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Bell scoffs at AT&T challenge
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December 27, 1999: 6:56 p.m. ET
Companies exchange barbs in ongoing New York long-distance battle
By Staff Writer Richard Richtmyer
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Bell Atlantic, which last week won approval from the Federal Communications Commission to offer long-distance phone service in New York, characterized AT&T’s legal challenge as a tactic aimed at delaying competition in that market.
Bell Atlantic (BELL) became the first of the "Baby Bell” local telephone companies allowed back into the long-distance market since the 1984 breakup of AT&T (T), when the FCC last Wednesday unanimously approved the move. Bell Atlantic said it plans to begin offering consumer long-distance service on Jan. 5.
Last Thursday, AT&T, the nation’s No. 1 long-distance carrier, asked the FCC to stay that decision, claiming that Bell Atlantic had not opened its network to enough competing local carriers - a federal requirement before permission for long distance service may be granted. AT&T also said it would file a challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia if the FCC failed to do so.
In its response to AT&T’s request for a stay, Michael E. Glover, Bell Atlantic’s associate general counsel, called it "a last grasp effort to delay the inevitable long-distance competition that it has tenaciously fought to block by every possible means.”
"It makes clear that AT&T is desperate to maintain a stranglehold on New York consumers,” Glover added.
Glover also said that the request has not affected the company’s plans to begin offering the service next week.
Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Bell Atlantic was required to open its local network to competitors, which the FCC determined it had accomplished in granting the approval.
AT&T’s legal challenge is based on the notion that the company, the nation’s No. 2 local phone company, has not made it as easy for consumers to switch local carriers as it is for them to switch long-distance carriers.
"It strikes me as odd that a monopoly phone company would accuse anyone of having a stranglehold on anything,” Burke Stinson, an AT&T spokesman told CNNfn.com on Monday.
"I might remind Bell Atlantic, if it needs reminding, that there’s been long-distance competition for 30 years,” Stinson added. "All we’re looking for is to have local customers granted the ease of switching a local service that they currently have for long-distance service. We’re just looking for parity.”
Analysts have said they do not expect the FCC to reverse its decision and that AT&T's challenge might delay Bell Atlantic's long-distance service by a few months. However, most observers expect any court action to be adjudicated in Bell Atlantic’s favor. 
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