======================================================

                  TR's State NewsWire

      . . .daily intelligence on communications
      industry news and policy from the editors
      of Telecommunications Reports. . .

======================================================

*Table of Contents*
December 27, 2001 

STATES
VIRGINIA -- Verizon asks court to dismiss antitrust lawsuit
MICHIGAN -- Ameritech fails to comply with four checklist items
CALIFORNIA -- Audit reveals '909' doesn't need 'split,' 'overlay'
TEXAS -- MCImetro agrees to bill customers for 'incollect' calls
TEXAS -- AT&T stops paying Allegiance's access charges
TEXAS -- SW Bell defends 'daily usage feed' charge
TEXAS -- Staff wants to reverse NeuStar decision
PENNSYLVANIA -- Net2000 to return 10,000 numbers
PENNSYLVANIA -- Deadline for views on service-quality guidelines 
extended
WEST VIRGINIA -- Gov't sites to be accessible to blind, deaf
WASHINGTON -- Gov. Locke reports on regulatory improvements
CALIFORNIA -- Gov. Davis names Orange County judges

REGIONAL
Verizon invests nearly $1.1B in networks in 2001
New service consolidates messages

**TR's Survey of 'No-Call' List Legislation**

______________________________________________________

VIRGINIA -- Verizon asks court to dismiss antitrust lawsuit

Verizon Communications has asked a federal court to dismiss an 
antitrust lawsuit filed against it last month by Cavalier 
Telephone LLC.  In the complaint filed at the U.S. District Court 
for the Eastern District of Virginia, Cavalier alleges that 
Verizon violated antitrust and other laws by blocking competition 
and maintaining monopoly power in the local exchange service 
market.  The competitive local exchange carrier is seeking treble 
damages and punitive damages of $635 million.

In documents filed yesterday, Verizon argued that Cavalier's 
lawsuit fails to state a legitimate antitrust claim under the 
federal Sherman Act.  Verizon also claims that the federal 
Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides adequate remedies for 
Cavalier short of an antitrust action.

"It's surprising that Cavalier claims it's unable to compete when 
it serves over 100,000 access lines and also claims to be adding 
10,000 lines a month," said Robert Woltz, president-Verizon 
Virginia.  "This success belies Cavalier's claims against 
Verizon."

______________________________________________________

MICHIGAN -- Ameritech fails to comply with four checklist items

The Public Service Commission has said it doesn't "appear" that 
Ameritech-Michigan has complied with four items on the 14-point 
"competitive checklist" in section 271 of the federal 
Telecommunications Act of 1996.  The commission said it issued 
the preliminary order to "provide Ameritech Michigan with 
forewarning" that "redirection is needed" to gain the 
commission's endorsement of the telco's bid to enter the 
interLATA (local access and transport area) services market under 
section 271 of the Act. 

The PSC's order discusses checklist items two (access to network 
elements), four (local loop transport), seven (access to "911," 
and directory assistance), and 10 (access to databases and 
signaling).

In examining checklist item two, the commission discussed 
WorldCom, Inc.'s complaint that Ameritech hasn't been sending 
line-loss reports on CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier)-
to-CLEC migrations.  WorldCom said, absent notification that its 
customer has chosen to receive service from a different provider, 
it continues to bill for its services.  At the same time, the new 
CLEC initiates billing, and the customers are double billed, 
WorldCom explained.  

WorldCom asserted that Ameritech has taken a "cavalier" attitude 
about this problem.  The commission said the problem has a "grave 
potential effect on competition for local exchange service and is 
one of the most serious of the problems raised in this case."  It 
directed Ameritech to file a report on its efforts to resolve the 
problem within 20 days of its Dec. 20 order.  

The PSC said in order for Ameritech to comply with checklist item 
four, it must facilitate the migration of voice service from 
itself to a CLEC with "line splitting" over the UNE-P (unbundled 
network element-platform).  The commission said a CLEC doesn't 
need to gain approval from the data CLEC before providing voice 
service to a customer and migrate the service from "line sharing" 
to line splitting.  

The commission rejected Ameritech's assertion that the FCC's 
orders support its position that the data CLEC has a right of 
first refusal for the voice portion of the loop when a customer 
seeks to change his voice provider from the incumbent.  The PSC 
also ordered Ameritech to streamline the process for ordering and 
provisioning the UNE-P when line splitting is involved.

