Many Phoenix households cut the cord and now use wireless phone s...

31. Qwest seeks relief from loop and transport unbundling rules in Phoenix, Denver, Seattle and Minneapolis. The FCC didn’t count cut-the-cord wireless subscribers in a circulating draft order that would reject forbearance (CD July 17 p1). Commissioners must vote by Saturday under a statutory deadline, or the petition is deemed granted. Phoenix is seen as the most contested area in the forbearance request. The Nielsen study is flawed, and Qwest filed a report from the same author 15 months ago, said a spokesman for XO Communications. Telephia wrote the original study, but Nielsen bought the firm last year, he said. “Telephia’s 2-page study was unreliable -- lacking data on a meaningful methodology or any means to conduct an analysis of Telephia’s findings,” he said. “The same shortcomings apply to the new information.” XO also condemned the lateness of Qwest’s filing. “Qwest’s 11th-hour ex parte underscores the flaws in a forbearance process that permits petitioners to make late filings that prevent due process by opponents,” the spokesman said. The new study is different than the Telephia report, Steve Davis, Qwest public policy senior vice president, said in an interview. The filing marks the first time Qwest has obtained and filed with the FCC market-specific data on cut- the-cord subscribers, Davis said. Qwest previously only filed national data, because that’s all the FCC wanted in previous forbearance cases, he said. Qwest filed the study so late in the game because it was unaware the FCC wanted market-specific data until recently, he said. Qwest obtained and filed the study as “promptly as [it] could,” said Davis.