Verizon Communications Inc. sued Sprint Nextel Corp. in Delaware federal court, accusing the No. 3 mobile-phone operator of failing to pay nearly $10 million in interconnection charges. A lot of money, but the Verizon-Sprint Nextel spat actually pales in comparison to bigger interconnection controversy playing out at the Federal Communications Commission and in the states – one with an unexpected twist.
“Verizon has repeatedly attempted to resolve this dispute short of litigation,” the lawsuit stated. “Yet these attempts, made over many months and through both written and personal communications, have been fruitless. Accordingly, Verizon has been forced to seek relief from this court.”
Verizon said the money owed by Sprint Nextel is for services in mostly eastern states that are subject to tariffs filed with the FCC.
“Because Verizon’s claims in this matter are running up against a two-year statute of limitations, this complaint comes as no surprise – this is simply a standard legal maneuver by Verizon to preserve their legal claim against us,” said John Taylor, a Sprint Nextel spokesman. “We remain hopeful that we can resolve this matter without any further legal action by either party.”
Keeping AT&T at bay
While on the receiving end of the suit, Sprint Nextel is mounting a major campaign at the FCC to ensure AT&T Inc. is not allowed to stray from a major interconnection condition to which it agreed as a prerequisite to gaining approval of its $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp. in late 2006. The condition, among other things, would extend existing interconnection agreements with either party of the newly merged entity for three years and allow telecom carriers to port such agreements in BellSouth’s nine-state region to AT&T’s 13-state region.
For Sprint Nextel, the merger condition offered an opportunity to expand the reach of a bill-and-keep interconnection arrangement it had with BellSouth in Kentucky and have it extended to its wireless operating units throughout BellSouth and AT&T regions. But Sprint Nextel said it has met stiff resistance from AT&T, which has a different view of the merger interconnection condition. Meantime, other wireless and wireline carriers want to financially benefit from the interconnection pacts they believe they’re entitled to as a result of the ATT-BellSouth merger commitment.
“AT&T’s petition is nothing but its latest tactic in a seemingly endless arsenal, flouting the commissioner’s merger order by refusing to honor its promises,” Sprint Nextel told the FCC. “The commission should promptly dismiss AT&T’s delaying tactic, initiate enforcement proceedings and impose penalties upon AT&T for its brazen refusal to comply with the merger conditions.”
AT&T asserts Sprint-Nextel misconstrues the merger’s interconnection commitment.
“The bill-and-keep and facility pricing provisions are not portable merely because they were negotiated for the BellSouth region rather than arbitrated for a single state,” AT&T stated.
MetroPCS Communications Inc. and other wireless companies back Sprint Nextel’s position.
Alltel Corp. told federal regulators AT&T has refused to process a request to port its nine-state interconnection agreement with BellSouth to AT&T’s 13 states.
Verizon did not take sides in the AT&T-Sprint Nextel dispute, but said it can relate to the No. 3 mobile-phone carrier’s frustration with AT&T.
