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Technology Stocks : PRGY-Prodigy Communications -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gutterball who wrote (411)	1/11/2001 10:31:05 AM
From: Gutterball	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 419

Court voids SBC-Ameritech merger condition By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday voided a condition attached to SBC Communications Inc.'s (NYSE:SBC) 1999 purchase of Ameritech Corp. that had required the combined company to place its high-speed Internet operations into a separate affiliate. The ruling could have broad implications for other local telephone companies, including Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - news) which set up its own separate advanced services affiliate when Bell Atlantic and GTE Corp. merged to form that company. Local phone companies like Verizon and SBC, the second largest in the nation, are required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to open their markets to competitors and provide access to their networks at wholesale cost. However, the local carriers, known as incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), have argued that advanced services should not be subject to those unbundling and resale obligations. The Federal Communications Commission believed that if advanced services were controlled by an affiliate they would not be subject to the law's competition requirements. SBC closed its deal to acquire Ameritech in October 1999 after agreeing to the FCC's demand that the merged company establish a separate entity to sell advanced services such as digital subscriber line (DSL) high-speed Internet service. The Association of Communications Enterprises (ASCENT), a trade group representing telecommunications providers, and long-distance provider AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T) argued to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the FCC's order implicitly violated the law. ``The Commission may not permit an ILEC to avoid ... obligations as applied to advanced services by setting up a wholly owned affiliate to offer those services,'' said Judge Laurence Silberman in the three-judge panel's decision. FCC General Counsel Chris Wright said in a written statement that the agency was reviewing the court's decision. The ruling could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The agency's order setting the merger conditions anticipated that the affiliate condition could be overturned in the U.S. courts, according to SBC. ``The merger conditions provide that, if a court ruled that the affiliate were subject to the Act's resale and unbundling obligations, then the separate affiliate could be re-absorbed back into the telephone company, subject to certain conditions,'' Jim Ellis, general counsel at SBC, said in a statement. The company will examine the option of bringing its advanced services affiliate, known as Advanced Solutions Inc., back into the San Antonio, Texas-based company, he said. A Verizon spokeswoman said the company was examining the ruling and that the FCC's merger order approving the Bell Atlantic-GTE deal also had similar language about re-absorbing the affiliate if the court ruled against them. ``We're delighted by the Court's decision on several levels,'' ASCENT president Ernie Kelly said in a statement. ``It will spur competition in the advanced services arena and deliver lower prices and more choices to consumers.'' AT&T shared Kelly's enthusiasm for the court decision. ``The FCC's decision was inconsistent with the (1996) act and as market circumstances confirm was unwarranted,'' said AT&T spokeswoman Claudia Jones. SBC shares closed up $1-13/16 to $51-15/16 and Verizon shares closed $1-1/4 higher at $55-1/2 on the New York Stock Exchange.

To: Gutterball who wrote (411)	1/19/2001 9:51:27 AM
From: Gutterball	Respond to of 419

Prodigy Improves Cash Position, Financial Stability Under New Strategic & Marketing Agreements With SBC AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 2001--Prodigy Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:PRGY), one of the nation's leading Internet service providers, announced today new strategic and marketing agreements with SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC), the nation's leading provider of broadband DSL service, that will strengthen and extend their relationship. For Prodigy, the revised agreements allow it to continue to enhance its Internet portal and bolster its ISP infrastructure for e-mail, news and chat. Further, the new agreement will significantly improve Prodigy's cash position and financial standing. For SBC, the new agreements allow it to better package and deliver Internet service and emerging broadband-powered applications on a retail basis to its customers. The agreements call for SBC to offer Prodigy's portal to SBC customers through SBC's extensive marketing channels -- in effect, making Prodigy the preferred wholesale ISP and portal for SBC -- and to deliver the Prodigy Internet service to a minimum of approximately 3.75 million DSL and 375,000 dial-up subscribers over the next nine years. Under the new agreements, both companies will provide the services they do best. SBC will deliver an integrated DSL and ISP product, provide customer care and billing, and manage related network services for SBC's DSL and business dial-up customers. Prodigy will provide a robust, co-branded portal and ISP infrastructure for these SBC customers. Additionally, Prodigy will continue to offer a nationwide retail ISP service for residential dial-up subscribers acquired by SBC and for existing and future Prodigy customers. With the increased volume of subscribers receiving the Prodigy Internet service, Prodigy will be better positioned to increase its non-subscriber revenue. The revised agreements, approved January 18 by the Prodigy board of directors, include the following provisions: Prodigy and SBC will extend the term of their relationship from three to nine years (through December 2009); Prodigy retains the retail relationship with its consumer dial-up subscribers while SBC retains the retail relationship with its DSL and business dial-up subscribers; Prodigy will receive monthly per subscriber fees to provide SBC a wholesale ISP service for e-mail, news and portal content for delivery to SBC DSL and business dial-up subscribers; SBC increases its minimum subscriber commitment to Prodigy to approximately 3.75 million DSL and 375,000 dial-up subscribers over the next nine years; As the retail provider, SBC will assume responsibility for acquiring the DSL and business dial-up subscribers, providing customer care and billing, and assuming responsibility for networking costs, enabling Prodigy to realize significantly lower operating expenses and increase its gross margin per subscriber; SBC DSL and dial-up customers will use Prodigy's extensive roaming network to be able to access their accounts while traveling; In conjunction with the signing of these agreements and as was made public January 4, SBC will provide a $110 million line of credit to Prodigy; and SBC will continue to co-brand its offerings with Prodigy and both companies will work together on affinity, OEM (original equipment manufacturers) and new product marketing. ``These new agreements put Prodigy in a stronger financial and marketing position, by greatly reducing operating expenses, accelerating Prodigy's path to profitability, and giving Prodigy the resources to become one of the best portals and retail Internet service providers in the country,'' said Charles Foster, Prodigy chairman, CEO and president.