January 7, 2002 -- The Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel) sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to disclose critical data about the magnitude and scope of Verizon Communication's discriminatory treatment of unaffiliated carriers, alluded to in Verizon's Section 272 Biennial Audit Report for New York. CompTel is opposed to the FCC's apparent acquiescence to Verizon's unilateral redaction of audit results.

CompTel's January 3 letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell states, "CompTel hereby requests access to the information redacted from the Reports…the Commission's failure to provide CompTel and its members access to complete versions of the Verizon Section 272 Reports undermines our ability to comment on Verizon's post-271 behavior in New York and demonstrates the need for national special access performance measurements. Additionally, it has frustrated the ability of our Members, negatively affected by Verizon's performance, to obtain legal redress expeditiously."

In an effort to spot and stop discrimination by incumbent telecommunications carriers, Section 272 of the '96 Telecommunications Act requires that every two years after an RBOC enters the long-distance market, the company must be subject to an independent audit. The results of this audit, which evaluates the RBOC's compliance with the structural and non-discriminatory safeguards in Section 272, must be filed with the FCC and available for public inspection. Without access to data in the report, discrimination against non-affiliate carriers cannot be proven.

"Verizon is hiding information from the public," said H. Russell Frisby, Jr., president of CompTel. "We are calling on the FCC to step up and enforce the law and make Verizon's complete audit results available to the public."

Six months ago, Verizon filed its 272 Biennial Audit Report with unilateral redactions of audit results. On August 21, after reviewing Verizon's audit report, CompTel sent a letter to the FCC urging it to order Verizon to disclose complete audit results. Lack of action will encourage other RBOCs to take Verizon's lead and hide their audit results.

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