Special access gets special scrutiny from the courts

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals decided to take action on a request asking the court to force the Federal Communications Commission to get moving on the issue of how much mobile and rural operators pay for access to the Internet.

If the potential court order from Monday prompts the FCC to take action, the big wireline phone companies might see regulations capping how much they can charge others for access to their middle-mile pipes. NoChokePoints, an organization funded by those affected by high special access charges (this includes businesses), filed a petition in July asking the court to issue a writ of mandamus forcing the FCC to decide the issue within the next six months. On Dec 19 the court ordered expedited briefings ending Feb. 10, 2012, and told its clerk to set oral argument “at the first appropriate date.” (A mandamus petition is a request to a higher court asking a lower court or agency to rethink a decision, and most mandamus petitions go nowhere, so analysts and public interest organizations think the court’s action is noteworthy.)