WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The FCC Monday rejected an AT&T motion to stay the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision to let Bell Atlantic offer long distance service to New York customers.
The FCC found that AT&T's motion "fails to raise any argument that was not fully considered and addressed by the Commission" in its recent unanimous decision to let Bell Atlantic into the interLATA long distance market. The FCC stood by its Dec. 22 decision regarding Bell Atlantic's long distance application, reiterating that the Bell company "had taken the statutorily required steps to open its local exchange and exchange access markets to competition."
AT&T says that Bell Atlantic has not sufficiently opened up its local exchange markets to competition. While acknowledging that Bell Atlantic has made progress in this area, AT&T claims that the carrier still has work to do in terms of provisioning services more quickly and processing orders faster. AT&T says that it is much harder to change local phone companies in Bell Atlantic's territory than it is to change long-distance carriers.
AT&T has indicated that it will take its complaint to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., given the FCC's rejection of AT&T's motion to stay the commission's decision.
In the meantime, Bell Atlantic has already begun advertising its plans to begin offering long-distance service Jan. 5. Bell Atlantic is set to become the first Bell company to offer long distance since the breakup of AT&T in 1984.
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