AT&T urged Cal. PUC not to endorse SBC/Pacific Bell’s Sec. 271 in...

In discussions at May meeting in which PUC ordered Pac Bell to substantially reduce certain UNE rates, PUC Comr. Geoffrey Brown said he was given “assurances” by top executives of AT&T, WorldCom and Z-Tel that they would drop their opposition to Pac Bell’s 271 petition if PUC cut telco’s UNE rates. But AT&T spokesman said his company made no such promise and in any event it couldn’t stand aside in light of “basic errors” in PUC’s draft decision to give conditional support to Pac Bell entry. Other carriers quickly dropped their 271 opposition after PUC acted on UNEs, but AT&T at the time said it was reviewing its position. This summer, AT&T did announce its entry into Cal. residential local market. In its 271 comments, AT&T said PUC erred by basing its endorsement on Pac Bell’s “substantial” compliance with Telecom Act’s 14-point checklist when law and FCC require “full” compliance. Until Pac Bell complies with all conditions in draft decision, AT&T said, PUC shouldn’t endorse application. Agency required automated local customer migration verification and removal of all barriers to DSL resale as conditions for clearing Pac Bell on Points 11 and 14. Pac Bell said those conditions went beyond what FCC required. PUC attached 2 other conditions related to state statutes. AT&T also said Pac Bell wasn’t in full compliance on UNE-related conditions, saying it had ceased honoring its interconnection agreement with respect to nondiscriminatory access to new UNE combinations on ground that laws had changed.