Verizon and Qwest likely will have to slash prices they charge for special access services under merger conditions AT&T agreed to last week, leading to Commission approval of AT&T’s acquisition of BellSouth (CD Jan 2 p1), sources said Wed. Verizon raised a red flag on the provision in a letter to the agency as approval was being finalized Fri. Verizon warned: “Such a condition would be subject to serious legal challenge and likely would not be sustainable.”
Howard Buskirk
Howard Buskirk, Executive Senior Editor, joined Warren Communications News in 2004, after covering Capitol Hill for Telecommunications Reports. He has covered Washington since 1993 and was formerly executive editor at Energy Business Watch, editor at Gas Daily and managing editor at Natural Gas Week. Previous to that, he was a staff reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Greenville News. Follow Buskirk on Twitter: @hbuskirk
Many communities lag on interoperable communications, the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) said in its first national scorecard. Of 75 areas examined, only 6 got the highest DHS rating: San Diego; Columbus; Minneapolis-St. Paul; D.C.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Laramie County, Wyo. Chicago and other major metropolitan areas got much lower marks. DHS Secy. Michael Chertoff released the results Wed.
The FCC approved the AT&T/BellSouth merger, completing action Fri. with concurrence by Comrs. Adelstein and Copps. Staffers for the 2 Democrats negotiated a tough deal with AT&T to allow its merger with BellSouth. Most immediate reaction held that the order offered few surprises. Chmn. Martin and Comr. Tate questioned whether some conditions, especially on net neutrality, went too far. All 4 participating Commission members voiced reservations about the order.
AT&T and BellSouth late Thurs. agreed to a number of new merger conditions arrived at during dozens of hours of negotiations in recent days as talks continued over the Christmas holiday between the companies and the offices of Comrs. Copps and Adelstein. AT&T agreed to conditions on special access, net neutrality, naked DSL and the sale of 2.5 GHz spectrum that go well beyond anything in earlier offers from the Bells. With AT&T’s offer on the table the merger order is now teed up for a vote as early as Fri. (Dec. 29).
Public safety groups are likely to oppose an FCC proposal that would give DoD and other federal agencies access to 12 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum that the FCC is examining for a public safety broadband network, we're told.
The FCC approved GCI’s acquisition of Alaska DigiTel despite charges by competitors MTA Wireless and ACS Wireless that the deal could hurt wireless competition in the state. MTA and ACS had been interested in 20 MHz of spectrum that they contend GCI has warehoused, so they could offer statewide service, sources said. MTA and ACS are considering appealing or asking the Commission to reconsider the order.
Chmn. Martin will circulate a long-awaited order on customer proprietary network information (CPNI) among fellow commissioners. It’s unclear whether, as carriers fear, the FCC will propose mandatory passwords to access CPNI data. Meanwhile, consumer privacy is heating up on the Hill, where House Democrats plan to upon reconvening to resurrect a Commerce Committee version of a pretexting bill Republican leaders buried last year.
T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel, the major wireless carriers not affiliated with Bells, asked the FCC to rule that LECs can’t impose what they call unnecessary impediments to porting numbers. The carriers asked the FCC to declare that carriers may not demand “information from requesting providers beyond that required to validate the customer request and accomplish the port.” The FCC needn’t impose more rules, they said, but must make clear it will enforce current rules.
With AT&T-BellSouth merger talks starting anew, the focus is now on the future of special access and whether the FCC will approach it by mandating baseball-style arbitration or a broader rulemaking. Sources said Thurs. it’s unclear how far talks advanced, if at all, since Comr. McDowell declined to participate in the review (CD Dec 20 p1). With key staff and commissioners off next week, scant progress is expected.
Talks continue on the AT&T-BellSouth merger, but chances are slim for a 2006 approval, with commissioners leaving for the holidays, Chmn. Martin said Wed. “I still think it could get done early next year,” Martin said, acknowledging he has no magic answers for concluding the talks successfully.