AT&T to court: Make the FCC act on longstanding dispute

Late last week, AT&T asked the federal court of appeals in Washington, D.C., to require the FCC to take action to resolve disputes regarding more than $200 million in tariffs paid by interexchange carriers to incumbent carriers that have been the subject of investigation for eight years.

At issue are charges paid by interexchange carriers to incumbent carriers that AT&T claims were inflated because the cost factors included ILEC employee benefits other than pensions were included in the formula from 1993 to 1996, according to AT&T. Although the practice of including this calculation in rates was halted, the FCC has never taken action to address the issue of contested funds, according to AT&T spokeswoman Claudia Jones.

"It seems like the only way to get them to move on things that involve the competitive industry is to get the courts involved," Jones said.

Briefs had been filed with the FCC regarding the matter for more than seven years before the agency solicited additional comments in December 2002 to "refresh the record," according to AT&T’s petition to the court.

"The additional comments only confirmed that these investigations present straightforward legal questions that should have been decided many years ago," the petition states. "Yet another year has passed, and the FCC still has not acted. It is now obvious that only a writ of mandamus can remedy the FCC’s refusal to resolve these matters."

AT&T estimates it is entitled to "more than half" of the disputed $200 million and wants to recoup the money with interest, which could almost double the amount in question, Jones said.

According to an FCC official, the tariff investigations were "accidentally terminated" in 2001 with other backlogged items, which caused the agency to seek the comments in 2002. Early last year, Verizon Communications appealed the matter to the full commission, which is expected to issue an order "very soon," the FCC source said.