TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Telecommunications Trends (FCC)
CEA Report on the Anniversary of the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 (NTIA)
Advertisement: The Telecommunications Act of 1996:
A Progress Report (NYT/WP)
The Bell That Would Be King (NYT)
INTERNET
Internet May Reshape California Ballot Initiatives (CyberTimes)
A Regretful Tone in Judge's Decision on
Internet Pornography (CyberTimes)
MCI, CompuServe to Join on Net (WP)
More-Daring Web Mergers May Develop (WSJ)
CBS Weighs Plan To Turn Web Assets Into New Company (WSJ)
Has AOL met its Waterloo? (MSNBC)
Congressmen Voice Concern About Online Trading (SJ Merc)
Net International: Congolese Entering Cyberspace (SJ Merc)
EDTECH
Schroeder Pledges Computer Skills For German Kids (SJ Merc)
MINORITIES
Telephone Service for Indians on Reservations (FCC)
FILM
Columbia Pictures To Share Movie Profits With Writers (NYT)
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRENDS
Issue: Telecommunications
Interesting tidbits on the growth of the communications sector in PowerPoint
http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/trends.ppt and Acrobat
http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/trends.pdf. Can I share some numbers with you?
Total revenues for Communications Services in '98 -- ~$395 billion (up from
$356.6 billion in '97). This breakdown isn't yet available for '98, but in
'97, 55% of the total communications revenues were in wireline telephony,
12%+ in cable, 12% in TV and radio, and 9% in wireless telephony. Additional
facts are available for each industry.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov
CEA REPORT ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996
Issue: Telecommunications
On Monday, February 8, the third anniversary of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996, Commerce Secretary William M. Daley and chair of the President's
Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) Janet Yellen will release a report by the
CEA on the growth of the telecommunications industry since 1993 and discuss
the success of the Clinton/Gore Administration's pro-competitive policies
and initiatives. Secretary Daley and CEA Chairman Janet Yellen will discuss
the highlights of the report, and Commerce Assistant Secretary Larry Irving
will answer questions about the report and Administration policies. For
additional information, please call Sallianne Fortunato, NTIA Public
Affairs, at 202-482-7002.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/cea20499pr.htm
ADVERTISEMENT: THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996: A PROGRESS REPORT
Issue: Competition
Full page ad in NYT and WashPost. You know, everyone is gearing up to
celebrate the third anniversary of the Telecom Act. Phone giant GTE is no
different and is using the occasion to justify a 3/4 page ad in the NYT
touting the company's dedication to competition and change. Thanks for the
reminder!
[SOURCE: New York Times (C3)/Wash Post (E6)]
http://www.nytimes.com/
THE BELL THAT WOULD BE KING
Issue: Telephony
While Bell Atlantic has recently faced some high profile set-backs -
including losing out in its bid to acquire Airtouch, and the end to it's
monopolistic control of local service in New York City -- the future is very
bright for the local carrier. Bell Atlantic is positioned to be the first
Baby Bell allowed to enter the highly lucrative long-distance market.
Although many customers are eager for the day when a single company can
provide both their local and long-distance service, Bell Atlantic is much
more interested in the big profits form corporate accounts than wooing small
home consumers. Some analysts suggest, however, that Bell Atlantic might
have a hard time winning over that essential business market for long
distance. Schiesel explains that corporations are looking for a
"hand-holding and consultative partner" in their telecommunication carriers,
"and Bell Atlantic has a long way to go in that department."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Seth Schiesel]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/bell-atlantic.html
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INTERNET
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INTERNET MAY RESHAPE CALIFORNIA BALLOT INITIATIVES
Issue: Internet & Politics/Online Activism
When the California's ballot initiative system was created at the turn of
the last century, its requirement that 5% of the electorate sign a petition
reflected a reasonable number. Now, that represents an effort that costs at
least $1 million: so much for populism. Some are suggesting that the
Internet be used to gather signatures: "It would bring the initiative
process back to what it's supposed to be, rather than the big-money
interests," said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter
Foundation, a nonprofit group in Sacramento. But California's Secretary of
State, Bill Jones, says it will take an act of the state's legislature to
allow it. SOS Jones is forming a commission to make recommendations to the
legislature on allowing Californians to sign petitions and to vote online
[wow, what would you need the legislature for then?]. But the legislature
has historically been at odds with the initiative process, which is designed
to bypass legislators' authority.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Rebecca Fairley Raney rfr( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/02/cyber/articles/05ballot.html
A REGRETFUL TONE IN JUDGE'S DECISION ON INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY
Issue: Internet Regulation
"This Court and many parents and grandparents would like to see the efforts
of Congress to protect children from harmful materials on the Internet to
ultimately succeed and the will of the majority of citizens in this country
to be realized through the enforcement of an act of Congress," wrote Federal
District Court Judge Lowell Reed Jr. in striking down Congress' second
attempt at restricting minors' access to pornography via the Internet
(COPA). His tone is strikingly different than the decision of the
three-judge panel that decided the Communications Decency Act was
unconstitutional. In that decision, Judge Stewart Dalzell wrote that the
Internet "may fairly be regarded as a never-ending worldwide conversation."
