A federal court threw out a wireless carrier’s lawsuit against th...
A federal court threw out a wireless carrier’s lawsuit against the Ariz. Corporation Commission (ACC) over its handling of an interconnection dispute with a rural incumbent telco. The U.S. Dist. Court, Phoenix ruled that plaintiff Autotel Communications hadn’t heeded…
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a Telecom Act mandate that it have a final order from the state commission on a completed interconnection agreement before it suing in federal court. The case began in 2002 when wireless carrier Autotel sought to interconnect with rural telco Citizens Utilities. The parties couldn’t agree and sought state arbitration, which led to a July 2004 ACC order on the disputes. The commission directed the companies to complete and file an interconnection agreement incorporating its order. Autotel refused, suing the ACC and Citizens, claiming the ACC overstepped its authority and violated Autotel’s due process rights, and that Citizens acted in bad faith. The ACC and Citizens sought dismissal on jurisdictional grounds. The court (Case 05-CV-328) agreed it lacked jurisdiction because Autotel hadn’t submitted a completed interconnection agreement for state approval and so had no final order from the ACC. The court said the Telecom Act’s intentions would be compromised if judicial review began before a state had completed its administrative review.