Verizon, AT&T at Odds on Proposed Cuba Rule Change
Verizon and AT&T disagreed on whether the FCC should get rid of the nondiscrimination condition on telecommunications services between the U.S. and Cuba. The State Department had proposed exactly that step in light of the changing U.S.-Cuba relationship. Last month, President Barrack Obama made a two-day trip to the island nation.
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In February, the FCC sought comment on whether to adopt the change. The FCC said at the time that under commission policy and rules, “the terms and conditions of any operating agreement to provide facilities-based switched voice service on the U.S.-Cuba route between a U.S. carrier and a carrier with market power in Cuba must be identical to the equivalent terms and conditions in the agreement of any other U.S. carrier providing the same or similar service between the United States and Cuba.” The FCC also noted that for years, there were no direct telecom connections between the U.S. and Cuba.
The change proposed by the FCC makes sense, AT&T Services said in a filing at the FCC posted in docket 11-80 Tuesday. “Its adoption would facilitate the use of more competitive, market-based arrangements on the U.S.-Cuba route that would encourage lower consumer rates and increased international calling, benefiting consumers and enhancing the free-flow of information between the countries,” AT&T said.
Several U.S. carriers are now able to provide direct service to Cuba, AT&T said: “The Commission should adopt the regulatory policies that are necessary to promote competition and lower rates on this route.” The U.S./Cuba relationship is changing, AT&T said. “Recent changes in U.S. policy towards Cuba, including commercial opportunities there as well as loosening restrictions on the ability of citizens of both countries to interact, have increased the importance of encouraging the development of market-based arrangements,” the carrier said.
Verizon called for a pause. “Verizon and a few other U.S. carriers have recently established commercial agreements for direct traffic exchange between the U.S. and Cuba, opening up long-dormant possibilities,” Verizon said. “However, these commercial relationships and the commercial environment for telecommunications in Cuba are still developing.” The FCC should remove the nondiscrimination requirement in Section 63.22 of its rules, but promote the benchmark settlement rate in the 2011 TeleCuba waiver order, Verizon said. The FCC should “wait for these commercial relations to become more firmly established before it removes all nondiscrimination requirements on this route,” the carrier said in a filing.