Groups ask FCC for changes in 'special access' fees

22.06.2009
A group of public interest groups and regional telecom carriers has launched a new campaign to reform the fees paid to large telecom carriers for so-called special access to large-pipe connections between buildings and central switching facilities.

The new NoChokePoints coalition, launched Monday, has nearly 20 members, including Public Knowledge, Sprint Nextel, TW Telecom and the New America Foundation. The groups called on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to reform the fee structure for special access to those large-capacity pipes owned by large carriers such as Verizon Communications and AT&T.

Reasonable special access rates are critical to broadband deployment across the U.S., members of the coalition said.

"Releasing the broadband economy from the chokehold these huge phone companies have on the special access market will be a catalyst for innovation and investment in the broadband marketplace, something we desperately need," Maura Corbett, spokeswoman for the coalition, said in a statement. "Every time you send an e-mail, withdraw money from an ATM, or use your wireless phone, your information travels on these high-capacity lines. Excessive pricing and other market abuses by these companies have long been an issue of concern at the Federal Communications Commission."

U.S. President Barack Obama, plus members of Congress and the FCC, have made broadband deployment a top priority, Corbett noted in a news release. "Frankly, it defies explanation that we are still fighting this market abuse," she said. "Huge companies like Verizon and AT&T control the broadband lines of almost every business in the United States."

USTelecom, a trade group representing large carriers, disputed the need for major changes in special access fees.