FCC Mostly Rejects Aureon Petition to Reconsider November CEA Rate Order
The FCC largely denied an Aureon Network Services petition to reconsider a November order, on an AT&T complaint, that ruled Aureon violated agency rate-cap and rate-parity rules by raising its "centralized equal access" tariffed rate in 2013. The commission this…
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week disagreed with Aureon's request that it apply any relief only prospectively for lack of notice. "The plain text of the Commission’s rules and orders in existence at the time Aureon filed its tariff provided Aureon ample notice of its regulatory status and obligations," said the unanimous order in proceeding No. 17-56 and Thursday's Daily Digest. The November order "enforced rate cap and rate parity rules and policies that the Commission adopted in 2011, well before Aureon’s 2013 tariff filing." The FCC also denied an Aureon request to revise a decision that the 2013 tariff was "void ab initio [from the beginning] and thus not 'deemed lawful.'" But the agency did grant Aureon's petition in one respect, clarifying that the company's "2012 tariff remains in effect unless and until AT&T establishes in the damages phase that Aureon furtively employed improper accounting practices to conceal potential rate of return violations." AT&T said it's assessing the order's impact to determine if further review is warranted. "We will continue to combat these traffic pumping schemes and advocate for reforms in this area to eliminate illicit behavior," emailed a spokesperson. Aureon didn't comment.