Expansion of the discounts offered by Southwestern Bell on items available for lease by competitors will make entering the local telephone market in Oklahoma more attractive and enhance the potential for bringing competitive benefits to the state’s consumers, members of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission announced.

The discounts are contained in amendments approved to the interconnection agreement between Southwestern Bell and Logix. The agreement calls for discounts of up to 25 percent on the nonrecurring charges on specified Unbundled Network Elements (UNEs) designed to bring the rates charged in Oklahoma in line with the lower UNE rates recently approved in Texas and Kansas. UNEs are those parts of the Southwestern Bell system that other telephone companies may need to lease in order to provide service.

As a result of negotiations in the Alternative Regulation Rules adopted by the Commission in 1999, Southwestern Bell agreed to discounts on a list of UNEs most needed by competitors. The Logix agreement expands that list to cover the nonrecurring costs associated with the remaining UNE elements. The discounted rates will be available from Bell on a nondiscriminatory basis to all competing companies entering the Oklahoma local exchange market.

"Taken together the Alternative Regulation Rules and the expanded list included in the Logix interconnection agreement bring Oklahoma in line with the lowest UNE rates charged within the Southwestern Bell region," explained Commission Chairman Bob Anthony. "This meets the goal I announced over a year ago of making Oklahoma aggressively competitive in order to create the most favorable climate to attract competitive local exchange carriers

"Reducing these charges increases the likelihood of competitors being able to establish favorable operating margins, thus making Oklahoma a more attractive market. The real winners will be Oklahoma consumers who will receive the benefits of a larger variety of competitive choices," Anthony said. .

Vice Chair Denise Bode said the expanded list of discounted items marked another important step in making the Oklahoma market as attractive as possible.

"We continue to work to ensure that the local service market is as competitive as we can possibly make it," Bode said. "I believe expanded choices will bring even greater opportunity for economic growth in Oklahoma."