SBC shouldn’t be permitted to offer long distance service in Cal....

be dismissed as premature because SBC wasn’t properly meeting requirement to offer resale of DSL services. ASCENT said Cal. PUC had found similar deficiency in state review of SBC’s application (see related note in State Activities section). “For the first time, the [FCC] has been asked to consider an application for in-region long distance market entry where an applicant has been expressly found to have erected competitive entry barriers,” ASCENT said: “The severity of [SBC’s] failure to meet its resale obligations for DSL services under Checklist Item 14, as determined by the California Commission, is of such significance as to itself warrant rejection of the incumbent’s application.” Also filing comments Wed., Alliance for Public Technology (APT) urged FCC to approve SBC application, saying it would bolster development of advanced services to consumers: “APT strongly urges the Commission to seize this opportunity to increase facilities-based competition for local and long distance service and promote ubiquitous broadband network deployment. In APT’s view, Section 271’s interLATA prohibitions constrain the widespread deployment of advanced telecommunications infrastructure.” CWA also urged approval, saying SBC’s entry into Cal.’s long distance market “will benefit consumers, particularly residential customers, because it will increase competition.” Union said move also would “stimulate the growth of high- skilled, quality jobs in the state.”