DR 98-082
BELL ATLANTIC
Special Contract with City of Nashua for Centrex Service
Order Granting Motion for Proprietary Treatment
O R D E R N O. 23,024
September 22, 1998
On May 14, 1998, New England Telephone and Telegraph
Company (Bell Atlantic) filed with the New Hampshire Public
Utilities Commission (Commission), pursuant to RSA 378:18, a
special contract with the City of Nashua for Centrex Services.
By Order No. 22,952, the Commission approved the proposed special
contract. The Commission's order noted that it would rule on
Bell Atlantic's contemporaneously filed Motion for
Confidentiality (Motion) in a separate order.
The Motion seeks to exempt from disclosure certain
terms within the special contract's Appendix B (collectively the
Information). According to Bell Atlantic, the Information
contains information that is within the exemptions from
disclosure set forth in RSA 91-A:5,IV and N.H. Admin. Rules, Puc
204.08 as well as Federal Communications Commission rules and
Section 222(f)of the Communications Act of 1934 which was
incorporated into the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Specifically, the Information identifies the City of Nashua's
chosen service features, pricing and incremental costs, and
contract terms such as special rates and billing details. Bell
Atlantic does not seek to protect either the relevant rates and
charges or the term of years, consistent with recent Commission
orders. Furthermore, citing the Commission's conclusions in
Order No. 21,731 in DR 95-069, Re New England Telephone and
Telegraph Company d.b.a. NYNEX, 80 NH PUC 437 (1995), Bell
Atlantic seeks confidential treatment solely of the incremental
cost data underlying the special contract.
Bell Atlantic's motion states that it regularly seeks
to prevent dissemination of similar confidential information in
the ordinary course of its business. The Motion goes on to
enumerate the measures Bell Atlantic has taken to prevent
dissemination of the Information in the ordinary course of
business. Thus, Bell Atlantic has satisfied the requirements of
Puc 204.06(c)(3). In addition, the Motion provides statements by
which the Commission can conclude that the Information, if made
public, would likely create a competitive disadvantage for Bell
Atlantic 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 New
England Telephone and Telegraph Company d.b.a. NYNEX, supra,; 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), and as required by Puc 204.06(b), we find that the
benefits to Bell Atlantic of non-disclosure in this case outweigh
the benefits to the public of disclosure. We will, therefore,
grant Bell Atlantic's Motion for Protective Treatment pursuant to
RSA 91-A:15, IV and N.H. Admin. Rules, Puc 204.06.
Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby
ORDERED, that Bell Atlantic's Motion for Confidential
Treatment is GRANTED; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, that this Order is subject to the
on-going 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