EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF COMMENTS ON BEHALF OF THE RATEPAYER ADVOCATE IN OPPOSITION TO VERIZON

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF COMMENTS ON BEHALF OF THE RATEPAYER ADVOCATE IN OPPOSITION TO VERIZON-NJ’S 271 APPLICATION BEFORE THE FCC

Filed January 14, 2002, FCC Docket No. 01-347

The Ratepayer Advocate’s filing before the FCC illustrates the dismal state of telecommunications competition in New Jersey which necessarily should be weighed as a factor in the FCC’s evaluation of Verizon-NJ’s entry into the long distance market. Absent a finding of meaningful competition in the residential market, the FCC should deny Verizon-NJ’s interLATA request at this time.

The Ratepayer Advocate demonstrates to the FCC that Verizon-NJ has failed to satisfy at least three requirements necessary for the grant of long distance authority. First, Verizon-NJ has not shown compliance with Track A, which requires that Verizon demonstrate that competitors are actually serving New Jersey’s residential local exchange market over their own facilities. The evidence presented by Verizon is wholly insufficient and does not meet the de minimis test. Second, Verizon-NJ has not shown that it satisfies checklist item ii because it has not established that its Operations Support Systems ("OSS") provides nondiscriminatory access to UNEs through the use of actual commercial testing, nor has Verizon -NJ implemented the new UNE rates set by the Board to show that these rates will actually provide competitors with nondiscriminatory access to UNEs. Third, the fact that there is no competition in New Jersey’s residential markets, and no evidence of geographic distribution of residential competition necessitates a thorough public interest inquiry by the FCC.

Finally, the Ratepayer Advocate contends that structural separation is the only proven remedy for the anticompetitive incentives and abilities built into Verizon-NJ’s operations, and the FCC should refuse section 271 authority unless Verizon-NJ agrees to structural separation or functional/structural separation under a strong code of conduct.

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