PUC OKs PacBell Deals With MCI, Sprint

Pacific Bell won approval to sell local phone services in California to Washington-based MCI Communications Corp. and Westwood, Kan.-based Sprint Corp., a move the Baby Bell says also brings it closer to entering the long-distance market. The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to approve the arbitration agreements that set rules and wholesale prices governing Pacific Bell’s sale of the services. MCI and Sprint will include the local service with their own long-distance service for sale as a single package. The agreements help show that Pacific Bell’s parent, San Francisco-based Pacific Telesis Group, faces local competition. The company needs that proof to enter the $70-billion long-distance market.