The FCC voted to suspend its rules on pricing flexibility in the special access market on Thursday, citing the need for updated data collection from service providers.
The current rules, adopted in 1999, were intended to increase competition in the special access market. But a truly competitive marketplace never materialized, allowing legacy monopoly carriers to charge a premium to all businesses that must rely on these basic telecom connections for sending and receiving high volumes of data in daily operations.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Vice President Cathy Sloan:
“After seven years of this issue languishing at the FCC, it became clear that these 12-year-old regulatory mechanisms are dysfunctional and need to be reformed. We are relieved that the agency has decided to hold the line on further wholesale rate increases by Verizon, AT&T and others while it mandates their production of the market data the FCC needs to determine whether and where American businesses actually do enjoy realistic competitive choices for their telecommunications needs or are captive customers facing monopoly pricing.”