The U.S. Appeals Court, Atlanta, Thurs. backed BellSouth, saying ...
The U.S. Appeals Court, Atlanta, Thurs. backed BellSouth, saying the firm didn’t have to accept orders for UNE-P during a change-of-law negotiation process. The case dates to Feb. 2005, when the FCC in its Triennial Review Remand Order (TRRO)…
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relieved ILECs, effective March 11, of the obligation to provide CLECs with unbundled access to mass market local switching and provided more limited relief from unbundling for loops and transport. Later that month, BellSouth told CLECs that, as of the March 11 TRRO effective date, it wouldn’t accept new orders for UNE-P, loops and transport. MCImetro Access Transmission Services, and later other CLECs, filed an emergency motion with the Ga. PSC, claiming BellSouth was required to continue serving the embedded base and accept new UNE-P orders as long as the change-of-law negotiating process was ongoing. The PSC granted the motions, but BellSouth sued the CLECs and the PSC in federal court, seeking a preliminary injunction. The district court granted the injunction, saying “BellSouth had established a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.” According to the 11th Circuit, “the district court concluded that, because the TRRO was immediately effective, there was nothing to negotiate regarding the determination of the FCC that unbundling was no longer permitted for local switching and, in limited circumstances, for loops and transport facilities. The district court reasoned that to allow CLECs to add new UNE-P customers would be inconsistent with the plain language of the TRRO.” The 11th Circuit agreed.