USTelecom Members Ask FCC to Revoke BDS Data Framework

Several USTelecom members have filed a motion to strike the Federal Communications Commission’s data framework in the business data services proposal. The motion comes in response to recent acknowledgements by four of the largest cable providers that they significantly undercounted the number of locations that are capable of providing business data services and thus deemed competitive.

According to a press statement released by the companies, CenturyLink, AT&T, Cincinnati Bell, Consolidated, FairPoint and Frontier, recent filings by cable show 22 times more Ethernet-capable locations than the data on which the FCC based its May 2 further notice of proposed rulemaking (FNPRM). “We are extremely concerned that the FCC’s latest business broadband proposal is now based on fatally flawed data that, unless corrected and updated, could have serious economic consequences for the business broadband market,” said CenturyLink Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Government Relations John F. Jones. “We’re asking the FCC to rescind the affected portions of its proposal and update its data before pronouncing judgment on what is or isn’t competitive.”