Ameritech spars with KPMG over OSS testing in Illinois

Independent third-party tester KPMG Consulting issued two exception reports this week that criticize SBC Communications subsidiary Ameritech’s data-retention policies and the procedures and carrier’s controls for performance-measurement calculations. The reports stem from the third phase of KPMG’s test of Ameritech’s operations support systems (OSS) that was a condition of its merger with SBC.

An Ameritech spokeswoman dismissed the significance of the exception reports, noting that exceptions occurred in each of the states where SBC’s Southwestern Bell subsidiary eventually secured approval from the Federal Communications Commission to provide in-region long distance service.

“Sometimes there are things we disagree on, but that’s what the exception process is all about,” she said. “Exceptions are something we take seriously. Six KPMG consultants are on our campus right now working with us on our OSS test procedures. Getting on the same page takes some work.”

But Commissioner Terry Harvill of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) said “Ameritech doesn’t think there’s a problem,” and that talks between the carrier and KPMG had slowed to the point that KPMG told the ICC it was considering stopping the tests. Such a move would be troubling not only because of the merger agreement but because Ameritech recently filed notice for Section 271 approval in Illinois.

“This is a concern, but I’m still optimistic, because they’re still talking. We’re hoping this is just a matter of them butting heads a little bit,” Harvill said. The parties will reconvene on Dec. 11 to assess whether any progress has been made in addressing the exceptions.

According to KPMG, Ameritech is required to provide raw order-level data but instead provided data that had been processed, though the report did not indicate how it had been processed. Nevertheless, KPMG said that failure to maintain source data in its original form “makes complete and thorough annual audits of retrospective data impossible.”

Ameritech’s spokeswoman said the company submits data in the form requested by the auditor but admitted that “sometimes a disconnect occurs between what they were expecting and what we give them.”

The second exception concluded that Ameritech’s procedures, documentation and controls for calculating and reporting performance measures “are inadequate to ensure that the results reported are consistently accurate and complete.” KPMG said documentation for about half of the performance measures is “inaccurate, incomplete or does not exist.”