AT&T Escalates California COLR Fight to Federal Level
Source: Communications Daily|By Philip Athey
AT&T has fought for years within California to loosen the state’s carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations, but after a newly released order from the FCC, the company has taken the fight to the national level -- a significant escalation, according to consumer advocates. While the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has said that COLR rules are technology-neutral, AT&T, the biggest COLR in the state, maintains that they are a de facto requirement to provide copper service to hundreds of thousands of residents.
In the lawsuit, AT&T sought a court order to block the CPUC from requiring it to continue offering copper wire service to new customers. Ryan Johnston, a telecom and regulatory attorney with The Utility Reform Network (TURN), said that despite AT&T’s claims, nearly 200,000 California residents still need that copper wire service.
