Minn. PUC administrative law judge agreed to reopen evidentiary r...

Minn. PUC administrative law judge agreed to reopen evidentiary record in PUC investigation of charges that Qwest failed to file with agency allegedly preferential agreements it made with selected CLECs. ALJ Allen Kline granted motion by plaintiff, Minn. Dept. of Commerce, for inclusion in record of additional Qwest-CLEC agreements that came to light after Commerce filed its complaint against Qwest dealmaking in Feb. Commerce Dept. said substance of new agreements differed significantly from those already in case record and would shed further light on matters at issue. Motion didn’t go into details about CLEC names or agreements’ terms. With new evidence to be filed, ALJ suspended rest of briefing schedule and said new schedule would be set soon (Case P- 421/C-02-197). Iowa regulators last week concluded Qwest had violated federal and state laws by failing to file CLEC agreements that made significant amendments in interconnection agreements (CD June 3).