Qwest, AT&T Land More Deregulation

The FCC’s two Democratic commissioners – Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein – decried the 3-2 vote. In a prepared statement, the two noted lax regulations on corporate accounting led to the Enron and WorldCom scandals. They argued regulators need to impose more – not less – accountability and transparency to “put the country’s economy on a sounder footing. Now is not the time to permit the petitioners and those that follow them – who all play an enormous role in our economy – to shut their books and assume that’s all they need to do.”

Republican commissioners Deborah Tate and Robert McDowell disagreed. They said there’s no federal need for the cost assignment rules applied to AT&T because those were designed for an analog, voice-only world.

“Even without these outdated rules, the commission has clear statutory authority to require AT&T to produce any accounting data that the commission needs for regulatory purposes,” Tate said.

McDowell concurred.

“No part of today’s order precludes the commission – at any time – from compelling AT&T, or any other incumbent local exchange carrier, to provide promptly any and all information necessary to build a sufficient record for any regulatory purpose,” he said.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin did not release comments.

The forbearance decisions come amid a frenzy of similar activity – private investors, CLECs and Congress all are weighing in on pending Qwest and Verizon Communications Inc. petitions, as well as a plea from CLECs that the FCC set rules for its decision-making process. Congress also has been talking about erasing the “deemed granted” provision from the 1996 Telecom Act, citing Bells’ abuse of the condition.

Commissioners issued official orders, available on the FCC Web site, for both of this week’s decisions.

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