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Technology Stocks : Broadband Wireless Access [WCII, NXLK, WCOM, satellite..] -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MangoBoy who wrote (650)	9/2/1999 1:22:00 AM
From: SteveG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1860

Big Telecom Battle Erupts Deep Inside U.S. Buildings By BARBARA MARTINEZ Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL A herd of new telecom companies, trying to offer cheaper connections for things like local phone service and high-speed Internet access, is pounding on the doors of offices and apartment buildings nationwide. But some landlords won't let them in. The nation's office and apartment buildings are the latest battleground in the telecom wars. Several upstart companies say they're often being denied access to potential customers because landlords have existing service deals with the big regional Bell companies. But building owners say they don't want dozens of these start-up companies traipsing onto their properties. Should they be compelled to do so by regulators, the property owners add, it would amount to nothing short of "forced entry." The dispute has just come before the Federal Communications Commission, which is hearing out both sides to decide whether to forbid building owners from turning away telecom providers. The agency is acting on lobbying by the upstarts, who have asked that building owners be barred from locking them out or charging unreasonable payments for access, which hurts their ability to offer cheaper service. At stake is the ability to reach millions of customers in the nation's 750,000 office buildings. Also: the one-third of the population who live in apartments. Building owners are aghast that this is an issue at all. "Forced access is unnecessary, it's unmanageable, it's unconstitutional," says Gerry Lederer, vice president of government affairs for the Building Owners and Managers Association, which represents more than 17,000 members in North America. After all, landlords say, they own the buildings, and they want to set the terms for who offers services on their properties. And, they say, it's ludicrous that they would keep the latest services and technology away from tenants. Why risk losing their tenants to more technologically advanced buildings? The upstarts, known as competitive local-exchange carriers or CLECs, say they can't compete without access inside the buildings. They need to be able to wind wires through walls, tap into existing wiring or switches, or install antennae on roofs. They claim their requests to enter buildings often are turned down, and even when they are allowed to come in, the negotiation process is prolonged or landlords demand excessive fees. "This is the single most important impediment to actually realizing the promise of the Telecom Act," says William J. Rouhana Jr., chairman and chief executive of WinStar Communications Inc. WinStar uses base stations with wireless or rooftop antennae and other gear to provide high-speed Internet access and traditional phone services. Such providers can often beat the prices of conventional carriers. Real-estate executives say there are many reasons why they can't allow their buildings to be opened to any and every telecom provider. They say the myriad proposals currently under review could cost the real-estate industry billions of dollars annually in both lost revenue, as well as additional safety, security and liability expenses. 'Wreak Havoc' Besides, they say, it isn't practical. "In the state of Florida alone there are over 250 suppliers. That could wreak havoc if you had a building with 400 renters," says Jim Arbury, vice president of the National Multifamily Housing Council. He says building owners should keep the right to choose telecom suppliers just as they do suppliers of laundry services and athletic equipment. The problem there, the telecom companies argue, is that consumers might not benefit from competition. The idea of the 1996 Telecom Act "was to put consumers in the driver's seat," says John Windhausen, president of Association for Local Telecommunications Services. Landlords say reports of telecom providers simply being locked out are overblown. A coalition of 11 real-estate associations commissioned an independent study that they presented to the FCC on Friday. It shows that for every three requests for access by telecom providers, two resulted in either an agreement or negotiations, says Roger Platt, vice president and counsel at the National Realty Committee, and a spokesman for the newly formed group, Real Access Alliance. The FCC commissioners don't appear intent on forcing building owners to give access to every provider. In statements, three of the five commissioners have raised concerns about overstepping the FCC's authority. "While well-intended, the concept would impose a new regulation on building owners -- a class of persons not otherwise regulated by the commission," wrote commissioner Susan Ness. In a statement, FCC Chairman William E. Kennard offered an argument that could bolster the telecom companies. Telecom competition "cannot occur if new providers cannot get into their customers' buildings," he said.