To: Jess Beltz who wrote (8629 ) 4/26/2000 2:38:00 PM From: Scrapps Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 9236
Line Sharing is about here...or the DSL rocket is about go for launch... From a CBS MarketWatch article: note: the highlights are mine. Of the other Bells, SBC Communications (SBC: news, msgs) is closest to setting a permanent price. The carrier has already created a separate data subsidiary to offer high-speed DSL service so it can enter markets outside its territory. Whatever the parent company charges its data subsidiary for sharing a line, it has to offer the same price to rivals. Spokeswoman Saralee Boteler said the company will be ready by the FCC deadline. BellSouth (BLS: news, msgs) has conducted tests and held discussions with independent DSL carriers about line sharing and will also be ready by the FCC deadline, said John Schneidawind, that company?s director of government affairs. Schneidawind said an undisclosed interim price is available to DSL rivals, though an agreement on a permanent figure hasn?t been reached. ?We may have some deals to announce soon,? he said. Likewise, Bell Atlantic (BEL: news, msgs) said it will be ready by then to offer line sharing, though it seemed the most reluctant of the Bells. Spokesman Eric Rabe stressed that instituting line sharing is a complicated process and that it would take time for the kinks to be worked out.?Frankly, I?d be interested in knowing how (US West) is going to do it,? said Rabe, adding that line sharing will happen ?sooner rather than later? because of the government mandate. Said David Fish of US West: ?There are no insurmountable technical obstacles. It works.? You can bet regulators will make sure of that. FCC Chairman William Kennard recently said his agency will enforce line sharing vigilantly. The FCC wants to ensure that Americans get access to affordable high-speed Internet service as soon as possible so they can take advantage of it for commerce, education and other purposes. No wonder. The Internet has become one of the driving forces of the so-called new economy, but the lack of widespread high-speed connections is seen as perhaps the biggest obstacle to its future development. Kennard aims to snuff out that problem. And pronto. cbs.marketwatch.com