Shared Transport

SBC offers interconnecting carriers the ability to purchase dedicated transport and shared transport as UNEs. The Commission reviewed SBC's dedicated transport UNE rates in the 2001/2002 Reexamination. Joint Applicants allege that numerous data points converge to show that SBC's shared transport costs have declined by 20% since they were set in 1999 using 1994 data and should also be reviewed.

While Joint Applicants request to review shared transport was pending, the FCC issued its Triennial Review Remand Order (TRRO) in February 2005, finding that incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) such as SBC have no obligation to provide competitive local exchange carriers access to the mass market local switching UNE. (TRRO, at para. 5) The FCC's earlier Triennial Review Order (TRO), issued in August 2003, had stated that "unbundled shared transport is tied exclusively to unbundled local circuit switching." (TRO, at para. 534.) The FCC agreed with ILECs that if they are no longer obligated to provide the switching UNE, they should no longer be obligated to unbundle shared transport. (Id.)

Given the FCC's findings in the TRO and TRRO regarding the linkage of shared transport and local circuit switching, and the fact that SBC is no longer obligated to provide the local switching UNE, there is no reason for the Commission to pursue review of SBC's shared transport UNE rates. Parties were invited to comment on this conclusion. In response, SBC and MCI agreed that there was no longer a reason to review shared transport UNE rates. Further, SBC noted that the TRRO provides for limited availability of the shared transport UNE for a limited transition period at rates specified by the FCC. (SBC Comments, 5/6/05, p. 2.) Therefore, Joint Applicants request to review shared transport is denied.