PSC sides with Lafayette against BellSouth

The Louisiana Public Services Commission has filed a Amicus Curiae Brief supporting the city of Lafayette’s position in the latest lawsuit filed by BellSouth in an effort to stop the city from building a fiber-to-home network.

BellSouth is currently appealing dismissal of an earlier lawsuit by the 15th Judicial District Court in which it claimed the $125 million bond ordinance passed by the Lafayette City-Parish Council was invalid. Its appeal is now before the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

In its brief, the Louisiana PSC said that BellSouth failed to appeal the state regulatory board’s ruling on the bond issue to the 19th Judicial District Court, as required, and is instead attacking the decision in a different court venue. “The Commissino has a direct interest and duty to preserve and defend its Order, which is binding law,” the brief states. Noting that BellSouth fully participated in the PSC’s rulemaking process, the brief said that the “legal delays for any appeal of the commission’s order have passed,” and that any BellSouth comments regarding the PSC’s rulings should be rejected.

BellSouth has claimed that the bond ordinance violates a state law passed in 2004 that protects private companies from unfair competition with government. The PSC ruled in October that the bond ordinance is not invalid.

“The Commission’s General Order dated 10/4/05 and 10/28/05 incorporating the Commission’s decision were not appealed and are no longer appealable,” the PSC states. “This court should reject any arguments that have the affect of collaterally attacking the rules.”

Proponents of Layayette’s play to build a fiber-to-the-home network, which was approved in a voter referendum last July, have accused BellSouth of filing repeated legal appeals as a delaying tactic.