BellSouth Says Bell Atlantic's Long-Distance Bid Should Be Approved

For Immediate Release:

November 8, 1999

WASHINGTON- The Federal Communications Commission should approve Bell Atlantic's petition to enter the long-distance business in New York and recognize that Bell Atlantic's competitors are simply trying to rewrite the Telecom Act.

In comments to the FCC on Bell Atlantic's September 29 petition, BellSouth made the following points:

• The FCC should disregard attempts by competitors to have the FCC second-guess the New York Public Service Commission, which has endorsed Bell Atlantic's entry into long-distance. BellSouth urged the FCC to defer to states, three of which have already endorsed BellSouth's entry into long-distance, on issues such as performance measures and tests for operational support systems;

• There can be no single national testing regime for operational support systems because testing is too dependent on particular competitors systems and local market conditions, among other things;

• Bell Atlantic has complied with the Telecom Act's requirement for regional Bell companies to provide competitors with the same quality of network connections as they provide themselves. Some competitors want Bell Atlantic to provide them facilities and services that are better than Bell Atlantic provides its own retail operations;

• There is no market share test in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Yet some competitors are proposing such a test under the guise of the FCC's duty to determine whether Bell Atlantic's entry into long-distance is in the public interest. Adopting such an open-ended standard would deny all parties certainty, which would deny consumers the benefit of fully opening all telecommunications markets.
  ###

  For more information, contact:

  John Schneidawind (202)463-4183

  NOTE: For more information about BellSouth, visit the BellSouth Web page at http://www.bellsouth.com/. Also, BellSouth news releases dating back one year are available by fax at no charge by calling 1-800-758-5804, ext. 095650 or write: for Atlanta releases 1155 Peachtree St., N.E.; Atlanta, Ga. 30309-3610 and for DC releases; 1133 21st St., N.W.; Suite 900; Washington, D.C. 20036.

  A list of BellSouth Media Relations Contacts is available in the Corporate Information Center.

  

  Click here to find the latest on BellSouth Application to FCC to Offer Long-Distance Service in Georgia and Louisiana.

  NOTE: For more information about BellSouth, visit the BellSouth Web page at http://www.bellsouth.com/. Also, BellSouth news releases dating back one year are available by fax at no charge by calling 1-800-758-5804, ext. 095650 or write: for Atlanta releases 1155 Peachtree St., N.E.; Atlanta, Ga. 30309-3610 and for DC releases; 1133 21st St., N.W.; Suite 900; Washington, D.C. 20036.

  A list of BellSouth Media Relations Contacts is available in the Corporate Information Center.

  If you are receiving this document via email, it is because you registered for documents of this type. To update your profile or remove yourself from our list, please visit - http://bellsouthcorp.com/register/n-goupdate.vtml.
  To receive documents via email (in either text or HTML) please visit - http://bellsouthcorp.com/register.

  BellSouth Corporation Headquarters
  1155 Peachtree St. NE
  Atlanta, GA 30309-3610