BELL ATLANTIC OSS TESTING RESULTS IN

The Bell Atlantic OSS interconnection test results are in, and how well the RBOC performed depends on whom you ask. Bell Atlantic, which cannot enter the long distance market until it satisfies the Section 271 requirements under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, declared after the tests that “the local market in New York is open.” But KPMG, which conducted the third-party testing of the OSS interface, reported April 21 that the RBOC had satisfied most, but not all, of the 933 test criteria. KPMG listed 49 test exceptions, mostly in preordering, order processing and circuit provisioning. Problems with the billing system included inaccuracy and incompleteness of daily usage files and weaknesses in policy for the closure of trouble tickets. KPMG also faulted BA’s Billing Center/Help Desk support for “lack of documentation and/or formality in execution … the consequences [of which] are pervasive.” James G. Cullen, Bell Atlantic president and chief operating officer, has said that more than half of the 49 exceptions have already been resolved, and expects the carrier to quickly win long-distance approval. But Bell Atlantic’s bravado may be short-lived, because it bears the burden of proving it has satisfied Section 271 provisions. The New York Public Service Commission was to begin holding technical conferences in May to complete its review of Bell Atlantic’s OSS performance. At that time CLECs, AT&T foremost among them, can present their own technical experts and cross-examine KPMG technicians and Bell Atlantic employees about the OSS performance.