Did anyone notice that the big-cap telecommunications equipment/networking stocks did very well today? ASND, CSCO, LU and TLAB were all up quite nicely. Yes, ASND and TLAB recently reported very strong earnings, and CSCO and LU are on the verge of splitting, but I believe that investors are betting that previously unanticipated additional demand for these companies' products will drive earnings even higher than currently expected. As you may know, on August 6, the FCC votes on a plan to allow the RBOCs to build their own data networks. The Chairman of the Commission is already on record saying that he's in favor of some sort of proposal allowing the RBOCs to move forward w/ the construction of such networks. These companies are obviously going to need products w/ which to build these networks, and CSCO, among others is in a prime position to benefit -- Scott.
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FCC Votes Aug. 6 on Plan Allowing Bells to Build Data Networks
Washington, July 17 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Communications Commission will vote Aug. 6 on a plan that would let the Baby Bell phone companies build high-speed data networks in their territories.
FCC Chairman William Kennard outlined his vision for letting the Bells offer data services in their regions in a June 24 speech. His speech got little attention at that time because AT&T Corp. announced its $45 billion purchase of Tele-Communications Inc. the same day.
Key to his plan is the notion that the Bells wouldn't be required to sell the data service to competitors at a significant discount, known as resale. They are required to offer those resale discounts for their telephone networks.
''If it cost you $500 per home to put in advanced services, why would you do it if the next day your competitor could resell the service at half price? You could be potentially guaranteed to lose a lot of money,'' said Scott Cleland, a telecommunications analyst with Legg Mason Inc.
Kennard recognizes that the current FCC policies ''provide incentives for competition in the business markets and a small segment of the affluent consumer market, but for the average American, there's no incentive to get better infrastructure,'' Cleland said.
Advanced Services
Over the next few weeks, Kennard and the four other FCC commissioners will mull over the broad issue of how best to promote advanced telecommunications services. The 1996 Telecommunications Act requires the agency to come up with ways to promote these services by Aug. 8.
Discussion of the issue at the FCC was also sparked by the applications of Ameritech Corp., US West Inc., and Bell Atlantic Corp. seeking permission to build the new data networks, which will be capable of hooking up customers to the Internet at speeds 100 times faster than today's standard PC modems. The networks will also open the door for companies to transmit large amounts of data at high speeds between offices.
The FCC will have a tough job on its hands, said Paul Glenchur, director of Charles Schwab & Co.'s Washington Research Group. Because the Bells control the local phone connections to every household, they are in a good position to offer the advanced telecommunications services to residential customers. At the same time, the agency wants to make sure there are multiple competitors for the high speed data service. ''They are very nervous about skewing the playing field in favor of any competitor,'' Glenchur said.
One key issue that needs to be resolved is the question of whether the Bells will be able to transmit the data over long- distances.
Long Distance Issue
The 1996 Telecommunications Act ''is pretty clear that the (Bells) have to open their (local) markets before they can get into long-distance,'' Kennard said in an interview Thursday. ''It's important that we retain incentives for them to open their markets -- that's the heart and soul of the 1996 act,'' he said.
Kennard said the agency is examining ''ways for them to get (data) traffic to the Internet backbone'' without letting them offer long-distance services on a broad scale.
The chairman favors requiring the Bells to offer the data services through a separate subsidiary. Some companies had suggested that the Bells should be required to offer the service through a completely separate company.
14:26:40 07/17/1998 |
