Telephone
TelecomAM: FCC Announces Slower Ramp-Up for Universal Service
NYT: Crossed Wires In South Africa
Microsoft & Monopoly
NYT: Microsoft's Legal Problems Grow As States Join in
Antitrust Effort
WSJ: Officials of as Many as Nine States Met To Coordinate
Action Against Microsoft
WP: Programmers Say Microsoft, US Exaggerate
NYT: Administration Seeks Counsel on Domain Names
Cable & Satellite TV
WSJ: TCI Is Close To Announcing NextLevel Pact
WSJ: FCC Balks At Freezing Cable Rates
FCC: Commission Releases Report on Cable Industry Prices
WSJ: A Massive Investment In British Cable TV Sours for U.S. Firms
WSJ: DirecTV Seeks New Partners, Fresh Programs
The Wonders of Telecom & InfoTech
NYT: Edison Project Reports Measurable Progress in Reading and Math
at Its Schools
NYT: Limits on the Work-at-Home Life
WSJ: Silicon Graphics, Microsoft to Unveil Alliance on
Three-Dimensional Displays
Civic Participation
WP: Beyond "Bowling Alone"
Radio/Media & Politics
WP: Md. Grant to Radio Firm Approved
FCC
FCC: Commissioner Michael Powell Supports Flexible, Timely
Pro-Competitive Telecommunications Policies
** Telephone **
Title: FCC Announces Slower Ramp-Up for Universal Service
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: After days of rumors that long distance carriers were urging
the Federal Communications Commission to "rethink its original figures," FCC
Chairman William Kennard has announced an approximate one-third cut in
universal service funding for schools, libraries, and rural health care
providers. Chairman Kennard said that there is not enough demand to justify
the full amount announced in may. He also said the new plan, coupled with
reductions in access charges, should allow long distance carriers to
continue to reduce rates. Schools and libraries will be allotted $300
million in the first quarter of 1998 and $325 in the second quarter; rural
health care providers will receive $25 million in each quarter. If demand
reaches the original cap of $2.65 billion for the two programs, the FCC will
find a way to meet the demand that "doesn't result in rate shock for
consumers," Chairman Kennard said. He is adamant that universal service
funding should not force long distance carriers to increase their rates --
mainly because of access charge reductions. [Update from ALA to follow]
Title: Crossed Wires In South Africa
Source: New York Times (D1, D8)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/safrica-phone.html
Author: Donald G. McNeil, Jr.
Issue: International
Description: Over the years SA Telkom had become known for its high prices,
slow service, a bloated work force, and a network engineered for white
neighborhoods. After two years of debate, the South African government
decided that it would be better to open the market up to competition, hoping
that the new entrants would wire the neglected black areas. Last year,
South Africa put 30 percent of SA Telkom up for sale. In March it was bought
in a joint bid by SBC Communications International and Telekom Malaysia.
Now, six months later, the company is making huge strides. Company
officials said that Telkom has installed 171,000 new lines -- almost triple
the pace of before -- with over 115,000 of them going "into previously
neglected areas." Telkom now fixes "57 percent of all home phone problems
within 24 hours, up from 42 percent in April." It promises to have 35
percent black managers within five years and plans to have the whole network
digital by 1999. Jay Naidoo, the Posts and Telecommunications Minister,
said he is "philosophically very satisfied" with the monopoly-for-investment
deal.
** Microsoft **
Title: Microsoft's Legal Problems Grow As States Join in Antitrust Effort
Source: New York Times (A1,D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121797microsoft.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Antitrust
Description: While a Federal district judge was ruling on the antitrust suit
brought against Microsoft by the Justice Department, "attorneys general from
some of the nation's most populous states were concluding a secret three-day
meeting in Chicago to assess their own strategy for a possible antitrust
action against Microsoft's marketing practices." At this time, California,
Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon have each opened their own
investigations into Microsoft's business practices. Texas is already suing
the company due to an inquiry in their state over policies and nine states
have subpoenaed information from Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rasati in Palo
CA, the firm that represents a number of Microsoft competitors. Couple this
with government investigations that are underway in Europe and Asia and
Microsoft could soon find that it has become a "Gulliver enmeshed in
Lilliputian legal entanglements around the globe."
Title: Officials of as Many as Nine States Met To Coordinate
Action Against Microsoft
Source: Wall Street Journal (A6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Don Clark & David Bank
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Representatives from nine states met in Chicago to
coordinate possible antitrust enforcement actions against Microsoft. This
could signal more vigorous efforts to restrain Microsoft's marketing
practices, which are under scrutiny by the Department of Justice and
antitrust regulators in
Europe and Asia. Microsoft filed an expedited appeal of a federal court
order affecting its Internet software, arguing that the ruling and resulting
doubts about their Windows 98 operating system could harm significant parts
of the U.S. economy.