He added: "As the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the
Internet deserves the highest protection from government intrusion." So, why
the difference? Is the Internet old news now and not deserving of Judge
Dalzell's enthusiasm? Are the seamier sides of planet Internet overshadowing
the medium's potential? Judge Reed neatly summed up the opposing forces in
the debate: "Two diametric interests -- the constitutional right of freedom
of speech and the interest of Congress and indeed society, in protecting
children from harmful materials -- are in tension in this lawsuit," he
wrote. Judge Reed later added: "The protection of children from access to
harmful to minors materials on the Web, the compelling interest sought to be
furthered by Congress in COPA, particularly resonates with the Court." He
said he had "personal regret" that his injunction might delay once again the
protection of children.
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl Kaplan kaplanc( at )nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/02/cyber/cyberlaw/05law.html
MCI, COMPUSERVE TO JOIN ON NET
Issue: Internet
MCI WorldCom Inc. re-entered the Internet business yesterday announcing an
agreement with CompuServe to provide content for MCI WorldCom Internet. In
September MCI was forced to get out of the Internet business to gain federal
approval for its acquisition of WorldCom. It sold that part of its company
to Cable & Wireless. Now MCI WorldCom is returning to the Internet business
selling its service to individuals and small-business customers. Compuserve,
which is owned by America OnLine, will provide the programming and sell
advertising. The service will be delivered over MCI's UUNet Internet
network. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E3), AUTHOR: Shannon Henry]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/feb99/mci050299.htm
MORE-DARING WEB MERGERS MAY DEVELOP
Issue: Mergers
Speculation of the possibility of Internet companies merging with broadcasting
companies are based o discussions between AOL and Disney, Yahoo and Disney,
Excite and Time Warner, Lycos and several parties. "As the Internet
companies continue to mature, and as they
continually seek content, they will ultimately butt heads with some of the
traditional media companies," Louis G. Zachary Jr., managing director at Credit
Suisse First Boston, says. The key motivator of a merger is a hook to get you
to sign onto their website, he says. Overlap in the two mediums is evident in
the models used by AOL, Yahoo, and Lycos: "gathering and packaging audiences,
and matching them with advertisers," a senior media executive says. The
deterrents for Internet companies to merge with broadcasting are cited as steep
Internet stock valuations that may be slowed, the fact that broadcasting
companies are slower growers than Internet and "the cultural gap between these
type of companies."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (C1), AUTHOR: Paul M. Sherer and Kara Swisher]
CBS WEIGHS PLAN TO TURN WEB ASSETS INTO NEW COMPANY
Issue: Mergers/Media strategies
CBS Chief Executive Mel Karmazin is considering a plan to "sell the public a
portion of CBS's Internet assets -- including its 38% stake in
Marketwatch.com, the
online financial news service, and its 12.5% stake in SportsLine USA Inc." The
preliminary plan is that the profits would be jointly owned by CBS and Infinity
Broadcasting Corp. to form a new company called CBS.com. Stock from this new
company would be used to invest in other Internet companies. This move reflects
a trend in mainstream media companies' attempt to "find a way to benefit from
the Internet-stock boom." General Electric's NBC is nearing a plan similar to
CBS's the article says. Other alliances have recently been forged: News Corp.'s
Fox recent alliance with Yahoo! includes promotions for the company on Fox
shows; CBS last month agreed to provide AOL with news and to promote it in
exchange for a profit.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B2), AUTHOR: Kyle Pope]
HAS AOL MET ITS WATERLOO?
Issue: Internet
What if we gave away Internet service and still found a way to make money!
