BellSouth/Florida Long Distance Hearings Conclude; Four Days of Testimony Shows Minimal Opposition to BellSouth's Position.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 2001

The Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) concluded a fourth day of hearings today on BellSouth's entry into the state's long distance market.

"BellSouth presented a strong case to the Commission that Florida's local telephone market is open to competition," said BellSouth President-Florida, Joe Lacher. "The majority of what the opposition offered was a litany of complaints about issues that have already been resolved through the regulatory process. They also spent four days trying to expand the requirements we know are necessary to offer long distance in Florida."

For the last two days, witnesses for competitors tried to focus on how existing pricing structures, already set by state and federal regulatory agencies, are impediments to competition.

"This hearing was primarily used as an appeals forum for competitive carriers. Most of the complaints raised by the opposition attempted to expand the number of services offered to them and lower the prices they pay for these services. This was an exercise to improve their bottom line and lower the overhead they pay to obtain service. What some competitors essentially want is to pay BellSouth less than it costs to provide those services.

"BellSouth has more than 500 interconnection agreements with competitive local carriers in Florida. The vast majority of those agreements have been successfully negotiated without requiring intervention by the Public Service Commission. However, a few companies continue to reargue issues in an attempt to create a negative perception of how BellSouth services wholesale customers. This is contrary to the reality that there has been vibrant local carrier growth in Florida," said Lacher.

BellSouth told the FPSC that it services about 1 million competitive lines and over 100,000 trunk groups in the state.

"I believe Commissioners saw during these hearings that BellSouth has done an exemplary job in keeping problems to a minimum. Witnesses expressed complaints, mostly in other states, about problems numbering in the single digits. Five customers were mentioned in one instance concerning number portability issues and 5 calls were blocked, out of hundreds of thousands, during an eight-month period due to a crowded trunk line in another state. These are exceptions. It's important to note the sheer number of competitive lines and calls that go through those lines in Florida dwarfs similar telephone traffic in most other states," said Lacher.

In addition to the hearing phase of the Commission's consideration of BellSouth's request, the Commission is also completing a review by KPMG of BellSouth's Operating Support Systems, which is scheduled to be presented to the Commission in December.

About BellSouth Corporation

BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications services company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, serving more than 45 million customers in the United States and 16 other countries.

Consistently recognized for customer satisfaction, BellSouth provides a full array of broadband data and e-commerce solutions to business customers, including Web hosting and other Internet services. In the residential market, BellSouth offers DSL high-speed Internet access, advanced voice features and other services. BellSouth also provides online and directory advertising services, including BellSouth(R) RealPages(SM).com.

BellSouth owns 40 percent of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second largest wireless company, which provides innovative wireless data and voice services.