Federal statutory and administrative rules aren’t so limited that...
Federal statutory and administrative rules aren’t so limited that they permit the FCC to intervene in pole attachment rate cases only after negotiations between the parties have broken down, the 11th U.S. Appeals Court, Atlanta, ruled. The court was…
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denying a petition by Georgia Power for review of an FCC order reducing its $53.35 annual pole rental rate for Teleport Communications to $6.56-$8.24. Among other things, Georgia Power had argued that the plain language of the Telecom Act required parties to negotiate pole rents before filing a complaint with the Commission. Because there had been no “real negotiation” between it and Teleport, the parties hadn’t “failed to resolve the dispute” and the FCC intervened prematurely by ruling on the Teleport complaint, it said. The court said: “When negotiations fail, the FCC rates will govern, but the statute is not written to limit the jurisdiction of the FCC to cases in which extensive rate negotiations have failed.” Even if Georgia Power were correct that the FCC could intervene only after negotiations had failed, its argument that the FCC intervened too quickly still failed, the court held. The FCC had concluded that Georgia Power and Teleport’s limited discussions had not resolved their pole attachment rate dispute and further negotiations would be fruitless, it said. In Oct. 2000, Georgia Power notified Teleport that it was imposing an annual pole attachment rate of $53.35, and after limited negotiations the latter filed a complaint with the FCC Cable Bureau.