Cavalier Telephone Reacts to FCC UNE Ruling

Cavalier Telephone Reacts to FCC UNE Ruling

RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Cavalier Telephone, a leading provider of integrated local, long-distance, Internet and data communication services in the Mid-Atlantic region, announces that recent FCC rulings sustains and further complements Cavalier's competitive telecommunications services. "This ruling from the FCC validates Cavalier's facilities based business model that has produced strong financial and operating results," said Bob Keane, President & COO of Cavalier Telephone. "This decision allows Cavalier to continue to expand, develop and improve services to our customers. Our strategy of providing a wide range of competitive services to both residential and business customers over our owned and operated network remains unchanged."

On Wednesday, December 15, 2004 the FCC reissued certain rules pertaining to the use of unbundled network elements (UNE's); commonly termed as loops and transport. Cavalier Telephone uses some of these components to interconnect certain portions of its network and to access end users. The FCC had been directed by a Federal Court, on appeal, to reissue its rules to address the criteria that Verizon and other incumbents had to make those components available at regulated prices. The FCC's ruling establishes a threshold that Verizon has to meet to suspend provisioning high capacity loops and transport for Cavalier as UNE's. Traditional analog loops are unaffected. In brief, while there will be some areas (wire centers) precluded from unbundling, however, the overwhelming vast majority of Cavalier's service areas are unaffected. For those areas that are affected, Cavalier will lease network elements at a price determined by commercial agreements, and not regulations.

In addition, the FCC ruled to suspend entirely unbundled switching (also known as UNEP), which is the platform used by AT&T, MCI, and others to deliver their competitive services. Carriers using this platform have 12 months to transition to other arrangements. That ruling does not impact Cavalier as Cavalier does not deliver services via UNEP, but rather provides its services via a facilities based platform.

Mr. Keane added that Cavalier will continue to invest and introduce new advanced telecommunication features and services, bringing savings and advanced capabilities to its customers.

Cavalier Telephone serves over 30,000 small, medium and enterprise businesses and over 130,000 residential customers in Richmond, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, Maryland, Philadelphia, Delaware, Southern New Jersey, and the District of Columbia.

Cavalier Telephone is a facilities-based, full-service local telephone company (CLEC) offering the latest in advanced telecommunications products, including advanced telephone features and high-speed Internet access for business and residential customers. For Marketing information regarding Cavalier Telephone, visit the company's website at http://www.cavtel.com/ or contact Andy Lobred at (804) 422-4100.


Source: Cavalier Telephone

CONTACT: Andy Lobred of Cavalier Telephone, +1-804-422-4100, or
alobred@cavtel.com

Web site: http://www.cavtel.com/


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