Tex. PUC said SBC/Southwestern Bell and other incumbent telcos mu...
Tex. PUC said SBC/Southwestern Bell and other incumbent telcos must continue to offer unbundled local switching as stand-alone unbundled network element (UNE) and as element in UNE platforms regardless of whether FCC retains local switching as national UNE. PUC…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
also indicated it might open review of SBC’s UNE rates. Ruling came on petition by group of CLECs and CLEC trade groups seeking order to keep unbundled local switching as state UNE. FCC in its current triennial review of national unbundling requirements is considering dropping unbundled switching from list of mandatory UNEs incumbent telcos must offer (see separate story). If that happened, and PUC hadn’t acted, SBC under Tex. rules could have withdrawn unbundled local switching 60 days after FCC decision. CLECs said such withdrawal would impair their ability to enter local markets. After PUC’s vote, CLEC interests said they hoped FCC and other states considering future of unbundled local switching would heed PUC’s action and its impact on preservation of competitive telecom choice.