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Article: Justice Department Decision Buoys BellSouth on Local Phone Service Competition.
- Article from:
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Article date:
- June 10, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Robert Luke
Jun. 10--The U.S. Justice Department decided Wednesday not to seek a Supreme Court challenge to revive rules aimed at increasing competition for local phone service.
In Georgia, the move potentially could make it more difficult for AT&T, MCI and other so-called competitive local exchange carriers to snatch more customers from BellSouth, particularly if the carriers have to pay more to lease parts of BellSouth's phone network.
Some providers could pull out of rural and smaller urban markets to focus on larger ones, such as Atlanta, said Robert B. Baker, a member of the Georgia Public Service Commission. And prices could rise.