California Public Utilities Commission Decision on Carriers' Confidentiality Claims

Strategic Insights -

The California Public Utilities Commission issued a decision addressing Pacific Bell Telephone Company (dba AT&T California) and Frontier California, Inc.'s (formerly Verizon California, Inc.) confidentiality claims related to information submitted as part of the Network Study ordered in Decision 13-02-023 and affirmed in Decision 15-08-041. The study focused on examining the telecommunications network infrastructure, facilities, policies, and practices of AT&T California and Frontier California, with the results informing future Commission action.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Commission found that the Network Report should be made public, except for certain information that could pose a security risk, and directed staff to redact the portions of the report containing confidential information.
  • The carriers' claims of confidentiality were found to be overly general and failed to adequately set forth legal and factual grounds justifying confidential treatment of the information.
  • The Network Study was conducted by Economics and Technology, Inc. (ETI), an independent consultant, and relied on eight categories of information, including reports and raw data submitted by the carriers, information obtained from public sources, and data from site visits.
  • The report consists of 584 pages and covers topics such as customer trouble reports, carrier responses, photographs of equipment, and annual financial reports.
  • The Commission's Communications Division staff reviewed the carriers' confidentiality declarations and concluded that they did not adequately justify confidential treatment of the information.
  • The Assigned Commissioner's Ruling required the carriers to file and serve statements substantiating their confidentiality claims, which they failed to do.
  • The Network Study was initiated in 2011 to assess the reliability of the public communications network and develop recommendations for improvement.

Statistics:

  • 584 pages: The length of the Network Report.
  • 8 categories of information: The types of information relied upon by ETI in producing the Network Report.
  • 2 carriers: AT&T California and Frontier California, Inc.
  • 2 decisions: Decision 13-02-023 and Decision 15-08-041, which ordered the Network Study and affirmed the Commission's authority to regulate telecommunications providers.
  • 1 independent consultant: Economics and Technology, Inc. (ETI), which conducted the Network Study.
  • 1 report: The Network Report, which consists of 12 chapters.
  • 1 year: 2019, when the Network Study was completed.
  • 1 month: April 2019, when ETI produced the Network Report.
  • 1 assigned commissioner's ruling: August 16, 2019, which required the carriers to substantiate their confidentiality claims.

Sources:

  • D.13-02-023: California Public Utilities Commission Decision Ordering the Network Study.
  • D.15-08-041: California Public Utilities Commission Decision Affirming the Commission's Authority to Regulate Telecommunications Providers.
  • Rulemaking (R.) 11-12-001: Order Instituting Rulemaking to Evaluate Telecommunications Corporations Service Quality Performance and Consider Modification to Service Quality Rules.
  • Assigned Commissioner's Scoping Memo and Ruling, filed December 1, 2011 in R.11-12-001: ACR requiring the carriers to substantiate their confidentiality claims.
  • https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M353/K500/353500761.PDF: The complete text of the Assigned Commissioner's Ruling.