CenturyLink Opposes WST Tribal Bid to Be ILEC in Oregon Wire Center
CenturyLink opposed Warm Springs Telecom's bid to become the incumbent telco for part of the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon on the same day the FCC put WST's petition out for comment. CenturyLink said it's the ILEC for the Warm…
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Springs wire center and generally denied the factual allegations and legal conclusions in WST's request, which also sought ILEC status for the reservation's Wanapine exchange. CenturyLink disputes "allegations regarding the nature of CenturyLink’s service on the Warm Springs Reservation, market share information, the history of the relationship between the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and CenturyLink, and WST’s ability to function as the ILEC on the reservation," said its opposition Tuesday in docket 16-284. The FCC sought comments by Oct. 20, replies by Nov. 4 on WST's Aug. 29 ILEC petition in a Wireline Bureau public notice Tuesday. CenturyLink said WST hadn't shown that it substantially replaced CenturyLink in the Warm Springs wire center despite WST's claim it had overbuilt most of the network and served more than 90 percent of local customers. If WST, a CLEC, wants to be the ILEC for the Warm Springs wire center, it should show it substantially has replaced CenturyLink in the entirety of the wire center and not just the portion within the reservation, said the opposition. CenturyLink said WST hadn't made necessary ILEC commitments or demonstrated it received necessary state authorizations for the area. It appears WST simply tacked on its request for ILEC status in the Warm Springs wire center to a request for ILEC status in the Wanapine exchange that had received Oregon Public Utility Commission backing, CenturyLink said.