Opinion ID: 474497
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Shared Tenant Services

Text: 41 The final issue presented in this appeal is US West's contention that the district court erred in ruling that Ameritech's proposal to furnish certain shared tenant services would violate the decree's proscription on BOC involvement in the interexchange telecommunications business. The district court reasoned that the types of services Ameritech proposed to provide--least-cost routing and traffic analysis--would inject it into the interexchange business and would therefore contravene section II(D) of the decree. Ameritech has not appealed this decision, and we hold that US West does not have standing to independently appeal the decision. 42 It is axiomatic that a party may only appeal to protect its own interests, and not those of a coparty. Libby, McNeill, and Libby v. City National Bank, 592 F.2d 504, 511 (9th Cir.1978). See also Barry v. District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics, 580 F.2d 695, 697 (D.C.Cir.1978). It follows that the district court's ruling on the shared tenant services issue is properly before this court only to the extent that it binds US West; Ameritech's failure to appeal leaves it subject to the ruling. United Steelworkers of America v. University of Alabama, 599 F.2d 56, 59 (5th Cir.1979). Because we conclude that the ruling does not bind US West, we must dismiss US West's appeal for want of standing. 43 As Ameritech acknowledged in the district court, shared tenant services are in the gray area of an 'overlap' between exchange and interexchange activities. United States v. Western Electric Co., 627 F.Supp. at 1099. A number of different types of services fall under the shared tenant services rubric, and it is not evident that all of them are properly characterized as interexchange services. In deciding Ameritech's motion for clarification, the district court was required to determine whether the actual services that Ameritech intended to provide were most akin to permitted exhcnage or prohibited interexchange activities. The court's conclusion that Ameritech's proposal most resembled interexchange service cannot bind US West unless the actual services that US West wishes to provide are identical to those proposed by Ameritech. We have no basis for assuming that US West's proposal would be identical to Ameritech's, and therefore we cannot find that US West is bound by the district court's ruling. 44 Were we to accept US West's invitation to review the ruling, we would have to speculate as to what services US West might wish to provide, and our decision accordingly would be little more than an advisory opinion. The rules of standing exist precisely to avoid the uncertainty that this course would entail. We accordingly hold that the shared tenant services issue is not properly before this court. If US West wishes to pursue this issue, it should frame its own specific shared tenant services proposal, obtain district court review of the proposal if it deems such review prudent, and then appeal any adverse decision to this court.