WorldCom appealed FCC’s order giving SBC Sec. 271 approval to enter long distance markets in Kan. and Okla. (CD Jan. 23 p2). WorldCom spokeswoman said company filed Wed. with U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., on ground that SBC wasn’t providing competitors with “nondiscriminatory access” to its local network as required by Sec. 271 checklist. Specifically, SBC doesn’t offer cost-based pricing for network elements in violation of Telecom Act, she said. This is first time WorldCom has appealed any Sec. 271 order. AT&T and Sprint also filed notice of appeal. AT&T spokesman said company “believes strongly that the FCC didn’t apply its own rules correctly or explain its decision adequately” in approving SBC entry in Kan. and “particularly Okla.” AT&T said Kan.-Okla. case offered “far more productive examination” of issues than FCC’s earlier action approving entry in Tex. Therefore, AT&T said, it had withdrawn earlier appeal of FCC’s Tex. decision.
FCC completed auction of 8 licenses in 700 MHz guard band, raising total of $20.96 million. Pegasus Guard Band won licenses in American Samoa, Guam and Pittsburgh, and Nextel Spectrum Acquisition in Columbus, O., Hawaii, Oklahoma City. Access Spectrum, separate guard band bidding unit created by Industrial Telecom Assn., Motorola and others, won licenses in Little Rock and Omaha. Down payments are due March 8. Licenses were put up for bid after they weren’t sold in original 700 MHz guard band auction held by FCC in Sept.
FCC Mass Media Bureau should have “considered other options” rather than approve sale of Titus Bcstg. radio stations in Binghamton, N.Y., to Clear Channel, FCC Comr. Tristani said. In statement, she said Bureau could have decided market would support only 2 competitors, considered whether enough effort was made to find other buyer or to use failing station principle. Tristani said approval meant 2 radio station groups owned stations with 91.2% of Binghamton ad market: “Duopolies like this make it significantly more likely that there will be no real competition for advertising revenue.” Because questions weren’t asked, she said, agency never will know whether duopoly was inevitable or whether decision was “simply another case of regulatory malfeasance by the FCC.”
Ameritech advised Ill. Commerce Commission (ICC) that it plans to petition for agency’s endorsement of Sec. 271 interLATA long distance bid by July. In letter to ICC Comr. Ruth Kretschmer, Ameritech said it had made many changes in its operation support systems (OSS) to facilitate processing CLEC service orders and had taken other steps that would bring it into full compliance with 14-point 271 open market checklist this year. Third-party testing of Ameritech OSS is to begin next month, with final report from KPMG Consulting not expected until spring 2002. In meantime, Ameritech wants ICC this summer to start looking at non-OSS-related checklist compliance issues. Ameritech parent SBC is providing long distance in Tex., and recently received FCC approval to begin offering long distance service in Kan. and Okla. starting next month. ICC Comr. Terry Harvill, frequent Ameritech critic, said he expected company would come “pretty close” to meeting Telecom Act requirements and he might endorse its entry if it could prove local customers could switch providers “easily.” Competitor-supported Ill. Coalition for Competitive Telecom said Ameritech shouldn’t be allowed into long distance until it proved it reliably could deliver retail and wholesale services it already sells.
FCC report said satellite TV has attracted most of its viewers from rural, rather than urban, areas. Report said 18% of TV households in rural areas received services from DirecTV or EchoStar. In urban areas where cable offers more channels, average satellite penetration is 11%, FCC said.
ORLANDO -- Investment bankers and analysts had more bad news for CLECs Wed. in panel discussion at CompTel’s annual convention here. Along with continued tight money for a year at least, they warned that regulatory environment for those companies could get worse with change in White House. “It’s going to be a hard road,” said Todd Scott, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst. “It will be a year before the market opens broadly, even though some companies are still getting capital, he said.
For 2nd time, Dept. of Justice concluded Wed. that Verizon’s Sec. 271 filing in Mass. hadn’t demonstrated carrier was providing nondiscriminatory DSL access to competitors. When Verizon filed first application for long distance authority in Mass. in Sept., DoJ also raised questions about its provision of unbundled DSL loops. In 2nd run, after Verizon withdrew application in Dec. and resubmitted new one last month, DoJ said new filing contained additions that made it stronger. But in formal comments filed with FCC as part of Sec. 271 process, Justice said “the record still fails to provide a clear demonstration of nondiscriminatory performance.” Its detailed evaluation referred to factual disputes about Verizon’s performance raised by competitors in comments and said that in some cases “significant questions” remained.
