The FCC should retain its longstanding policy that requires Section...
The FCC should retain its longstanding policy that requires Section 214 applications from non-WTO member countries to meet the requirements of the effective competitive opportunities test, AT&T told the commission Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bn77uh). The policy behind the test is to encourage…
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non-WTO member countries to open their markets and join the WTO, which is “even more important today in light of the demonstrated role that competition and liberalization play in stimulating investment and use of the networks that are the building blocks of the information based economy of the 21st century,” the telco wrote. AT&T recommended a “modified” test for smaller countries that may not be able to meet the requirements of the current analysis. The commission should retain the “key requirement” of the test, AT&T said: that U.S. carriers have the legal right to obtain a controlling interest in a facilities-based carrier in the country to originate and terminate international traffic in the country. But it should eliminate requirements to show that “an effective regulatory framework exists in the foreign country to develop, implement and enforce legal requirements, interconnection arrangements and other safeguards, and that competitive safeguards exist in the foreign country to protect against anticompetitive practices,” AT&T said. The test should also address the ability to own and access submarine cable capacity landing in these countries, AT&T said.