SBC Communications Inc., the No. 2 local phone company, today sought authority to provide long-distance services in four states within the former Ameritech territory, possibly marking the last filings with the Federal Communications Commission in a seven-year journey to show regulators it has opened its network to competition.
The San Antonio-based phone giant submitted an application with the FCC to provide long-distance services in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. In June SBC filed for long-distance authority in Michigan, the only other state where the company does not have authority to provide long-distance services within its 13-state local phone territory.
“The networks are open. The local markets are open. It’s time to be allowed in the long distance business so we can compete on an equal footing,” says SBC spokesman Dave Pacholczyk.
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice said it could not support SBC's application for long-distance authority in Michigan. The concerns relate to the accuracy of the bills SBC submits to its competitors.
SBC has provided the FCC “a great deal of information” to show the agency its billing systems are “fully operational,” Pacholczyk says. In reply comments to be filed next week with the FCC, he adds, SBC will demonstrate it has resolved previous billing concerns.
Predictably, AT&T Corp. said SBC’s filing today was inappropriate.
“SBC should have ensured that it fixed the defects that mar its Michigan application – including its flawed billing system, which led the Justice Department to conclude that it could not support SBC’s refiled application in Michigan – before filing more applications,” said Mike Tye, AT&T regional vice president of law and government affairs.