The commission further examined Ameritech's compliance with 
checklist item seven and determined that the company must provide 
directory assistance listings (DAL) at cost-based rates.  
Ameritech has said the FCC recognized DAL as a competitive 
wholesale service and declined to expand the definition of 
directory assistance to include DAL or to require that DAL be 
provided at forward-looking prices.  The PSC said the FCC's 
conclusion only relates to incumbents that provide customized 
routing.  Ameritech doesn't provide reasonable customized 
routing, the PSC added.

During its examination of checklist item 10, the PSC determined 
that the access to calling name (CNAM) database should be 
considered a UNE.  Ameritech said it wasn't a UNE because the PSC 
didn't do an analysis concerning whether the database met the 
"necessary and impair" standards of sections 251 and 252 of the 
Act.  The PSC answered that it didn't need to go through the 
"necessary and impair" analysis because the FCC already did.  The 
PSC also rejected Ameritech's assertion that the unbundled 
element is only "access to" the database and not the database 
itself.  (Case U-12320)

______________________________________________________

CALIFORNIA -- Audit reveals '909' doesn't need 'split,' 'overlay'

The Public Utilities Commission has conducted an audit of 
telephone number utilization in the "909" area code and 
determined that as long as the FCC requires wireless carriers to 
"pool" numbers, there likely won't be an "immediate need" for a 
"split" or "overlay."  

The audit found that the "crucial factor" in determined when the 
area code will "exhaust" is when wireless carriers will begin 
1,000-number-block "pooling."  In February 1999, the FCC extended 
the deadline until Nov. 24, 2002, for cellular carriers to 
support the technology that allows pooling.  If cellular carriers 
don't start participating in the pool in November 2002, it 
appears likely that the demand from wireless carriers for phone 
numbers will exhaust the supply of prefixes in the 909 area code 
within 12-18 months, the PUC said.  

The audit also illustrated the need for carriers to keep better 
track of the use and availability of phone numbers, the PUC said.  
For example, carriers erroneously reported 206,000 telephone 
numbers as unavailable, the commission noted.

______________________________________________________

TEXAS -- MCImetro agrees to bill customers for 'incollect' calls

MCImetro Access Transmission Services LLC has agreed to bill its 
customers for "incollect" calls beginning Jan. 14, 2002, in an 
interim agreement between it and Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.  
Incollect, or alternatively billed, calls include collect calls 
and other calls that are billed to a different phone number than 
the originating caller's number.  The interim agreement will 
remain in effect, "pending the outcome" of the commission's 
decision in Docket 24542, an MCImetro arbitration petition.

SW Bell had asked the Public Utility Commission to require 
MCImetro to bill its customers for incollect calls and remit 
collected amounts to the incumbent.  (12/14/01)  SW Bell said it 
shouldn't be required to provide incollect service to MCImetro's 
customers at no charge.  SW Bell said it had seen a "dramatic 
rise" in recent months in the volume of MCImetro customers' 
incollect calls.  The problem is "particularly acute" for 
incollect calls made from prison pay phones, and it forces SW 
Bell to forgo up to $2 million in revenue a month, the incumbent 
said.  

MCImetro also agreed to (1) back bill its customers for incollect 
services provided since August, (2) block customers from making 
incollect calls if they fail to pay for incollect services 60 
days after they are billed, and (3) track uncollected incollect 
charges.  MCImetro said it would bill customers for incollect 
charges on a bill separate from its bill for local services 
through a third-party billing agent.  (Docket 25160)

______________________________________________________

TEXAS -- AT&T stops paying Allegiance's access charges

Allegiance Telecom of Texas, Inc., has asked the Public Utility 
Commission to require AT&T Corp. to pay for Allegiance's 
intrastate switched access services.  Since 1998, AT&T has 
"intermittently paid" for some of Allegiance's terminating access 
services but has refused to pay for any of the company's 
originating access services, Allegiance said.  

AT&T is paying incumbents' intrastate access charges while it 
refuses to pay Allegiance's "lawfully tariffed rates," Allegiance 
said.  AT&T is also paying its affiliates' intrastate access 
charges even when they "equal or exceed" Allegiance's rates, the 
company said.  AT&T's "discrimination against unaffiliated 
competitive local exchange carriers confers a significant 
advantage" on AT&T's local service provider affiliates, 
Allegiance added.  

