Qwest Corp. v. New Mexico Public Regulation Commission

OPINION

SERNA, Justice.

{1} The Public Regulation Commission (the PRC) regulates all telecommunication carriers in New Mexico. Pursuant to this authority, the PRC approved a five-year alternative form of regulation (AFOR) plan for Qwest Corporation, one such carrier. Qwest, PRC staff and other parties actively negotiated and endorsed the AFOR plan. During the plan’s third year, the PRC investigated whether Qwest was in compliance with a key component of the AFOR plan: a commitment by Qwest to invest $788 million in its New Mexico telecommunications infrastructure. The PRC found Qwest was not in…