The Public Service Commission added more yeast to the ferment in the local telephone industry yesterday as it decided to let MCI Communications Corp. jump into the scramble for Maryland business customers.
The PSC voted unanimously to approve MCI's Oct. 4 petition to go into competition with Bell Atlantic Corp. Over Bell Atlantic's objections, the commission decided to forgo a full hearing.
It ruled that the MCI petition was essentially identical to one submitted by MFS Communications Co. Inc. of Omaha, Neb.
The commission approved the petition of MFS in April, kicking down the decades-old barriers to competition in the business of providing a local dial tone.