In November, AT&T paid XO Texas, Inc., more than $500,000 in 
intrastate access charges after XO filed a complaint with the 
commission.  (11/13/01)  AT&T asked the PUC to dismiss XO's 
complaint "without prejudice to AT&T's right to pursue a claim 
for XO's unreasonable switched access service charges."  AT&T 
said it reserved its right to challenge XO's tariffed rates with 
any "appropriate court."  (Docket 25212)

______________________________________________________

TEXAS -- SW Bell defends 'daily usage feed' charge

Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. has asked the Public Utility 
Commission to deny MCImetro Access Transmission Services LLC's 
request to eliminate the incumbent's DUF (daily usage feed) 
charge.  SW Bell charges MCImetro and other competitive local 
exchange carriers 0.3 cents for every call attempt made by their 
UNE-P (unbundled network element-platform) customers.

The charge, which is designed to provide competitors with a 
record of local calls, should be eliminated because cost studies 
support a zero rate, MCImetro said.  (8/23/01)  The DUF charge 
"unexpectedly" increased MCImetro's cost of providing UNE-P 
service to local residential customers by nearly 75 cents per 
month per customer, MCImetro said. 

"The DUF record is integral to every UNE-P local service provider 
to have the ability to bill," SW Bell said.  SW Bell "bears costs 
associated with providing this service and should be allowed to 
recover such costs," the telco said.  SW Bell added that it 
planned to complete a study analyzing its DUF cost elements and 
would charge competitors a new rate after completing the cost 
study.  (Docket 24542)

______________________________________________________

TEXAS -- Staff wants to reverse NeuStar decision

The Public Utility Commission staff has recommended reversing 
North American Numbering Plan administrator NeuStar, Inc.'s 
decision denying Personal Touch Communications L.P.'s request for 
a second "NXX" code in the Greenville rate center.

The staff concluded that NeuStar's denial was an "entry barrier" 
because it prevented Personal Touch from providing EAS (extended 
area service), an optional, two-way toll-free expanded local 
calling plan. 

NeuStar denied Personal Touch's request because it had failed to 
meet the rate center months-to-exhaust criteria required before 
obtaining additional numbering resources.  To qualify for 
additional numbering resources, carriers must have no more than a 
six-month inventory of phone numbers in a rate center.  The 
commission will review the staff's recommendation Jan. 10, 2002.  
(Docket 24938)

______________________________________________________

PENNSYLVANIA -- Net2000 to return 10,000 numbers

The Public Utility Commission has ordered Net2000 Communications, 
Inc., to return about 10,000 unused and inactive telephone 
numbers in the "238" "NXX" of the "484" area code.  The PUC is 
acting under the authority of the FCC, which allows state 
commissions to reclaim NXX codes that haven't been assigned to 
customers within a six-month period.  The PUC said its action 
would help slow area code depletion in the state.

______________________________________________________

PENNSYLVANIA -- Deadline for views on service-quality guidelines 
extended

The Public Utility Commission has extended the comment date on 
proposed interim quality-of-service guidelines from Dec. 26 to 
Jan. 11, 2002.

The proposed guidelines, which apply to all local service 
providers, revisit the PUC's 1984 "standards and billing 
practices for residential telephone service" rules.  The interim 
guidelines would (1) set rules for changing local service 
providers, (2) require carriers to make their bills easy to 
understand, (3) allow for number porting between carriers, and 
(4) set customer notification guidelines for service providers 
discontinuing service.

The PUC said it would institute final interim guidelines after 
the Jan. 11, 2002, comments are filed.  The interim guidelines 
will be in place until the PUC passes service-quality 
regulations.  (M-00011583, M-00011584, M-00011585, M-00011586)

______________________________________________________

WEST VIRGINIA -- Gov't sites to be accessible to blind, deaf

All executive branch Web sites must be accessible to visual and 
hearing impaired citizens by Jan. 1, 2002, Gov. Bob Wise (D.) has 
said.  During the opening of the new technology facility for the 
American Foundation for the Blind, Gov. Wise said the executive 
branch Web sites would include text messaging for all pictures, 
text menus for easier navigation, and alternative methods for 
retrieving information with the deaf and blind citizen in mind.  
The move will bring the Web sites into compliance with federal 
standards.

______________________________________________________

WASHINGTON -- Gov. Locke reports on regulatory improvements

Gov. Gary Locke (D.) has issued his fifth and final report 
detailing state agencies' accomplishments in eliminating 
unnecessary state regulations.  State agencies have reviewed 
28,776 rules since 1997 and have repealed more than 8,000.  The 
agencies also rewrote more than 9,000 rules to make them more 
understandable and eliminated more than 2,400 pages of the 
Washington Administrative Code (WAC).

These changes complied with Executive Order 97-02, which required 
state agencies to review all regulations for "need, 
reasonableness, effectiveness, clarity, fairness, public 
involvement, coordination among regulatory agencies, and 
consistency with legislative intent and statutory authority."

