Opinion ID: 181260
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Maryland Public Service Commission

Text: On October 9, 1999, Core filed a complaint with the Commission alleging that Verizon was unlawfully “refusing to provide interconnectedness” and demanding that Verizon connect immediately. Core amended its complaint on January 18, 2001, alleging that Verizon (1) breached the ICA “by failing to provide interconnection within the requested 45-day interval, and by refusing to negotiate an alternative interval,” J.A. 296; (2) breached its agreement by not providing Core with the same terms it provides to others, J.A. 298 2; (3) refused to provide interconnection “at a technically feasible point”, J.A. 302; (4) “impos[ed] unjust and unreasonable terms and conditions on the interconnection process” J.A. 304; and (5) “breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing under the Interconnection Agreement 2 At oral argument, counsel for Core represented that loop connection is used in ten percent of these types of interconnections between Verizon and CLECs. 10 with Core by refusing to provide interconnection within a commercially reasonable time.” J.A. 305. On March 25, 2002, count one was dismissed by the Commission and is not at issue in this matter. On August 8, 2003, the hearing examiner, assigned by the Commission, entered a proposed order finding that Verizon had breached section 27.1 of the ICA and a duty of fair dealing and good faith under Maryland contract law. The hearing examiner made a factual finding that “Verizon did not provide interconnection to Core in as timely a fashion as it reasonably would have provided interconnection to any of its own customers.” J.A. 116. Specifically, the Commission found that “it is undisputed that capacity was available and connection technically feasible” and that Verizon denied access to this connection in bad faith. J.A. 124. On February 26, 2004, the Commission issued an order affirming the proposed order of the hearing examiner. On July 9, 2004, the Commission denied a motion by Verizon for reconsideration. On February 25, 2008, Verizon filed a complaint in the District Court of Maryland seeking review of the Commission’s finding. On March 30, 2009, the district court granted Verizon’s motion for summary judgment thereby overturning the decisions of the Commission. The district court concluded that 11 Verizon had no duty to provide the lesser quality interconnection requested by Core since the ICA required Verizon to provide Core with a connection of equal quality to that which it provides “itself or to any subsidiary, affiliate, or any other party to which the carrier provides interconnection.” The district court found as a factual matter that the interconnection requested by Core was of lesser quality than the connectivity Verizon provided between carrier switching offices. Furthermore, the district court concluded that in order to determine Verizon’s obligation pursuant to the ICA, one measures the quality of connection it provides between the carrier switching-offices, not between a carrier switching-office and an end-user. Thus, the district court held that Verizon would have been in violation of the ICA if it provided the interconnection requested by Core since it was not of equal quality to that provided between carrier switching-offices, which Verizon asserts would have effectively modified the ICA. 3 The district court also vacated the Commission’s finding that Verizon breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing. 3 It is worth noting that the record does not reflect that Verizon raised any concern about whether the loop connection quality would be in violation of the ICA until the litigation had commenced. 12