Nevada Bell parent on track to enter Vegas

Kevin Ferguson

Thursday, May 10, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

An investigation into SBC Communications Inc.'s failure to provide accurate information to regulators about its long-distance service in Oklahoma shouldn't block SBC -- parent of Nevada Bell -- from entering the Las Vegas market and expanding its services in Nevada, an official said Wednesday.

"We do believe some of the information we provided was inaccurate, but we tried to correct that as soon as possible, and we don't think that should hurt our rollout of long-distance service in Las Vegas," Ross Ireland, SBC senior executive vice president of services, said during an interview in Las Vegas Wednesday.

The Federal Communications Commission is examining affidavits filed in October by three SBC executives. The company sent the FCC a letter April 13 informing it that some of the information about the availability of high-speed Internet access to its customers was wrong.

The inaccuracies were unintentional, Ireland said following a keynote address he gave to Networld + Interop trade show attendees at the Las Vegas Hilton.

SBC has filed separate petitions to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission to offer local and long-distance services in Las Vegas. Ireland, who heads the San Antonio-based company's technical operations, referrred questions on details of its expansion plans to Wendy Flanagan, spokeswoman of subsidiary SBC Telecom.

Flanagan said SBC Telecom, a divison formed in October 1999, plans to begin servicing Las Vegas customers with local and long-distance phone services in April 2002. SBC already serves areas in Nevada outside of Las Vegas -- like Pahrump and Reno -- through subsidiary Nevada Bell.

SBC also controls a big wireless phone company operating in Las Vegas, Cingular.

SBC Communications is a regional bell phone company that was formed after the breakup of AT&T in 1984.

The false information SBC provided regulators may have helped the company gain approval in Oklahoma after two failed bids, according to published reports.

Sprint, AT&T and Worldcom -- SBC competitors -- have filed an appeal of the FCC's decision to grant SBC's long-distance authority in Oklahoma, the Associated Press reported.

Based on where the appeal stands today, Nevada's PUC is moving forward in processing SBC Telecom's petition to expand to Las Vegas.

"At this point, we don't have any reason to stop the petition," said PUC spokeswoman Cynthia Messina.

Flanagan said the cost structure for local and long-distant phone services in Southern Nevada won't be established until about a month before the April 2002 launch.

Ireland, like other convention keynoters this week, touted the growth of broadband technology as the digital revolution continues to unfold. Broadband offers high-speed Internet access through various forms, such as digital subscriber lines, satellite and cable.

And again like other keynoters, Ireland was compelled to diffuse the negative perception of broadband services, which are largely based on many DSL startups going bankrupt recently. In addition, many of the companies that have stayed afloat have raised their monthly rates to balance the cost of building the infrastructure.

"Broadband is becoming real ... (its customers) grew 148 percent last year," Ireland said. "Among customers who have been able to get it, 78 percent have said they would rather give up their daily newspaper... 63 percent would give up their morning coffee, and 59 percent their cable TV."

Ireland said one of DSL's limitations is its reach. The service has trouble reaching communities that are more than three miles from a provider's central office.

Flanagan said SBC Telecom's initial rollout in Southern Nevada will not include high-speed Internet services. She noted a time frame has not been established for the subsidiary to expand its future Las Vegas offerings.