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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: psh who wrote (5241)	9/16/1999 5:08:00 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

First, we shoot all the lawyers: In true fashion: "...The regional companies are appealing the method the FCC set up for determining the actual prices the regional Bells and GTE can charge for the network pieces." FCC Approves New Rules to Promote Local Phone Competition By Heather Fleming Phillips at Bloomberg News 15 September 1999 The regional Bell telephone companies and GTE Corp. won't be forced to lease equipment used to offer high-speed Internet service to competitors at a discounted price under new federal rules. Yet, Focal Communications Corp. and other new entrants largely won another fight to retain most of the federal rules that assure access to key equipment needed to enter the $100 billion local phone market. The rules adopted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission are aimed at jump starting local phone competition by providing Bell challengers with quicker and cheaper access to key equipment, such as the lines running from a central telephone office into a customer's home. "One of the most important things this agency can do is to ensure we're creating an environment for aggressive deployment of broadband services," said FCC Chairman William Kennard. The FCC's rules identify the parts of the regional Bell companies' phone networks that must be leased to competitors at discounts of up to 50% when offered as a package. Rival companies said they need to be able to lease all pieces of the regional Bells' networks at a discount because it's too time consuming and costly to build their own facilities. The FCC largely agreed with the new rivals, a setback for the regional phone companies - Bell Atlantic Corp., BellSouth Corp., SBC Communications Inc., Ameritech Corp. and U S West Inc. - and GTE Corp. The companies had argued that they should only have to sell some pieces of their network at a discounted price because the equipment is available elsewhere. The agency had adopted rules in 1996 that required the regional Bells and GTE to discount the prices on seven pieces of their networks at the request of rivals, such as Focal and Allegiance Telecom Inc. The Supreme Court in January told the agency to go back and reconsider which network pieces are essential to the new competitors. The FCC's original rules included such items as the connections from the central offices, the switches that direct phone traffic to the right location, and operator and directory services. Today, the agency reaffirmed the need for the regional companies and GTE to lease most of the pieces originally required under the 1996 rules. One exception is the regional companies and GTE will no longer be required to sell directory and operator services to rivals under the new rules. In addition, the Bells and GTE will not be required to sell switching equipment, which essentially routes telephone calls, in more densely populated areas where there are competitive alternatives. The regional companies and GTE did manage to fend off efforts by some local phone companies to require them to lease, also at discounted prices, any equipment used to provide new high- speed Internet services. The new competitors had argued that they needed low-cost access to such special equipment to compete for new customers, while the Bells and GTE said they'd lose the financial incentive to spend the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to deploy the new technology if they had to turn around and sell it to their competitors at a discount. Kennard in an interview before the meeting said the new rules "send a clear message" that the agency wants the Bells and GTE to invest in broadband. Even with the FCC decision, the battle over leasing the network is far from over. The regional companies are appealing the method the FCC set up for determining the actual prices the regional Bells and GTE can charge for the network pieces. The FCC based its economic model on how much it would cost a new competitor to build their network from scratch. The Bells and GTE claim that that model sets the prices too low. Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.