AP via Forbes:

A U.S. Federal Appeals Court Friday denied McLeodUSA Inc.’s bid to overturn a Federal Communications Commission ruling that granted Qwest Communications International Inc. relief from sharing its network at a discount with smaller carriers…

McLeod appealed a December 2005 FCC decision giving Qwest substantial relief from having to share its network at deeply discounted prices with smaller carriers such as McLeod to allow them to compete with Qwest in the same market…

Smaller carriers like McLeod are facing more appeals by the larger former Bell companies, which are lodging regulatory relief requests with the FCC with increasing frequency. The Omaha case is seen by many in the industry as a test case for subsequent decisions.