The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has ordered New York Telephone Co., a telecommunications local exchange carrier (LEC), to notify customers that they may now choose an alternative carrier for intraLATA toll calling. Interexchange carriers (IXCs) in the state had complained about the LEC's plans to implement a recent PSC order requiring equal access for intraLATA toll services. (Prior to the "intraLATA presubscription" ruling, customers that chose an IXC such as AT&T, MCI, or Sprint to carry their "local" toll calls were required to dial special-access code numbers.)
The LEC claimed that informing customers of the rule change would place it at a competitive
disadvantage and increase the cost of processing new service orders. The PSC disagreed, noting that the LEC had ignored the advantages it possessed in controlling the telephone order-processing function and starting with 100 percent of the presubscribed market. Absent specific instructions from regulators, according to the PSC, "irresistible incentives" would develop to sell the LEC's service unfairly. Re New York Telephone Co., Case Nos. 28425 et al., Dec. 1, 1995 (N.Y.P.S.C.).