DoJ RECOMMENDS FCC OKAY BELLSOUTH SEC. 271 PETITION FOR GA., LA.
Dept. of Justice recommended Thurs. that FCC approve BellSouth (BS) Sec. 271 application for long distance entry in Ga. and La. DoJ expressed some reservations about BS operations support systems (OSS) and how it reported performance metrics, but said state regulators appeared to be working to eliminate those concerns. As result, it recommended FCC approve petition “subject to the Commission’s review of the concerns expressed in this evaluation.” DoJ Antitrust Chief Charles James said BellSouth “generally has succeeded in opening local telecommunications markets to competition” in Ga. and La. “In particular, competitors have made progress in offering service by means of the UNE- platform [unbundled network element] in both states,” he said.
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DoJ said in evaluation submitted to FCC that BellSouth had made improvements since Justice recommended denial of earlier petition in Nov. BS has corrected many of earlier concerns about operation of its OSS and reliability of its data, Justice said, for example implementing “telephone number [TN] migration” system for switching customers to competitors. Before making that change, BS couldn’t offer CLECs option of ordering service based on subscriber’s telephone number rather than street address, DoJ said. Number of CLEC orders that BS has rejected is dropping and improvements in carrier’s OSS “should permit new entrants to operate more efficiently,” DoJ said.
Justice said it was “encouraged by these developments… [but] BellSouth appears to have violated important change management principles” in making OSS improvements. For example, in moving to Tenn. migration change, defects were discovered day before new system was to go into operation, Justice said: “A single day’s notice that orders should be submitted differently than BellSouth had previously indicated is not nearly sufficient to permit CLECs to modify their ordering systems.” Justice praised BellSouth for implementing “pre-order functionality by which customer service records are parsed on its side of the interface.” DoJ said “this improvement may facilitate competitive entry by lowering the operating costs of the new entrant.” However, it said, “this improvement, like that pertaining to Tenn. migration, was introduced without adequate testing and with defects.”
Also raising questions about “BellSouth’s ability to sustain its improved performance,” Justice said it supported Ga. PSC’s requirement that BS develop electronic process to review all partly mechanized CLEC orders in order to get “a more reliable means of measuring service order accuracy.” DoJ questioned changes BellSouth made in way it measured service order accuracy. “These changes… were made without prior approval of the Georgia PSC nor notice to the CLECs,” Justice said. It acknowledged Ga. PSC now had approved BellSouth’s changes in measurement procedure and said it didn’t find new measuring system “faulty” but was concerned that changes were made “without appropriate disclosure.”
BellSouth Vp Herschel Abbott said DoJ’s evaluation “confirmed the strength of our Georgia and Louisiana application.” He said BellSouth had worked hard to open its local network to competition and was committed to keeping it open. “We will emphasize our commitment and the steps we have taken to ensure an open network when we file our reply comments at the FCC on March 28.” BellSouth had withdraw earlier petition for 2 states Dec. 20, refiled it Feb. 14. Deadline for FCC action on latest application is May 15.