Verizon, Qwest Could Get Accounting Rules Forbearance without ‘Me Too’ Petitions
The FCC could grant forbearance to Verizon and Qwest without either Bell filing a me-too forbearance petition. Late Friday, the FCC sought comments on whether to give both carriers relief from cost-assignment rules requiring Bell companies to keep records that, among other tasks, separate interstate and intrastate costs. The FCC granted an AT&T forbearance on the subject in April (CD April 28 p5).
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But Verizon and Qwest didn’t file forbearance petitions after the FCC granted AT&T relief. The carriers have petitioned for relief from Automated Reporting Management Information System (ARMIS) requirements, and Qwest’s filing seeks relief from some cost-assignment rules. But Friday’s public notice responds to a late May ex parte meeting between the Bells and the FCC’s general counsel (CD May 28 p6). That doesn’t count as a forbearance petition under commission rules. “To be considered as a petition for forbearance subject to the one-year deadline set forth in 47 U.S.C. 160(c),” the FCC rules say, the petition must “be filed as a separate pleading and shall be identified in the caption of such pleading as a petition for forbearance under 47 U.S.C. 160(c).”
The public notice means the FCC is considering granting the Bells’ request on its own motion, a competitive local exchange carrier official said in an interview. It’s an “unusual” case, with the FCC “clearly treating” the Bells’ ex parte meeting as a forbearance petition, the official said. The FCC has asked before for comment on ex parte filings -- during the AT&T-BellSouth merger, for example -- but it’s “odd” that the FCC would seek comment on “one sentence” in an ex parte, the source said. Procedural questions will be an “aspect” of CLEC comments, the source said.
The FCC may extend forbearance relief from one carrier to another with or without a petition, a Verizon spokeswoman said. “The FCC has done it both ways -- sometimes with a petition, or sometimes extending relief more generally.” She cited two examples. “Most recently, the FCC extended forbearance from the inbound equal access scripting requirements for all BOCs when only AT&T had filed a forbearance petition. Another example came in the context of ISP [reciprocal] compensation, where Core Communications had asked for forbearance from the growth caps and other limits and the FCC extended the relief to all carriers.”
Qwest filed a forbearance petition on cost-assignment rules in September, a company spokesman said. The petition also sought relief from ARMIS reporting rules. “The public notice is for comments about Qwest’s and Verizon’s petitions because they are seeking relief similar to what AT&T received, though there are some slight differences in which rules the carriers are seeking forbearance,” the spokesman said.
The public notice makes no mention of a 12-month forbearance deadline. That works to opponents’ advantage, said the CLEC official. Verizon and Qwest aren’t expected to file a formal petition, invoking the statutory deadline. With no due date for commissioner votes, opponents can focus on their petition to reconsider the original AT&T forbearance order, the official said.
Comments on the Bells’ request are due 14 days after publication in the Federal Register, with replies due 10 days later.