ILECs, Rivals Battle Over FCC Proposal to Deregulate Price-Cap BDS Transport Rates
Telco incumbents and rivals disagreed on an FCC proposal to scrap ex-ante regulation of price-cap carrier business data service TDM transport rates. Comments were posted through Monday in docket 16-143 on a Further NPRM (see 1810230032) on court remand of…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
2017 deregulation for lack of notice that some called an easy fix (see 1808280050). The commission should follow through on freeing price-cap telcos from TDM transport ex-ante rate regulation, commented USTelecom and ITTA: denial "would discourage competitive transport entry." AT&T said facilities-based transport competition is already "effectively ubiquitous." CenturyLink said transport services face "intense competition." The FCC can reach "the same conclusions regarding transport on the existing record, so long as it adequately considers" comments, said Verizon. "It would require an extraordinary change in factual circumstances to justify a departure or reversal." Deregulation critics' fears "have become reality" as "competition has been unable to keep ILEC TDM rates in check," commented Sprint, saying it's "experiencing significant price increases for newly deregulated" DS1 and DS3 transport and last-mile links. Incompas said the proposal "would lead to price increases for businesses and consumers." Instead, the commission should propose a market test to deregulate areas only where competition ensures just and reasonable rates, the group said. The American Petroleum Institute objected to deregulation in areas of concern to its member companies "in the absence of ILEC commitments to maintain reasonable levels of service." Alaska Communications (here) and other incumbents opposed a competitive market test. Addressing other FNPRM queries, USTelecom and ITTA said the FCC should grant rate-of-return carriers choosing price-cap treatment "further pricing regulation relief with respect to their TDM transport services," without a large data collection.