OHIO PUCO recommends that SBC be allowed to offer long distance

The Ohio Consumers' Counsel says he is against SBC's selling long distance.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio recommended Thursday that SBC be allowed to enter the long-distance service market.
San Antonio-based SBC has made adequate progress toward providing services to ensure competition in its own industry, said Alan Schriber, PUCO chairman.
"SBC has a passing grade, maybe not straight A's," Schriber said.
That should be enough to allow SBC to enter the long-distance market, Schriber said. Competitors and the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, who represents residential customers and rate cases, were not so sure.
The company must demonstrate to outside auditors that it is not hampering efforts by competitors. SBC is required to make available, for a fee, access to its network and equipment for competitors to reach customers.
The PUCO's order said SBC had met all the conditions on a Federal Communications Commission checklist setting performance standards in competition. SBC Ohio President Connie Browning gave her company an "A" for meeting the FCC standards and said it's time to let competition begin.
An AT & amp;T executive said SBC hasn't met that standard.
Next steps
SBC will file an application to provide long-distance service within a few weeks, then the FCC has 90 days to approve or deny the application.
"This has been an element of our telecommunications package that's been missing," Browning said. "Consumers are really demanding they find a single source of telecommunications products."
The company has about 5 million lines in service in 61 of Ohio's 88 counties.
SBC, which acquired Ameritech four years ago, must prove by Oct. 1 that it has improved its performance, or pay fines that could be in the millions of dollars, Schriber said. The PUCO has fined SBC or ordered refunds totaling $17.2 million since 1999 for missed or delayed installation and repair appointments.
One dissenting vote
Commissioner Judy Jones cast the only dissenting vote among the five members. She said the commission should have waited until SBC can prove its job performance has improved.
"I just think it should come before the [PUCO] order and not after the order," Jones said.
Ohio Consumers' Counsel Robert Tongren also said the recommendation was premature. SBC has not met standards for competition that it has agreed to as a condition for entering long distance, Tongren said. If current conditions persist, he will fight FCC approval, he said.
"We'll participate extensively before the FCC. This is just the first step in the process," Tongren said. "It's one voice. The ultimate voice is the FCC."
SBC also has applied to offer long-distance service in Michigan, another of the former Ameritech states.