e.Spire brings complaint against Verizon for reciprocal comp

e.Spire Communications has brought a complaint against Verizon Maryland for failure to pay $1.3 million in reciprocal compensation payments.

Filed with the Maryland Public Service Commission (MPSC), the complaint revolves around the ISP-based reciprocal compensation caps established by the FCC in April. According to e.Spire, Verizon unilaterally made the cap effective without negotiation, violating the FCC’s ruling, the amendment and change-of-law clauses in the interconnection agreement between e.Spire and Verizon, and a ruling made by the MPSC this summer.

In the ruling, the response to a petition from Core Communications, the commission rejected Verizon’s claim that no amendment was necessary to implement the new reciprocal-compensation caps. “Contrary to Verizon’s contention, the FCC Order is not ‘self-executing.’ [Verizon] may implement the interim compensation regime only through the contractual change-of-law provisions,” the ruling said.

But that ruling only applies to Core, said John Gilbert, director of regulatory affairs for Verizon Maryland. Verizon is “leaning on the phrase in the FCC’s [reciprocal compensation cap] order that says that, if a contract has a change-of-law provision, the FCC’s cap applies,” he said.

Verizon’s failure to pay reciprocal compensation has aggravated the fact that e.Spire is currently attempting to restructure through bankruptcy laws, according to Mark Becker, director of regulator affairs for e.Spire.

“Our frustration is that they are so arrogant that they are violating a clear directive by the U.S. bankruptcy Court and a clear directive of the Maryland Public Service Commission,” he said. “It’s just another example of them trying to obstruct our business. They know we are in bankruptcy and are trying to take advantage of that.”