DR 97-227
BELL ATLANTIC
Amendment to Special Contract with
Cabletron Systems, Inc. for FDDI Service
Order Granting Motion for Proprietary Treatment
O R D E R N O. 22,832
January 12, 1998
On October 22, 1997, New England Telephone and
Telegraph Company, d/b/a Bell Atlantic (Bell Atlantic), filed
with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (Commission),
pursuant to RSA 378:18, an amendment to its special contract with
Cabletron Systems, Inc.(Cabletron) for FDDI Services. In support
of the contract amendment, Bell Atlantic also filed a cost
analysis of the proposal. By Order No. 22,786 (November 17,
1997), the Commission approved the amended special contract but
did not rule on the Motion for Confidential Treatment.
On the same date, Bell Atlantic filed a Motion for
Confidential Treatment to exempt from public disclosure portions
of the amended special contract and supporting materials (the
Information) pursuant to RSA 91-A and N.H. Admin. Rules. A
Supplemental Verified Motion for Proprietary Treatment was filed
on November 21, 1997. Bell Atlantic filed the amended special
contract in redacted form as well as full, unredacted copies.
Pursuant to Puc 204.05(b), the Information is not disclosed to
the public and is maintained as provided in 204.06(d) until the
Commission rules on the Motion for Confidential Treatment.
In its motion, Bell Atlantic states that portions of
the special contract amendment contain customer-specific,
competitively sensitive data that is within the exemptions from
disclosure set forth in RSA 91-A:5,IV and N.H. Admin. Rules, Puc
204.06, including specific component costs, rates and charges for
specific customer locations, opportunities for growth, and system
and engineering features. Bell Atlantic also states that release
of the Information would compromise Cabletron's business plan and
provide Cabletron's competitors with valuable marketing
information, thus giving Cabletron's competitors an unfair
advantage.
Bell Atlantic also states that it regularly seeks to
prevent dissemination of information similar to the subject
Information, as required by Puc 204.06(c). Bell Atlantic's
motion presents facts demonstrating that the Information meets
the requirements of Puc 204.06(c), and is not general public
knowledge or published elsewhere and that measures have been
taken to prevent dissemination in the ordinary course of
business. Specifically, a Bell Atlantic Staff Director attests
that the Information is compiled from internal data bases that
are not publicly available and which are protected from
dissemination either by Bell Atlantic employees or by non-Bell
Atlantic employees.
Recognizing that the Information was critical to the
review of the special contract by the Commission, Staff and the
Office of Consumer Advocate, we also find that the Information
contained in the filing is sensitive commercial information in a
competitive market. Because many of Bell Atlantic's competitors
have no obligation to obtain Commission approval for similar
contracts, the need to protect this Information is evident.
Based on the company's representations, under the balancing test
we have applied in prior cases, e.g.,Re New England Telephone
Company (Auditel), 80 NHPUC 437 (1995), we find that the benefits
to Bell Atlantic of non-disclosure in this case outweigh the
benefits to the public of disclosure.
Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby
ORDERED, that Bell Atlantic's Motion for Proprietary
Treatment 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 twelfth day of January, 1998.
Douglas L. Patch Bruce B. Ellsworth Susan S. Geiger
Chairman Commissioner Commissioner
Attested by:
Thomas B. Getz
Executive Director and Secretary