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To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1878)	11/16/1998 11:43:00 PM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

BellSouth Tells FCC: Don't Approve AT&T Takeover of TCI without Creating Level Playing Field for Local Telcos November 16, 1998 WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/The best way to speed up deployment of advanced Internet connections is to refrain from regulating the competing providers of such technology: cable service providers and local telephone companies, BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) told federal regulators Friday. In comments filed at the Federal Communications Commission, BellSouth said AT &T's acquisition of cable giant TCI will give it a dominant position in the market for providing consumers high-speed access to the Internet. Given that dominance, it makes no sense for the FCC to continue putting handicaps on the ability of local phone companies to offer consumers a choice of high-speed Internet connections. "High-speed access to the Internet depends on new investment," said Rob Capell, BellSouth's senior vice president, advanced data networks. " Bundling and resale obligations harm investment incentives." BellSouth's filing quotes AT&T chief executive Michael Armstrong, who said in a speech Nov. 2 before the Washington Metropolitan Cable Club: "No company will invest billions of dollars to become a facilities-based broadband services provider if competitors who have not invested a penny of capital nor taken an ounce of risk can come along and get a free ride on the investments and risks of others." "AT&T makes the same case against unbundling TCI's cable service that BellSouth makes against unbundling its advanced data services," Capell said. "In fact, we couldn't agree with AT&T more." Local phone companies have been forced to trail cable companies in the race to offer consumers high-speed access to the Internet because they labor under existing and proposed regulatory burdens that would be anathema to a combined AT&T-TCI. Those burdens include: -- Separate subsidiary requirements for Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Loop (ADSL) service, the main competitor for the cable modems offered by TCI's @Home unit; -- Unbundling requirements for local phone companies' high-speed offerings if they fail to spin off high-speed data services into separate unit from the local phone network; -- A continued ban on the ability of Bell companies to offer consumers long-distance services, even in the highly competitive data market. "A playing field slanted against local phone companies such as BellSouth may very well cement AT&T-TCI's dominant position," said Randy New, vice president, legislative implementation. "This merger can only be in the public interest if Bell companies are permitted to compete for Internet customers with the same regulatory freedoms AT&T is demanding." BellSouth is a $22 billion communications services company. It provides telecommunications, wireless communications, cable and digital TV, directory advertising and publishing, and Internet and data services to nearly 33 million customers in 19 countries worldwide. For more information, contact John Schneidawind, 202-463-4183 or Bill McCloskey, 202-463-4129, both of BellSouth. NOTE: For more information about BellSouth Corporation, visit the BellSouth Web page at: bellsouth.com. BellSouth news releases dating back one year are available by fax at no charge by calling 1-800-758-5804, ext. 095650. SOURCE BellSouth