Letter to Tom Wheeler, Chairman Federal Communications Commission - Energy & Commerce Dems Urge FCC to Investigate AT&T Filing to Cut Special Access Terms

Letter

Washington, DC -- U.S. Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA-14), Anna G. Eshoo, and Doris O. Matsui sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Wheeler, urging the agency to suspend and investigate a filing made by AT&T to eliminate certain plan terms for special access services.

"We urged Chairman Wheeler and the Commission to suspend and investigate AT&T's recent filing on special access," Congressman Doyle said today. "The changes proposed by AT&T would result in rate increases by as much as 24 percent in some regions and increase costs to users by hundreds of millions of dollars."

"AT&T's filings show the continued need for special access reform, and the importance of robust competition among telecommunications providers," he added. "I look forward to working with Chairman Wheeler and the Commission on special access reform and a pro-competitive agenda that continues our global leadership in world class networks and technology."

All three Representatives are members of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, and Representative Eshoo is the Subcommittee's Ranking Member.

Special Access services are data lines that leased by smaller carriers, wireless companies, and businesses from incumbent telecommunications providers like AT&T, Verizon, and Centurylink. These lines are leased at regulated rates, except in markets that have been deregulated by the FCC. Concerns have been raised that incumbents were charging exorbitantly more for Special Access in deregulated markets.

Congressman Doyle has been urging the FCC to move forward on special access reform for several years. In 2011, he asked then-Chairman Julius Genachowski to initiate a data collection effort to analyze what was happening in all special access markets and, if the FCC found that markets were being affected by incumbents utilizing monopoly power, to reregulate those markets.

The complete text of the letter follows below.

December 5, 2013

Tom Wheeler
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington DC, 20554

Dear Chairman Wheeler:

Congratulations on your recent swearing-in as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. In the short time since you've taken the helm of the FCC, you've emphasized the importance of competition policy and the power of competitive markets to drive economic growth. As you recently stated, "We must protect competition where it exists. We must promote competition where it may not be fulsome."

One of the greatest challenges to that objective is the broken special access market. As you know, special access services are critical for providing competitive choices for wireline and wireless services. Ensuring reasonable rates, terms, and conditions for this vital input is key to many of the Commission's highest policy priorities, including the President's goal of delivering affordable broadband to schools and libraries, promoting competition in the wireless and broadband markets, managing the transition to IP networks, and ensuring the availability of broadband connections for emergency responders.

We're pleased that the Commission is engaged in a comprehensive effort to gather data and analyze the special access market. However, we are concerned about AT&T's recent notice of its intention to eliminate service plans for terms longer than three years and the effect this action, if approved, would have on prices and competition in the marketplace. By eliminating these plans, AT&T is effectively increasing rates in some regions by as much as 24 percent -- which would result in increased costs to users by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Rather than allowing this effort to short circuit the data collection process now underway, we urge you to suspend and investigate AT&T's filing. We look forward to working with you on special access reform and a pro-competitive agenda that continues our global leadership in world class networks and technology.

Sincerely,

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