Justice Department rejects BellSouth bid for long distance

The Department of Justice this week rejected BellSouth Corp.'s application to offer long-distance telephone services in South Carolina.

Since the Federal Communications Commission is widely expected to follow the Justice Department's lead and reject the application, BellSouth's hopes of being the first regional Bell operating company to enter the burgeoning long-distance arena most likely have been dashed. At least until it tries again.

Justice officials said antitrust specialists at the department did not approve the application because they did not find enough evidence that the South Carolina market has been opened to competitors.

The 1996 telecommunications act says RBOCs can offer long-distance services, but only after competition is flourishing in their home markets.

However, almost two years after the Telecom Act was passed, new entrants into BellSouth territory still are complaining that BellSouth's billing systems do not let commpetitors sign up new customers as quickly as BellSouth can. The Telecom Act says that RBOC competitors must open up their billing and customer-support systems to competitors.

This is the third RBOC that has been denied entrance into the long-distance market by federal regulators. Earlier this year, SBC Communications Inc.'s application in Oklahoma and Ameritech Corp.'s application in Michigan were rejected by the FCC and Justice Department.

"The Department of Justice seems determined to establish its own regulatory regime and to mimic the arguments of the interexchange carriers by examining in increasingly minute detail virtually every facet of BellSouth's operations," said Walter Alford, general counsel for BellSouth.