Associations continue warringover FCC ruling

Though typically at odds over the key issues affecting the industry, Comptel made a pointed verbal jab at the U.S. Telecom Association today over a filing to intervene in the FCC’s recent final Triennial Review order.

USTA, along with SBC Communications, BellSouth and Qwest, filed a petition with the D.C. Circuit Court asking it to compel the FCC to follow the court’s earlier mandate on unbundled network elements. Verizon made its own filing to the same effect.

According to the filing, the FCC has gone through extraordinary contortions to preserve what the D.C. Circuit called “synthetic competition” in its recently issued rules.

CompTel responded just hours after the filing with a statement from President H. Russell Frisby, Jr., saying that the USTA petition ignores the facts and the law.

“USTA is simply engaged in a blatant attempt at forum shopping. The petition should be summarily rejected,” the statement said.