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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  Contact:  David  Fiske,  202/  418-  0513  April  16,  2003  Mike  Balmoris,  202/  418-  0253 
 STATEMENT  OF  FCC  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  POWELL  ON  WITHDRAWAL  OF  SBC’s  271  APPLICATION  FOR  MICHIGAN 
 Washington,  DC  –  SBC  has  withdrawn  its  application  to  provide  long  distance  service  in  Michigan.  The  FCC  cannot  approve  such  applications  by  the  Bell  Companies 
 unless  they  satisfy  the  requirements  of  section  271. 
 In  my  view,  SBC’s  application  generally  met  the  requirements  of  section  271.  Ultimately,  the  outstanding  issues  that  prevented  approval  were  very  narrow,  but 
 nonetheless  important.  Perhaps  the  most  troubling  of  these  issues  relates  to  billing.  Despite  extensive  examination  of  the  record  supporting  these  applications,  questions 
 remain  regarding  whether  SBC  is  currently  providing  wholesale  billing  functions  for  competitive  LECs  in  a  manner  that  meets  the  requirements  of  our  existing  precedent. 
 Indeed  much  of  the  information  related  to  this  issue,  including  the  results  of  a  data  reconciliation,  was  introduced  very  late  in  our  90  day  process.  If  the  Commission  were 
 to  take  this  evidence  into  account,  it  would  have  required  an  unusually  broad  waiver  of  our  ‘freeze  frame’  rule. 


 I  would  like  to  thank  all  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Michigan  Public  Service  Commission  and  its  Chair,  Laura  Chappelle  for  their  outstanding  work  and  enormous 
 contribution  to  this  proceeding.  Indeed,  few  states  have  achieved  the  levels  of  market  penetration  seen  by  Michigan.  I  am  confident  that  SBC,  in  consultation  with  the 
 Michigan  Commission,  Department  of  Justice,  and  this  Commission,  will  expeditiously  resolve  the  outstanding  issues  that  prevented  approval. 


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