Title: Programmers Say Microsoft, US Exaggerate
Source: Washington Post (C15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/17/088l-121797-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Implementing Judge Jackson's order to make a version of Windows
95 available without Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser software will not
be the Herculean effort the software giant claims it will be nor is it a
task that can be completed in days as the Justice Department contends.
Microsoft claims that Windows 95 will be inoperable without the Explorer files.
Title: Administration Seeks Counsel on Domain Names
Source: New York Times/CyberTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121797domain.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Internet
Description: A month and a half after the Clinton Administration promised
Congress a report on the Internet address and registration system, top
Internet adviser Ira Magaziner is convening a series of meetings with
Internet groups and telecommunications companies to break the gridlock on
the matter. [ok, breathe] "It's a very complicated and difficult issue, and
stability of the Internet has got to be our No. 1 concern," says Becky Burr,
a senior Commerce Department adviser who has been leading an interagency
task force on the matter and who has been selected by Assistant Commerce
Secretary Larry Irving to write the report. The lack of consensus within the
Administration mirrors that of the Internet community. Most industry and
trade groups support a plan to open the system to competition -- but they
can't agree on how to transition.
** Cable & Satellite TV **
Title: TCI Is Close To Announcing NextLevel Pact
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Leslie Cauley
Issue: Set-Top Boxes
Description: TCI and other big cable operators are close to announcing an
agreement for NextLevel Systems to build as many as 25 million advanced
digital-TV set-top devices for the cable industry during the next 3 to 5
years. The selection of NextLevel is the first step in the cable industry's
campaign to equip the nation's TV sets with gizmos smaller than VCRs that
improve on today's set-top boxes by adding high-resolution movies, e-mail,
and easy Internet access. Still to be decided is which companies will get
which slice of the various technologies -- Microsoft and Intel are
fighting with various rivals for business. [Gizmo...is that a technical term?]
Title: FCC Balks At Freezing Cable Rates
Source: Wall Street Journal (A3)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John R. Wilke & Leslie Cauley
Issue: Cable
Description: The FCC is balking at freezing cable rates despite reports
that show stiff rate increases around the nation. The commission is expected
to propose stiffer rules to encourage cable competition. These include
measures that force cable companies to share programming with competitors
such as direct-broadcast satellites and phone companies. The commission
hopes these new measures can head off a need for rate regulation.
Commissioner Susan Ness said, "We're hearing reports of double-digit rate
increases in some cities, and we're not going to tolerate that...rate
regulation is a last resort."
Title: Commission Releases Report on Cable Industry Prices
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/Reports/fcc97409.html
Issue: Cable
Description: "The Commission has released the results of a survey of cable
industry prices covering the period from July 1, 1995 to July 1, 1997. The
survey (FCC 97-409) is mandated by section 623(k) of the Communications Act
of 1934 and reflects information gathered from cable operators. Beyond
reporting on the level of price increases, the survey compares subscriber
rates in competitive service areas and noncompetitive service areas."
Title: A Massive Investment In British Cable TV Sours for U.S. Firms
Source: Wall Street Journal (A1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Robert Frank & Matthew Rose
Issue: International
Description: Betting that British viewers would want their MTV and CNN
just like Americans, U.S. phone and cable companies built one of the most
advanced communications networks in the world: more than 40,000 miles of
fiber-optic lines that could carry everything from "Seinfeld" and
pay-per-view movies to local phone calls and e-mail. But U S West
hasn't reached half of the predicted 45% of British cable TV customers.
Telewest Comm. PLC reported a loss of $450 million last year. Other U.S.
Bell companies have packed up and gone home. Stephen Davidson, Telewest's
chief exec, said, "Five years age, [Britons] watched four channels, and now
most of them still only watch four channels. The growth has been much less
than we anticipated."
Title: DirecTV Seeks New Partners, Fresh Programs
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Frederic M. Biddle & Leslie Cauley
Issue: Satellite
Description: DirecTV, the market leader for direct
satellite broadcasting, is aggressively looking for new ways to attract
subscribers. A number of Baby Bells, including Bell Atlantic and SBC, are
currently negotiating with DirecTV to become its agents within their
respective territories. DirecTV also signed a $200 million deal for eight
prime-time action-adventure series produced by Francis Ford Coppola and
others. They also announced an agreement with Time Warner's pay-TV unit to
produce a new half-hour weekly music series exclusively for DirecTV's
subscribers. The company said the move into programming is a natural way to
stay ahead and expects to sign more deals.
