Bell Atlantic system glitches irk CLECs

If regional Bell operating companies are ready to make a big push into long distance, they sure didn't make a very good show of it last week.

In a double whammy, Bell Atlantic acknowledged that its electronic system for local competitors' orders in New York - the same one that passed a regulators' test before the carrier got the long distance nod in December 1999 - has already deteriorated in performance.

Then SBC Communications got bad news from the Department of Justice, which recommended to the Federal Communications Commission that it reject SBC's long-distance application for Texas.

In Bell Atlantic's case, the New York Public Service Commission on Feb. 11 gave the RBOC one week to clean up a rapidly growing backlog said to be in the "tens of thousands" of competitors' orders. The problem is centered in Bell Atlantic's implementation of Netscape's ECXpert e-commerce platform, which is used to handle orders from competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC), according to a letter from Bell Atlantic to state regulators.

Through a spokesman, Bell Atlantic officials claim competitors' orders are being provisioned but for some reason not being acknowledged back to them, leaving the CLECs and their customers in the service lurch.

On Bell Atlantic's Web site for CLECs, it showed a Feb. 10 trouble ticket reading: "Multiple CLECs reporting no access to the Bell Atlantic network via the Internet." That day it also reported "slow response time" on one ECXpert platform and directed CLECs to use an alternate one.

Bell Atlantic of-ficials say they are working with Netscape to determine the root cause of the problem. "We've thrown a lot of resources at it, and we hope to have it fixed promptly," a Bell Atlantic spokesman says.

But angry CLEC officials claimed that the fact that Bell Atlantic's systems in New York are deteriorating right after it won long-distance approval is no accident. The FCC should have written up a series of specific and automatic monetary penalties tied to such problems rather than just promise to review the situation if Bell Atlantic couldn't place user orders, they say.

"The CLECs shouldn't have to be running around to the state and federal agencies enforcing these things," says Jonathan Askin, general counsel of the Association for Local Telecommunications Services, a CLEC trade group.

Most of the delayed orders appeared to be for residential or small-business customers. But Dick Metzger, vice president at CLEC Focal Communications, claims Bell Atlantic is also dragging its feet on T-1 and higher-speed line orders because it has virtually run out of trunking capacity between carrier central offices. Focal is telling some customers it can't promise a due date for T-1 orders and is also telling them: "If you get a commitment from Bell Atlantic, I wouldn't take it to the bank."

The FCC granted Bell Atlantic long-distance authority for New York state after finding that its system for transferring lines to competitors works as advertised at least 93% of the time. Now the FCC is due to rule by April on similar data submitted by SBC in Texas in support of its long-distance application for the Lone Star State.

Last week, the Justice Department said SBC's performance doesn't cut the mustard, largely because provisioning intervals in Houston and Dallas - for analog and DSL circuits - fell off in some, though not all, recent months. But the FCC has the final say and also overrode the Justice Department's recommendation to hold off granting Bell Atlantic the long-distance nod in New York.

As a result, Wall Street analysts split on the likely outcome in Texas. A report from Janney Montgomery Scott gave SBC a 70% shot at FCC approval, while a report from Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette said SBC "will likely face rejection" from the FCC.