Incumbent providers’ continued dominant positions in the market...

Incumbent providers’ continued dominant positions in the market for interconnection services let them delay the IP transition “because competitive IP-based carriers lack the leverage necessary to demand IP interconnection,” Cablevision and Charter Communications told the FCC in a letter posted in docket 12-353 Friday (http://bit.ly/1mOVoIB). They were responding to a USTelecom letter arguing ILECs are no longer dominant providers in the relevant markets. Cablevision and Charter have experienced the problem firsthand as they've tried to negotiate for such agreements “absent legal guidance from the Commission on the applicability of Section 251(c) to IP-to-IP interconnection,” they said of the Communications Act. Despite competitive providers’ gains in some local markets, interconnection agreements typically cover entire states or regions, and no competitive providers have market penetration comparable to ILECs over such large areas, the cable companies said. The FCC should ensure that ILECs carry out their statutory duties under Section 251(c) and provide IP-to-IP interconnection on reasonable terms, they said.