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition filed notice of appeal of FCC’s rejection of its EEO complaint against KWMU(FM) St. Louis, saying Commission had failed adequately to consider evidence in case. Coalition had asked FCC to deny license renewal for station, but FCC imposed total of only $8,000 in fines. Notice said FCC failed to consider most of individual pieces of evidence presented by Coalition, as well as “the totality of that evidence,” and referred only to individual discrimination complaints to EEOC. Coalition called action arbitrary and departure from precedent.
FCC will allow BellSouth to waive 90-day period for providing colocation after application is received it said in order Wed. BellSouth sought same type of waiver Commission has granted Verizon and SBC, raising question whether 90-day interval was reasonable. Agency conditioned waiver on BS’s compliance with alternative application processing and provisioning standards for physical colocation identical to standards set for SBC and Verizon. BellSouth must implement those standards in states where no standards for colocation have been set, in this case, Ala., N.C., Tenn. Interim standards are based on N.Y. PSC’s that ILEC must notify requesting carrier within 8 business days of receipt of colocation application. CLECs are entitled to obtain colocation space within 76 business days when space is available. In major construction or special requirement situations, provision must be completed in 91 business days. Additions to existing colocation arrangements must be completed within 45 business days. BellSouth may extend provisioning interval by no more than 60 calendar days if ordering CLEC hasn’t provided timely or accurate forecast of colocation needs. BellSouth must file with state commissions any amendments necessary to bring its Statement of Generally Available Terms or colocation tariffs into compliance with interim standards within 15 days. Standards will take effect 60 days after amendments are filed and at earliest possible point permissible under state law for tariffs.
In oral argument Wed., U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., wrestled with question of how DSL ISP-bound traffic should be regulated, with attorneys from all sides acknowledging debate that fell into series of advanced services issues under Telecom Act that still were working their way through courts and remand process. Some arguments centered on whether DSL-based advanced services should be subject to same unbundling services that ILECs face under Sec. 251(c) of Telecom Act. One apparent area of agreement was that based on same court’s action last year vacating reciprocal compensation order, remand to FCC should have been sought for related issues in order on DSL traffic. In earlier ruling, court cited confusion on definition of ISP traffic, whether it was telephone exchange service, exchange access or 3rd category. In that decision, court remanded ruling, saying FCC hadn’t provided satisfactory explanation of why LECs that terminated calls to ISPs weren’t properly seen as terminating local telecom traffic and why such traffic was exchange access rather than telephone exchange access. On Wed., court heard separate appeals filed by Qwest and WorldCom on advanced services order released by FCC in 1999. WorldCom argued that Commission incorrectly concluded DSL ISP- bound traffic was exchange access and not telephone exchange access. It cited reciprocal compensation ruling last year that held that ISPs didn’t connect to local exchanges for purpose of origination or termination of telephone toll services. “These things are tripping over each other,” FCC attorney John Ingle acknowledged to court Wed. “We think in hindsight we should have asked for a 2nd remand. We do at some level have some embarrassment. We probably should have done that.” Judges David Sentelle, Stephen Williams and Judith Rogers heard arguments. WorldCom attorney Darryl Bradford urged court not simply to remand order but to vacate it. Qwest attorney Jonathan Frankel said Telecom Act didn’t change fact that different rules applied to different services. Unbundling requirements of Sec. 251(c) should apply to LEC based on specific service being offered, not all services that particular classification of telecom carriers offered, he said. Otherwise, “it turns 251(c) into a ball and chain that incumbents carry with them into every new market they enter,” Frankel said. Referring to what he called “fearmongering” in FCC’s brief, he said: “This appeal is about how DSL will be regulated, not whether it will be.” WorldCom arguments hinged on DSL ISP-bound traffic’s being telephone exchange service, not exchange access. Telecom Act forecloses conclusion that ISPs connect to local exchanges for purpose of origination or termination of telephone toll services, WorldCom said. Darryl Bradford, attorney for WorldCom, told court that ISPs provide information service and aren’t telecom providers that are connecting to local exchanges to terminate traffic.