Judge Kocoras’s injunction

A federal district court injunction in Illinois will reverberate beyond the Land of Lincoln by reaffiriming policy and law for local phone competition in the USA. Chief District Judge Charles P. Kocoras reminded legislators, regulators and telecommunications executives that state regulators are to employ federal telecommunications law and policy, specifically total element long run incremental pricing (TELRIC) for unbundled network elements (UNE‐s), to administer markets for local telephone services. The genius of the decision resides in its fidelity to sedulous implementation of telecommunications statute and precedents, and by so doing, in sustaining public policy that enhances consumer welfare, stimulates investment and spurs innovation.