FCC Draft Item Believed to Be Order on Revised Aureon Access Charge Tariff
A draft FCC Iowa Network Access Division item addresses an investigation into a tariff filed by Aureon Network Services (Iowa Network Services) in docket 18-60, said a commission spokesperson Monday. The draft circulated Wednesday, said the agency's circulation list. Aureon…
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outside counsel James Troup of Fletcher Heald told us Monday he believes the Wireline Bureau item is a draft decision on an Aureon tariff that has a July 28 deadline for resolution. Aureon filed proposed interstate access charge tariff revisions to comply with a November order that partially granted an AT&T complaint that Aureon improperly charged for "centralized equal access" on traffic heading to CLECs engaged in "access stimulation." AT&T and Sprint challenged the revised tariffs, and the Wireline Bureau designated some issues for investigation (see 1804200054). AT&T and Sprint didn't comment Monday. "AT&T's assertion that Aureon's rate for [CEA] service is excessive because the rate exceeds the rate benchmark for [CLECs] is without merit because Aureon is not even a CLEC in the first instance," said an Aureon surreply in the docket Monday. It's inappropriate to use CenturyLink's tandem switching rate as a benchmark for Aureon, said a South Dakota Network filing on a meeting with Wireline Bureau staffers. Troup believes an Enforcement Bureau item that circulated with commissioners in May is a draft FCC decision on an Aureon petition for reconsideration of the November order that the company argued should apply only prospectively (see 1805210041). The FCC suspended that proceeding to allow the parties to engage in settlement talks (see 1806060042), a stay it recently extended to July 27 (see 1807030019).