** The Wonders of Telecom & InfoTech **
Title: Edison Project Reports Measurable Progress in Reading and Math
at Its Schools
Source: New York Times (A30)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/edison-project-educ.html
Author: Jacques Steinberg
Issue: Education
Description: The Edison Project, started in 1995, is an ambitious for-profit
educational plan designed to develop a revolutionary model for overhauling
schools. After two years, the project, which includes everything from
longer school years to placing computers in every student's home, shows
measurable gains in students reading and math scores. Project leaders hail
these findings as exceeding their expectations and providing solid evidence
that public school systems can be improved through outside intervention.
However, officials acknowledge that these gains need to be sustained for an
extended period of time in order for the project to be considered
substantially persuasive.
Title: Limits on the Work-at-Home Life
Source: New York Times (A31)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/121797telecommute.html
Author: Kirk Johnson
Issue: Telecommuting
Description: In recent years millions of Americans have sought the
flexibility of working at home, usually under informal arrangements. As an
increasing number of corporations acknowledge that telecommuting is here to
stay, they are moving to impose structure and supervision on the
arrangement. The goal is to provide workers with the flexibility and support
they want while addressing supervisors' concerns about productivity,
fairness and liability. So, no need to shrink from your boss when she
doesn't recognize you at this years Christmas party -- next year you will
most certainly be kept in the loop with regular surveys and mandatory office
meetings and appearances.
Title: Silicon Graphics, Microsoft to Unveil Alliance on Three-Dimensional
Displays
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Dean Takahashi
Issue: InfoTech
Description: Microsoft and Silicon Graphics will announce an alliance to
collaborate on technology for displaying 3-D graphics on future computers.
The partnership is expected to end a battle over technical standards that
has delayed some advances in graphics technology and could influence the
design of software used by engineers. Analysts say that if Silicon Graphics
can influence Microsoft's software with its own 3-D technology, it will have
a better chance of differentiating its computers when it adapts them to run
Windows NT, instead of the Unix software the company uses. Otherwise,
Silicon Graphics' NT-based workstations might not be any better than those
made by PC makers.
** Civic Participation **
Title: Beyond "Bowling Alone"
Source: Washington Post (A25)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/17/008l-121797-idx.html
Author: David Broder
Issue: Civic Participation
Description: In an influential essay called "Bowling Alone," Harvard
Professor Robert Putnam argued that Americans were becoming increasingly
disconnected from each other -- depleting the supply of "social capital" on
which our government depends. A new survey by the Center for Survey Research
at the University of Virginia for the American Association of Retired
Persons (AARP) finds that Americans may not be the "civic slugs" many fear
we are. AARP's numbers show that the average American adult has four
affiliations outside of family and work -- only one in seven has none.
Political activity is low, but volunteering is high and -- at the local
level -- "civic engagement" numbers are high. The survey finds the trust
element of "social capital" is weak -- only 28% of Americans believe the
national government can be trusted to do what is right most or all of the
time. AARP's director of research, Constance Swank says, "Despite their lack
of trust in government, most Americans have not lost their sense of what
they can do individually or collectively in their communities." Broder ends
the editorial: "In a sobering national picture, that is something on which
leaders at all levels may be able to build."
** Radio **
Title: Md. Grant to Radio Firm Approved
Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/17/112l-121797-idx.html
Author: Charles Babington
Issue: Radio
Description: In a case many fear blurs the line between media and
government, Maryland approved its first business grant to a minority-owned
company yesterday. Radio One will receive a $500,000 loan for the Maryland
government -- $400,000 will be forgiven if the company adds 40 new employees
to its 110-person workforce and keeps them; the remaining $100,000 will have
to be repaid at 6% interest after five years. Radio One runs two radio
stations is core Democratic precincts and some of the legislators voting on
the issue are frequent guests on the stations' talk shows. But the grant is
very small compared to others in the Sunny Day grants program: for example,
Bethlehem Steel Corp got a $5.5 million grant and loan package to rebuild
its "cold rolling mill" in Baltimore County.
** FCC **
Title: Commissioner Michael Powell Supports Flexible, Timely
Pro-Competitive Telecommunications Policies
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Powell/spmkp701.html
Author: Michael Powell
Issue: Regulation
Description: "The FCC must pursue procompetitive policies that are flexible,
timely and will promote technological innovation," FCC Commissioner Michael
K. Powell said today to the Winter 1997 Seminar of the America's Carriers
Telecommunications Association, in McLean, Va. In his first speech since
joining the Commission last month, Powell said his "first priority" will be
to "encourage procompetitive policies." He said, "We must be procompetitive
because rapidly developing high technology markets demand it. It is nearly
impossible for regulators to be able to predict accurately the direction and
impact of changing technology or to keep pace with it."
*********
Are we obsessed with monopoly or what? Who's got next game?