III. Discussion of Settlement

The Commission requires that settlements be reasonable in light of the record, consistent with the law, and in the public interest. The parties state their settlement satisfies this requirement because they have negotiated at arms length and in good faith and present reasonable compromises on all issues. They state the terms of this settlement agreement are consistent with the Advanced Services Order, and all other applicable federal and state law.

The settlement presented here is the culmination of almost a year of work by the parties. The settlement does not impose any terms on parties that are not signatories to the settlement. It does not raise any public policy issues that may affect other carriers or competitive markets generally. We do not perceive that it would in any way harm consumers as a group or individual customers. To the contrary, the settlement would resolve a number of outstanding issues relating to AT&T California collocation rates. It makes permanent those rates that have been "interim" and subject to refund following years of uncertainty. No party has protested the settlement.

We herein find the settlement attached to this order to be reasonable and in the public interest. Consistent with the parties' views, we do not find any element of the settlement that would contravene state or federal law. For these reasons, we adopt it.