WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court here has ordered the Federal Communications Commission to fix inconsistencies in paging interconnection rules, setting the stage for rule revisions that may not necessarily benefit the wireless industry.
Mountain Communications Inc., a Colorado paging carrier, challenged the FCC’s dismissal of an interconnection pricing complaint filed against Qwest Communications International Inc.
In its Jan. 16 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit did not overrule the agency but-calling the rejection of the paging firm’s complaint “arbitrary and capricious”-remanded the case to the commission to reconcile the Mountain Communications decision with a previous interconnection ruling involving TSR Wireless L.L.C.
“The court did exactly what it telegraphed at oral argument what it was going to do and found that the Mountain Communications decision was 180 degrees from the TSR Wireless decision without any change in circumstance,” said Kenneth Hardman, a paging expert and wireless attorney.
Hardman said the FCC could go one of two ways. It could bring the Mountain Communications ruling in line with its TSR Wireless decision, which would benefit industry. Or, explained Hardman, the commission could determine it decided correctly in Mountain Communications and was wrong about TSR Wireless. The latter outcome likely would result in higher interconnection costs for wireless carriers.
