(1) A complaint will commence a proceeding
under
220 CMR 45.00. Complainants
may join together to file a joint complaint.
(2) Every complaint shall conform to the
requirements specified in
207 CMR 1.04(1)(b)
and
220 CMR 1.04(1)(b)
and shall be accompanied by certification of
service on any utility, licensee, or party named as complainant or respondent.
The complaint shall also contain the following:
(a) a copy of the attachment agreement, if
any, between the licensee and the utility. If no attachment agreement exists,
the petition shall contain:
1. a statement
that the utility uses or controls, in whole or in part, those poles, ducts,
conduits, or rights-of-way at issue which are used or designated for
attachments;
2. a statement that
the licensee currently has attachments on the utility's poles, ducts, conduits,
or rights-of-way or has requested that attachments be placed on the utility's
poles, ducts, conduits, or rights-of-way;
(b) the specific attachment rate, term or
condition which is claimed to be unjust or unreasonable;
(c) in any case where it is claimed that a
term or condition is unjust or unreasonable, the complaint shall specify all
information and argument relied upon to justify said claim;
(d) in any case where it is claimed that a
rate is unjust or unreasonable, or that a term or condition requires review of
the associated rate, the data, information and argument in support of said
claim shall include, but not be limited to, the following, where applicable and
available to the complainant:
1. the gross
investment by the utility for the pole lines;
2. the investment by the utility in
appurtenances not used by or useful to the licensee. This may be expressed as a
percentage of the gross pole investment, and shall include a list of specific
appurtenances considered not used or useful;
3. the depreciation reserve for the gross
pole line investment;
4. the total
number of poles (A) owned; and (B) controlled or used by the utility;
5. the total number of poles which are the
subject of the complaint;
6. the
annual carrying charges attributable to the cost of owning a pole, and the
specific factors used in the determination of these charges. Annual carrying
charges may be expressed as a percentage of net pole investment;
7. the average amount of useable space per
pole for those poles used for pole attachments; and
8. the reimbursements received from the
licensee for non-recurring costs.
Data and information should be based on historical or original
cost methodology, to the extent possible. Data should be derived from publicly
available reports filed with the Department of Telecommunications and Cable,
the Department of Public Utilities, the Federal Communications Commission, the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's Form No. 1, or other reports filed with state or regulatory
agencies. The source of any data shall be identified. Calculations made in
connection with these figures should be provided to the complainant upon
request, as should the computation of any rate determined by using the formula
adopted for calculating reasonable attachments rates in
Massachusetts;
(e) In addition to meeting the other
requirements of 220 CMR 45.04, in any case where it is claimed that a
complainant has been improperly denied access to a pole, duct, conduit,
right-of-way, owned or controlled, in whole or in part, by one or more
utilities, the complaint shall include the data and information necessary to
support the claim, including:
1. The reasons
given for the denial of access to the poles, ducts, conduits, and
rights-of-way, owned or controlled, in whole or in part, by one or more
utilities;
2. The basis for the
complainant's claim that the denial of access is improper;
3. The remedy sought by the
complainant;
4. A copy of the
written request to the utility for access to its poles, ducts, conduits or
rights-of-way; and
5. A copy of the
utility's response to the complainant's written request, including all
information given by the utility to support its denial of access. A complaint
alleging improper denial of access will not be dismissed if the complainant is
unable to obtain a utility's written response;
(f) a statement that the utility and licensee
have been unable to agree and a brief summary, including dates, of all steps
taken to resolve the problem prior to filing. If no such steps were taken, the
complainant shall state the reason(s) why;
(g) any other information and arguments
relied upon to attempt to establish that a rate, term or condition is not
reasonable; and
(h) a statement
that the complainant requests that a hearing be convened pursuant to
207 CMR 1.06:
Hearings and
220 CMR 1.06:
Hearings or that it waives its right to a formal
hearing.
(3) Where the
attachments involve ducts, conduits or rights-of-ways, appropriate data and
information, equivalent to that required by 220 CMR 45.04(2), shall be
filed.
(4) All factual allegations
set forth in the complaint shall be supported by affidavit(s).
