Posted: 2/2003

… on recent RBOC in-region long-distance
approvals.

"Maybe some wind is at Qwest’s
back for a change…There still are some legal and regulatory issues that they
have to resolve in order to protect their brand and fully take advantage of this
opportunity, but it really is good news for a change."

— Telecom analyst Patrick Comack
of Guzman & Co., to the Associated Press, on Qwest Communications
International Inc.’s Dec. 23, 2002, approval

"The balanced
long-distance/local telecom landscape envisioned by Congress is teetering on a
precipice. The FCC will either shore up the foundation by ensuring competitive
access to the UNE platform with meaningful state involvement, or it will renege
on the promise Congress made to consumers in 1996 and allow telephone rates to
increase and service quality to decrease."

–AT&T Corp.’s official
reaction to BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communication Inc.’s Dec. 19, 2002,
approvals

"I believe that the [California
Public Utility Commission’s] determination of checklist noncompliance is
sufficient to warrant, at the very least, a more thorough consideration and
analysis of this issue…even more troubling is the majority’s refusal to
consider any of this information."

–FCC commissioner Kevin Martin,
who dissented to SBC’s Dec. 19, 2002, California approval because the CPUC said
SBC fails to complete two of the 14 checklist items