Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!hybrid!scifi!bywater!uunet!bu.edu!telecom-request From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Local Competition Comes to Illinois Bell Message-ID: Date: 3 Mar 91 14:04:55 GMT Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 50 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 176, Message 1 of 6 Illinois Bell will open its switching offices to non-Bell competitors in a move expected to enhance competition in the arena of local telephone service in Chicago and improve the reliability of telephone networks that specialize in high speed data transfers. The new policy, effective April 7 pending final approval by the Illinois Commerce Commission, will allow Teleport Communications and Metropolitan Fiber Systems to interconnect their systems with Illinois Bell. Teleport and Metropolitan Fiber are waiting now for approval, but other competitors may be on the way. The tariff filed by IBT this past week would allow rival companies to resell Illinois Bell services to customers. By allowing this, Teleport and Metropolitan Fiber will both be able to offer packages that would otherwise be uneconomical. For the time being, the competitors will limit their offerings to business services, particularly in the area of high speed data transfers. The agreement grew out of negotiations between IBT and Teleport, which had filed a suit with the Illinois Commerce Commission over IBT's earlier reluctance to allow interconnection. According to Scott Bonney, director of regulatory affairs at Teleport, " ... a lot of telephone companies say they favor increased local competition, but it is mostly just lip service. With Illinois Bell though, the situation is different. Illinois Bell has always been a very enlightened organization; we feel they will be fair in dealing with market rivals." James Smith, director of regulatory affairs for Illinois Bell confirmed that the company will install and maintain switching equipment in its offices that meets the specifications of its competitors, most notably Teleport and Metropolitan Fiber. He would not commit to a specific start-up date but said 'later this spring' a routine will be in place for handling interconnect requests. Bonney also said that interconnection will increase the already wide diversity of telecom services in northern Illinois. "In a big way, interconnection will improve survivability of the communications infrastructure for Chicago," he noted. What other communities and/or local telcos are entertaining the idea of competition in local exchange service? What others are actually implementing it at this time as is Illinois Bell? PAT