And, of course, we all know how well BOCs (Bell Operating Companies)
and other incumbent LECs (Local Exchange Carriers) follow such rules.
The problem is that most of these safeguards are not really enforceable,
and the telecom providers violate them at will. Heck, look at how
easily Pac Bell was able to drive MCI out of the local telco business
in California by dragging their feet on service/install requests,
making repeated mistakes in the process, etc. (Yes, Pac Bell makes
mistakes with their own customers as well, but these were mistakes
that looked suspicious, even compared to Pac Bell's usual level
of incompetence).
SBC is one of the scariest, slimiest, sleaziest organiziations I've
ever run up against. They truly fit the definition of Telco someone
posted a while back (A law firm with a side business in telecommunications).
They have certainly violated most, if not all, of the safeguards
mentioned below, and their new contract certainly violates the
spirit, if not the letter, of said same safeguards.
And, of course, we all know how well BOCs (Bell Operating Companies)
and other incumbent LECs (Local Exchange Carriers) follow such rules.
Indeed...BellSouth was operating BellSouth.Net for several *years*
before they filed a CEI plan for that service.
Yes, the CEI for Internet Services was filed by BellSouth in August of
2000! When did BellSouth.Net first role out?
ONA reports aren't worth the paper they're printed on (check the comment
filings in the FCC consideration of Computer III requirements for some
humorous comments about the usefulness, or rather lack thereof, of ONA
reports).
Cost accounting only serve to force the BOCs to be a bit more creative
in their tariffing in order to screw ISPs. Again, BellSouth was found
guilty of providing preferential and discriminatory pricing in Kentucky
based on the tariff that they filed that followed the letter of the law.
Furthermore, BellSouth has *yet* to fully comply with *any* of the KY
PSC orders in our case.
Then add to all of this that the BOCs often flat out lie to regulatory
bodies. I've personally heard representatives of BellSouth claim
multiple times (as late as last week) that they are fully in compliance
with FCC accounting guidelines. This in spite of an FCC audit report
showing that BellSouth's accounting over-states their costs by as much
as 18% (!) because BellSouth can't find a significant amount of their
hard-wired equipment (read: equipment that is not easily
transportable...ie, stuff that's bolted to the ground!). This is "full
compliance?"