Competition's new crusader

For other RBOCs slouching toward the FCC to win long-distance approval, the lesson should be clear: Don't take any shortcuts in testing your OSS, and if bugs or glitches occur, which is likely, be frank and admit them immediately.

I've seen a sign of the apocalypse, and it is this: AT&T is the new watchdog of open competition in local voice services, fighting for CLEC rights nationwide and waging war against the baby monopolies it created.

That's the way things have played out in the first market where AT&T and an RBOC are going head-to-head selling local services. In the donnybrook in New York these past few weeks, AT&T relished being the underdog, portraying Bell Atlantic as the evil empire. And Bell Atlantic, in a public relations gaffe worthy of Coke in Belgium, went right along with the role reversal.

Let me recap this battle of sound and fury. Despite the supposedly rigid OSS testing required for Section 271 approval in New York, which included a stamp of approval from KPMG, problems have surfaced with Bell Atlantic's electronic data interchange systems that handle wholesale orders from competitive carriers.

The magnitude of the problem has been difficult to gauge, but Bell Atlantic's eventual response suggests that it was significant. It ripped out a software package from Netscape and hired Andersen Consulting to help develop a custom-built equivalent. The company even pulled employees from OSS testing other states to accomplish the overhaul on Presidents Day weekend.

The mistake Bell Atlantic made was not owning up to the problem right away. A full admission of the glitches came only two days before the incumbent agreed to pay $13 million in fines in the form of rebates to wholesale carriers and a "contribution" to the feds. Meanwhile, AT&T claimed the moral high ground. One executive even said: "This is about what motivates an RBOC to do what's right to open up the local market. It is clear that once they have the opportunity to sell long-distance, the motivation to treat CLECs as customers goes away."

When Bell Atlantic initially got the FCC's approval and became the first RBOC to offer in-region long-distance, such posturing by AT&T would have been dismissed as legal machinations to delay the RBOC's entry into long-distance for as long as possible. C. Michael Armstrong and his hard hats still need time to upgrade their acquired cable assets for residential telephony.

And after what happened in New York, it's hard not to feel like AT&T is playing a somewhat useful role by bringing these problems to the attention of the FCC and the New York PSC. These issues would have surfaced anyway. I'm not endorsing AT&T's crusade - which still feels like a stall - but if AT&T's complaints keep Bell Atlantic on its toes, more power to them.

I cringe at the thought of seeing that last sentence in print, but it's true. No one suggests Bell Atlantic sabotaged its own systems so that orders from AT&T customers wouldn't go through. However, by not taking full responsibility for the problems immediately, and by downplaying initial reports of system troubles, Bell Atlantic became the doppelganger of the old AT&T.

For other RBOCs slouching toward the FCC to win long-distance approval, the lesson should be clear: Don't take any shortcuts in testing your OSS, and if bugs or glitches occur, which is likely, be frank and admit them immediately. No one expects software to be perfect. But without open communication, OSS problems - even those out of your control - will tarnish your image.

AT&T loves playing the victim and keeping its legal troops busy. But if we have to rely on AT&T to be defender of the faith, we may never see competition in local and long-distance markets. We'll be buried under a blizzard of legal motions from here until doomsday.