IP Interconnection Agreements Need Oversight, NARUC Hears

摘要

As state regulators fret over their role during the IP transition (STRR Feb 14 p6), representativesrnfrom Sprint and Time Warner Cable said Feb. 12 there’s a need for the state bodies to police IP interconnectionrnagreements just as they did with old TDM connections. “Incumbents have an incentive and the abilityrnto suppress” new competitors, said Charles McKee, Sprint vice president-government affairs, federal andrnstate regulatory, at NARUC's winter conference in Washington. They may not refuse to interconnect, hernsaid, but they could set prices exorbitantly high without a requirement to negotiate in good faith. IP promisesrnimprovements to customers, including HD voice, he said. “But both sides need to have access to it."