Nevada Bell sister company criticized

Friday, Aug. 24, 2001 | 11:20 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Local phone company Pacific Bell, sister company of Nevada Bell, should not be allowed to offer long-distance service in California unless it solves operational problems with competitors that use its equipment and charges them less, competitors and consumer advocates said Thursday.

Critics are asking the Public Utilities Commission to delay approval of Pac Bell's long-distance application.

Pac Bell, like Nevada Bell a unit of San Antonio-based SBC Communications, the nation's second-largest local phone company, says such arguments in both Califoria and Nevada are part of efforts to thwart or stall SBC's entrance into the states' long-distance markets.

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