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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scrapps who wrote (14463)	4/3/1998 7:44:00 AM
From: David Lawrence	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 22053

By John Simons, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission is working on a plan to start levying fees on companies that provide phone services via the Internet. The proposal, which the commission is expected to send to Congress next week, would require Internet-service providers to pay access charges to local telephone companies for services they provide their customers on-line. The FCC also would require those companies to pay into the government's "universal service fund," which subsidizes inexpensive phone service in rural and inner-city areas. If the five-member commission approves the proposal, it would be a major break from the Clinton administration's hands-off regulatory policy toward the Internet. The administration has pledged to maintain a laissez-faire stance concerning federal regulation of the Internet and federal taxes on Internet commerce. Indeed, White House Internet czar Ira Magaziner last July outlined a plan to allow the industry to regulate itself. Telephone communication over the Internet is a fairly new medium; through it consumers can place calls from personal computer to telephone, PC to PC, and even phone to phone anywhere in the world-all for much cheaper than a regular call. Just like an electronic-mail message, those voice calls travel over telephone wires, then bounce between the Internet's maze of routers and switches, using a software protocol known as IP, or Internet Protocol. These services aren't regulated by the government. Industry analysts estimate that just 1% of all voice calls take place over the Internet now, but that figure is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years. Already, companies such as AT&T Corp. and Qwest Communications Inc. are planning to offer cheap IP-based phone services. Some Internet-service providers such as IDT Corp. of Hackensack, N.J., have used their Internet experience to enter the international voice-telephony market. Some larger telephone carriers have complained that the Internet-service providers place a burden on the telephone systems while skirting universal service fees which all phone carriers must pay. Some lawmakers, particularly those from rural states, have complained as well. Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, prompted Congress to have the FCC look into the matter. The issue is part of a broader question: How should the FCC distinguish a "telecommunications service," from an "information service?" The distinction is important because, under current FCC rules, telecommunications companies pay billions of dollars in universal service fees while information companies do not. Under the proposed plan, information companies such as Internet phone services must report those revenues to the FCC for the purpose of paying universal service fees. John Nakahata, chief of staff to FCC Chairman William Kennard, said that while the plan would be a departure from Clinton administration policies, it could be seen as a win-win situation that supports Internet growth while ensuring that rural and inner-city communities continue to receive subsidized telecommunication services. One FCC official close to the issue was more direct. "A telephone call is a telephone call, regardless of the equipment in between," he said. If approved, universal service fees are likely to be passed on to consumers in the form of higher Internet-service charges. Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

To: Scrapps who wrote (14463)	4/3/1998 8:17:00 AM
From: jhild	Respond to of 22053

I'll report back later on that.