USTelecom Wants FCC Special Access Price Data Collected to Include Two Years

USTelecom, the lobbying association representing telephone companies, is asking the Federal Communications Commission to collect more information about special access pricing. Although the request at first might seem off-the-wall (what telco wants to report more data?), there are some extenuating circumstances here.

At issue is the special access pricing data that the FCC required larger incumbent and competitive network operators to file by year-end. The goal is to gauge whether sufficient competition exists to give incumbents more pricing flexibility. USTelecom argues that one year of special access price data is not sufficient for the FCC to determine whether sufficient competition exists in that market.