Stevensville, MD - CloseCall America, a full-service telecommunications company specializing in
low-priced community calling, today submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
in response to the Commission's Public Notice requesting comment on the application by Verizon Maryland
for authorization to provide long distance service in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
The comments provide an overview of CloseCall America's complaint filed with the Maryland Public Service
Commission (PSC) against Verizon Maryland on May 2, 2002. The complaint charges Verizon with blocking
CloseCall's entry into the Maryland local telephone market.
On December 16, 2002, the Maryland PSC directed Verizon to implement certain requirements regarding
Verizon's request to enter the long distance market. These conditions included a directive requiring
Verizon to take certain action to protect customer choice of line sharing data or DSL services. However,
despite the PSC's directive, Verizon's anti-competitive practices continue to occur.
According to CloseCall America President & CEO Tom Mazerski, because the PSC's December 16 Conditional
Recommendation referred to issues involved in the complaint, CloseCall wanted to bring the matter to the
attention of the FCC as it makes the final determination about whether Verizon will be allowed to enter
the long distance market in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. However, CloseCall remains
focused on resolving these issues before the Maryland PSC and is not seeking action on its complaint by
the FCC. In addition, CloseCall believes Verizon's entry into the Maryland long distance market will
further consumer choice and is therefore good news for consumers.
Specifically, CloseCall's complaint filed with the Maryland PSC states that Verizon Maryland, Inc.'s refusal
to resell -- or make available directly to the customers of its competitors -- voice messaging and
line-sharing digital subscriber line (DSL) services, is "an unreasonable and anti-consumer practice that
is contrary to Maryland law and public policy. Moreover, Verizon punishes consumers who switch to
competitive local exchange services by abruptly disconnecting pre-existing voice messaging and DSL
services."
CloseCall maintains that this practice effectively ties in the marketplace Verizon's broadband, unregulated
and local exchange services in a manner that prohibits consumers from subscribing to the competitive local
service carrier of their choice -- a practice CloseCall America believes is illegal.
"We filed the complaint with the PSC because we felt it was the only way to end Verizon's unfair and anti-competitive practices," said Mazerski.
"We believe strongly that consumers should be given a choice in selecting their local service provider without fear of losing their voice mail and/or DSL service and we urge Maryland consumer's patience as these issues are resolved. CloseCall will continue to fight for consumer choice, since that is the basis on which the company was founded."
About CloseCall America
CloseCall America, which began business in 1999, is a Maryland company with offices in Queen Anne’s County on the state’s Eastern Shore. CloseCall prides itself on its commitment to superior customer service, with all calls handled locally rather than “outsourced” to firms in other states or countries. CloseCall provides its customers local and long distance phone service, bundled packages, wireless service, BlackBerry service, high speed Internet, standard dial-up, and VoIP (broadband phone service). Additional information on CloseCall America can be found at its website: www.closecall.com.
For further information, including how to sign up, please contact CloseCall America at 1-877-81CLOSE (1-877-812-5673), or by email at customerservice@closecall.com.
