FCC should deny Verizon’s Sec. 271 request to offer long distance...

Mon. in FCC’s review process, ASCENT said use of UNE platform in R.I. “lags far behind” N.Y. because of high prices. To serve residential customers in R.I. using UNE platform, CLEC would have to pay Verizon 35% more than Verizon charges its retail customers for its unlimited local calling service offering, said ASCENT, which represents resellers and other competitors. That forecloses CLECs from using UNE platforms in R.I., ASCENT said. AT&T joined in opposition, saying problem was “simple and straightforward” -- Verizon’s UNE rates in R.I. didn’t comply with FCC’s Total Element Long-Run Incremental Cost [TELRIC] pricing standard. Even though R.I. PUC issued order establishing TELRIC principles, “those principles are not in effect now and they have not been applied to Verizon’s current rates,” AT&T said in its filing. WorldCom accused Verizon of “seeking to lower the bar” for Sec. 271 entry by submitting application based on UNE rates “that are not yet in effect and that are not as low as even the current rates in Massachusetts and New York.” Sprint said “the public interest requires that the application be denied.” Verizon had said 8 CLECs were competing in R.I. but Sprint said only one -- Cox Communications -- was competing for residential service. Rest are in business market. Sprint also urged regulators to give more emphasis to importance of CLECs’ access to last-mile facilities from Bells. Sprint said it had greatly reduced its CLEC operations and abandoned local entry via resale or UNE-P because those entry vehicles didn’t prove profitable. “Among factors contributing to Sprint’s decision was the difficulty of obtaining the ‘last-mile’ facilities needed,” it said. FCC staff recently asked Verizon to submit comparison of UNE rates in Mass. and R.I., which Verizon did Mon. in ex parte filing. Dept. of Justice is due to give its evaluation of R.I. application by Jan. 4 and FCC is required to make final decision by Feb. 24 -- CC Doc. 01-324.