AT&T Accuses Sprint of Special Access Doublespeak

AT&T vice president-federal regulatory, in a blog post Wednesday. "But one company truly rises above the rest when it comes to saying one thing to the FCC and another to investors -- Sprint," he said. "Not even two months ago, Sprint came to the FCC and argued that it has no choice but to purchase business broadband services from incumbent carriers because only they provide those connections for the vast majority of buildings with business data service (BDS) demand in the country." Simone said Sprint executives had made candid statements, including in a recent article, touting the company's ability to tap cable Ethernet over DOCSIS and other competitive alternatives to fill out its Ethernet footprint in most of the country. "Yet at the Commission, Sprint continues to discredit cable DOCSIS services as an alternative to incumbent carrier special access services," he said. "While Sprint’s economists completely ignore the impact of cable BDS in their filings at the Commission, their business executives have already negotiated agreements with these very same cable companies." Simone urged the FCC to ignore Sprint's "hollow arguments" and focus on encouraging the industry to invest in deploying more fiber and other facilities. But he said the commission's recent Further NPRM "looks to make it easier for companies" to lease other providers' networks, which will discourage investment. With BDS comments due Tuesday, Sprint and others will undoubtedly "bog down the docket with their bald-faced special brand of BSOM advocacy," he said. "Let’s just hope the Commission ignores their tall tales of woe and focuses on policies that encourage the investment necessary to bring high-speed broadband to more American businesses." Sprint didn't comment.