The FCC’s 3-2 decision to suspend pricing flexibility rules for...
The FCC’s 3-2 decision to suspend pricing flexibility rules for special access services in advance of a mandatory data collection (CD Aug 22 Bulletin) could put downward pressure on the special access revenue of leading landline providers over time, but…
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the overall impact is “more likely to be irregular than sweeping once federal regulators get a better lay of the land in coming months,” said Jeff Silva of Medley Global Advisors in an analyst report. The move was “neither unexpected nor inconsistent” with the Democrat-led commission’s “inclination to revisit” the special access market “deemed broken in its own right and in need of being rationalized as a key input to the broadband economy,” Silva said. There will be only “minimal” impact in the near to midterm, but risk could become “more tangible later, depending on the direction reform takes and potential changes in the political landscape,” he said. “We see the prospect of a potential upside for wireless carriers … competitive LECs, businesses and others that depend on high-capacity middle-mile lines, though it’s not clear to what degree re-regulation would benefit wireless carriers since some have increasingly turned to fiber for backhaul."