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Covad Bends Commissioner Martin's Ear
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 20:01:22 -0400
------ Forwarded Message From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ibd com> Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 16:59:31 -0700 Covad Bends Commissioner Martin's Ear http://www.lightreading.com/boardwatch/document.asp?doc_id=31345 A glimmer of hope for ISPs that feel threatened by the Feb 20 ruling on broadband regulations by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has arisen from a meeting held at the end of March between Kevin Martin, a key FCC Commissioner, and executives of Covad Communications Inc. (OTC: COVD), a major provider of broadband services. The meeting has raised hopes in some quarters that the FCC could still change its mind on significant aspects of the proposed regulations -- a possibility, because the full and formal ruling has yet to be published. The fact that Martin requested the meeting seems particularly significant, because Martin is the only FCC Commissioner to have gotten his way with every aspect of the Feb 20 ruling (see FCC's Martin: Ruling 'Balanced'). It¹s also significant that this meeting was pretty much a special case. It¹s not one of dozens of meetings with lobby groups, according to the FCC. To recap, on Feb 20, the FCC announced a decision that four regional Bell operators in the U.S. -- BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS), Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q), SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) -- should no longer be obliged to provide competitors with cheap line-sharing access to their broadband networks. That decision, regarded by many in the U.S. telecom industry as a death knell for ISPs that rely on cheap access to the RBOCs' networks, was made on a three-to-two vote by the five FCC commissioners (see FCC Rules on Regulations and Powell Loses FCC Vote). However, it seems that position may be softened, and that decisions regarding the regulation of broadband line sharing may be handed to the individual states when the final and binding ruling is published. The states are already set to make their own decisions on the Unbundled Network Element Platform (UNE-P) issue, regarding competitive carrier access to the RBOCs' networks for local voice service. The meeting between Martin and Covad was the result of submissions made to the FCC by Covad, in which the broadband service provider's vice president and assistant general counsel, Jason Oxman, submitted that "the FCC's decision to eliminate linesharing in the name of promoting investment incentives appears to have been a grave and unnecessary error." Covad encouraged the FCC to consider a "specific state role" for implementation of the linesharing decision. Covad spokesman Ed Mattix confirms a meeting has taken place with the FCC. "There's always hope that the FCC will soften the blow, and we're hoping for some improvement on what was announced [on February 20], but we won't know anything and can't comment until the final ruling is made," he tells Boardwatch. "It doesn't do any good to speculate on these matters." Commissioner Martin could not be reached as we went to press. So what are the chances that competitive carriers may be granted a line-sharing reprieve by individual state regulators? Sue Ashdown, president of the American ISP Association (AISPA), believes "it's more likely that state jurisdiction over linesharing would be achieved in court, rather than in the text of the order. But until we see [the final order], anything's theoretically possible." However, she says, "The chances are good that the decision would be handed back to the states on appeal. What ISPs need to understand is that if that happens, they need to be vocal with their state commissions about retaining linesharing, otherwise it won't mean much." While the original announcement was made on February 20, the FCC still has to publish in detail its final and binding decision in a document expected to run to 400 pages. The final ruling, which would be entered into the Federal Register, is due in the next few weeks. But when would the new regulations come into effect? "Once the rules are released there will be a time period, approximately 30 to 45 days, before those rules become effective," says FCC spokesman Michael Balmoris. "Depending on the particular rule, there are different phase-in or phase-out time periods. For line sharing, that won't be clear until the rules are released." Do you think the FCC might change its original decision? Let us know what you think by emailing Boardwatch at greatdebate () lightreading com. Ray Le Maistre, Editor, and Jo Maitland, Senior Editor, Boardwatch ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Covad Bends Commissioner Martin's Ear Dave Farber (Apr 17)