06/08/03 ATT Opposes SBC Michigan Long Distance Program

[admin]

ATT Opposes SBC Plans To Provide Long Distance Service In Michigan


In an April 14 letter to the FCC, ATT opposes SBC plans to provide long distance service in Michigan.

ATT states: “SBC now admits, as it must, that its wholesale bills in the past have been inaccurate"

If the FCC is going to rely on the SBC billing data, such data must meet the requirements of the Data Quality Act


Click here for ATT letter

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6513982006

Click here for Data Quality requirements

http://www.thecre.com/quality/index.html
http://www.thecre.com/ombpapers/centralrev.html

[johnshaw]

Two days after the AT&T letter, SBC, on April 16, withdrew its application “so that we might have sufficient time to respond” (referring to questions that the Commission staff raised). SBC also stated that “When it re-files its application for Michigan, SBC will provide this additional information, as well as updated information necessary to demonstrate SBC's continued compliance with the requirements of section 271.”

There have been numerous filings on the docket (03-16) and ex parte meetings involving AT&T, SBC, MCI (WorldCom and WorldCom d/b/a MCI), the CLEC Association, the Michigan Public Service Commission, the Small Bus. Assoc. of Michigan, the US Dept. of Justice, and a number of other telecommunications companies. Many of these comments went into great detail concerning the SBC billing data problems and related matters.

With the legal and accounting expertise of all of the affected parties, and the adversarial nature of the proceedings, I expect that the mater can be resolved without too much additional Federal agency involvement and expense.