LOCAL PHONE COMPETITORS SAY BELL ATLANTIC SHOULD LIVE UP TO NEW YORK PROMISES IN MASSACHUSETTS

BOSTON, MA, July 21, 1999 -- Massachusetts consumers and
businesses shouldn't have to settle for fewer benefits of
competition than their neighbors in New York simply because Bell
Atlantic is afraid of losing its 98% control of the local phone market,
several competitive local phone providers and an industry group
representing more than 700 local and long distance service providers
told the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy
(DTE) in a joint petition late Tuesday.
MCI WorldCom, RCN Becocom, RNK Telecom, Sprint, TelEnergy and the
Telecommunications Resellers Association told the DTE that it should
ask Bell Atlantic, at a minimum, to agree to the same conditions for
opening the local phone market to competition that it voluntarily
committed to in New York more than a year ago. Those conditions
include:

1. Third-party testing of critical Bell Atlantic operations support
systems (OSS), which allow customers to switch from Bell Atlantic to a
competitor;

2. Establishment of a collaborative process to determine how Bell
Atlantic will provide competitors access to the lines into
customers' homes and buildings without service disruptions,
and;

3. Detailed performance standards that will measure how Bell
Atlantic deals with competitors and prevent it from
"backsliding" or purposely thwarting competitors'
attempts to break into the local phone market.

"Bell Atlantic already has asked Massachusetts regulators to
endorse its entry into the long distance market here, but we believe
it's premature to even begin this discussion before the citizens of
this state know how Bell Atlantic will complete the critical first step
of opening the local phone market," said Chris McKeown, president
of TelEnergy Inc. "The federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 is
unmistakably clear. Bell Atlantic must comply with the law and
irreversibly open its local phone markets before it's allowed to
offer its customers long distance service."

The petitioners told the DTE that competitors must be given a clear
explanation of what Bell Atlantic plans to do to open the local market
before they can comment on its application to offer long distance
service in Massachusetts. The first round of comments on that
application, which was filed May 24, were due Monday.

"We have to be careful not to put the cart before the
horse," said David Gusky, executive vice president of the
Telecommunications Resellers Association. "To date, Bell Atlantic
has fallen woefully short of living up to its federal requirements to
make market conditions favor competitive entry. Its long distance
application shouldn't even be considered until Bell Atlantic has
completed the necessary task of opening the local market."

Competitors told the DTE that the commitments Bell Atlantic has made
in New York have allowed at least one competitor -- MCI WorldCom -- to
begin offering statewide residential local phone service there, in
direct competition with Bell Atlantic. Although MCI WorldCom's
marketing campaign has been limited due to continued problems with Bell
Atlantic's ordering systems, the company still has managed to
attract more than 120,000 customers by appealing to its existing long
distance base.

"We've seen that New York consumers are excited about
choice and the benefits it brings," said Robert Lopardo, MCI
WorldCom's regional director of law and public policy for the
Northern Region. "We look forward to the day when we are able to
offer Massachusetts customers the same benefits, including lower rates,
improved service and new and innovative products."

The DTE should refuse to even consider Bell Atlantic's long
distance application unless Bell Atlantic agrees, at a minimum, to
adopt the same conditions for opening its local market in Massachusetts
as it has in New York, the petitioners said.

"We look forward to reviewing a Massachusetts roadmap that
takes into account the unique aspects of this market and offers
consumers here no less than the same benefits their neighbors in New
York are beginning to see today," said Joy Tessier, vice president
of RNK Telecom of Stoughton, MA.