CORETEL,
COMPTEL AND NARUC URGE FEDERAL APPEALS COURT TO VACATE FCC'S PRICING RULES
FOR ISP-BOUND TRAFFIC
Annapolis,
MD, June 17, 2002 -- Core Communications, Inc. (CoreTel), a Competitive
Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), and the Competitive Telecommunications
Association (CompTel) today filed a petition with the Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit requesting that the court review
its recent decision to remand without vacating the Federal Communications
Commission's (FCC) 2001 order on reciprocal compensation. The National
Association of Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) also filed supporting
the petition. The case, WorldCom. v. FCC, was filed last year after the
FCC issued a second set of regulations governing reciprocal competition
between phone carriers.
The
new regulations give the FCC sole jurisdiction over price regulation of
phone calls delivered to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Phone calls
delivered to ISPs were previously regulated by states.
In
its May 3, 2002 decision, the court found that the FCC's jurisdictional
theory was precluded by the plain language of the statutory provisions
upon which the FCC relied. Yet, the court declined to vacate the FCC's
resulting new reciprocal compensation pricing rules, because of the "nontrivial
likelihood" that the FCC would find some other jurisdictional basis on
remand. Instead of vacating the rules, the court ordered the FCC to find
a new statutory basis to justify its pricing rules.
"In
this case the court surprisingly let FCC rules stand on remand that have
no lawfully-articulated statutory basis," said Chris Van de Verg, general
counsel for CoreTel. "By refusing to vacate the FCC's reciprocal compensation
rules, the court is essentially saying that the FCC is free to put rules
in place, and then figure out the statutory basis later. Rehearing is
clearly warranted to straighten out this unfortunate result."
CoreTel's
president Bret Mingo stated: " The court's decision left carriers and
state commissions to struggle with implementation of complicated new pricing
rules which, to date, have no agreed-upon legal basis. Remanding this
order without vacating the resulting rules only feeds into an unfortunate
recent FCC trend of changing the rules of competition without respect
for the terms of the Telecommunications Act of 1996."
"We
are hopeful that the court will take this opportunity to, at a minimum,
eliminate the most discriminatory and anticompetitive aspects of the FCC's
existing rules which act to discourage competitive carriers from competing
for business customers with large inbound traffic volumes," said Jonathan
Lee, vice president of Regulatory Affairs, CompTel.
CoreTel
and CompTel's Petition for Rehearing was filed with the federal Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the case of WorldCom
v. FCC. The petition asks the court to vacate the FCC's new pricing rules.
Otherwise, the petition notes, the FCC will have no incentive to articulate
a valid legal basis prior to imposing brand new regulatory requirements
that impose substantial burdens on carriers and preempt state jurisdiction.
For copies of the petition please contact Robin Buckley at 703.533.9805
or robin@buckleykaldenbach.com
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About
Core Communications, Inc.
Core Communications,
Inc. ("CoreTel") is a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) headquartered
in Annapolis, Maryland. CoreTel competes directly with Verizon - Maryland, Inc.
and other CLECs in the highly contested data communications marketplace. CoreTel
relies on its expertise with integrating the Internet and telephone networks
to provide targeted services to data-focused customers. As a CLEC, CoreTel is
the product of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which deregulated local exchange
telecommunications nationwide, as well as the pro-competition policies of the
Maryland Public Service Commission. CoreTel's investors include Charles Ross
Partners, LLC. For more information, please visit CoreTel's web site at www.coretel.net.
About
the Competitive Telecommunications Association
Based
in Washington, D.C., CompTel (Competitive Telecommunications Association)
represents competitive telecommunications providers of all types. CompTel's
mission is to protect and advance the interests of its member companies
so as to ensure the survival and prosperity of the competitive telecommunications
industry in the U.S. and overseas. CompTel's 300 members include the leading
companies building and deploying next-generation, packet and IP-based
networks to provide voice, data and video services around the world. For
more information, visit www.comptel.org.
About
the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
The
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners is a non-profit
organization founded in 1889. Its members include the governmental agencies
that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
NARUC's member agencies regulate telecommunications, energy, and water
utilities. NARUC represents the interests of State public utility commissions
before the three branches of the Federal government and the Independent
Federal agencies. Additionally, NARUC files briefs and pleadings before
the U.S. Supreme Court and other Federal courts in support of State utility
commission interests. NARUC works closely with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commissioner, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade
Commission to ensure the State perspective is considered in their proceedings.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robin Buckley
Buckley & Kaldenbach, Inc.
703.533.9805
Maureen
O'Leary
CompTel
202.296.6650
Brad
Ramsay
NARUC
202.898.2200 |
