| STATE REPORT
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| The following is a summary of State regulatory documents filed, and
State regulatory action performed, on behalf of the Telecommunications Resellers Association (TRA) between mid-February and mid-March 1999. If you have any questions or would like a copy of any document discussed below, please contact us. Many TRA state filings may be viewed at TRA's Internet web site, http://www.TRA.org. FILINGS Arizona - US West Communications, Inc.'s Compliance with Section 271 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Docket No. U-000-97-238, T00000A-97-0238 the Company as part of the Arizona Corporation Commission's investigation into US West's compliance with Section 271 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for in-region interLATA market entry. TRA objected to US West's interrogatories as being inapplicable given that TRA is not a CLEC. Arizona - In the Matter of Implementation FCC's Anti-Slamming Rules, Docket No. RT-00000J-99-0034; Iowa - Docket No. RMU-99-1; Minnesota - Docket No. P-421/AM-99-70; New Mexico - Docket 2900, and Washington - Docket No. UT-980675 March 1, 1999 Letters were filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission, Iowa Utilities Board, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, and Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission in opposition to a US West Petition seeking immediate adoption of the FCC's slamming rules. TRA supported an AT&T Motion to Dismiss filed in each state which argued that US West's Petition was premature in light of further FCC slamming rulemaking, was unsupported by evidence, and was simply a veiled effort to further impede competitive entry. US West argued that emergency adoption of the FCC rules was necessary to prevent a proliferation in US West customer slamming incidents. TRA filed in each state where public comments were accepted. Connecticut - DPUC Investigation into the Construction and Pricing of Telephone Company Unbundled Network Elements, Docket no. 98-10-16 February 5, 1999 A letter was filed with the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control, addressing the impact of the Supreme Court's decision in AT&T v. Iowa Utilities Board on the provisioning and pricing of UNEs. TRA argued that the Court upheld the FCC's jurisdiction to promulgate national interconnection rules and reinstated the majority of the FCC's interconnection rules. TRA urged the Department to reject Bell Atlantic's argument that the Court's decision not to reinstate 47 C.F.R §51.319, the "necessary" and "impairment" standards for establishing the minimum UNEs RBOCs are to provide CLECs, ostensibly relieves Bell Atlantic from providing some UNE to competitors. Connecticut - Application of the Southern New England Telephone Company to Offer Unbundled Loops, Ports and Associated Interconnection Agreements - Discount Rate, Docket No. 95-06-17RE02 March 1, 1999 An Application to be Designated A Party was filed with the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control requesting that the Department grant TRA Party status in the Department's investigation into local wholesale resale discounts. Florida - In Re: Petition to Review and to Cancel Bell South's Telecommunications Promotional Tariff (T-98-1783) By Arrow Communications, Inc. February 9, 1999 A Petition to Intervene was filed with the Florida Public Service Commission by TRA in the Commission's investigation into a proposed Bell South promotional "win-back" tariff offering. The offering, entitled "three free", would allow Bell South to offer customers who had left Bell South for a competitor 90 days of free service in exchange for signing an 18-month contract. Bell South subsequently withdrew its tariff application. Georgia - Elimination of Tariff Filing Requirements for Resellers of Intrastate Interexchange Services and Alternative Operator Service Providers, Docket No. 3488-U February 22, 1999 A petition to intervene in the Georgia Public Service Commission's investigation into elimination of tariff filing requirements was filed with the Commission. TRA's petition urged the Commission to adopt a permissive, rather than mandatory detariffing. March 11, 1999 A telephonic conference call was held with Georgia Public Service Commission Staff, Office of Consumer Counsel and BellSouth representatives to discuss Staff's proposed institution of mandatory reseller detariffing. Staff proposes elimination of interexchange resellers tariff filings in an effort to reduce associated Commission administrative burdens. TRA argued that alternatively, the Commission should authorize permissive detariffing or approve rate caps under which reseller rates could be changed upon one days notice. TRA stressed that mandatory detariffing would impose significant burdens on resellers who would be compelled to establish individual customer contracts in lieu of tariffed limitations of liabilities. TRA also noted that liability issues would become