MCI WorldCom Wants Bell Atlantic Operating Systems Put To The Test In Pennsylvania
PUC Ruling Spurs Company to Prepare for Residential Local
Phone Entry
HARRISBURG, PA, September 2, 1999 -- MCI WorldCom is asking
Pennsylvania regulators today to allow it to conduct side-by-side
testing of critical operations support systems (OSS) as KPMG Peat
Marwick continues to evaluate Bell Atlantic's OSS in the state. The
request follows a landmark August 26 ruling by the Public Utility
Commission (PUC) that established a blueprint for creating widespread
local phone competition in Pennsylvania.
KPMG currently is conducting an independent analysis of Bell
Atlantic's operations support systems (OSS), the automated computer
systems and interfaces competitors must use to order, install, bill for
and maintain their customers' local service. That test, however, is
being hampered by Bell Atlantic's refusal to allow potential new
local entrants, including MCI WorldCom, to test alongside of KPMG. MCI
WorldCom is asking the Commission to allow it to actively participate
in the test for two reasons: to ensure compatibility between the
systems and to locate and resolve problems that KPMG's processes
aren't designed to uncover.
"The PUC's bold decision last week cleared away some of the
legal obstacles Bell Atlantic created to prevent local phone
competition from taking root," said Carl Giesy, MCI WorldCom's
regional director of public policy. "Side-by-side OSS testing will
help both MCI WorldCom and Bell Atlantic move closer to making the
PUC's order a commercial reality."
Similar side-by-side testing in New York found certain key problems
with Bell Atlantic's systems that KPMG's testing alone would
not have uncovered. As a result, MCI WorldCom was able to begin
offering local residential service on a limited basis in New York,
where it has made more than 160,000 sales statewide. Service at
commercial volumes there hinges on further actions by the New York
Public Service Commission to compel Bell Atlantic to fix remaining
problems with its OSS.
"KPMG can test the procedures competitors must go through to
request customer data and place new orders, but because it's not
dealing with real customers, it can't evaluate how well Bell
Atlantic actually fills those orders," Giesy said. "Actually
filling the orders is a fundamental piece of a working operations
support system, because that's the piece customers see -
installation of service.
"Our side-by-side testing, done in concert with KPMG's
evaluation, should speed Bell Atlantic's ability to build a fully
functioning system by allowing it to root out real-world problems
sooner rather than later," Giesy said. "That, in turn, will
allow competition to occur more quickly in the Commonwealth."
MCI WorldCom is a global leader in communications services with 1998
revenues of more than $30 billion and established operations in over 65
countries encompassing the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific
regions. MCI WorldCom is a premier provider of facilities-based and
fully integrated local, long distance, international and Internet
services. MCI WorldCom's global networks, including its
state-of-the-art pan-European network and transoceanic cable systems,
provide end-to-end high-capacity connectivity to more than 40,000
buildings worldwide. MCI WorldCom is traded on NASDAQ under WCOM. For
more information on MCI WorldCom, visit the World Wide Web at
http://www.wcom.com.
For a copy of the filing, please contact Elena French at
914-312-6144 or Elena.French@mci.com.
