Content area
Full Text
Washington state regulators last week ordered Qwest Communications International Inc. to assist local-telephony efforts by AT&T Broadband, the cable operator that's usually the target of open-access solicitors.
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission's 10-page decision came as Colorado-based Qwest was considering whether to ask regulators in its 14-state territory to open AT&T Broadband's high-speed platform to competing Internet-service providers.
"I guess turnabout is fair play," said Paul Kagan Associates telecom analyst John Mansell.
The battle in Washington is different than a cable-access dispute, Mansell noted. Except when under a legislative or court order, AT&T Broadband was never under any obligation to unbundle its network - and has successfully warded off such local efforts so far.
But the...