The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld federal rules Monday that allow competitive local exchange carriers to colocate their equipment in the incumbent’s central offices and interconnect with their peers.
Verizon Communications Inc., the No. 1 local phone company, had challenged several Federal Communications Commission orders relating to colocation. BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. joined Verizon.
“Today’s decision is a victory for facilities-based CLECs, like Allegiance Telecom, in that it removes the doubt Verizon put into the marketplace by filing this,” spokesman Michael Caputo said Monday. “In fact this offers the appropriate deference to the FCC as the expert agency in telecom and more importantly avoids freewheeling policy inquiries that the Bells are looking for.”
Among the Appeals Court rulings:
· The FCC’s standards for what types of equipment can be placed in a colocation facility are not overly broad as Verizon had argued.
· CLECs are entitled to colocate their equipment, including multifunctioning gear, in a central office as long as the primary function is for switching and routing.
· The local exchange carrier is required to lay wire or fiber to interconnect two service providers at a competitor’s request. The ruling is important because it allows CLECs to avoid backhaul charges had they been required to interconnect with one another outside of a central office.
· Upheld the FCC’s space availability rules-- orders that determine where and how CLECs can colocate in an incumbent’s CO. The order stipulates the incumbents cannot require separate entrances or cages unless they can prove it necessary and show it will not delay competitive entry.
Allegiance’s Caputo said the rulings signified “another opportunity for us to call upon the Bells to stop litigating and start competing in the marketplace.”
AT&T Corp., Allegiance and other Bell competitors sided with the FCC.
The Appeals Court agreed with the FCC’s orders based on their merit but also ruled against the Bells on matters based on procedural inconsistencies, a person familiar with the ruling said. For instance, Verizon made different arguments regarding the FCC’s standard for colocatable equipment before the court and the commission, the court said.
