Southwestern Bell Telephone Company v. at&tcommunications of the Southwest, Inc.

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
For the Fifth Circuit
___________________________
No. 99-50073
___________________________
SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
AT&T COMMUNICATIONS OF THE SOUTHWEST, INC.,
Defendant-Appellee-Appellant,
v.
MCI TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION; MCIMETRO ACCESS
TRANSMISSION SERVICES, INC.,
Defendants-Appellants-Appellees
and
MFS COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, INC; PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF
TEXAS; PAT WOOD, III, in his official capacities as Chair of the
Public Utility Commission of Texas and as arbitrator; JUDY W
WALSH, in her official capacities as Commissioner of the Public
Utility Commission of Texas and arbitrator; BRETT A PERLMAN, in
his official capacities as Commissioner of the Public Utilities
Commission of Texas and arbitrator; E*SPIRE COMMUNICATIONS, INC
Defendants-Appellees
___________________________________________________
AT&T COMMUNICATIONS OF THE SOUTHWEST, INC
Plaintiff-Appellee-Appellant
v.
SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY
Defendant-Appellee
v.
THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS
Defendant-Appellee
___________________________________________________
MCI TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP, a Delaware Corporation; MCIMETRO
ACCESS TRANSMISSION SERVICES, INC, A Delaware Corporation

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Plaintiffs-Appellants-Appellees
v.
SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE CO, a Missouri Corporation
Defendant-Appellee
v.
PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS; PATRICK H WOOD, III; JUDY W
WALSH; BRETT A PERLMAN
Defendants-Appellees
___________________________________________________
SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
AT&T COMMUNICATIONS OF THE SOUTHWEST, INC
Defendant-Appellee-Appellant
v.
MCI TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION; MCI METRO ACCESS TRANSMISSION
SERVICES;
Defendants-Appellants-Appellees
v.
MFS COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, INC; E*SPIRE COMMUNICATIONS, INC;
PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS; PAT WOOD, III; JUDY W WALSH;
BRETT A PERLMAN
Defendants-Appellees
___________________________________________________
Appeals from the United States District Court
For the Western District of Texas
A-98-CV-197-SS, A-98-CV-196-SS
A-98-CV-199-SS & A-98-CV-345-SS
___________________________________________________
February 24, 2000

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* Circuit Judge of the Ninth Circuit, sitting by designation.
** Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this
opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under
the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
Before DAVIS, HALL* and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:**
ORDER
For a number of reasons, we are persuaded that this case
should be remanded to the Public Utility Commission of Texas
(“Commission”).
First, the central issues raised on appeal by Appellees MCI
and AT&T involve interpretation of the Supreme Court’s recent
decision in AT&T Corp. v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 119 S.Ct. 721 (1999),
which was rendered after the Commission and the district court had
reached their decisions in this case. Second, the issues raised by
AT&T and MCI are substantially identical to those currently under
consideration by the Commission. Finally, the ultimate resolution
of this case will almost certainly require factual determinations
best left to the discretion of the Commission.
The order of the district court pertaining to nonrecurring
charges is therefore VACATED and the case REMANDED to the Public
Utility Commission of Texas for further proceedings in light of the
Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Corp. v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 119
S.Ct. 721 (1999).

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