FCC Likely Inclined Toward AT&T Deregulatory BDS Proposal, Consultant Says

The FCC appears to be receptive to AT&T's deregulatory business data service plan, said CCMI telecom consultant Andrew Regitsky Friday. It's "likely that AT&T received some type of signal from the Commission suggesting it introduce its plan," he wrote in a blog post. "This is strongly indicative that (1) the Commission will soon address this issue, and (2) Its official proposal is likely to look a lot like the AT&T one." AT&T's plan (see 1703140046) would "let the free market work whenever possible" and "apply minimal regulation" where there's no competition, minimizing "forced ILEC special access price cap decreases," Regitsky wrote. "AT&T’s competitors ought to quickly decide if they can live with this plan (highly unlikely) or quickly come up with a plan of their own and march in to enlighten the FCC. However, with [FCC Chairman Ajit] Pai in charge, carriers seeking additional special access regulation have a mountain in front of them." The FCC, AT&T and Incompas, which represents AT&T rivals, didn't comment.