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To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1854)	11/13/1998 6:37:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Ameritech CEO criticizes U.S. FCC over SBC merger November 13, 1998 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Reuters [BR]: Ameritech Corp. chairman Richard Notebaert Thursday delivered an unusually blunt criticism of federal telephone regulators for their comments about his company's proposed $61 billion merger with SBC Communications Inc.. Several members of the Federal Communications Commission, including chairman William Kennard, have said the merger of the dominant midwestern and southwestern local phone companies faced a high burden of proof before gaining approval. In a speech to a Washington think tank, Notebaert said the comments had caused his company's stock to plunge and ''were made without really the benefit of reviewing the facts or parity of treatment.'' Calling the FCC ''very political,'' Notebaert said European regulators were doing a better job of enhancing competition and benefiting consumers. ''On the whole, others are doing a far better job of working together to advance the best interests of their citizens and their national economies,'' he said. ''When I come to Washington, much of the time I'm made to feel like a pariah,'' he added. ''If you're a local exchange company, you're bad. If you're successful, you must be stopped. If you have something to say, it's automatically suspect. In Europe we are judged by the value we add.'' Chicago-based Ameritech and San Antonio, Texas-based SBC must get approval from the FCC, the Department of Justice and several state regulators to complete their deal. After the speech, Notebaert spoke to reporters and moved to soften his criticism. ''I also complimented them today, their skills and work ethic,'' he said when a reporter asked about the criticism. ''I think what happened is they are being used and whipsawed. I think that's unfortunate... I think they do a great job.'' But he added, ''I think they need to change culturally and that's always a challenge.'' Notebaert also suggested that broader conditions than previously discussed be imposed on the $48 billion merger of long distance giant AT&T Corp. and cable powerhouse Tele-Communications Inc.. A number of companies, including Ameritech, had previously asked that regulators require AT&T and TCI to offer separately high-speed Internet access over cable wires and Internet services like e-mail and Web page hosting. AT&T and TCI have said repeatedly that they planned to charge one price for both Internet access and services and would not separate the offerings. But Notebaert on Thursday suggested going even further and requiring the merging companies to lease access to their cable wires for competitors, like Ameritech, that simply want to offer alternative television programming. ''Unbundle your cable networks and allow co-location there,'' he said during his speech. ''I'm okay with that. That is a good condition for the AT&T-TCI merger.'' Such conditions would parallel portions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that require local telephone carriers like Ameritech to lease access to their networks to competitors and allow other companies to locate equipment in their central switching offices. Ameritech is the only major local carrier that also has a major effort underway to compete with cable television providers by building its own cable infrastructure. ''Our ability to deploy faster is limited by our ability to build new plant,'' Notebaert told reporters after the speech. ''We could bring competition into the cable television world a lot faster if we had the ability to access their loops, or their wires going out to the house, or to co-locate.'' REUTERS@ [Copyright 1998, Reuters]