Ameritech Pulls Long-Distance Bid

Ameritech withdrew its application to provide long-distance service to its local phone customers in Michigan, days after regulators rejected a key component of the bid. The Chicago-based company said it intends to refile the request with the Federal Communications Commission but didn’t say when. Ameritech chose a test requiring it to show that local phone competitors are providing service to both residential and business customers. In its application, Ameritech submitted copies of agreements that let individual companies use its local phone network to provide such service. These “interconnection” agreements are crucial to satisfy the federal test. But on Friday, in a big setback for Ameritech, the FCC determined that it did not have a binding agreement with AT&T;, one of the potential local phone rivals.