083838P.pdf   12/29/2009  Qwest Corporation  v.  Anne Boyle
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  08-3838
   District of Nebraska - Omaha   
   [PUBLISHED] [Gruender, Author, with Hansen and Riley, Circuit Judges]
   Civil case - Telecommunications Act of 1996. Because the deaveraging
   method used by the Nebraska Public Service Commission in resetting
   rates to address competitive imbalances in certain zones of phone
   coverage did not nullify the results of three cost studies the Commission
   had used in previous rate setting, a new cost study was not required;
   Commission's adoption of the deaveraging method proposed by its staff
   was not arbitrary or capricious and did not violate the relevant federal
   regulation; claim that the order violated federal law because the rates its
   sets will undermine facilities-based competition in Nebraska is rejected;
   although the Commission's order could have been more detailed, the
   order shows the Commission engaged in rational decision making that
   was not arbitrary and capricious; with respect to Qwest's claim that the
   order is unworkable because there is no reliable method to delineate the
   boundaries between in-town and out-of-town areas, a key element of the
   order, the Commission has invited the court to remand the matter for
   further proceedings on implementation, and the matter is remanded for
   the limited purpose of settling on a workable method of implementation;
   however, the court specifically rejects Qwest's argument that there is no
   reliable method of making a distinction between areas. Judge Hansen
   concurs in the judgment.