Qwest Communications and Covad Communications announced the completion of a three-year commercial line sharing agreement that provides Covad with access to local lines in the seven states within the Qwest region. Line sharing allows communications providers to deploy DSL on the same line customers use for their voice phone services. The deal takes effect in October of 2004 when current federal line-sharing unbundling obligations are phased out. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Today's agreement demonstrates that the economics of line sharing are beneficial to both parties and that commercial agreements can be negotiated for this service," said Charles Hoffman, president and CEO of Covad. http://www.covad.comhttp://www.qwest.com
- Last week, SBC Communications and Sage Telecom, the third largest CLEC in SBC territory, reached a seven-year commercial agreement for SBC to provide wholesale local phone services to Sage covering all 13 states comprising SBC's local phone territory. The deal is the first to be announced since the FCC's call last week for the industry enter into negotiations to end local access disputes.
- In early March, a three-judge panel in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the FCC's Triennial Review Order with regard to network unbundling rules. Later, all five of the FCC Commissioners signed a letter urging the nation's telecommunications carriers and trade associations to begin a period of "good faith" commercial negotiations on UNE-p resale rates.
