AT&T Special Access Petitions Granted

AT&T petitions to deregulate special access service in San Francisco/Oakland and San Antonio will be de facto granted after there was no vote June 25 on a special access reform proposal by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski that would have blocked that approval by suspending all such pending petitions and eliminating the competitive benchmarks for deregulating the service.

An FCC official speaking on background said the petitions (as well as one by Windstream) were being granted under the old rules and after "productive discussions among the commissioners," but added that "pursuant to ongoing discussions we expect the Commission will soon vote on an order setting out a path to reform them." Under FCC rules, telcos are required to lease special access lines to competitors. But the FCC deregulated AT&T and others' special access lines in 2009 in cases where competitive triggers are met. Those lines are the "last mile" dedicated broadband lines to businesses, which incumbent local exchange carriers like AT&T dominate. By contrast, residential customers can generally choose from cable or phone lines for their service.