August 22, 2002
CLECs Push for UNE-P Retention
The use of unbundled network element platforms (UNE-P) is still growing, despite the downturn in the telecom economy, a group of competitive carriers announced at a press conference last week. The PACE Coalition, a group of CLECs, their attorneys and consultants, has released its UNE-P Fact Report as part of efforts to keep the FCC from reducing the list of acceptable UNEs in its Triennial Review Proceeding.
According to the report, UNE-P was responsible for more than 60 percent of the total growth in competitive lines in 2001. The group estimates that there were 7.7 million UNE-P lines as of June - one-third of all competitive lines - with New York, Texas, Michigan and Illinois leading the way.
Incumbent local exchange carriers argue that the success of UNE-P comes at the expense of facilities-based competition. But Joseph Gillan, a telecommunications consultant working with the PACE Coalition, states "the numbers for pure facilities-based competitors remains the same." "If anything, UNE-P comes at the expense of resale."
According to America's Network, the greater debate may well turn out to be on the state level. Robert Jackson, an attorney with Reed Smith, speculates that the FCC will ultimately stop requiring the ILECs to offer UNE-P to its competitors, but will allow the states to set their own UNE-P regulations. "I don't think that Powell is out to stage fights with the states," the magazine quoted Jackson as saying. "I think the battle will be waged more on the state level than at the FCC - that's how I'm reading the tea leaves." [sources: PACE, America's Network, Communications Daily]
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