Interesting People mailing list archives
USG threatens USG's ability to communicate
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 18:09:03 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: "W. Scott McCollough" <wsmc () SMCCOLLOUGH COM> Date: June 25, 2004 3:34:21 PM EDT To: CYBERTELECOM-L () LISTSERV AOL COM Subject: USG threatens USG's ability to communicateReply-To: Telecom Regulation & the Internet <CYBERTELECOM-L () LISTSERV AOL COM>
As the readers of this list are surely aware, the regulatory underpinnings for local telephone network competition are under some stress. In the Triennial Review Order, the FCC sunsetted line-sharing and Enterprise UNE-P but tried to save (or at least said it was trying to keep) mass market UNE-P, analog loops and high-speed business services (by keeping that TDM UNEs and dark fiber and EELs, albeit with more difficult eligibility criteria). The reviewing USTA II court seems to have finished off UNE-P, affirmed the death sentence for line sharing, threatens line splitting and, almost casually, (according to the ILECs) swept nearly all the other UNEs (especially dark fiber, high-capacity loops and transport) that competitors need and use off the table. Both the Administration and the FCC then sat out the last dance for the 96 Act's unbundling requirements, by not contesting the USTA II decision before the Supreme Court. Endgame. Recently, however, another arm of the government has been heard from, with a plaintive cry for help. The Department of Defense and "All Other Federal Executive Agencies" have filed a pleading with the Maryland PSC asking that unbundling be maintained at the state level because, it turns out, the federal government is a large telecom consumer, and it gets a lot of service from CLECs which need unbundled network elements to serve the government - just like they need them for all their other customers. In the words of the federal agencies: "(h)owever, decisions concerning the availability, prices, terms and conditions for UNEs will impact the prices, terms and conditions for services that federal agencies obtain from all of their telecommunications vendors. Decisions concerning UNEs will also determine whether there will be viable competition for all telecommunications services. Since federal agencies obtain telecommunications services by competitive bidding procedures whenever possible, they are vitally interested in having as many active participants as possible in all Maryland telecommunications markets." and "Services provided by the Department of Defense and dozens of additional entities of the federal government are critical to the security, health and well-being of persons who live, work and visit in Maryland. A wide array of telecommunications capabilities are needed by federal agencies to perform their functions, so that the FEAs are concerned seriously with service continuity, high availability, and the ability to obtain services from a variety of telecommunications suppliers quickly and efficiently." DoD/FEA seems quite concerned that the aggressive deregulatory policies now being pursued by a sister branch of government will affect the availability, price, and quality of telecommunications, and will, therefore, affect the ability of DoD/FEA to perform its mission. This seems odd. A different part of the Executive Branch is concocting policies which hurt the work of the Defense Department and the rest of the "executive agencies." In wartime. The FCC and courts are busily ensuring that the federal government's phones don't work or will only work after they go back to the incumbents - at significantly greater expense. And we see no mention or consideration of it in the TRO or in the litigation. Can anyone see where the logic is in this? W. Scott McCollough ------------------------------------- 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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- USG threatens USG's ability to communicate David Farber (Jun 26)