March 22, 2002 -- SBC Ameritech filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) a draft application, indicating that it intends to file with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to request authority to provide long distance service in the state.

SBC's filing with the PSCW is based on a 14-point FCC checklist designed to demonstrate that the local market is open to competition. This filing is the necessary next step in the process of asking the PSCW to review SBC's compliance with the 14-point checklist. SBC will submit a final filing to the PSCW prior to filing at the FCC.

Under the direction of the PSCW, an independent contractor, KPMG Consulting, is now testing SBC's operational support systems (OSS) to determine whether SBC has adequate capacity to provision service in a timely manner. The standards, methods and procedures of the test were developed in a collaborative effort between SBC, the PSCW, the Citizen's Utility Board and other telephone companies doing business in Wisconsin.

After the testing is completed, KPMG will file a final test report with the PSCW. SBC will then file its application with the FCC, which will have 90 days to review it. During the federal process, the FCC will ask the PSCW for its opinion regarding SBC's compliance with the requirements of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The 1996 law requires that Regional Bell Operating Companies, such as SBC, must open their local telephone markets to competition, and are prohibited from providing long distance service until demonstrating that they have done so.

According to SBC, competitors in Wisconsin now serve more than 440,000 access lines in SBC's territory, representing more than 17 percent of the overall access line market in that territory and approximately one-third of all business lines, according to SBC's filing with the PSCW. Competitors have located their equipment in 62 sites in SBC Ameritech offices, giving them access to 87 percent of SBC Ameritech's lines through facilities-based competition, the filing also notes. Competitors have access to 100 percent of SBC access lines in Wisconsin through resale.

A study completed recently by TeleNomic Research claims that Wisconsin consumers will save approximately $384 million annually from the increased competition in both the local and long distance markets.

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