The commission should deny petitions by independent payphone providers challenging...
The commission should deny petitions by independent payphone providers challenging state commission decisions denying refunds of amounts paid under valid state tariffs, AT&T and Verizon executives told an adviser to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai Thursday. In several states, payphone providers…
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have challenged LECs’ existing payphone line rates as inconsistent with pricing rules adopted in the federal commission’s 1996 payphone orders, and subsequently clarified in the FCC’s 2000 Wisconsin Order, they said in an ex parte filing(http://xrl.us/bniqgg). Some state commissions have ordered refunds, and some have denied refunds. “The Commission has determined that states are responsible for regulating basic payphone line rates in accordance with federal pricing standards, indicating that the availability of refunds depends on state law, including state procedural rules,” the filing said. “Whether a particular state determination is correct under the particular facts of the case is not an appropriate topic for a declaratory ruling.” Courts, not the commission, are responsible for determining whether a state commission applied the law correctly, they said.