USTelecom Prods FCC on ILEC Relief from Legacy Phone Regulation
USTelecom representatives plugged the potential competitive benefits of their forbearance petition and other requests for incumbent telco regulatory relief in a recent meeting with FCC officials. "We discussed how legacy regulatory requirements divert resources from broadband to legacy services, handicapping…
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the ability of USTelecom members to invest in fiber and modern IP services to deliver better and more competitive services to consumers and businesses," said a USTelecom ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-92. The USTelecom officials noted "the large percentage of households" that have switched from traditional voice services to mobile and IP-based services, and "the breadth of cable competition" in both residential and business markets. They also discussed the seven categories of relief sought in their forbearance petition. "Our discussion focused on Category 1 (remaining aspects of sections 271 and 272 obligations, equal access rules and the nondiscrimination and imputation requirements set out in the Section 272 Sunset Order), Category 3 (requirement to provide a 64 kbps voice channel where copper loop has been retired) and Category 7 (rules prohibiting price cap incumbent LECs’ use of contract tariffs for business data services)," the filing said. The USTelecom officials also discussed their petition for a declaratory ruling that ILECs are no longer dominant in the voice market and possible relief from accounting regulations in the commission's proceeding on Part 32 rules.