U.S. TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW

The Past, Present and Future

SYLLABUS

Fall, 2000

 

G. Darryl Reed

Adjunct Instructor

SEMINAR DATES/REFERENCE MATERIALS

& TOPICS TO BE ADDRESSED

 

August 19 & 26, 2000

 

Introduction to Basic Telephony & Regulation

 

Reference Materials

 

Newton’s Telecom Dictionary, 16th Updated and Expanded Edition (2000); and

Voice and Data Communications Handbook, 3rd Edition/Regis J. “Bud” Bates and Donald W. Gregory

 

I.            Terminology – (See Newton and/or V&DCH)

            a.            The Public Switch Network (“PSN”)

            b.            Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”)

            c.            Local Access and Transport Area (“LATA”)

            d.            Metropolitan Statistical Area (“MSA”)

            e.            Common Carrier/Common Carriage

            f.            Interexchange Carrier (“IXC”)

            g.            Interlata Service

            h.            Intralata Service

            i.            Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (“ILEC”)

            j.            Competitive Local Exchange carrier (“CLEC”)

            k.            Exchange Access

            l.            Resellers

m.            Competitive Access Providers (“CAP”)

n.            Internet Service Providers (“ISP”)

            o.            Payphone Service Providers

            p.            Wireless Service Provider (“WASP”)

            q.            Private Branch Exchange (“PBX”)

`           r.            Centrex

            s.            Universal Service

            t.            Access Charges

 

II.            Telephone Economics and Price Regulation

                        Rate of Return Regulation

                        Alternative Regulatory Plans

                        Long Run Service Incremental Costs (“LRSIC”)

                        Total Element Long Run Incremental Costs (“TELRIC”)

 

III.            Technical Lecture

            See Handout

 

IV.            Important Dates to Remember

            See Handout

 

V.            Common Law Regulation - Pre 1934

            The Mann-Elkins Act of 1910

            The Kinsbury Commitment of 1913

            Houston & Tx Ry. v U.S., 234 U.S. 342 (1914) (The Shreveport Rate Case)

Smith v Illinois Bell Telephone Company, 282 U.S. 133 (1930)

 

VI.            Statutory Regulation – Post 1934

The Communications Act of 1934 – The FCC

                                    FCC Authority

                                    State Authority

The Illinois Universal Telephone Service Protection Law of 1985

                                    220 ILCS 5/13-103

                        Procedural Provisions – Administrative Procedures Act

Federal and State

 

            Obligations of Common Carriers

                        Service on Demand

                        At Tariffed Rates

                        Just and Reasonable Rates

                        Without Unreasonable Discrimination

                        Private Contracts

 

VII.            Federal vs. State Regulation - Preemption Cases

            North Carolina Utility Commission v FCC, 537 F.2d 787 (4th Cir. 1976)

            North Carolina Utility Commission v FCC, 552 F.2d 1036 (4th Cir. 1977)

California v FCC, 567 F.2d 84, 87 (D.C. Cir. 1977) (per curiam), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1010 (1978)

            New York Telephone v FCC, 631 F.2d 1059, 1065-1066 (2d Cir. 1980)

            La. PSC v. FCC, 476 U.S. 355 (1986)

California v FCC, 798 F2d 1515, 1518 (D.C. Cir. 1986)

Hawaii Telephone Co. v Public Utilities Commission of Hawaii, 827 F.2d 1264 (9th Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1217 (1988)

            NARUC v FCC, 880 F.2d 422, (D.C. Cir. 1989)

            Illinois Bell Telephone Company v. FCC, 883 F2d 104 (D.C. Cir. 1989)

            Public Utilities Commission of Texas v FCC, 886 F2d 1325 (1989)

 

 

September 16 & 23, 2000

 

III.            Antitrust

 

Reference Materials

 

Newton’s Telecom Dictionary, 16th Updated and Expanded Edition (2000); and

Voice and Data Communications Handbook, 3rd Edition/Regis J. “Bud” Bates and Donald W. Gregory

 

Antitrust Principles

                        Essential Facilities Doctrine

                        Tying

“Leveraging” and Refusals to Deal

Predatory Pricing and Cross-Subsidies

Transfer pricing and Self-Dealing

 

The Implications of Regulation

                        Abuse of the Regulatory Process

                                General Immunity

                        Primary Jurisdiction

                        Regulation as a “Fact of Market Life”

                        The Filed Rate Doctrine 

                        State Action

                        The Tenth Amendment

 

A Brief History of Government Cases  

                        The 1914 Bell Decree

                        The 1956 Bell Decree

                        The 1982 Bell Decree

                        The GTE Decree

The AT&T/McCaw Decree

MacAvoy and Robinson, Winning by Losing: The AT&T Settlement and its Impact on Telecommunications, 1 Yale Journal on Regulation (1983).

