A Case Study: Dissecting The Insults, Allegations, Charges And Counter-Charges

In the kind of tense atmosphere currently permeating the highly charged telecom arena, charges and counter-charges of various degrees of "wrongdoing" seem all too common. The warring factions openly hurl insults at one another as part of an apparent bid to win victory in the court of public opinion.

This past week, for example, both Verizon and Qwest went on record publicly accusing their long-time nemesis, AT&T, of failing to come to the negotiating table.

In an effort to separate truth from exaggeration, TPR conducted an independent probe of those allegations and, based on a review of available phone records, email and other material, found the following:

* April 15: AT&T held a conference call with Qwest.

* April 22: AT&T forwarded to Qwest a term sheet setting forth a framework for a wholesale agreement.

* April 26: AT&T submitted its initial input for the mediation.

* April 28: AT&T attended the Qwest mediation session in Colorado.

* April 29: AT&T sent its public proposal to Qwest.

* April 30: Qwest agreed to hold another one-on-one session with AT&T on May 10.

* May 10: Qwest and AT&T held a conference call to review AT&T's offer.

* May 11: Qwest responded to a joint CLEC proposal, but did not make a counter-offer.

* May 13: AT&T and numerous CLECs engaged in an all-day mediation session with Qwest.

In addition, acting at TPR's request, AT&T produced documents showing that it sought mediation with Verizon at the beginning of the 45-day negotiation period that started on March 31. As of press time (Tuesday, March 18) AT&T had been waiting two weeks for Verizon to respond to the carrier's latest proposal.

[Copyright 2004 PBI Media, LLC. All rights reserved.]

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