Special-Access Data Draws ILEC Concern; Level 3 Opposes ILEC Data Bid for Probe
ILECs raised concerns about industry data that the FCC is using as part of its review of incumbent telco special-access services. They also said that even with a recent extension there won’t be enough time to fully analyze the data and file “meaningful comments” in the rulemaking. Meanwhile Level 3 opposed an ILEC request to use the confidential industry data from the rulemaking in the Wireline Bureau’s separate tariff investigation of ILEC special-access contract terms and conditions; and Sprint said growing demand for wireless backhaul made special-access "reform" even more critical.
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ILEC representatives informed FCC officials of various issues that became apparent only after experts retained by USTelecom were able to begin reviewing the confidential business broadband data, said a USTelecom filing posted Thursday in docket 05-25 summarizing a conference call. The FCC collected the sensitive market information from a wide variety of industry parties and recently made it available to stakeholder outside counsels under a protective order. “We discussed concerns that certain essential data were not made available for review, and about the stability of the data collection in the Commission’s secure data enclave managed by NORC [National Opinion Research Center, a University of Chicago institution], which is still being supplemented and otherwise revised," USTelecom said. "We also explained that the data enclave platform lacks certain software and tools that would allow important data analyses to be performed more completely and efficiently, and that requests to NORC that certain tools be added to the platform remain pending.”
The ILEC representatives also said that “interested parties will not have sufficient time to review and analyze the data, and to prepare meaningful comments in this extraordinarily complex and important proceeding,” even with the FCC’s recent extension of comments and replies to Jan. 6 and Feb. 5, respectively. USTelecom and ITTA had asked that the deadlines be extended to Jan. 19 and Feb. 18.
Separately, Level 3 opposed the request of AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier and Verizon to modify the protective order in the special-access rulemaking so that they could use the confidential industry data from that proceeding in the bureau’s recently opened tariff investigation into ILEC special-access terms and conditions, which critics allege “lock up” customers, harming competition (see 1510260061). The ILECs said the data were highly relevant to the investigation and necessary for their defense.
But Level 3 said the bureau should deny the request because the bureau “already appropriately defined the information necessary for the tariff review” in its designation order. “Additional information from the rulemaking is unnecessary to the resolution of the tariff review proceeding, and adding that information to the record in the tariff review proceeding would be affirmatively harmful,” Level 3 said in its opposition. “Indeed, granting the incumbent LECs’ motion would no doubt increase the costs and burdens on other parties and the Commission, and it would risk delaying resolution of this important proceeding -- consequences the incumbent LECs would no doubt welcome, but against which the Commission should guard.”
Level 3 said the tariff investigation and the rulemaking address different issues. “The tariff review proceeding is narrowly focused on addressing the unreasonable and anticompetitive terms and conditions of certain incumbent LEC pricing plans applicable to special access services for which the incumbent LECs are classified as dominant,” it said. “In contrast, the rulemaking proceeding is focused on identifying the relevant special access markets in which incumbent LECs have market power, and adopting appropriate price regulation and pricing flexibility rules in light of that analysis."
Sprint met with FCC officials recently to discuss the tariff investigation, the role dedicated broadband circuits play in the wireless market, and “the critical importance of special access reform” to future mobile broadband networks. “In particular, Sprint noted that the densification of networks and increased deployment of macro cell sites will result in a corresponding increase in the need for backhaul connections, which have traditionally accounted for almost a third of the operating cost of a cell site,” Sprint said in a filing. “So long as incumbent carriers are allowed to exploit their historical market power over wireline infrastructure, the deployment of faster, cheaper, and more robust mobile networks will necessarily be delayed."