Collecting data requested by USTelecom and Verizon on competitive...
Collecting data requested by USTelecom and Verizon on competitive facilities would “present a distorted picture” of the special access market, CompTel said in a Monday letter to the FCC. It’s expected the commission will soon order data from carriers…
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involved with special access (CD May 19 p1). But proposals by incumbent local exchange carriers “seek data in a manner intended to exaggerate the extent of competition by failing to distinguish data on facilities leased from the ILEC from data on the competitor’s own facilities,” CompTel said. For example, the USTelecom proposal seeks information on facilities “you own, utilize or control” and dark fiber, while Verizon wants data on services “provided either on an on-net or off-net basis,” said the association of competitive local exchange carriers. “Only facilities that are owned by competitors are competitive facilities.” CompTel doesn’t believe the FCC needs any more data to back a determination that it should regulate and reduce ILEC special access prices, the CLEC association said. However, if the FCC decides it needs more, “it should seek data from the ILECs regarding their special access costs and profit margins, as well as price,” it said. “The Commission cannot ignore these indicia of market power.”