[AT&T, MCI, 5 Others Sue Ameritech for Violating Portions of the Telecom Act]
what a surprise.
mark
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AT&T, MCI, 5 Others Sue Ameritech for Violating Portions of the Telecom Act
Alliance With Qwest Violates Both Long Distance Restriction and Prohibition Against Favoring One Long Distance Carrier Over Another
CHICAGO, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T, MCI and five other parties filed suit today in federal district court here to stop Ameritech's marketing alliance with Qwest, charging that it violates the Telecom Act's restriction against a local telephone company providing long distance service while its monopoly remains intact.
Like yesterday's action against US West, the suit says Ameritech's "CompleteAccess" program also violates federal regulation prohibiting a Bell company from discriminating in favor of one long distance carrier over another. Joining AT&T and MCI are the Association for Local Telecommunications Services, NEXTLINK Communications, McLeodUSA Telecommunications, Focal Communications Corp. and KMC Telecom II, Inc.
Earlier today, Ameritech announced it will market Qwest's long distance service to Ameritech's monopoly local phone customers as part of a package with local phone service. In return, Qwest will make an undisclosed payment to Ameritech for each customer it signs up for the package of local and long distance service.
If the Ameritech-Qwest alliance is permitted to proceed, it will cause "substantial and irreparable harm to long distance carriers (like AT&T and MCI), other carriers seeking to enter the local market (like McLeod, Focal, KMC and NEXTLINK), and to the public interest as defined in the 1996 Act," the suit says.
"There isn't any question this type of marketing arrangement was prohibited by the divestiture decree, and Congress wrote the same prohibition into the Telecom Act," said Mark Rosenblum, AT&T vice president -- law and public policy. "Ameritech is just trying to end run the prohibition against Bell companies providing long distance before they open their local markets to competition. Deals like this make it impossible to assure that all long distance carriers and their customers are being treated fairly by these monopolies."
"It seems to be a trend these days for monopolies to attempt to circumvent the Telecom Act, rather than comply with it," said Jonathan Sallet, MCI chief policy counsel. "So, it's really no surprise that Ameritech has formed this illegal alliance with Qwest to try to take advantage of their captive ratepayers."
Qwest projected today it could obtain up to $200 million in annual revenue as a result of the Ameritech arrangement and has said that in US West's region, up to 35 percent of customers may purchase the package. This will result "not from any innovative new service, technological breakthrough, or superior efficiency on Qwest's part, but merely from the local monopolist's endorsement of its long distance services and its preferential access to the distribution channels and services of the local monopoly in that region," the suit says.
SOURCE AT&T
-0- 05/14/98
/CONTACT: Jim McGann of AT&T, 202-457-3942; or Jamie DePeau of MCI, 202-887-3224/ |
