THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: Bell Atlantic gets the ball rolling for long-distance

As Sherlock Holmes would say, the game is afoot. Bell Atlantic's application for FCC permission to sell long-distance to the 8 million customers in New York state caps its efforts to offer a complete communications service, including high-speed data and wireless, over a nationwide platform. It's the rationale behind the carrier's recent bid for Vodafone AirTouch and its pending merger with GTE.

"Now it's time for us to take the next step," said Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg in announcing the FCC filing last week. "Long-distance is integral to our drive to be a full-service communications provider."

The Section 271 filing starts the clock on several timetables. The FCC has up to 90 days to hear public comment and rule on the application, while the New York Public Service Commission has 20 days and the U.S. Department of Justice has 35 days to advise the FCC.

Seidenberg expressed certainty about the outcome, largely because the carrier has spent more than $1 billion and undergone a lengthy performance review by KPMG Peat Marwick to open its network to interconnection with local competitors. Bell Atlantic now shares its New York network with 74 competitors and processes more than 150,000 provisioning orders from competitive local exchange carriers, 99% is which the company is fulfilling on time each month, said Bell Atlantic President and Chief Operating Officer James Cullen.

"The evidence is overwhelming," Cullen said. "The local market in New York is irreversibly, indisputably open. Today. Now."

Despite the swarm of opposition the filing stirred up from competitors, including AT&T, Sprint, the Association for Local Telephone Services and CompTel, Bell Atlantic's chances of approval seem good. NYPSC head Maureen Helmer said if the KPMG performance review is judged acceptable, "I am confident that I could offer my support."

And FCC Chairman William Kennard issued a statement applauding the work of Bell Atlantic and the NYPSC in opening the local market.

The RBOC expects to begin offering long-distance "beginning on day one" after the FCC's approval, Seidenberg said.

But Bell Atlantic won't be equipped to sell voice bundles to the lucrative New York commercial market immediately because most commercial users need end-to-end service that includes branch offices and remote workers in other parts of the East Coast market.

Agencies in some of those states have required the same performance review as New York, but reviews will not be complete in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts until the first quarter of 2000. New Jersey has agreed to accept the results of Pennsylvania's review.

As a result, Bell Atlantic's first target will be New York's $2 billion consumer long-distance market, of which the carrier expects a 30% chunk in five years. Though he did not specify tactics, Cullen said the company would be coming out with bundles that appeal to low-usage consumers who currently spend less than $200 a month on long-distance.