WHOLESALE PHONE RATES HOBBLE VERIZON.(MAIN)

Byline: PAUL A. CROTTY

A recent Times Union editorial, ``Keep the phones ringing'' (Nov. 15), was wrong. Telecommunications competition is alive and thriving in New York.

In a campaign to boost their profits, some large telephone companies, including AT&T, have tried to convince opinion makers that the competition for local telephone customers in New York has stalled. They blame the wholesale rates charged them to lease and resell Verizon's network in the state. Here are some of the facts they neglect to mention.

More than 25 percent of the local telephone market is served by Verizon's competitors -- an even large percentage in the business market -- with their biggest gains coming in the last two years. These gains are the result of Verizon spending hundreds of millions of dollars to open its network to …