The FCC Wireline Bureau denied a petition to modify merger...
The FCC Wireline Bureau denied a petition to modify merger conditions it adopted in the 2009 Embarq/CenturyTel order, saying Tuesday the petition was procedurally and substantively flawed (http://xrl.us/bmsybj). In the 2009 order, the commission granted the merger request subject to…
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specific conditions, including the continued delivery of CLEC service performance reporting upon request. The petition, filed by the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, requested a modification to require that all reports regarding state-specific service performance levels also be provided to the petitioners, and to the respective public service commissions. This requirement would help ensure that “all commitments are met and customers receive the protections contemplated by the merger approval,” the petition said. Petitioners also wanted quarterly updates regarding implementation of its commitment to offer retail broadband service to 100 percent of its broadband-eligible access lines within three years. The Wireline Bureau said the petition was procedurally flawed because it relied on facts or arguments not previously presented to the commission, and flawed “on the merits” because public interest is “amply protected” by the merger conditions in place. “We find that the opportunity for the Commission to request competitive LEC wholesale service data and the ability of competitive LECs to determine whether they are being discriminated against in the wholesale market provides sufficient safeguards against service discrimination in this instance,” the bureau said. “We also find that existing state requirements to make wholesale service data reports available to competitive LECs demonstrates the opportunity and ability of competitive LECs to monitor their own service and raise questions in regulatory fora where appropriate."