Signaling victory over one of the more complex issues in the move to competition in the local telephone market, regulators in Connecticut and New York have adopted rate plans for unbundled interconnection services offered by incumbent local exchange carriers.
Both states also recently approved the wholesale discount rate that the LECs must apply to existing services when offering them for resale by competitive companies. See Re AT&T Communications of New York, Inc., 173 PUR4th 274 (N.Y.P.S.C. 1996); Re So. New England Tel. Co., Docket No. 95-06-17, March 25, 1997 (Conn.D.P.U.C.).
Connecticut. The Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control has approved a set of rates for network services offered by the Southern New England Telephone Co. The department noted it had already certified 18 companies to provide local services in direct competition with incumbent carriers. The commission said that a schedule of charges was critical in establishing telephone competition in the state, because new carriers will enter the market by "rebranding, repackaging and reselling" the network services offered by Southern New England Telephone Co., and other carriers.
The department approved most of the schedule of fees Southern had proposed to charge new competitors in the local telephone market for its network services. The schedule was based on the TSLRIC method. Acknowledging the FCC's preference of the TELRIC analysis, the department said Southern's method "encourages the development, introduction and submission of alternative cost analyses for its review."