Opinion ID: 168880
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Switching

Text: 35 Switches are equipment directing calls to their destination. Iowa Utils. Bd., 525 U.S. at 371, 119 S.Ct. 721. Although the FCC has not given a simple and authoritative definition of the term switching, its discussion of the term in the TRRO makes very clear that switching relates to the physical linking of two networks. The FCC began by noting that an important function of the local circuit switch is as a means of accessing the local loop. TRRO, 18 F.C.C.R. at 17244 ¶ 429. Moreover, one of the most essential functions a switch performs is to provide routing information that sends a call to the appropriate destination. Id. at 17246 ¶ 434. The FCC explained that CLECs must either gain access to the ILEC's switches or create physical connections between their own switches and the ILEC's loop in order to provide local service. Id. at 17244 ¶ 429. Additionally, switching performs several specific functions, including connecting loop facilities to the network, switching loops to other lines and trunks, and providing service capabilities to customers, such as dial tone and vertical features. Id. at 430. The Commission has defined switching to encompass line-side and trunk-side facilities, plus the features, functions, and capabilities of the switch . . . includ[ing] the basic switching function of connecting lines to lines, lines to trunks, trunks to lines, and trunks to trunks. Id. at 17245-46 ¶ 433 (internal citations omitted). 36 In the TRRO, the FCC determined that ILECs were not required to provide switching as an unbundled network element pursuant to § 251(c)(3) because the failure to provide access to switching would not impair a CLEC's ability to provide local telephone service to its customers. See TRRO, 18 F.C.C.R. at 16989; 47 U.S.C. § 251(d)(2)(B). However, the conclusion that § 251(c)(3) does not require ILECs to provide switching says nothing about whether switching is related to the obligation to interconnect found in § 251(c)(2). Insofar as the FCC has described the basic switching function of connecting lines to lines, lines to trunks, trunks to lines, and trunks to trunks, TRRO, 18 F.C.C.R. at 17246 ¶ 433, switching is unmistakably related to the physical connection of two networks. See also MCI, 271 F.3d at 502 (characterizing remote switching modules—instruments that contain multiple switches—as devices used for interconnection). Accordingly, we conclude that agreements—such as the QPP Agreement—that permit ongoing access to an ILEC's switches are interconnection agreements that must be filed under 47 U.S.C. § 252. 37 Furthermore, the switching service in the QPP Agreement is related to the provision of unbundled network elements under § 251(c)(3). Qwest does not dispute that switching is a network element, see Qwest Utah Br. at 69, and the QPP Agreement gives MCImetro ongoing access to switching on an unbundled basis. Although the FCC has concluded that a lack of access to switching would not impair MCImetro's ability to provide services within the meaning of § 251(d)(2)(B), the FCC has also determined that access to switching generally facilitates a CLEC's ability to provide services, especially in the mass market. TRRO, 18 F.C.C.R. at 17249-55 ¶¶ 438-47. Thus, while access to switching is not required by § 251(c)(3), it is related to Qwest's § 251(c)(3) obligations because it will assist MCImetro in providing services. As a result, § 252 required Qwest and MCImetro to file the QPP Agreement with the state commissions.