Verizon Sues Pac-West and PUC Over Pact

Verizon Communications Inc. is suing the California Public Utilities Commission and Pac-West Telecomm Inc., seeking to overturn a decision approving an interconnection agreement between the two companies.

Verizon claims the decision reached by the commission in May requires it to pay Pac-West more for the delivery of phone calls to Internet service providers than federal law permits.

Under Federal Communications Commission rules, New York-based Verizon is required to pay Stockton, Calif.-based Pac-West a fee for using the smaller firm’s line to connect customers to the Internet.