Minn. PUC hearing officer recommended Qwest be punished for viola...

CLECs. Administrative Law Judge Allan Klein’s recommendation said penalties would be in order because Qwest had offered special deals to favored few partly to quell dissent at hearings on its request for PUC support of its Sec. 271 long distance entry bid. He suggested PUC had opportunity to be “creative in fashioning a remedy” that could be tied to Qwest’s Sec. 271 petition. Klein didn’t suggest specific penalties. PUC could fine Qwest up to $10,000 per violation per day and impose nonfinancial conditions to close case. ALJ said unfiled agreements or amendments affected compensation, service quality and other terms and conditions for interconnection, UNEs, resale, rights-of-way, numbering. Minn. Dept. of Commerce, which filed original complaint alleging secret Qwest-CLEC deals in Feb., said ALJ’s recommendation “captured Qwest’s lack of respect for the regulatory process” and reflected economic harm to competition because of unfiled deals. State Commerce Dept. said it would ask for maximum financial penalty, which would reach $50 million, plus nonfinancial remedies that could include functional or structural separation of carrier’s wholesale operation. Qwest said ALJ’s recommendation was wrong and should be rejected by PUC. It said filing obligations are “unsettled area of federal law” that ultimately must be decided by FCC, not state ALJ. Carrier also faulted process, saying author of key testimony against it didn’t appear at ALJ hearings and therefore couldn’t be cross-examined. ALJ’s recommendation isn’t final word on matter. Parties over next 3 weeks will file exceptions to recommendations, with PUC tentatively planning Oct. 24 vote on case. If PUC voted to convict, it likely would set separate proceeding to fix penalty. AT&T, which has complaints pending in other Qwest states alleging secret Qwest deals with CLECs, said it hoped Minn. ALJ’s recommendation would spur other states to scrutinize situation more carefully.