NEWSReport No. DC 95-20             ACTION IN DOCKET CASE  February 1, 1995

    MCI DENIED RECONSIDERATION OF ORDERS RESOLVING INVESTIGATION INTO
                   ONA TARIFFS OF SIX PHONE COMPANIES
                             (CC DOCKET 92-91)
     
     The Commission has  denied two petitions by MCI Telecommunications Corp.
requesting reconsideration of two related Commission orders which resolved an investigation
of the initial Open Network Architecture (ONA) tariffs filed by six of the Bell Operating
Companies (BOCs).  

     In the ONA Investigation Final Order, the Commission determined that the BOCs'
initial ONA rates were unlawful, directed them to file replacement rates based upon altered
ratemaking methodologies, and terminated the investigation except with respect to US West. 
In the companion SCIA Disclosure Review Order, the Commission denied MCI's application
for review of procedures adopted by the Common Carrier Bureau in the SCIS Disclosure
Order to provide intervenors access under nondisclosure agreements to information used to
make its decision on the ONA rates -- proprietary cost support, the software used to create it
(the Switching Cost Information System (SCIS) developed by Bellcore), and related
materials.  

     In seeking reconsideration, MCI's central contention in each petition was that the
restricted access procedures developed to allow access while protecting confidential
information denied it the ability to perform a meaningful review of the BOCs' ratemaking
processes. 

     The implementation  of ONA required BOCs to unbundle interstate "feature group"
services into Basic Service Arrangements and optional Basic Service Elements (BSEs).  The
variation among BOCs' initial rates for BSEs was dramatic.  The investigation sought to
determine to what extent the variation reflected factual differences in the circumstances of the
carriers, and to what extent the rate variation arose from BOCs' manipulation of the SCIS
model, the data they supplied to it, or post-SCIS calculations conducted when developing
rates.






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     Switch vendors were concerned that detailed design, performance and cost data could
be deduced or inferred from the information within SCIS.  The Common Carrier Bureau
therefore undertook an initial closed review of the Ameritech software, followed by
submission of other BOCs' software and eventually set processes by which intervenors would
receive access to an edited version of the SCIS software that excluded highly sensitive data. 
The Bureau also required the BOCs to retain an independent auditor, whose tasks would be
specified by the Commission, to determine the integrity of the SCIS model itself and the
effect of various input assumptions on the BSE investment cost studies.  Those procedures
were first specified by the Bureau in the SCIS Disclosure Order, and later by the
Commission in the SCIS
Disclosure Review Order.

     The Commission said that MCI raised no new considerations or changed
circumstances that warranted reconsideration of either order and there was no basis for
reconsideration.

     Action by the Commission January 26, 1995, by Order (FCC 95-27).  Chairman
Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness and Chong.

                                  - FCC -

     News Media contact: Rosemary Kimball at (202) 632-5050.
          Common Carrier Bureau contacts: Steve Spaeth and David Nall at (202) 418-1520.