particular acute for resellers when serving casual callers in the absence of tariff liability limitations. Illinois: SBC COMMUNICATIONS, INC., SBC DELAWARE, INC., AMERITECH CORPORATION, ILLINOIS BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY d/b/a AMERITECH ILLINOIS and AMERITECH ILLINOIS METRO, INC.; Joint Application for approval of the reorganization of Illinois Bell Telephone Company d/b/a Ameritech Illinois, and the reorganization of Ameritech Illinois Metro, Inc. in accordance with Section 7-204 of the Public Utilities Act and for all other appropriate relief (Docket No. 98-0555) February 12, 1999 Comments were filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission proposing considerations that the Commission should make when acting on the proposed merger between Ameritech Corporation and SBC Communications. In its comments, TRA advocated the imposition of strong pre-merger conditions such as those imposed by the New York Public Service Commission in the Bell Atlantic-NYNEX merger. TRA also urged the Commission to impose severe financial penalties for non-performance. Massachusetts - In the Matter of CTC Communications Corporation Petition for Emergency Relief with respect to the actions and omissions of New England Telephone and Telegraph Company d/b/a Bell Atlantic-Massachusetts (D.T.E. 98-18) February 8, 1999 Comments were filed by the Massachusetts Coalition of Competitive Carriers (Coalition), of which TRA is a leading member, with the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE)in DTE's investigation into reseller assumption of contract service arrangements (CSA). The Coalition's urged the DTE to find that early termination penalties are unreasonable for CSAs, as Bell Atlantic has maintained. The Coalition noted that when CSAs are assumed by reseller, the contract remains in effect and is not terminated. Imposition of termination penalties would, therefore, equate to nothing more than an anti-competitive barrier for resellers, and violative of section 271 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. March 8, 1999 A letter was filed by the Coalition of Competitive Carriers with the DTE urging the Department to pursue its CSA termination penalty investigation despite TRA member CTC Communication's (CTC) notification that it had reached an agreement with Bell Atlantic resolving the complaint which precipitated the investigation. Pointing to decisions by the New York, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island commissions, the Coalition urged the Department to render a decision that would apply generally to all resellers who assume CSAs. Massachusetts - Bell Atlantic Permanent Resale Discount Tariffs, Phase II, D.T.E. 98-15 February 9, 1999 At the DTE's request, Joint Comments were filed with TRA member CTC Communications Corporation (CTC) addressing the implications of the Supreme Court's decision in AT&T v. Iowa Utilities Board on the establishment of permanent resale discount rates in Massachusetts. TRA and CTC argued that Bell Atlantic-Massachusetts' (BA-MA) proposed discount rate should be rejected as inconsistent with FCC avoided cost pricing methodology reinstated by the Supreme Court's decision. TRA and CTC urged the Commission to adopt the interim resale discount of 27.68% originally proposed by CTC and TRA on a permanent basis. February 16, 1999 Joint Reply Comments were filed by TRA and CTC responding to Bell Atlantic's position that the interim resale discount should be adopted by the DTE. TRA and CTC pointed to cost study performed by TRA/CTC witness Kelly which demonstrated the propriety of the higher 27.68% discount. Michigan - In the Matter, on the Commission's own motion, to consider revisions to the procedures designed to prohibit switching of an end user to a telecommunications provider to another provider without the authorization of the end user, Case No. U-11900. March 1, 1999 Initial comments were filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission in response to a Commission request for comments regarding proposed amendments to the Commission's interim slamming rules, following promulgation of the FCC's slamming rule amendments. TRA recommended harmonization of several Michigan-specific rules with the FCC's rules including provisions concerning third party verification, customer notice, and billing. TRA also urged the Commission to ensure that end-users may lift PIC freezes utilizing the same verification methods used to implement them, consistent with FCC rules. Mississippi - Order of the Mississippi Public Service Commission Establishing a Docket to Consider Competition in the Provision of Local Telephone Service, Docket No. 95-UA-358. February 18, 1999 Comments were filed with the Mississippi Public Service Commission regarding the Commission's proposal to establish bonding or escrow requirements on entities who provide prepaid local exchange service within Mississippi to protect Bell South from unpaid accounts. argued that incumbents should exercise the