HD Tandem Urges FCC to Deny AT&T Bid for Tandem Switching/Transport Fee Relief
HD Tandem lobbied FCC officials to reject an AT&T forbearance request for relief from certain intercarrier compensation requirements for tandem switching and tandem-switched transport service. "Forbearance was not the appropriate vehicle for addressing the issues that AT&T raised ... [T]he…
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Commission should issue a decision that AT&T's Petition for Forbearance fails to meet the standards for forbearance under Section 10(a) of the Communications Act," said a filing Friday in docket 16-363 on a meeting HD Tandem had with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai. The telecom firm, which says it offers virtual tandem and termination services, made the same arguments in discussions with aides to the other commissioners (here and here) and Wireline Bureau staffers (here). It was among those in December that opposed the AT&T petition, while others partially opposed it and Verizon supported it (see 1612050059). AT&T asked the FCC last fall to "detariff tandem switching and transport access charges for all" LECs, "on all calls to or from LECs engaged in access stimulation," to follow up on previous findings against "traffic pumpers" capitalizing on "arbitrage" (see 1610030048).