PACBELL, MCI PLAN TO HOOK UP : DEAL STANDS TO OPEN PHONE COMPETITION.

Byline: Associated Press 

MCI Communications Corp. and Pacific Bell tentatively agreed Monday to connect their facilities in California, the nation's largest telephone market.

The interconnection agreement is the first by Pacific Bell with a major long-distance company and a step toward competition for the nearly 16 million customers it now serves in California.

MCI has formed interconnection agreements with BellSouth Corp. and Ameritech Corp.

But none of its agreements covers tough issues like how to price unbundled network services, such as consulting to businesses, or allowing a customer to keep a phone number regardless of the carrier, an issue called ``portability.''

Interconnection agreements have been possible since February under new federal law and are needed to open up competition in local service. Carriers like Pacific Bell, which enjoy a monopoly on local phoning, have been slow to make deals with major carriers that could pose a competitive threat quickly.

Prior to its MCI deal, the largest interconnection agreement by Pacific Bell was with MFS Communications Co., an Omaha, Neb.-based firm that provides large businesses with lower-cost access to long-distance companies.

The pact between Pacific Bell and MCI covers the way they will physically interconnect their networks as well as reciprocal compensation, access to 911 services and interchange of local 800 traffic.

A final agreement is unlikely until after the Federal Communications Commission sets out final standards it will use to measure a company's compliance with the new law. That is not expected to happen until next month.

Representatives for the companies said they did not know when a final agreement may be reached. They noted that their negotiations began before the federal law was signed in February, acting under guidelines set out by California law.