CopyCited 6 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2004 WL 2051837
...mes, it decided to establish a default definition that was as competitively neutral as possible. Sprint and Verizon, however, argue that section
364.01(4) provides only a general pronouncement of legislative intent and that sections
364.16(3)(a) and
364.163, Florida Statutes (2002), [8] more specifically prohibit the Commission's action....
...imit the charge to be paid to ILECs for terminating ALEC-originating calls by enlarging the ALECs' local calling areas. This practice, they argue, would run counter to the purposes behind the Legislature's 1995 enactment of sections
364.16(3)(a) and
364.163, which were to take away from the Commission the authority to adjust access charges and to prevent a diminution of access revenues to which ILECs are entitled. Sprint and Verizon argue that the specific provisions within sections
364.16(3)(a) and
364.163, therefore, must control over the general provisions of section
364.01(4). In response, the Commission acknowledges that sections
364.16(3)(a) and
364.163 restrict its authority in the area of access charges but also asserts that those provisions relate to access charges once the local calling scope has been defined....
...The Commission also acknowledges that the Legislature has reserved for itself the authority to determine access charge rates but asserts that revenues and rates are distinct entities in intercarrier compensation schemes and under the law. Sprint and Verizon do not argue that sections
364.16(3) and
364.163 expressly and directly prohibit the Commission from establishing a definition of local calling area. Rather, Sprint and Verizon argue that the Commission's choice for the default, i.e., the originating carrier's local calling areas, will create a situation in which ALECs may circumvent access charges in violation of sections
364.16(3) and
364.163....
...e telecommunications company shall knowingly deliver traffic, for which terminating access service charges would otherwise apply, through a local interconnection arrangement without paying the appropriate charges for such terminating access service. Section 364.163, Florida Statutes (2002), provides caps and adjustments to access charges for network service access....
