AT&T; Poised to Launch Local Service in the State

AT&T; Corp. on Wednesday filed with state regulators to begin offering local phone service in California, possibly as early as next week.

This is the first time the telecommunications giant has sought to offer local phone service in an entire state, spokeswoman Kathi Oram said. The California Public Utilities Commission is expected to approve the tariff application after a five-day review period, she said.

The long-distance company will offer local service in the Sacramento area first, by reselling Pacific Bell service under the AT&T; name.

“We’re going to begin in Sacramento with a large enough customer base to ensure the quality of our service,” Oram said.

AT&T; plans to offer service statewide sometime after the first of the year, she said.

California’s $6-billion-a-year local phone market is dominated by Pacific Bell, the main unit of Pacific Telesis Group, with more than three-fourths of all phone lines. The state’s other big local phone service provider is GTE California, a unit of GTE Corp.

Under telecommunications legislation passed by Congress in February, long-distance companies such as AT&T; are allowed to compete in the nation’s $70-billion-a-year local phone industry. Local phone companies will be allowed to compete in the $90-billion long-distance market once they can show they face competition.