VERIZON, PENNSYLVANIA COMMISSION TAKE THE TALKING CURE

摘要

Verizon and Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission used workshops to avoid stalemate on disputed recommendations that came out of a Network Modernization Plan audit of Verizon's operations in the state. A report on the resolution process was accepted Feb. 5, the commission said. The audit, which reflected Verizon's 2005-2006 modernization commitments, led to 23 recommendations for revamping Verizon's modernization plan. The company and the commission disagreed on 10. In September, the regulator gave its staff and Verizon until February to come to terms and set standards for Verizon's broadband provisioning. In the workshops, held October through January, Verizon won six of the 10 disputes. The PUC got its way on three. The sides compromised on the other one. nnThe most complex debate involved how much the company's reports on broadband availability should reflect orders not fulfilled within the time called for, and whether updates should offer more detail about on-time provisioning of orders and calculate times for outliers. The negotiators compromised. Workshops are a tool that the commission sometimes uses to resolve disputes with business, said its press secretary, Jennifer Kocher. In addition to resolving disputes, the negotiators set benchmarks for the reporting period through Verizon's ninth report, due in June 2013. They agreed to wait until late 2012 to set provisioning benchmarks for 2014 and 2015, using data that emerge as Verizon rolls out its FiOS service. The commission is to publish results of that workshop, including proposed agreements, before 2013.