days to develop a more comprehensive proposal.

Our final approval is contingent upon the company’s willingness to set reasonable monthly and quarterly targets for held orders and to include a formal report to the Commission on the status of its efforts on November 30, 1998. In addition, the final plan should specify that USWC’s performance on other measures of quality, such as trouble reports, will not suffer because of the company’s efforts to bring its held order level into compliance with our rules. Finally, we expect that USWC will be willing to back its written commitment by accepting specific financial consequences for failure to achieve the agreed upon targets.

The conclusion of the show cause phase of this investigation is contingent on our approval of a final plan presented to us by Staff and the company. Absent an acceptable plan, we reserve our ability to determine a course of action that will bring USWC into compliance with our service quality rules.

IT IS ORDERED that:

1. U S WEST Communications, Inc.’s report and order is accepted for filing.

2. The final report shall be due December 31, 1997.

Made, entered, and effective ____________________________.