CTC Communications Corp has filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Bell Atlantic Corp of anti-competitive practices. CTC, which says it has now completed its transition from Bell Atlantic agent to being a CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier ) – reselling Bell Atlantic local products and services, as well as long distance and internet services – accuses Bell Atlantic of working to severely limit its ability to compete in the New York and New England markets for local voice and data services, long distance, internet and other network products and services. CTC, which sells its offering to businesses in New England and New York, alleges that Bell Atlantic failed to pay it about $14m in agency commissions and fees in an attempt to impede CTC’s ability to compete as a telecommunications products and services reseller. The lawsuit also accuses Bell Atlantic of deliberately withholding from qualified resellers including CTC, certain products such as voice mail, which Bell Atlantic in turn seeks to offer exclusively to business customers. In response, Bell Atlantic said it would ask a federal judge to order binding arbitration in its dispute with CTC. Bell Atlantic said in a statement it believes the dispute is a commercial matter and not an anti-trust case. CTC wants to have it both ways, Bell Atlantic said. It wants to keep all the benefits of being a sales agent for Bell Atlantic and also compete against us as a reseller.
