Oct 31, 2002 12:00 PM,

Ameritech: Report claims Michigan market is open

Glenn Bischoff

SBC Communications’ subsidiary Ameritech Michigan said today that operations supports systems (OSS) testing completed by independent third-party tester KPMG Consulting (now known as BearingPoint) indicates that the local telephone market in Michigan is open to competitive carriers.

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According to Ameritech Michigan, the carrier processes more than 18,000 pre-order transactions and more than 10,000 actual orders per day. The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) estimates that competitive carriers control about 20% of the access lines in the state, with the majority of those provisioned via the unbundled network element platform. This compares to about 15% at the end of 2001. Ameritech Michigan said it lost 612,000 lines to CLECs in the first three months of 2002.

According to Ameritech Michigan President Gail Torreano, the carrier hopes the PSC will endorse its application to provide interLATA service in the state under Section 271 of the Telecom Act in December, after a hearing is held on November 25 to review the report. Torreano said Ameritech would file its apllication with the FCC about a week after the order.

“It’s obvious that our systems are open. We’re hopeful that we’ll be the first Ameritech state to be approved for long-distance,” Torreano said. The FCC has 90 days to consider a 271 application once it is filed.

Torreano also commented on the meeting that occurred earlier this week, hosted by the Michigan PSC in Detroit, during which representatives of 12 state commissions lobbied FCC Commissioners Kathleen Abernathy and Kevin Martin in an effort to stave off federal preemption of state regulators. She said preemption probably isn’t needed, but greater consistency between the states is.

“We don’t need 50 sets of rules. We’d like to see one set of rules,” Torreano said. “We operate in 13 states, and when you have 13 different sets of rules, it makes it onerous and difficult.”

Torreano added that the rules need some adjustment as well. “We need a structure that encourages real, sustainable competition. That’s what we want. That’s what Congress wanted,” Torreano said.