BellSouth Thurs. refiled Sec. 271 application for Ga. and La. tha...
BellSouth Thurs. refiled Sec. 271 application for Ga. and La. that it withdrew Dec. 20 in face of questions from FCC (CD Dec 21 p5). Company said it added new information on several issues identified by Commission and vowed…
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new data “provides the proof required to demonstrate that BellSouth has met the legal requirements for entering the long distance market.” Under Sec. 271 of Telecom Act, Bell companies must show they have opened their local markets to competition before they can gain approval to enter long distance business. BellSouth said new filing included “evidence of upgrades” to company’s operational support systems (OSS) as well as letters from 3rd parties affirming they have been able to integrate BellSouth’s pre-ordering and ordering systems, which was one of 5 areas questioned by FCC. Addressing other areas, BellSouth said it offered affidavits and statistical analysis to attest to improvements in service order accuracy and enhanced stability of its performance data. It also gave FCC more information on how it coordinated OSS changes with its competitors. FCC set March 4 deadline for comments on petition, March 21 for evaluation by Dept. of Justice, replies March 28. Statutory deadline for FCC action -- 90 days from filing -- is May 15. AT&T said it was “unlikely” that concerns raised by FCC could be addressed that soon but it would know more when it reviewed BellSouth’s filing. Said Covad Vp Jason Oxman: “BellSouth believes that it has solved all of those entrenched problems in only 7 weeks. The facts demonstrate otherwise.”