ILEC Competitors: Special Access Contract “Fresh Look” Could Be Coming

The special access market is not competitive — and based on data it has collected, the Federal Communications Commission is likely to assert that, said representatives from a range of organizations that buy special access circuits.

Representatives from companies such as Sprint and Level 3, as well as organizations such as the Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee and the Community Broadband Networks Institute for Local Self-Reliance discussed the special access market on a conference call with reporters organized by Competify, an interest group that was formed for the express purpose of promoting competition in the special access market. All of the entities that were on the call have one thing in common: they buy special access circuits from the nation’s largest price cap carriers or represent entities that do.

“Market conditions will show that we have a significant issue,” predicted Chip Pickering, CEO of INCOMPAS, an organization representing competitive carriers formerly known as Comptel. Large incumbent carriers, Pickering said, have been able to charge “monopoly rents,” and “pro-competitive reforms” should be established. “If you allow one or two [carriers] to dominate the market and share monopoly rent, the entire market suffers and consumers will have less investment and innovation,” he said.