United States v AT&T, 524 F. Supp. 1336 (D.D.C. 1981).

United States v. AT&T, 552 F. Supp. 131 (D.D.C. 1982). Aff’d. sub nom. Maryland v. United States, 460 U.S. 1001 (1983).

United States v. Western Electric, 592 F. Supp. 846 (D.D.C. 1984).

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 14 & 21, 2000

 

Mergers, Acquisitions, TA ’96 and Resulting Litigation

 

Reference Materials

 

Newton’s Telecom Dictionary, 16th Updated and Expanded Edition (2000); and

Voice and Data Communications Handbook, 3rd Edition/Regis J. “Bud” Bates and Donald W. Gregory

 

            Jurisdictional and Procedural Overview

                        The DOJ and the FCC

                        Federal and State Authority

                        Presumptions, Procedures, and Burdens of Proof

                        Conditional Approvals

 

            Substantive Merger Standards

                        Media-Specific Standards Codified by Congress and the FCC

                        The Merger Guidelines and Antitrust Case Law

 

            Merger Review by the FCC

                        The Public Interest Standard

                        Small Conglomerate Mergers

                        Large Conglomerate Mergers

                        The “Analytical Framework” Applied

 

            Recent Telecommunications Mergers

                        Pacific Telesis Group/SBC and Nevada Bell

                        Pacific Telesis Group and SBC Communications

                                    FCC 97-28

                        NYNEX Corporation and Bell Atlantic Corporation

                                    FCC 97-286

                        Teleport Communications Group and AT&T Corporation

                        FCC 98-169

            Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation and SBC Communications

                                    FCC 98-276

                        MCI Communications Corporation and WorldCom Incorporated

                                    FCC 98-225

                        TCI Incorporated and AT&T Communications

                                    FCC 99-024

                        Ameritech Corporation and SBC Communications

                                    CC 98-141

                        GTE and Bell Atlantic Corporation

                                    CC 98-184

 

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 – A Plethora of Change

            Interconnection  [FCC 96-325; 96-394; 96-476; 96-333, 97-295]

            Universal Service  [FCC 97-157; 97-246; 97-253; 97-380; 97-411; 98-120]

Access Reform  [FCC 96-488; 97-159; 97-247; 97-368; 98-257; 99-119]

Number Portability  [FCC 96-286; 97-074; 97-289; 98-082]

Payphones  [FCC 96-388; 97-371]

 

Litigation Spawned by TA’96

Iowa Utilities Board v FCC,

Texas Public Utility Counsel v. FCC, No. 97-06421 (5th Cir., slip opinion released 7/30/99)

            AT&T Corp. v. Iowa Utilities Board, 119 S.Ct. 721 (1999)

            AT&T Corp. v City of Portland, CV 99-65-PA (Oregon Dist. Ct., 1999)

 

November 4 & 11, 2000

 

The Confluence of Technologies; Next Generation Networks

 

Reference Materials:

Newton’s Telecom Dictionary, 16th Updated and Expanded Edition (2000); and

Voice and Data Communications Handbook, 3rd Edition/Regis J. “Bud” Bates and Donald W. Gregory

 

Copper Based Technologies

xDSL

High Frequency Portion of the Line

 

Wireless Services

            Paging

            Cellular

            PCS

            Specialized Mobile Radio

            Mobile Satellite Service

 

Data Services and the Internet         

                        Origin

                        Jurisdiction

                        Common Carriage

                        Rate Regulation

                        Universal Service

                        Structural Regulation of the Industry

 

            Information Services

                        Definitions    

“Enhanced” and “Information” Services

                                    “Basic” and “Telecommunications” Services

                                    “Information” versus “Telecommunications” Services under TA ’96

                        Federal Deregulation of Information Services

Delivering Information Services over Phone Lines: Interconnection, Open Networks, Comparably Efficient Interconnection and Unbundling

Rate Regulation and Access Charges

 

 

Video Services

                        FCC Jurisdiction

                        Common Carriage of Video Signals

                        Telco-Cable Interconnection

                        Price Regulation

                        Universal Service

                        Industry Structure