Maybe this news is helping it. K-Man
Monday January 26, 10:34 am Eastern Time
Supreme Court to review telecom rules decision
WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a lower court decision that
struck down landmark federal rules designed to pry open the $100 billion local telephone market.
Little competition has arisen in the local phone market, especially for residential service, since the rules were set aside
by a federal appeals court in St Louis last year.
Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the Federal Communications Commission established rules dictating how
much the regional Bells companies, GTE Corp. (GTE - news) and others could charge competitors for access to local
phone networks. But the appeals court found that the act gave state regulators, not the FCC, sole power to set prices
for local service.
Potential competitors in the local market, including AT&T Corp. (T - news) and MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC
- news), have complained that the Bells overcharged for access to pieces of the networks. Last week MCI
announced it would give up trying to resell to consumers local service purchased directly from the Bells because of the
high prices.
The Bells, created in the 1984 break-up of the old AT&T, have said their prices are reasonable and competitors are
ignoring the residential market.
The Supreme Court said it would not hear the case until this autumn. |
