TW Telecom Urges Special Access, Peering Conditions on CenturyLink-Qwest
The FCC should require a merged CenturyLink-Qwest to preserve and extend previously signed special access and Internet peering agreements, TW Telecom said in an ex parte notice filed with the commission Wednesday. The operator asked the commission to extend special access promises that CenturyLink and Integra made in a settlement with Integra (CD Nov 9 p12). They should be “at least equal” to “comparable commitments applicable to unbundled network elements, require detailed special access performance reports for at least 36 months after the acquisition is complete and extend current special access agreements for at least 36 months after the acquisition, the filing said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
CenturyLink’s takeover of Qwest seems all but assured. Nebraska regulators approved the deal this week. Fifteen other states and the District of Columbia have also signed off (CD Jan 5 p8). The companies’ deal with Integra was a big step toward approval.
TW Telecom General Counsel Paul Jones said he and the company’s customers are worried that the quality of service they've grown used to with Qwest will slip once CenturyLink is in charge. “CenturyLink is not a seasoned wholesale service provider and they have not indicated a willingness to take on the same kind of performance reviews that Qwest has,” Jones said. A CenturyLink spokeswoman declined to comment. A Qwest spokesman didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
The two sides last met in November, Jones said. Since then, CenturyLink has sent copies of its Integra deal but has been otherwise “unresponsive” to TW Telecom’s concerns, he said. TW is worried that the newly merged company “will likely have an increased incentive and opportunity to engage in discriminatory conduct in the provision of inputs to competitors,” the ex parte filing said.
There are signs that things are already slipping, TW said in its filing. A Qwest-administered regional commitment program that was used from 2006 until 2010 gave TW 22 percent discounts on rates for DS1 and DS3 special access. Now, Qwest has created a new commitment program that requires TW to guarantee that at least 90 percent of special access circuits stay in service for the life of the deal. If the threshold isn’t met, TW “incurs a penalty equal to the cost of the additional special access circuits necessary to meet the 90 percent commitment,” the ex parte filing said.
The FCC in approving previous mergers has issued conditions similar to those TW seeks, Jones said. The company has raised the first opposition since the Integra settlement was announced. Sprint (CD Oct 18 p5) and then-Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. (CD Oct 28 p8) have urged the FCC to set strict conditions on the proposed deal.