DE 98-080
DEICA COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Petition for Arbitration
Order Granting Motion for Proprietary Treatment
O R D E R N O. 23,027
September 22, 1998
On May 13, 1998, DEICA Communications, Inc. d/b/a Covad
Communications Company (Covad) filed with the New Hampshire
Public Utilities Commission (Commission), pursuant to 47 U.S.C.
252 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (TAct), a Petition for
Arbitration of an interconnection agreement. On July 29, 1998,
Covad filed a Motion for Confidential Treatment of Covad's List
of Central Office Collocation Sites, pursuant to N.H. Admin. Rule
Puc 204.06. Covad sought concurrence to its motion and indicated
that New England Telephone and Telegraph Company (Bell Atlantic),
the Office of the Consumer Advocate, and the Staff of the
Commission (Staff) do not object.
Pursuant to N.H. Admin. Rule Puc 204.05(b), documents
submitted to the Commission or Commission Staff accompanied by a
motion for confidentiality are not disclosed to the public and
are maintained as provided in N.H. Admin. Rule Puc 204.06(d)
until the Commission acts on the Motion for Confidential
Treatment.
In its motion, Covad states that its list of proposed
central office collocation sites is confidential commercial
information, which is within the exemptions from disclosure
permitted by RSA 91-A:5,IV, as demonstrated by information
submitted pursuant to N.H. Admin. Rule Puc 204.06(b) and (c).
According to Covad, the list is not generally available to the
public and Covad makes efforts to prevent its disclosure. Covad
and Bell Atlantic have a current non-disclosure agreement
restricting Bell Atlantic's ability to use this type of
information. Covad claims that disclosure would give competitors
advance notice of its intended course of business in New
Hampshire, to Covad's disadvantage.
We review Covad's motion by the standards set forth in
Puc 204.06. Insofar as the list of central office collocation
sites contains detailed information which is valuable to
competitors, Covad has demonstrated that the information, if made
public, would likely create a competitive disadvantage, pursuant
to Puc 204.06(c)(1).
Based on the company's representations, under the
balancing test we have applied in prior cases, e.g., Re US WEST
Interprise America, Inc., Order No. 22,642 (July 7, 1997); Re New
England Telephone Company (Auditel), 80 NHPUC 437 (1995); Re Bell
Atlantic, Order No. 22,851 (February 17, 1998); Re EnergyNorth
Natural Gas, Inc., Order No. 22,859 (February 24, 1998), we find
that the benefits to Covad of non-disclosure in this case
outweigh the benefits to the public of disclosure. We will,
therefore, grant Covad's Motion for Protective Treatment pursuant
to RSA 91-A:5,IV and N.H. Admin. Rules, Puc 204.06.
Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby
ORDERED, that Covad's Motion for Confidential Treatment
of Exhibit F is granted; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, that this Order is subject to the
ongoing rights of the Commission, on its own motion or on the
motion of Staff, any party or any other member of the public, to
reconsider this Order in light of RSA 91-A, should circumstances
so warrant.
By order of the Public Utilities Commission of New
Hampshire this twenty-second day of September, 1998.
Douglas L. Patch Bruce B. Ellsworth Susan S. Geiger
Chairman Commissioner Commissioner
Attested by:
Thomas B. Getz
Executive Director and Secretary