same solid business and legal practices employed by their competitors to protect themselves from non-paying customers rather than inappropriately relying on regulatory remedies which could impede local competition. New Hampshire - NYNEX Petition for SGAT Approval, Docket No. DE 97-171 February 16, 1999 Comments were field with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission regarding the impact of the Supreme Court's January 25, 1999 Opinion in AT&T Corp., et al. V. Iowa Utilities Board et al., upon the obligations of incumbent local exchange carriers to provide unbundled network elements ("UNEs"). TRA urged the Commission to ensure that Bell Atlantic-New Hampshire's (BA-NH) UNEs are priced in accordance with the FCC's reinstated total element long run incremental pricing methodology. TRA further urged the Commission require BA-NH to provide non-discriminatory access to bundled UNEs as requested by competitors without restrictive limitations, and allow competitors to freely select among interconnection agreement provisions without added restrictions under the FCC's "pick and choose" provisions specifically reinstated by the Supreme Court. New York - Bell Atlantic New York's notice of intent to file a 271 application and draft petition, Docket No. 97-C-0271 March 4, 1999 Comments were filed with the New York Public Service Commission in response to the Commission's request for information regarding remaining Bell Atlantic-New York (BA-NY) impediments to local competition. Relying on anecdotal information provided by TRA CLEC members TSI, Network Plus, and ARC Networks, TRA highlight numerous impediments including limited account representative support, poor BA-NY communications with competitors, discriminatory provisioning and maintenance, and inaccurate billing. TRA urged the Commission to find that BA-NY has failed to meet its obligations for in-region interLATA market entry until the myriad of problems raised by TRA members are resolved. Ohio - In the Matter of the Amendment of Chapter 4901:1-5 of the Ohio Administrative Code (Case No. 96-1175-Tp-ORD) February 17, 1999 A Memorandum in Support was filed with the Ohio Public Utilities Commission in support of a Commission investigation into its universal toll blocking policy. Under current Commission policy, interexchange carriers are prohibited from blocking toll for non-payment. TRA supported AT&T, MCI/Worldcom, and others in urging the Commission to reexamine its policy. South Carolina - In Re: Proceedings to Review Voice Over the Internet (IP Telephony), Docket Number 98-651-C February 18, 1999 A Motion was filed by the Southeastern Competitive Carriers Association ("SECCA"), of which TRA is a member, requesting that the South Carolina Public Service Commission forebear from any policy decision concerning appropriate compensation for the use of Internet telephony. The Commission was asked to take no action until a national Internet Protocol (IP) telephony policy decision is made. SECCA's Motion results from a Petition by the State's independent telephone association to consider access charge issues associated with IP telephony. Texas - Investigation of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company's Entry Into the Texas InterLATA Telecommunications Market, Docket Number 16251 February 22, 1999 Reply Comments were filed with the Texas Public Utility Commission in response to Southwestern Bell Telephone Company's (SWBT) brief regarding the effect of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in AT&T Corp. v. Iowa Utilities Board on SWBT's application to provide interLATA service in Texas. TRA stressed that the primary impact of the decision is to reestablish the FCC's authority to implement the provisions of the Act. TRA highlighted many inconsistencies and errors in SWBT's arguments, and pointed to SWBT's anticipation of protracted litigation in concluding that SWBT's lacks any commitment to opening of the local telecommunications market. TRA urged the Commission to hold SWBT to its 271 obligations to prevent further back sliding in opening its markets to competition. Washington, D.C.: Bell Atlantic's "Local Service Provider Freeze" February 18, 1999 A joint letter to the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia was submitted by TRA, the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel), and the Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS) regarding Bell Atlantic's local service provider (LSP) (primary carrier freeze) service. The associations reiterated their concerns over Bell Atlantic's failure to comply with the FCC's PIC freeze rules when instituting its LSP freeze service. NARUC - TRA was represented by Mr. Isar at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Winter Committee Meetings in Washington, D.C., February 22 - 24. Mr. Kelly addressed the Communications Committee on resale and intraLATA competition issues. TRA, CompTel, and ALTS jointly sponsored a reception for NARUC attendees on Tuesday, February 23, 1999. |