Justice Dept. endorses BellSouth 271 applications for Georgia, Louisiana

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) today recommended the FCC approve BellSouth’s re-submitted applications to provide in-region long-distance service in Georgia and Louisiana under Section 271 of the Telecommunications Act.

The FCC has until May 15 to consider the applications. In its recommendation, the DOJ said BellSouth had made “substantial progress in addressing issues previously identified by the Department.”

In November 2001, the DOJ said it was “unable to support” BellSouth’s joint applications for Georgia and Louisiana. At the time, the DOJ said, “serious questions remained” whether BellSouth’s operations support systems (OSS) were adequate to support the entry of competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) that would lease unbundled network elements from the incumbent. However, the DOJ also said at the time it had “no substantial concerns” concerning the ability of facilities-based CLECs to resell BellSouth’s local voice services.

BellSouth originally filed the applications for Georgia and Louisiana in October 2001, but withdrew them in December 2001 to include updated performance data and evidence of upgrades the carrier made to its OSS. Also added were letters from third parties affirming they had been able to integrate with the carrier’s pre-ordering and ordering systems. The refiled application also included affidavits and statistical analysis that attested to improvements in service order accuracy and “enhanced stability” of BellSouth’s performance data.

Herschel Abbott, Bellsouth’s vice president for governmental affairs, said in a statement the DOJ’s current recommendation “confirms the strength” of the Georgia and Louisiana applications.

“Competition is flourishing throughout the BellSouth region, with close to 300 competitors offering local service to more than 4 million lines in the region,” he said. “Approximately 1.3 million of those are in Georgia and Louisiana.”

The FCC is not required to abide by the DOJ’s recommendation, but the Telecom Act requires the commission to give the opinion “substantial weight,” according to BellSouth.

--Glenn Bischoff, senior news writer