Posted: 07/1999
News Briefs
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is wrestling with how to separate cable and the Internet. While it can prevent discrimination by cable companies offering high-speed Internet service, the federal agency isn't sure how to do it. Internet service providers (ISPs) say the FCC should prohibit cable companies from requiring cable customers to buy Internet services from them if they also buy high-speed Internet access from them. The debate has intensified on Capitol Hill where Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and two Virginia congressmen have introduced separate but related bills designed to make access to high-speed Internet connections more widely available. Reps. Robert Goodlatte, a Republican, and Democrat Rick Boucher each propose reducing regulations on incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs) that deploy high-speed Internet access, especially in nonurban areas. Sen. McCain's bill proposes that cable TV operators provide open access to all ISPs. Under McCain's bill, local telcos wouldn't have to provide deep discounts to other companies that lease a big volume of high-speed phone lines. A less regulatory broadband plan can be expected this summer from Congressman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House telecom subcommittee.
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a federal appeals court ruling upholding the FCC's authority to define "shared transport" as an unbundled network element (UNE). The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis--which had ruled that the FCC could require shared transport to be offered as a UNE--now must reconsider the matter in the wake of the High Court's Jan. 25 decision vacating the FCC's original UNEs list. The appeals court had said the FCC could require Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Ameritech Corp. to lease the various functions of these UNEs to competitors. While that authority was upheld in January, the Supreme Court also ordered the FCC to impose its "necessary" and "impair" standards to justify the list of UNEs that the Bells must make available to competitors. The FCC is expected to complete its UNE review this summer if the 8th Circuit's remand doesn't slow up the process. GTE Corp., Irving, Texas; Bell Atlantic Corp., New York; and the U.S. Telephone Association joined Ameritech in the original lawsuit.
In other UNE news, several states have urged the FCC to add such elements as dark fiber and subloops to the list. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio "endorses the approach that the FCC should establish a flexible set of UNEs." Likewise, the Illinois Commerce Commission wants the FCC to identify a minimum set of UNEs that must be unbundled on a nationwide basis, but the states should have the flexibility to add elements to that list. California suggested that switching be specified as a UNE, as should operations support systems (OSSs), extended link capability and directory listing.
Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. has filed a plan with the Georgia Public Service Commission for third-party testing of its OSS, similar to those tests by Bell Atlantic Corp. in New York and San Antonio-based SBC Communications. BellSouth says ensuring competitors have access to its OSS is "the final major hurdle" to be cleared before it asks the FCC for approval to provide in-region long distance service. Bell Atlantic and SBC have been singing the same tune. But, so far, competitors haven't been swayed by third-party OSS test results, which they say can't truly simulate the real pressure of mass volume ordering, for instance.
The FCC has preempted a Tennessee law that gave rural telcos (100,000 or fewer access lines) the power to veto competitive entry in their territories. The FCC deemed the law an insurmountable barrier to competition, a ruling the commission also has made in Texas and Wyoming.
