PSC Sets Date for LD War

Arkansas Business, August 28, 2000 by Michael Whiteley

State regulators have set Nov. 2 for the public hearing in Round 2 of Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.'s battle for the right to sell long-distance in Arkansas. Company officials are hoping to conclude the complex process by early 2000.

The San Antonio-based telephone company filed for long-distance authority with the Arkansas Public Service Commission on July 24, about two weeks after it became the second of the Baby Bells to win Federal Communications Commission approval for long distance following the break-up of American Telephone & Telegraph in 1984.

The FCC's order gave Southwestern Bell long-distance authority only in the $6.4-billion Texas market.

Anticipating massive filings from some competitors again this year, the PSC staff set 2 p.m. on Oct. 16 as the deadline for filings from interveners. AT&T already has filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., seeking to overturn the FCC's Texas decision