The Utilities and Transportation Commission has reviewed 83% of 
its regulations, which amounts to 706 sections.  It repealed 340 
sections, amended 45 sections, and eliminated 14 pages of the 
WAC.  

______________________________________________________

CALIFORNIA -- Gov. Davis names Orange County judges

Gov. Gray Davis (D.) has nominated Orange County Superior Court 
Judge Richard D. Fybel to be an associate justice of the Court of 
Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three (Orange 
County).  Gov. Davis further appointed Senior Assistant District 
Attorney Claudia Silbar, Assistant District Attorney Carolyn 
Kirkwood, and private attorney Peter J. Polos as judges of the 
Orange County Superior Court.

Judge Fybel has been serving in the North Justice Center in 
Fullerton since his appointment last year to the Orange County 
Superior Court by Gov. Davis.  His nomination is subject to 
confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which 
consists of the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, 
the attorney general, and the senior presiding justice of the 
fourth appellate district, Justice Daniel J. Kremer. 

______________________________________________________

NEW JERSEY, RHODE ISLAND -- Verizon invests nearly $1.1B in 
networks in 2001

Verizon Communications, Inc., said it has invested nearly $1.1 
billion in its New Jersey and Rhode Island markets this year.  
Verizon is also in the process of applying for authority to offer 
in-region, interLATA (local access and transport area) service in 
both states under section 271 of the federal Telecommunications 
Act of 1996.

Verizon New Jersey, Inc., said it spent $1 billion this year to 
upgrade its network, primarily by expanding fiber-optic 
facilities.  Verizon filed its section 271 application at the FCC 
on Dec. 20.  The FCC will rule on the application by March 20, 
2002.

Verizon Rhode Island, Inc., said the $71 million it spent in 
network expansions this year was also primarily dedicated to 
increasing fiber-optic facilities and upgrading its call centers.  
This year's investment, the company said, added about 14,000 
miles of fiber-optic cable in Rhode Island.  Verizon filed for 
FCC approval of its section 271 application Nov. 26.  The FCC 
must rule on the application by Feb. 24, 2002.

______________________________________________________

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, MARYLAND, VIRGINIA -- New service 
consolidates messages

Verizon Communications, Inc., has introduced a new service to 
unify multiple voicemail and e-mail messages for subscribers in 
the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area.  The company said its 
"unified communications" service helps customers manage the daily 
"deluge of messages" they receive in various mediums.

The service, developed by uReach Technologies, Inc., puts all 
voice, e-mail, and fax messages into one message box that can be 
accessed by wireline or wireless phone, Web browser, or wireless 
Web-enabled device, the company said.  Subscribers are assigned a 
"personal universal phone number" that can be used to reach the 
subscriber or to leave messages.  Subscribers can also use the 
number to listen to messages, send faxes, or manage a "virtual 
filing cabinet."

The service is offered in Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland, 
and northern Virginia.  Customers may choose between a local or 
toll-free number package.

______________________________________________________

**TR's Survey of 'No-Call' List Legislation**

During the 2001 legislative season, 22 states introduced bills to 
allow their citizens to register their telephone numbers on a 
"no-call" list.  Telemarketers aren't allowed to make telephone 
solicitations to telephone numbers on theses lists.  Although 37 
bills were introduced in those 22 states, only seven Legislatures 
approved the bills.  Of that seven, only six survived--HB 176 in 
Illinois was vetoed by Gov. George H. Ryan (R.).

Click here for TR's Survey of 'No-Call' List Legislation
http://www.tr.com/insight27.asp



======================== END =========================

To view this issue online, go to http://www.tr.com/statenews/.

Federal law prohibits duplication in any form, including 
electronic, without permission of the publisher. 

TR's State NewsWire Copyright 2000, 2001 Telecommunications 
Reports International, Inc.  (ISSN 1082-9350) is transmitted each 
business day, except holidays.

Telecommunications Reports International, Inc.
1333 H St. NW, Suite 100-E
Washington, DC 20005-4707


Gayle Kansagor, E-mail: mailto:gkansagor@tr.com
Editor

Susan McGovern,  E-mail: mailto:smcgovern@tr.com
Associate Editor

Victoria Curtis,  E-mail: mailto:vcurtis@tr.com
Senior Research Analyst

Michael Johnson,  E-mail: mailto:mjohnson@tr.com
Senior Telecommunications Analyst

Account Services:
Christy Iredell (202) 312-6051, (202) 312-6065 (fax), E-mail: 
mailto:ciredell@tr.com