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To: zbyslaw owczarczyk who wrote (10234)	1/20/2001 11:24:40 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

This article shows that it is just long distance that keeps Verizon on building ADSL. Verizon refiles for Massachusetts long-distance By Jeremy Pelofsky, Reuters 17 January 2001 Verizon Communications said Tuesday it has refiled its application with federal regulators to offer Massachusetts consumers long-distance service, about a month after pulling it amid concerns about access to phone lines used for high-speed Internet service. Verizon, the nation's biggest local phone company, must first pass a 14-point federal checklist proving its local networks are open to competitors before it can offer long-distance in the state, a $2 billion market. The Federal Communications Commission said last month Verizon came close to passing the test in the state but needed to address concerns about prices as well as access to its lines for advanced services and to the systems and information needed for competitors to order advanced services. About 95 percent of phone lines used by wholesale customers for digital subscriber line (DSL) service, used for high-speed Internet access, were installed on time and 96 percent experienced no trouble in a given month, the company said. "Our new filing further demonstrates that we provide non-discriminatory access to lines other DSL providers lease from us, as well as parity of service for installation and repair," Tom Tauke, senior vice president of external affairs and public policy at Verizon, said in a statement. The results were independently validated by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company said. An FCC spokesman declined to comment. The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunication and Energy, which recommended Verizon's application be approved initially, had no comment on the company's resubmission. "They still didn't get it right," said Len Cali, vice president of federal government affairs at AT&T Corp. which could stand to lose customers if Verizon's application were approved. "This "new" application still fails to offer unbundled network elements at a price that comports with the (1996 Telecommunications) Act's cost standard," he said. The act set the checklist Verizon and other local phone companies must pass to win permission to sell long-distance. The Justice Department had also raised concerns about Verizon's initial application and said the company had not adequately addressed concerns about current and future access as well as costs for DSL service. "This filing builds upon our original application which clearly demonstrated that we have satisfied the 14-point checklist required for long-distance entry," Tauke said. The FCC will have 90 days to rule on the company's application although a decision could come sooner. The Justice Department and state regulators must weigh in again on the application. Verizon, which already offers long-distance service in New York, first filed its application for Massachusetts in September with the hope of gaining approval by mid-December. "We are confident that when the FCC evaluates the record, it will quickly agree that we have more than satisfied all the requirements," Tauke said. Competitors serve about 800,000 lines in the state, 100,000 more than when Verizon first filed its application, he added