AT&T Files Complaint Against Great Lakes Communication in Intercarrier Dispute
AT&T alleged Great Lakes Communication violated Communications Act provisions by denying AT&T's long-distance business the benefits of direct connection and lower rates. GLC's refusal to give AT&T a direct connection arrangement "was an unjust and unreasonable practice in violation of…
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section 201(b) of the Act," said an AT&T complaint, part of a 1,407-page FCC filing posted Wednesday in File No. EB-16-MD-001. AT&T said GLC is required under the rules to "benchmark" its rates and offer services that are functionally equivalent to those of another carrier, CenturyLink, which offers direct connection. GLC offered a comparable service but withdrew it in an amended tariff after the 2011 USF and intercarrier compensation overhaul order, said AT&T. It said direct connection "would dramatically reduce the charges assessed to AT&T" and other long-distance carriers and their customers for GLC's "access stimulation traffic." GLC violated Sections 203(c) and 201(b) of the Act "by billing for services that were contrary to the terms set forth" in GLC's revised tariff and the agency's rules, AT&T said. It said GLC may not recover expenses from long-distance carriers for its regulated interstate call termination services except via a valid tariff or an "express, negotiated contract." A U.S. District Court ruled in AT&T's favor, dismissing GLC's state law recovery claims, AT&T said. The company said it was filing the complaint pursuant to FCC staff instructions after the carrier and GLC disputed the significance of two District Court referrals to the agency. GLC outside counsel David Carter of Innovista Law called the complaint "an effort to relitigate some of the FCC policy decisions" from the 2011 order, "where AT&T lost some of these same arguments." He said the company will have more to say when it responds at the FCC.