Justice Dept. Worries About Verizon Move

The Justice Department said it has lingering doubts that Verizon Communications Inc. has met federal requirements to provide long-distance telephone service to local customers in Massachusetts. The antitrust authority urged the Federal Communications Commission, which will have final say on Verizon’s application, to weigh the full record when ruling on the application. The Justice Department said Verizon hasn’t demonstrated that it leases its lines in a nondiscriminatory manner to rival companies that want to offer high-speed Internet services--such as digital subscriber lines--to consumers. A Verizon spokesman said the company is confident that the FCC will consider the application in the public’s interest.

Separately, Verizon Wireless said it would increase its customer service staff by about 6% as part of a three-year, $100-million plan to reorganize its operator call centers. The company, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Britain’s Vodafone Group, will open new operator call centers in four states, including California, and expand eight others in the East and Midwest. Five operator call centers will be closed and others will be relocated or expanded. The moves will expand the company’s service staff to 14,700 from 13,800 by the end of the year, with similar job growth in 2002 and 2003. Shares of Verizon fell $2.45, or 4.8%, to close at $49 on the New York Stock Exchange.