AT&T Expects More Subpoenas in Defending Against Core Lawsuit

AT&T served notification on the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania that it petitioned the Middle District of Florida in Tampa for an order compelling Voxon to produce documents under a Sept. 19 subpoena (see 2211230053), said the notification Monday (docket 2:21-cv-02771). AT&T also moved concurrently in Tampa for an order to transfer the subpoena petition to Philadelphia “in the hope that this Court will adjudicate the nonparty discovery issues that are highly relevant to claims and defenses in the present litigation,” it said. Counsel for plaintiff Core Communications doesn't oppose the motion to compel or the motion to transfer, it said. Like Voxon, other nonparties to the Philadelphia case have failed to comply with AT&T’s subpoenas, “and AT&T expects that it may have to file additional motions to compel (and motions to transfer) in various jurisdictions around the country,” it said. Core sued AT&T in June 2021, seeking the recovery of $11.4 million in unpaid access services charges, and AT&T said in its petition that the Voxon documents are “directly relevant” to its defense in the case. AT&T said it learned through discovery in the Philadelphia litigation that Voxon is one of the upstream providers that Core buys 8YY toll-free traffic from. Core then charges AT&T and other interexchange carriers “certain access charges for routing that traffic to them,” it said. Voxon’s 8YY traffic therefore “serves as the basis for a significant portion of the charges that Core seeks to recover” from AT&T in the Philadelphia litigation, it said.