AT&T, T-Mobile Antitrust Suit Spurs FCC to Restart Special Access Inquiry

The Federal Communications Commission announced that the agency was asking for new data on the pricing and the competitive environment around the Special Access market.

Special Access has come to the surface because of its inclusion as a major point in the antitrust complaints by Sprint and Cellular South in the AT&T/T-Mobile antitrust lawsuit. However, Special Access goes far beyond the needs of wireless companies. While Special Access is getting a lot of attention right now because wireless companies use the DS1, DS3 and Ethernet lines that make up the Special Access infrastructure for their backhaul from cell towers. But in reality, virtually every company that uses any kind of external network access is using Special Access in one way or another. This means the pricing and competitive information that the FCC gathers, and uses for any subsequent ruling, can directly affect the bottom line of your business. The timing of the announcement coincides with the antitrust action by the Department of Justice, but that wasn't intentional. In fact, left to its own devices, the FCC probably would never have moved. It required a Writ of Mandamus filed by the Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee and several other public interest groups to force the FCC to move forward. The Ad Hoc group has already asked the FCC to take action to force the transparency and competition it thinks is necessary.