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Building access battle rages between landlords and carriers

By Jennifer Jones
InfoWorld, 09/13/00

A streaming controversy brewing between office building owners across the country and new-breed carriers that want access to more buildings is expected to come to a head Thursday at the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC at its open Commission meeting will likely come out with an order signaling whether the agency will aim to exert authority over the issue.

On one side, emerging carriers are pushing on the FCC to weigh in and force building landlords to give new market entrants a chance to provide service alongside more entrenched carriers, many of which routinely sign exclusivity contracts with owners.

Real estate groups, however, vehemently oppose what they refer to as "forced access" to buildings. Formidable politicians have also weighed in, expressing concern over FCC intervention in deals between owners and carriers.

Building owners and some lawmakers-including Louisiana Republican Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, who chairs the House Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee-have invoked the Constitution's Fifth Amendment in the brewing issue.

Specifically, Tauzin and others have cautioned the FCC that intervening in this area could be an infraction of the Constitution's "property takings clause."

Other lawmakers, such as Rep. Thomas C. Sawyer (D-Ohio), say the FCC has no right to stretch its oversight authority to buildings.

But CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers) argue that the FCC already has authority over an entire transmission signal, even after it enters a building.

CLEC efforts to get access to more multitenant office buildings are being spearheaded by Washington-based Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS) and others.

"We argue that the FCC has always had authority over the transmission path through the network to the customer on the other end," said Jonathan Askin, general counsel for the ALTS.

"Landlords have not traditionally been perceived as carriers, so they are saying that there is a concern that the FCC is extending its reach. But they are not extending their reach. They've always had this authority," Askin argued.

Askin said building owner representatives, such as the Real Access Alliance in Washington, also have misconstrued CLEC aims to get on an equal footing with entrenched players by claiming that CLECs don't want to pay to have wiring and equipment installed in buildings.

Representative on both sides of the issue will be out in force on Thursday, when the FCC will come out with a position.

But Askin said most of the parties involved are unsure what to expect.

"They could do any number of things, almost any of which advances the ball. We need to be able to bargain on an equal footing with the landlords. And the FCC must send a strong signal that discriminatory practices will not be tolerated," Askin said.