The FCC Wireline Bureau resolved disputes over the rates that Ver...
The FCC Wireline Bureau resolved disputes over the rates that Verizon Va. could charge AT&T and WorldCom for access to UNEs, interconnection and resale. While the Telecom Act gives the states responsibility for applying those rules through arbitration proceedings,…
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the FCC said that in this case it was acting on delegated authority in place of the Va. State Corp. Commission for the narrow purpose of this arbitration proceeding. At stake were issues related to the application of the FCC’s pricing rules now in effect, including the appropriate cost models to use to implement the rules and the appropriate assumptions to use in cost models. The order, issued late Fri., came before the Federal Register publication Mon. of the FCC’s Triennial UNE Review Order. As a result, the order said its analysis “of the issues raised in this proceeding does not reflect any rule changes resulting from the Triennial Review Order. However, we do take account of that order’s limited clarification of existing rules regarding cost of capital and depreciation.” The bureau said the FCC had held extensive hearings at which both CLECs and Verizon had an opportunity to present evidence on those issues. The dispute arose when Verizon was seeking long distance authority from the FCC in Va., which the Commission granted last fall. Verizon defended its Sec. 271 petition against AT&T charges that Verizon’s facilities policy discriminated against CLECs and that its benchmarking of UNE switching rates wasn’t done properly. The order set recurring rates for unbundled loops and directed the participants to submit compliance filings consistent with the order on all other recurring and nonrecurring charges (NRCs) that were at issue and for the resale discount. “We will issue a subsequent order to address those compliance filings and to establish recurring charges for non-loop UNEs, NRCs and the resale discount,” the FCC said. AT&T had argued that the FCC should reject additional evidence Verizon submitted last Sept. AT&T contended it wouldn’t be appropriate to accept new evidence 316 days after hearings had concluded and that challengers wouldn’t have a chance to respond to Verizon’s new evidence without reopening the proceeding. The FCC turned down Verizon’s request to offer new evidence, siding with AT&T and WorldCom arguments that “rate cases must end, or rates would never be set.” The FCC said: “This is not the rare situation where something new and unexpected has occurred, rather it is the norm.”