TELEPHONY
Court Strikes Federal Rules For Phone Company Prices (NYT)
Electronic Devices Pose Traffic Threat (NYT)
Cell Phones and Safety (NYT)
MERGERS
Excite At Home Will Merge Global Assets (NYT)
Deutsche Telekom Sells Mobile Stake (NYT)
Time Warner's Levin: Disney Stance Is 'Silly' (USA)
INTERNATIONAL
British Authorities May Get Wide Power to Decode E-Mail (NYT)
Japan's NTT to Cut Telephone Rates for Foreign Carriers (USA)
EDTECH
Software Project Will Let the Library Talk to the Cafeteria (CyberTimes)
SPECTRUM
Review of the FCC's Spectrum Policies (House)
Wireless Innovations in Communications Initiative (NTIA)
TELEPHONY
COURT STRIKES FEDERAL RULES FOR PHONE COMPANY PRICES
Issue: Telephone Regulation
A Federal appeals court has struck down FCC pricing rules that were meant to
foster competition in the local telephone service market. Put simply,
Schiesel writes, yesterday's ruling could lead to an increase in the fees
that other companies pay for connecting to the networks of local carriers.
"In a nutshell I think this means these rates will go up," William P. Barr,
a former attorney general who is Verizon's general counsel, said. Using the
telecommunications shorthand "CLECs" to refer to new local phone companies
as competitive local exchange carriers, he added, "To the extent that CLECs
have been getting a free ride, that's going to stop." An AT&T official,
speaking on the condition that he not be identified by name [we're guessing
Michael Armstrong], said: "The fact that so few American consumers have a
choice of local service is regrettable. If the price for interconnection
with the incumbent network goes up, it will only make this process harder,
if feasible at all. It will hardly be a victory for public policy." "There
are no clear winners or losers in today's decision," said FCC Chairman
William Kennard in a released statement. "We will take immediate steps to
minimize any uncertainty created by this decision while continuing to foster
competition and consumer choice in local telephone service." [See Chairman
Kennard's full statement at
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/2000/stwek058.html]
[SOURCE: New York Times (C2), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/phone-fcc.html)
See Also:
COURT DECISION THREATENS PACE OF PHONE COMPETITION
A ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis has cast
uncertainty on the future of local phone competition. Yesterday, a federal
appeals court struck down Federal Communications Commission rules limiting
how much Bell telephone companies can charge rivals for the use of their
networks to reach customers. After the Telecommunication Act of 1996, which
was intended to promote local competition, the FCC ordered Bell companies to
lease elements of their local telephone networks to upstart competitors. The
FCC's jurisdiction to make such rules was challenged by the local phone
companies, but upheld by the Supreme Court. That prompted GTE and the other
companies to file a narrower challenge, the subject of yesterday's decision:
They attacked the method the FCC uses to weigh the costs that should be
built into its pricing rules. "This muddies the water for local telephone
competition," said Gene Kimmelman, co-director of Consumers Union in
Washington. "This will slow competitive entry."
It is unknown as to whether the FCC will appeal to the Supreme
Court.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E03), AUTHOR: Peter S. Goodman]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1361-2000Jul18.html)
ELECTRONIC DEVICES POSE TRAFFIC THREAT
Issue: Wireless
Twenty-five percent of the 6.3 million auto accident in the US each year
involve a distracted or inattentive driver. With 44% of drivers carrying
phones with them (7% have mobile email and 3% have fax machines), the
National Traffic Safety Administration is suggesting that these drivers may
be contributing to an increase in the number of crashes. Said NTSA Deputy
Administrator Rosalyn Millman: "We are experiencing a dramatic change in
driver behavior. If we underestimate this potential risk to highway traffic
safety and do not moderate drivers' use of in-vehicle systems, the price may
be very steep." Industry representatives point out that there were similar
safety concerns after the introduction of car radios in the 1930s.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A18), AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/auto-tech.html)
CELL PHONES AND SAFETY
Issue: Wireless
[Editorial] The National Traffic Safety Administration has started hearings
about safety and the use of cell phones while driving. There are 91 million
mobile phone subscribers, and 85 percent of them say they occasionally talk
on their phones while driving. A 1997 Canadian study published in the New
England Journal of Medicine found an association between cell phone use and
driving accidents. The editorial concludes: So far 13 countries, including
Britain, Italy and Australia, have banned cell phone use while driving. That
is not reason enough to ban them here. But common sense suggests that the
matter deserves, at the very least, serious and comprehensive study, aimed
not at delaying action but promoting a sensible response.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A28), AUTHOR: NYT Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/19wed2.html)
MERGERS
EXCITE AT HOME WILL MERGE GLOBAL ASSETS
Issue: Mergers
Excite At Home will merge its international assets with a European rival,
Chello Broadband N.V., to create the largest high-speed Internet service
provider outside the United States. The new company, to be called Excite
Chello, will have Excite, AT&T's Liberty Media cable programming arm and
UnitedGlobalCom, as investors. Liberty's investment of 200 million euros in
Excite Chello marks the second time that it has tried to expand outside the
United States, where AT&T is the No. 1 cable-TV and long-distance company.
Excite and United Pan-Europe Communications N.V., the owner of Chello, will
each own about 43 percent of Excite Chello, and employees will own 10
percent. UnitedGlobalCom and Liberty will both have a single-digit stake.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Bloomberg News]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/excite-merge.html)
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM SELLS MOBILE STAKE
Issue: Antimergers
Deutsche Telekom sold its stake in Wind to its former partners France
Telecom and Enel for 2.7 billion euros ($2.5 billion U.S.). The sell-off
frees Deutsche Telekom, Germany's largest phone company, to join a bid for a
new mobile phone license in Italy. Enel will pay 600 million euros to raise
its stake to 56.6 percent from 51 percent and France T