WASHINGTON -- Verizon Communications today will notify the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) it is withdrawing its application to offer long-distance service in
Massachusetts and plans to re-file promptly.
"Our Massachusetts application is the strongest one that any company has filed with the
FCC yet," said Tom Tauke, Verizon senior vice president of external affairs and public
policy. "We believe that we have satisfied the 14-point checklist. However, there have
been procedural concerns raised as to whether all parties have had an adequate opportunity to
evaluate and comment on the extensive evidence we provided on one narrow issue -- our
showing that we provide non-discriminatory access to unbundled loops to other DSL providers.
"Re-filing will address these concerns by allowing interested parties additional comment.
We also will update the existing application with the most current data that further confirms that
we do provide parity of service for DSL," he said.
Tauke said that there is robust competition in the Massachusetts telecommunications market
where about 700,000 customer lines are served by competitors, about 11 percent of the total lines
in the state.
"The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy, which spent more than
1 1/2 years reviewing mountains of data, agrees that we have met the requirements of the
Telecommunications Act and should be permitted to enter the long-distance market there. We
remain confident that when the FCC evaluates the complete record, it will expeditiously
conclude that we have more than satisfied all the requirements," Tauke said.
Verizon filed its Massachusetts long-distance application with the FCC on Sept. 22 following the
state's extensive review and independent tests, which evaluated the company's compliance with
requirements of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
On Oct. 16, the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy recommended to
the FCC that it approve Verizon's application.
Some 75 national and state organizations have urged the FCC to approve Verizon's application to
provide long-distance services to Massachusetts customers, including the National Urban
League, the Alliance for Public Technology, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the
National Council on the Aging, the Cape Cod Technology Council, the Merrimack (Mass.)
Valley Economic Development Council, the Greater New Bedford Workforce Investment Board
and dozens of other national and Massachusetts civic and economic development organizations.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, is one of the
world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of
wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with more than 101 million access line
equivalents and more than 26 million wireless customers. A Fortune 10 company with more than
260,000 employees and approximately $60 billion in 1999 revenues, Verizon's global presence extends
to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit
www.verizon.com.