AT&T competes with Ameritech for local telephone service

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Posted 1:16PM on Wednesday, February 13, 2002

LANSING, Mich. - AT&T began offering local telephone service in Michigan on Wednesday, competing with giant Ameritech Michigan for its 4.8 million customers in the state. "Wherever Ameritech is, we'll be there," AT&T spokesman Mike Pruyn said. Ameritech Michigan customers can switch their local service provider by calling AT&T, said Phil Tonge, president of AT&T's local markets. It will likely take a few days to switch to AT&T, and new customers can keep their original telephone number, he said. AT&T local telephone service will give Michigan residents the convenience of having one bill for their local and long distance service from the same company, Tonge said. New York-based AT&T had previously only provided long distance in Michigan. AT&T already provides local service in Texas and New York. AT&T had said it would offer local service by the end of 2001, but problems with Ameritech's network delayed the start, Pruyn said. AT&T is leasing parts of Ameritech's local networks to offer competing service. After switching a few thousand Ameritech Michigan customers over the last three months to test Ameritech's network, Pruyn said AT&T felt comfortable that the Ameritech network could handle the load. AT&T received final clearance Tuesday evening from the Michigan Public Service Commission to go ahead with local telephone service, Pruyn said. Tonge said AT&T is offering competitive calling plans, including one for $31 a month that gives customers 400 calls with a few features, such as caller ID. Ameritech charges $42.95 for a similar 400-call plan. AT&T and Ameritech both will charge a $3.28 state access fee that state lawmakers have tried to strip out of customers' monthly bills. Chicago-based Ameritech handles 96 percent of the phone lines in its part of Michigan. The company controls 80 percent of Michigan's local phone service, and it's trying to enter the long distance market. "We've been saying all along that the (local) market is open to competition, and this is further proof of that," Ameritech spokeswoman Denise Koenig said about AT&T entering the local telephone market. Ameritech, owned by San Antonio-based SBC Communications Inc., has been criticized by some consumer advocacy groups in Michigan who say its rates are too high and service quality standards lag behind its four other Midwestern states -- Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. AT&T will not offer local telephone service to rural areas served by Verizon, formerly GTE Corp. Verizon owns nearly 800,000 phone lines, which is 100 percent of the lines in its areas. AT&T started to offer local service in 1997 in Michigan, but stopped the year after because it wasn't making money on the venture.