Comments Due Aug. 19 on Midcontinent Local Interconnection Petition

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by Aug. 19, replies Sept. 9, on Midcontinent Communications' petition for declaratory ruling on rules for obtaining local interconnection, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 22-277. Midcontinent asked the FCC to confirm telecom carriers authorized to provide service in a state "may seek interconnection with any other telecommunications carrier under section 251(a) of the Communications Act" to provide "wholesale interconnection services for the exchange of local traffic" without needing additional state regulatory approval, "including a certificate of authority to provide local exchange service." The company petitioned the FCC after a South Dakota Public Utilities Commission ruling that it needed a "certificate of authority to provide local exchange service."