Baby Bells, FCC work closely on long distance bids
Reuters Story - February 23, 1998 20:35
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By Jessica Hall
NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U S West Communications Group
and other Baby Bells have begun to work more closely
with federal regulators under new collaborative procedures set
up to review Bell long distance applications.
Mark Roellig, U S West's executive vice president of public
policy, human resources and law, said the Denver-based Baby
Bell has met with both the Federal Communications Commission
and the Department of Justice to discuss its plans to file
"multiple" long distance applications in the first half of 1998.
U S West declined to comment on which states it plans to
target.
"We have met with both the FCC and DOJ in informal sessions
and discussed with them our plans for long distance entry,"
Roellig told analysts recently at a meeting in New York.
Roellig said DOJ officials also visited U S West's
operations in Denver.
Last month, the FCC said it would begin working more
closely with the regional Bell companies before they file
formal applications to offer long distance service.
Under the Telecom Act, the Baby Bells must prove that they
have opened their local telephone market to competition before
being allowed into the long distance market.
A federal judge in December struck down portions of the
1996 Telecom Act, but that ruling has been stayed pending an
appeal.
Over the past year, the FCC has rejected all four Bell
applications submitted under the Telecom Act. The recent
meetings show that regulators are committed to working more
closely with the Bells, analysts said.
Bell Atlantic Corp , which has filed with state
regulators to offer long distance in New York, may be the first
company to formally file with the FCC under the new
collaborative procedures.
The pre-application guidance may help Bell Atlantic become
the first Baby Bell to enter the long distance market, some
analysts said.
"That's our plan," Bell Atlantic spokesman Mark Marchand
said.
Bell Atlantic said the FCC's new approach is certainly a
plus" but the company believes its proposal will succeed on its
own merits.
SBC, which has filed with state regulators to offer long
distance in Kansas and Oklahoma, said it has also recently meet
with the DOJ and FCC staffers and commissioners.
"They have been definitely good and open and informative
meetings," said SBC spokesman Selim Bingol.
Some analysts and company officials see the FCC's new
approach as a sign the agency may be warming to the idea of
letting the Baby Bells into long distance.
Others, however, say the Telecom Act's specific
requirements must still be met, no matter how much hand holding
is done during the application process.
"They (regulators) may talk to you. They may be nice to you
and smile at you, but the question still remains 'Have you
opened your local telephone market?'" said Gene Kimmelman,
co-director of the Washington office of Consumer's Union.
"It doesn't matter what side of the bed the FCC wakes up on
each day. The (Telecom Act's) requirements are pretty
straightforward. And none of them (the Bells) have fully opened
their local markets,' Kimmelman said. |
