The Minn. PUC decided to set an end-office local switched termina...

The Minn. PUC decided to set an end-office local switched termination rate of zero for Qwest and its facilities-based local exchange competitors. The zero rate will apply on all local switched minutes, including ISP traffic. The PUC was responding to a March petition by Qwest that said switching was switching, and if the PUC set a zero usage rate for switch ports in UNE pricing, then it also should set a zero usage rate for end-office local switching to terminate local calls of other carriers. The Minn. Dept. of Commerce and AT&T agreed with Qwest, but other CLECs argued that there was a cost difference between UNE switching and terminating end-office switching, and the switch owners were entitled to recover their costs of providing terminating switching. The PUC (Case P421/CI-03-384) said a zero termination usage rate was justified on the same grounds as a zero UNE switching usage rate -- namely, that usage-sensitive switching charges could have a discriminatory and anticompetitive effect.