MCI and Qwest Communications reached a landmark agreement on wholesale pricing and services — marking the first commercially negotiated wholesale agreement between ILEC and major CLEC. The deal was reached after five weeks of mediated negotiations. Cheryl Parrino, former chairman of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, served as mediator.
The agreement maintains existing prices through 31-Dec-2004; creates a transition period through January 2007; provides for incremental price adjustments at scheduled points within the transition period; and eases MCI’s transition to facilities-based service offerings.
To better reflect market conditions, the deal includes a residential and business price split which addresses the unique market needs of these very different customers and results in a smaller rate increase for CLECs that serve residential customers in Qwest’s territory. Additionally, rates are geographically sensitive. In total, rates for Qwest’s “Qwest Platform Plus” (QPP) — which will replace the unbundled network element (UNE) platform that MCI currently buys under regulatory rules — will increase an average of less than $5 – including both residential and business customers — by the end of the transition period. Certain non-recurring charges that MCI incurs to move its customers to its own facilities will decrease.
The agreement includes Qwest DSL services, as well as other services not previously available with a combined wholesale service, providing MCI with the opportunity to access new features and functionality at a discount — specifically, Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) services and Qwest Voice Messaging services. http://www.mci.comhttp://www.qwest.com
