BellSouth asked a federal court in Miss. to suspend and overturn ...

Remand Order (TRRO). The PSC issued this order earlier this month in response to CLEC petitions claiming major financial harm if BellSouth on March 11 stopped providing the cost-based UNE platform services and unbundled high-capacity loop and transport facilities no longer mandatory because of the TRRO. The PSC said its order was to stand until it completed a generic proceeding to address changes needed to the existing agreements between CLECs and incumbents because of the TRRO. But BellSouth told the U.S. Dist. Court, Jackson, the PSC order was unlawful because it was an open-ended state extension of cost-based access to certain UNEs, contravening FCC policies laid out in the TRRO. BellSouth said the PSC didn’t try to explain how its order could be consistent with federal law and the holdings in the FCC’s TRRO decision. It argued that the state decision works against the public interest by delaying competitors’ investment in their own network facilities. BellSouth sought a preliminary injunction to lift the PSC order, claiming irreparable injury from CLECs that take advantage of artificially low UNE-P rates the FCC has acted against in the TRRO. To allow the court time to rule on the injunction, BellSouth said it would keep processing new UNE-P orders through April 17. The court will hold a hearing on the injunction request April 7. BellSouth said it would refund any overcharges to CLECs if the court granted interim relief but ultimately ruled in the PSC’s favor.