That's the approach of Dixons Group PLC in the United Kingdom. AOL UK's
Internet service in Britain grew to 500,000 subscribers just before
Christmas, and the joint venture of America Online and Bertelsmann AG was
recognized as the biggest player in the UK Internet market. Depending on
usage, AOL's charge is $8 to $27 per month. Additionally, in the UK and other
parts of Europe there is a per minute rate for each call. But now Dixons, a
dull but hardy retail group selling everything from vacuum cleaners to
microwaves, has entered the market and set its price for service to zero. In
its first 16 weeks of operation, the Dixons service called Freeserve has
turned the British Internet scene on its ear. Freeserve charges nothing and
offers in return free software, free Web space, free unlimited e-mail
addresses and free unlimited access. (Users still have to pay the per minute
call fee.) Freeserve has been signing up customers at a rate of almost
10,000 a day and now stands at one million customers, twice the size of AOL.
Almost half of the new subscribers are people who have never been online
before. Sir Stanley Kalms, the Dixons chairman, has made a deal with the
telephone companies to share in the revenue generated by the local
connecting call. Plus the company is making money from online purchases and
from advertising. Other competitors are rushing to copy Dixons. What is
happening in Britain now could be the start of a broader European trend.
[SOURCE: MSNBC (Online), AUTHOR: Jonathan Miller]
http://www.msnbc.com/news/238361.asp
CONGRESSMEN VOICE CONCERN ABOUT ONLINE TRADING
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Four Democratic Congressmen in a letter to Securities and Exchange
Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt Thursday expressed concern about online
stock trading, including whether computer systems could reliably keep up
with demand. Representatives John Dingell (MI), Ron Klink (PA), Ed Markey
(MA), and Edolphus Towns (NY) said the Senate permanent committee on
investigations may hold a hearing on online trading next month. The
legislators want to know if federal law gave the SEC the proper tools it
needed to protect investors as well as the regulatory issues concerning
online stock underwriting. Levitt himself has previously expressed
reservations about buying and selling securities on the Internet. Levitt
said Internet brokerage accounts made up about 25 percent of all retail
stock trades.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/149197l.htm
NET INTERNATIONAL: CONGOLESE ENTERING CYBERSPACE
Issue: Internet Access
In a land without telephone lines, the Internet has been a luxury good
enjoyed by those with expensive satellite phones. Goma, a town of several
hundred thousand in the Congo, does not have a wired phone system but has a
cellular telephone system with about 700 subscribers. Now the Democratic
Republic of the Congo is learning to use Bushnet, a Ugandan-based Internet
service provider. Bushnet uses a desktop computer and a high frequency
radio modem in Goma to bounce e-mail messages around the world via a server
in Kampala, the Ugandan capital. Bushnet charges $2 to $3 per page of text,
more than most subsistence laborers can afford. More than cost, the concept
of the Internet is still foreign to many of these people. "The average
person in Goma has never touched a telephone," Bushnet representative Taty
Kaliba said. "So when you start talking about the Internet, when you start
talking about surfing and chat rooms, they are lost." Bushnet had its
service interrupted for several months because rebels confiscated its equipment.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Todd Pitman (Reuters)]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/149188l.htm
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EDTECH
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SCHROEDER PLEDGES COMPUTER SKILLS FOR GERMAN KIDS
Issue: Ed Tech
With Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at his side, German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder said his government would bring all 44,000 German schools online
by 2001. Chancellor Schroeder said more than 160 million marks ($92 million)
would be spent on improving computer literacy. Schroeder emphasized the
potential for technology to tackle Germany's high unemployment rate in the
election campaign last year.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/149065l.htm
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MINORITIES
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TELEPHONE SERVICE FOR INDIANS ON RESERVATIONS
Issue: Minorities
"Overcoming Obstacles to Telephone Service to Indians on Reservations": In a
history making event the Federal Communications Commission conducted the
first ever Public Hearing addressing the problems of underservice on Indian
reservations. Below [see URL] are the remarks and comments that were made by
the three panel discussion groups in this historical event, that for the
first time asked the Indian Nations what communications services they want
and what communications services they need.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Panel_Discussions/Teleservice_reservations/
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FILM
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COLUMBIA PICTURES TO SHARE MOVIE PROFITS WITH WRITERS
Issue: Film
Thursday, a group of top Hollywood writers announced a deal with Columbia
Pictures in which they will earn a share of a movie's profits in addition
to their regular fees. While only an elite few screenwriters participated in
negotiating the agreement, it will cover a larger group of writers who have
reached a certain level of either critical or financial success. Top
grossing actors and directors have long been able to share in the revenues
of moves they've help make profitable, but this deal represents the first
move towards making screenwriters more important players in the creation of
quality Hollywood fair.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: James Sterngold]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/screenwriters-pay.html
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...and we are outta here. Welcome, again, Alicia to the Headline team. And,
hey, readers, don't get too wacky at all the weekend Telecom Act of '96
anniversary parties -- remember: Think before you communicate!