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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: C.K. Houston who wrote (5943)	6/8/1999 12:23:00 PM
From: C.K. Houston	Respond to of 9818

Varied reports on readiness of telco companies for Y2K New reports claims most firms are behind schedule Top telecommunications companies are disputing a report that claims they are behind schedule in Y2K preparedness. SBC Communications Inc., which owns Pacific Bell; MCI Worldcom Inc.; Ameritech; Bell Atlantic Corp.; and Sprint all received "below average" rankings for their Y2K readiness by Weiss Ratings Inc., a Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.-based financial ratings firm. The lowest ratings went to BellSouth Corp., Comcast Corp., Cox Communications Inc. and Cablevision Systems Inc. ... Unlike some contractors that are paid by member companies to rate and publish such reports, Weiss does not accept money from companies it investigates. It receives funds from subscribers to its newsletter and research services, mostly investors and consumers. Weiss also does not grant any company the right to suppress unfavorable ratings, another option allowed by some ratings contractors. Instead, Weiss publishes information whether it is good, bad or indifferent. "But every company that we've said was behind always disputes this, regardless of the company and industry," Weiss' Mr. Lackey said. "It's a hot topic and a potentially disruptive topic." Weiss has reviewed Y2K readiness for America's largest companies and has identified Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Intel Corp. and Conagra as laggards in preparing. In May, Weiss released a report on Y2K compliance in the banking industry, and found a large percentage had missed a critical Y2K deadline. (The Business Journal, May 7.) In both cases, company or industry officials disputed the findings. "We do this because we feel there is a broad public interest among investors. Investors are just beginning to consider Y2K issues as one of the fundamental factors in their decision making," said Martin Weiss, chairman of Weiss Ratings. "If you look at earnings, mergers, and whether to buy or sell the stock, you also should look at the Y2K status of the company you invest in." amcity.com Cheryl