DS 98-204
                                
                        HARVARDNET, INC.
                                
                  Petition for CLEC Authority
                                
          Order Granting Motion for Protective Order 
                                
                   O R D E R  N O.  23,093  
                                
                             December 21, 1998
       On November 25, 1998, HarvardNet, Inc. (HarvardNet),
     filed with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission
     (Commission) a petition for a Certificate of Public Convenience
     and Necessity Pursuant to N.H. Admin. Rules Puc 1304, seeking
     authority to provide telecommunications service in New Hampshire
     as a facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC).  
     In support of the filing, on December 9, 1998, HarvardNet filed
     its current balance sheet and income statement.  On the same date
     HarvardNet filed a Motion for Confidential Treatment seeking to
     exempt the balance sheet and income statement from disclosure,
     pursuant to RSA 91-A and N.H. Admin. Rule Puc 204.06.  
       Pursuant to Puc 204.05(b), documents submitted to the
     Commission or Commission Staff accompanied by a motion for
     confidentiality are protected as provided in 204.06(d) until the
     Commission rules on the Motion for Confidential Treatment.
       In its motion, HarvardNet states that the balance sheet
     and income statement constitute competitively sensitive
     information (Confidential Information), the release of which
     would cause harm to the Company's business interest, that is,
     within the "confidential, commercial or financial information"
     exemptions from disclosure set forth in RSA 91-A:5,IV and N.H.
     Admin. Rules, Puc 204.06.  HarvardNet avers that the Confidential
     Information is regularly protected from disclosure or
     dissemination in the company's ordinary course of business and is
     not generally in the public knowledge or published elsewhere.   
       We find that the Information provided in the filing
     contains confidential information that meets the requirements of
     N.H. Admin. Rule Puc 204.06 (b) and (c).  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); Re Bell Atlantic, DE 97-171 (SGAT) 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 HarvardNet of non-disclosure in this case outweigh the
     benefits to the public of disclosure.  The Confidential
     Information should be exempt from public disclosure pursuant to
     RSA 91-A:5,IV and N.H. Admin. Rule 204.06.  
       Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby
       ORDERED, that HarvardNet's Motion for Confidential
     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 twenty-first day of December, 1998.
     
     
                                                                           
            Douglas L. Patch       Susan S. Geiger        Nancy Brockway
                Chairman             Commissioner          Commissioner
     
     
     Attested by:
     
     
                                      
     Thomas B. Getz
     Executive Director and Secretary