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December 9, 2002
David Morris, (907) 265-5396; dmorris@gci.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA RULES REGARDING CONSUMER
COMPLAINTS
Order Finds Discrimination by ACS and Orders ACS to Fix
it
ANCHORAGE, AK -- GCI today released the
following statement regarding the Regulatory Commission of Alaska's
(RCA) ruling on local telephone customer service complaints in
Docket number U-02-097(3).
"This order is a major victory for consumers and local telephone
competition in Alaska. The Commission has clearly found that ACS
has been discriminating against GCI and its customers in both
quality and timing of service. Moreover, the Commission found that
ACS was unfairly holding up service to GCI customers when those
customers required a new line to be installed," said Dana Tindall,
GCI senior vice president. "No longer will consumers who wish to
switch to a competitive local telephone provider be held hostage to
the illegal actions of the incumbent provider."
The order by the RCA, issued on December 5, addressed consumer
complaints that were the result of "parity of service violations"
by ACS. The RCA ordered ACS to provide GCI with direct electronic
access to ACS' databases and systems necessary for providing
service by December 26, 2002. In addition, the RCA ordered ACS to
file monthly performance reports to ensure that discrimination is
not occurring and, ordered ACS to provide GCI customers with the
same level of service that it provides to its own customers when
new facilities are required.
"This order vindicates both GCI and competition - it is not
competition that doesn't work, it is the illegal actions of one
carrier. ACS intentionally and purposefully created a public crisis
by choosing to process service orders for GCI customers in time
frames that were not comparable to the time frames it processed
orders for its own customers. GCI customers were victimized by
these actions and, in effect, were 'punished' for having chosen GCI
as their service provider. The RCA's order demonstrates that it is
not competition that failed but the actions of the incumbent to
frustrate competition that was the cause for the public harm. It
now remains to be seen whether or not ACS will comply with the
law," said Tindall. "It has always been illegal to discriminate,
ACS chose to do it anyway. Now we have to work to ensure compliance
with the law so that consumers are able to get service from the
carrier of their choice."
The RCA held public hearings on October 17 and October 22, 2002
to investigate more than 200 informal complaints from consumers
regarding the quality of service they received for local telephone
service. In its Order, the RCA stated:
"Our review of the record identifies two areas where parity of
service requirements are not being met:
- Service orders for ACS and GCI customers receive a different
level and quality of service.
- ACS and GCI customers receive different treatment when
provisioning service requires additional facilities."
This disparity in service is in clear violation of the 1996
Telecommunication Act which requires ACS to provide service to
interconnecting carriers such as GCI with the same terms that it
provides to itself. The hearings proved that ACS does not provide
parity and is denying consumers timely service by their carrier of
choice. ACS customers can receive immediate order provisioning,
while GCI customers must wait up to three and one half months for
the same service.
Tindall predicted that ACS' next move will be an attempt to
"sunset the regulatory commission." "It is simple," said Tindall.
"ACS does not want to comply with laws requiring fair competition.
The Commission is trying to make them comply. So, of course, ACS'
answer will be fire the Commission."
A copy of the order can be found at: http://www.state.ak.us/rca/orders/2002/u02097_3.pdf
GCI (Nasdaq:GNCMA) provides local, wireless, and long distance
telephone, cable television, Internet and data communication
services in Alaska. More information about the company can be found
at www.gci.com.
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