Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Winstar Comm. (WCII) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SteveG who wrote (4699)	3/26/1998 2:10:00 AM
From: SteveG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12468

<A> Regulators Say Baby Bells Making Progress On Long-Distance WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The nation's Baby Bells are making progress in their push to enter the $80 billion long-distance market, and federal regulators say results could be seen as early as this year. "We have been hearing some encouraging information from some of the (Baby Bells) that have come in to talk to us," said Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard. "I'm encouraged that we will see an application that we can grant soon." The Baby Bells have been banned from offering long-distance calling in their own service regions since the breakup of Ma Bell in 1984. But the 1996 telecom-reform law scrapped the ban for carriers that show they have taken appropriate steps to open their local market to rivals. So far, the FCC has rejected applications from Ameritech Corp. (AIT), BellSouth Corp. (BLS) and SBC Communications Inc. (SBC). The commission concluded that the three Bells hadn't taken the market-opening steps called for in the law. Members of a Senate Commerce subcommittee, which took up the issue Wednesday, echoed complaints of the Bells and other critics who say the FCC hasn't done enough to spell out the law's requirements. Among other things, the Bells must show they have met a complex 14-point competitive checklist and a public interest test. "I don't think people know what the rules are," Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, who urged the FCC's five commissioners to clarify the requirements. The commission recently took steps to "demystify" the process, Kennard told the panel. The FCC has been meeting with Baby Bells and other participants even before long-distance applications are filed. Since January, more than 30 FCC staffers have participated in these meetings on a regular basis, Kennard said. Not all lawmakers agreed that the process needed further work. Local and long-distance carriers were closely involved in crafting the legislation, said Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C. "The 14-point checklist is no mystery," Hollings said. "They wrote it, they know what's going on." Analysts say Bell Atlantic Corp. (BEL) has the best shot at being the first local carrier to win FCC long-distance approval. The carrier is preparing an application to offer long-distance to its customers in New York state. Meantime, Kennard said, the FCC should resist pressure to allow the Bells into long-distance before they have opened their local markets to competition. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., has introduced legislation that would let the Bells into the market in one year. "This should be a debate about how we ensure choice for consumers." Kennard told the panel. ======== As this proceeds, the need for IXCs to get into local increases dramatically. And as AT&T has argued, they want to OWN the plant (not co-locate and rebundle). They would want the higher margined business customers first, and would also want to offer the range of add-on services that broadband multimedia can provide. Remember when Rouhana made the point about the significance of "partnering". AT&T doesn't want to build a network out FOR a CLEC, but they might take an equity stake and offer co-branding at a discount for their wholesale "end-end" partner(s). some late night thoughts anyway...