[RBOCS target Level 3 & Qwest business plans?] "Carrier bloc opposes new RBOC move to compete for long-distance data"
By David Rohde, Network World Fusion, 4/8/98
Three of the four big long-distance carriers are saying no to a new legal gambit by three regional Bell operating companies to gain expedited entry to the long-distance market for data services.
AT&T, MCI Communications Corp. and WorldCom, Inc. all told the Federal Communications Commission on Monday that they oppose the RBOCs' attempt to invoke an obscure piece of telecom law to get them into the long-haul data market without the usual regulatory fuss.
Bell Atlantic Corp., Ameritech Corp. and US West, Inc. have filed petitions under the little-known Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to get free geographic rein to offer packet data services even before they receive regulatory clearance to become long-distance carriers. Section 706 directs the FCC to promote advanced data networks by removing regulations that hinder their deployment. In successive petitions, the three RBOCs asked the FCC to use Section 706 to drop restrictions against RBOCs carrying data traffic beyond their usual regional calling areas. They said such a move would help them build new regional broadband networks, potentially including Internet backbones.
A top AT&T official said he wasn't buying the argument that the RBOCs would use Section 706 just to carry data traffic. Mark Rosenblum, AT&T's vice president of law and public policy, said Tuesday that once an RBOC gained long-distance data-network authority, it would begin shifting voice traffic normally restricted to local calling areas to different pipes.
"This would allow them to transfer their monopoly from the old network to the new network," Rosenblum said. Rosenblum added that the traffic shift could even include residential circuit-switched phone calls, not just specialized packet-switched applications such as voice or fax over IP.
AT&T appeared to be focusing much of its attention on Bell Atlantic, which filed the first Section 706 petition in January. In their written comments AT&T laywers derided the Ameritech petition as "a me-too request" filed on the heels of the Bell Atlantic request. AT&T and MCI are currently battling what appears to be progress by Bell Atlantic in its drive to get the New York Public Service Commission to approve full-fledged long-distance authority for the RBOC in New York state.
MCI also filed written comments opposing all the Section 706 petitions, labeling them a "plan by several Bell monopolies to circumvent the Telecom Act." MCI merger partner WorldCom also used strong language, labeling the Section 706 petitions a "Trojan horse" for complete long-distance entry.
Even so, the FCC must act in some fashion this year to implement Section 706. The Telecom Act requires the FCC to invoke Section 706 to drop at least some regulatory barriers on data-network deployment -- or show that it has a plan to do so -- within 30 months of the act's passage. That deadline is coming up this August. |
