FCC Urged to Impose Special Access Curbs on CenturyLink-Qwest
Cbeyond, Integra Telecom and Socket Telecom have urged the FCC to impose conditions on CenturyLink’s planned purchase of Qwest to require the combined company to guarantee wholesale service quality, provide CLECs with conditioned copper loops and prevent the company from increasing special access rates or canceling special access agreements. The comments filed Thursday replied to a Sept. 29 letter from CenturyLink saying that a settlement with Sprint, Paetec, Mediacom, Cox and 360Networks in Iowa provides a model for relations with CLECs.
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CenturyLink agreed to continue Qwest’s wholesale programs at least 24 months after the deal closes and to give at least six months’ notice if the programs are to be canceled. CenturyLink points out that the Iowa settlement contains a pledge to continue Qwest’s quality control programs at least 36 months after the deal closes. CenturyLink has signed a similar agreement in Minnesota, Vice President John Jones told us Friday.
The Wireline Bureau continues reviewing the proposed merger, and the FCC’s informal “shot clock” expires around Nov. 24. The commission probably won’t meet the deadline but staffers haven’t yet raised serious objections to the deal, said agency and industry officials. Staffers have asked few questions and have been mostly concerned with overlapping facilities, said a lobbyist working on CenturyLink’s behalf.
The $10.6 billion deal, in which CenturyLink will take on about $12 billion of Qwest debt, has been approved by nine states and the District of Columbia. As with the Frontier-Verizon spinoff last year (CD Oct 9/09 p1), the FairPoint debacle is haunting the proceeding. Some intervenors have raised FairPoint as an issue in this deal, but it’s a “peripheral issue,” Jones said.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., wrote FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski last month saying CenturyLink had a “smooth” merger with Embarq in 2008-09 and urging the commission “to make sure that this merger is as seamless and efficient as possible.” Other members of the Oregon congressional delegation -- Reps. Earl Blumenauer, David Wu and Peter DeFazio and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, all Democrats -- have urged the FCC to impose conditions like those recommended by Cbeyond and others. CompTel has urged similar conditions. All members of the Idaho delegation -- Republican Sens. Mike Crapo and James Risch and Reps. Mike Simpson, a Republican and Walt Minnick, a Democrat -- have urged an expedited review, just as Walden had.
The Communication Workers of America and the Arizona Consumers Council have urged the commission to take a long look at the proposed merger. In Colorado, where the battle over approval has become sharp and the state consumers’ advocate has urged stringent quality standards, the CWA has urged the Public Utilities Commission to require a minimum of 4 Mbps for download speeds within three years of the merger and at least 50 Mbps speeds available to 80 percent of the state within two years of the merger.