This could be a biggie! "Baby Bell ordered to open offices to xDSL carriers"
July 7, 1998
ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING TIMES via NewsEdge
Corporation : Miami - Supra Telecommunications and
Systems Inc., a minority-owned competitive local
exchange carrier (CLEC) serving the greater Miami area,
won a key ruling last week from the Florida Public
Service Commission (PSC) that may force BellSouth to
allow Supra to provision digital subscriber line services
through BellSouth facilities. The ruling has been called a
precedent because it marks the first time a state has
ordered a Baby Bell to open its central offices to other
carriers for xDSL.
Paradyne Corp., a hardware partner to Supra, was a key
supporter of the CLEC in the hearings, since Paradyne's
HotWire DSL technology is being aimed at CLEC and
Internet service providers using leased copper from
incumbent local exchange carriers.
Reform provision
The ruling is the first in the country ordering ILECs to
comply with the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996
by making facilities available to alternative carriers. In
many regions, ILECs have sued alternative carriers to
prevent access to central office equipment or "dry
copper," though the Telco Reform Act supposedly
prevents them from doing so.
"The ruling sets an important precedent for both
consumers and carriers, " said Frank Wiener, vice
president of DSL at Paradyne.
Kayode Ramos, Supra chief executive officer, said the
PSC found BellSouth had failed to implement a 1997
agreement dealing with resale, co-location and
interconnect services.
"Moving forward, we hope regulators will do more to
level the playing field," Ramos said. As a result of the
ruling, Supra is ready to deploy HotWire equipment this
month in 17 central offices in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm
Beach and Orange counties, and plans to extend the
service areas to 42 central offices by year's end. Services
will be branded as SupraConcorde, in increments from
256 kbits/second to 2.56 Mbits/s downstream at prices
starting at $60 a month.
BellSouth would not comment, but Ramos said he
expects the ILEC to comply quickly.
Copyright - 1998 CMP Media Inc.
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