DC Circuit Denies Great Lakes on Access Stimulation

The FCC has "ample statutory authority" and its rule on access stimulation is "reasonable," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said Friday, denying Great Lakes Communications’ challenge to barring reciprocal compensation for long-distance and high-volume calls. Differential treatment of competitive carriers and rate-of-return carriers was reasonable because competitive carriers are "much more flexible” in their geographic footprint, Laurence Silberman wrote in per curiam order in case No. 19-1233. Silberman and Judges Robert Wilkins and Neomi Rao heard oral argument in May (see 2105040045). An attorney for Great Lakes didn’t comment.