Ameritech announcement

[Brian D Williams <talon57@well.sf.ca.us>]

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Ameritech first in nation to detail plans to open local network

Ameritech has become the first communications company in the nation
to volunteer to open its local network to competitors.

  Ameritech today submitted tariffs to the Illinois Commerce
Commission (ICC) that specify how it will open its local network to
competitors in Illinois communities where it is the primary
telephone company.  If approved, the tariffs will go into effect
when Ameritech is authorized to enter the long distance business. 

"We believe that our customers want and deserve the choices that
only all-out communications competition can deliver,"   said Dick
Brown, Ameritech vice chairman.  "No court ordered us to do this. 
No regulators mandated that it must be done.  Ameritech initiated
the idea as a way to better serve our customers and we now have
delivered a detailed blueprint for getting the job done." 

 When the changes that Ameritech has proposed are implemented, a
competitor, subject to regulatory approval, can use portions of the
Ameritech network to provide local telephone service.  Thus, the 
competing company on its own can provide all of the capabilities 
necessary to offer local communications services, or it can obtain 
from Ameritech the capabilities that are needed but which it
chooses not to provide itself.

"The positive regulatory environment in Illinois favorably
positions this state and its citizens to lead the way on the
information superhighway and to be among the first to reap the
economic benefits of communications competition," said Doug
Whitley, president of Ameritech Illinois. 

Specifically, Ameritech's Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) filing
proposes procedures, technical specifications and prices.  It 
describes how competitors can:

- - Obtain access to Ameritech's local distribution network in      
  Illinois (the local loop) so that they can use the Ameritech    
  links to reach customers' homes or offices.

- - Purchase from Ameritech the local switching capability.

- - Integrate their local switches and networks with the Ameritech 
  network. 

The Ameritech filing also provides details of a process under which
an Ameritech customer in Illinois can choose to have a single
company handle local and long distance calls.

Ameritech's quid pro quo for fully opening its local network to 
competitors is straightforward:  Ameritech wants new regulations 
geared to a competitive marketplace and the freedom to provide 
long-distance services.   

When Ameritech's plan to fully open the local network to
competitors is implemented, all-out competition, market-driven
prices and accelerated innovation will shape communications
marketplaces in the portions of Illinois the company serves.  

"Ameritech should be a full participant in the new communications 
world that is emerging.  We want the flexibility to serve its 
customers as they want to be served," said Brown.  "As customers' 
needs become more sophisticated and voice, data and video
industries converge, opening access to all networks is necessary
for a fully competitive communications marketplace."

"The same rules should apply to all players -- providers of voice, 
video and data; long distance or local service," he said.  
 

               
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