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Providers of centralized equal access (CEA) services are subject to a unique, overlapping regulatory regime, treated both as dominant rate-of-return carriers, subject to cost-based tariff filing requirements under Subpart E of Part 61 of the Commission’s common carrier rules, and as competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), subject to rate regulation under Subpart C. CEA providers were originally formed to implement long distance equal access obligations (permitting end users to use 1+ dialing to reach the interexchange carrier (IXC) of their choice) and aggregate traffic for connection between rural incumbent LEC and IXC networks. In 1990, the Commission granted the Minnesota Equal Independent Access Corporation (MIEAC) authority under Section 214 of the Communications Act to provide CEA service to IXCs through a centralized switching facility in the State of Minnesota.

On November 21, 2022, MIEAC, one of several providers to which the Commission granted authority to provide CEA services, filed a Petition seeking forbearance from dominant carrier regulation with respect to its CEA service, including tariffing requirements, pricing regulation, and certain procedural requirements that follow from MIEAC’s status as a dominant carrier. These requirements include cost-based tariff filing requirements (such as the biennial requirement to perform cost studies and rate of return calculations), and requirements related to discontinuance of services and transfers of control.

Currently, MIEAC’s tariffed switched transport rate cannot exceed: (i) the applicable rate cap; (ii) the CLEC benchmark rate; or (iii) the applicable cost-based rate; among these, the operative constraint on MIEAC’s interstate switched access rates is the CLEC benchmark, and MIEAC’s current rates fall beneath that benchmark.
If the Petition is granted, MIEAC will be regulated as a non-dominant carrier and still be subject to the rate caps imposed on CLECs through the USF/ICC Transformation Order and the 8YY Access Charge Reform Order, in addition to generally applicable procedural requirements for discontinuation and transfers of control. Likewise, the resolution of this Petition will not change the status of other CEA providers (namely, Aureon and SDN), who have not filed petitions seeking similar relief.

On December 1, 2022, the Bureau issued a Public Notice seeking comment on the Petition for Reconsideration, and the comment and reply comment periods closed without any filings for or against the Petitioner.

Overall Description of Deadline: The Commission must act upon Petitions for Forbearance within one year of their filling date, unless the Commission finds it necessary to extend the deadline by an additional 90 days, as permitted by the statute. This Petition was filed on Nov. 22, 2022, and the deadline is therefore Nov. 22, 2023.