Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications

    Carriers Join on Local Network Proposal – 2

    By
    Caron Carlson
    -
    September 2, 2002
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      BellSouth Corp. and Time Warner Telecom Inc. went to the government last week with a joint proposal to resolve a long-standing industry dispute over access to the local telephone network. The compromise, if approved, would further differentiate the tele- communications services—and possibly the prices—offered to businesses and residential consumers.

      The proposal responds to an ongoing and highly contentious debate over which parts of the local network the ILECs (Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers) must lease at regulated rates to CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carriers). Under the compromise, ILECs would no longer be required to lease switching services to rivals for business customers, and, in return, the ILECs would adopt and report performance measurements for special access services.

      “There are already thousands of competitive switches out there,” said Pete Martin, executive director for federal regulatory affairs at Atlanta-based BellSouth. “You can have a switch that covers a whole state.” Martin said he will push for the same switch deregulation to apply to the residential market, but to date, Time Warner Telecom is prepared to compromise only on the business market.

      The rationale for applying different standards for business and residential customers stems from the fact that CLECs have focused most of their marketing efforts on businesses, and residential customers generally have fewer choices among providers. Time Warner Telecom uses its own switches, but many CLECs continue to rely on leased switching services from the ILECs.

      The proposals sponsors assert that it would encourage more carriers to deploy their own switches and that consumers would benefit from differentiated services, but the CLEC industry widely opposes any changes in the network element leasing regulations.

      “They would be limiting other carriers access and consumers access to competitive services,” Jonathan Lee, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Competitive Telecommunications Association, in Washington, said about the proposal. “None of their [unbundled network element] positions make any sense or would be good public policy.”

      Doing away with the switch-leasing rule would reduce competition and likely lead to higher telecom prices, Lee said. “Any one of the elements taken away would cause large numbers of CLECs to suffer and probably go out of business,” he said. “Business users would have less choice, less innovation and ultimately lower-quality communications at higher prices.”

      AT&T Corp., which is a large customer of Time Warner Telecom and a competitor to BellSouth, declared the proposal would benefit only the sponsors at the expense of customers. “Today, two of the main suppliers of wholesale access services in the BellSouth region have partnered on a regulatory strategy to ensure that prices remain high for large business customers and to eliminate competitive choices for small to midsize business customers,” said AT&T in a statement.

      Time Warner Telecom discussed the same proposal with other Regional Bell Operating Companies—which include Verizon Communications Inc., SBC Communications and Qwest Communications Inc.—but no others were prepared to agree to it, according to Don Shepheard, vice president of federal regulatory affairs at Time Warner Telecom, in Littleton, Colo.

      In addition to eliminating the switch-leasing requirement for the business market, the compromise proposal would eliminate the requirement to lease dedicated transport services (which are the lines connecting carriers central offices) if three or more competing carriers provide the service. CLECs widely oppose this proposal as well.

      “Covad [Communications Co.] strongly opposes [the] theory that interoffice transport should be eliminated if a certain number of CLECs are co-located in a central office because the mere fact that they are co-located does not mean that they actually serve the interoffice routes that a CLEC might need,” said Jason Ox-man, assistant general counsel at Covad, in Washington. “It is most likely that the co-located CLECs do not in fact serve the central-office-to-central-office routes that Covad purchases from the ILEC.”

      Caron Carlson
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×