US West Ordered to Perform Terms of Interconnection Contract With
Electric Lightwave
TEMPE, Ariz., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Electric Lightwave Inc.
(Nasdaq: ELIX), a leading facilities-based integrated communications provider,
today announced that the Arizona Corporation Commission ruled in its favor in
a contract dispute with US West Communications.
The commission on Oct. 26 ordered US West to pay Electric Lightwave all
back charges for reciprocal compensation, plus late charges, for terminating
local calls to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), as called for in the
interconnection agreement between the two companies.
"It's unfortunate that we once again had to file a complaint against
US West and seek regulatory assistance to compel US West to live up to its
obligations under the agreement," said Timothy Peters, vice president of
government and industry affairs for Electric Lightwave. "The agreement
includes very clear and specific language concerning the treatment of
ISP-bound traffic, yet when it became inconvenient for US West to keep the
contract terms, it tried to back out of it. We were confident that the
commission would rule in our favor because of the strength of the contract,
and it did. We appreciate the unbiased review that the commission conducted."
Reciprocal compensation refers to methods by which telecommunications
carriers pay each other for the transport and termination of each other's
local calls. It is required under the terms of the Telecommunications Act of
1996. The Federal Communications Commission ruled in February that calls to
ISPs are largely interstate in nature, but at the same time said existing
compensation arrangements in contracts should be honored.
To date, Electric Lightwave has filed complaints against US West in
Arizona, Utah, Oregon and Idaho for not paying reciprocal compensation on ISP
traffic. The public utility commissions in Arizona, Oregon and Utah have ruled
in Electric Lightwave's favor; the case in Idaho is still pending.
Electric Lightwave, a pioneer in the competitive telecommunications
industry, has been doing business in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1993.
The company provides businesses feature-rich local and long-distance telephone
services, Internet connectivity and broadband data transport. In the greater
Phoenix metropolitan area, the company operates a $42 million high speed fiber
optic network that is linked to Electric Lightwave's $539 million nationwide
premiere Internet backbone. Electric Lightwave's Internet backbone was
recently ranked fifth in the nation by Boardwatch magazine.
About Electric Lightwave
Electric Lightwave Inc. is a leading integrated communications provider of
enhanced data services, frame relay, ATM and Internet access solutions to
bandwidth intensive businesses and the growing e-commerce market. The company
provides long distance, Internet and data services nationwide, with data
points-of-presence in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston,
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Calif., Philadelphia, San Diego,
San Francisco, San Jose, Calif. and Washington, D.C.
As a full-service provider, the company offers businesses local and
long-distance telephone service and high-speed broadband transport that
interconnects major markets in the West, including Seattle; Sacramento,
Calif.; Salt Lake City; Phoenix; Boise, Idaho; Spokane, Wash. and Portland,
Ore.
Headquartered in Vancouver, Wash., the company employs 1,200 and generated
revenues of $101 million in 1998, up 65 percent from 1997. Additional
information about Electric Lightwave Inc. is located on the World Wide Web at
http://www.eli.net.
SOURCE Electric Lightwave, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.eli.net
CONTACT:
Susan Farmer, 360-816-4518, or pager,
888-328-9235, or susan_farmer@eli.net, or Jack Hardy,
360-816-3602, or 800-391-3267, or jack_hardy@eli.net, both of
Electric Lightwave, Inc.
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