FCC Gives Big Telcos Short Extension To File Cases in Special Access Probe
Large ILECs received a modest extension until Jan. 8 to file "direct cases" in an FCC Wireline Bureau tariff investigation of their special access contracts terms and conditions (see 1510160060). In an order in Tuesday’s Daily Digest, the bureau partially…
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granted a request from incumbent telcos, which had asked for an extra 12 weeks or at least 60 days beyond Friday to file their cases (see 1512100030). “While we do not find the duration of the incumbent LECs’ specific requests for extension warranted, we find some extension of time is justified given the significant size and complexity of data in the business data services data collection, and given our interest in ensuring a full and complete record for evaluating the pricing plans under investigation,” said the bureau, which gave parties filing oppositions to the cases a Feb. 5 deadline and rebuttals until Feb. 26. The ILECs said they needed more time to analyze a recently released industry data set and to incorporate it into their cases. But XO questioned the ILEC claims and said competitors and consumers would be harmed by the delay (see 1512140024), and Sprint filed opposition to the ILEC request on Monday in docket 15-247. CLECs and business customers say ILEC contracts often contain lock-up terms and conditions that harm competition, which the incumbents dispute (see 1510080051).