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FCC is seeking comments on request last month by WorldNet Telecom...

FCC is seeking comments on request last month by WorldNet Telecommunications that agency reopen Bell Atlantic-GTE merger conditions to examine certain questions. In Feb. 12 letter, WorldNet asked Commission to reopen merger docket to: (1) Determine, in response to…

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recent U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., ruling in Assn. of Communications Enterprises (ASCENT) v. FCC that separate advanced services affiliates of Verizon were subject to all obligations of Sec. 251(c) of Communications Act. (2) Expand applicability of merger conditions “so that they are applicable to Puerto Rico Telephone Co.,” which is controlled by Verizon and ILEC in P.R. Comments are due April 25, replies May 10. In Jan. decision (CD Jan 10 p1), D.C. Circuit rejected SBC’s advanced services subsidiary, essentially overturning trade-off FCC had made with SBC in which agency had allowed company to provide advanced services free of interconnection requirements if it formed separate affiliate to provide those services. In SBC case, court held that FCC didn’t have authority to forgo interconnection requirements of Sec. 251(c) just because SBC was offering advanced, not basic, services and using separate subsidiary. Questions raised by ruling at that time included potential impact on Verizon (CD Jan 11 p1).