Popowsky v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

OPINION BY

Judge PELLEGRINI.

Irwin A. Popowsky, acting on behalf of the Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), appeals from an order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (Commission) approval of the merger between Verizon Communications, Inc. (Verizon) and MCI, Inc. (MCI) and its subsidiaries (also referred to as Joint Applicants). 1

A. Background

Verizon 2 is the largest incumbent local exchange company (ILEC) and MCI 3 is the leading competitive local exchange car rier (CLEC) in Pennsylvania. Verizon provided service to approximately six million customers in Pennsylvania, and its…