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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 
 Re:  Application  by  Verizon,  Maryland  Inc.,  Verizon  Washington,  D.  C.,  Verizon  West  Virginia  Inc.,  Bell  Atlantic  Inc.  (d/  b/  a  Verizon  Long  Distance),  NYNEX  Long  Distance 
 Company  (d/  b/  a  Verizon  Enterprises  Solutions),  Verizon  Global  Networks  Inc.,  and  Verizon  Select  Services  Inc.,  for  Authorization  to  Provide  In-  Region,  InterLATA  Services 
 in  Maryland,  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  West  Virginia  (WC  Docket  No.  02-  384) 


 Today  we  grant  Verizon  authority  to  provide  in-  region,  interLATA  service  originating  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  States  of  Maryland  and  West  Virginia.  I  approve  this 
 Order  and  commend  the  District  of  Columbia  Public  Service  Commission,  the  Maryland  Public  Service  Commission  and  the  West  Virginia  Public  Service  Commission  for  their 
 hard  work.  I  would  also  like  to  commend  the  Wireline  Competition  Bureau  for  its  hard  work. 


 My  participation  in  the  Section  271  proceedings  brings  to  mind  the  old  saying  “better  late  than  never”.  I  am  pleased  that  I  have  had  the  opportunity  to  participate  in  at  least  one  of 
 Verizon’s  Section  271  applications. 
 I  would  like  to  congratulate  Verizon  on  obtaining  Section  271  authority  for  its  whole  region.  Although  there  are  a  couple  of  issues  that  have  been  raised  by  a  few  of  the 
 interested  parties,  none  of  them  is  so  egregious  that  we  should  deny  Verizon’s  271  application  to  provide  in-  region  InterLATA  services  in  Maryland,  Washington,  D.  C.  and 
 West  Virginia.  Moreover,  we  can  use  Section  271(  d)(  6)  to  ensure  that  none  of  these  “interesting”  issues  becomes  more  than  that. 


 One  concern  that  has  been  raised  is  the  question  of  whether  the  standard  for  reviewing  the  pricing  of  individual  unbundled  network  elements  (“  UNEs”)  in  Section  271 
 applications.  Today  the  Commission  is  following  established  precedent  in  finding  that  the  statute  does  not  require  it  to  evaluate  individually  the  checklist  compliance  of  UNE 
 TELRIC  rates  on  an  element-  by-  element  basis.  Although  some  have  raised  concerns  regarding  this  sort  of  analysis,  I  believe  that  the  Commission  has  correctly  interpreted  the 
 statute  regarding  this  determination. 
 The  Commission  performs  a  general  assessment  of  compliance  with  TELRIC  principles,  and  our  benchmark  analysis  is  a  method  of  making  the  general  assessment  as  to  whether 
 UNE  rates  fall  within  the  range  of  rates  that  a  reasonable  application  of  TELRIC  principles  would  produce.  As  a  practical  matter,  the  Commission  could  not  evaluate 
 every  single  individual  UNE  rate  relied  upon  during  the  90  day  timeframe  during  which  Congress  required  we  make  a  decision  whether  we  should  grant  the  request.  I  believe 
 that  our  role  is  to  make  a  generalized  decision  as  to  whether  network  elements  are  available  in  accordance  with  Section  252(  d)(  1).  This  is  not,  cannot  and  actually  should 
 not  be  a  de  novo  review  of  state-  rate  setting  decisions.  That  is  the  role  of  the  State  Commissions  in  this  process,  as  so  wisely  envisioned  by  Congress. 
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 I  also  believe  that  statutory  language  does  not  require  that  we  evaluate  individually  the  checklist  compliance  of  each  UNE  rate  on  an  element-  by-  element  basis.  The  language  in 
 the  statute  does  not  use  the  term  “network  element”  exclusively  in  the  singular  and  thus  does  not  unambiguously  require  an  evalution  element-  by-  element.  Moreover,  our 
 analysis  is  reflective  of  the  manner  in  which  many  of  these  elements  are  purchased  and  used-  in  combination  with  one  another. 


 I  approve  this  Order. 
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