JOBS
Many Verizon Workers Continue Walkout As Mid-Atlantic Unit Refuses
to Sign Pact (WSJ)
The Indian Telecom Training Initiative (FCC)
BROADBAND
AT&T Threatens To Sue San Jose Over Cable Modems (SJM)
INTERNET
For Sale: Web Address, Unused, Not Cheap (NYT)
CME Commends FTC's COPPA Compliance Training for Website Operators
(CME)
TELEVISION
Reminder: People for better TV Rally in Detroit Today (PBTV)
MERGER
Canadian Company Bids $3 Billion For Wireless Network (NYT)
JOBS
MANY VERIZON WORKERS CONTINUE WALKOUT AS MID-ATLANTIC UNIT REFUSES TO SIGN
PACT
Issue: Jobs
Verizon workers in the Northeast ended a two-week strike Sunday after their
union reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract, but
Mid-Atlantic state employees continued to walk the picket lines. About
35,000 Verizon workers still refused to sign a contract offer, and continued
to haggle with the company over a number of issues, including the number of
hours employees must work, working conditions of Verizon's customer-service
representatives and sundry local issues. Union officials expressed mounting
frustration over the division's failure to sign a deal. "We're a little
confused," said Robert Campbell, president of Communications Workers of
America (CWA) local 2108 in Landover, Md. The impasse meant that while part
of the union was celebrating what CWA officials described as a "total
victory," another large chunk of the union was still locked in increasingly
tense talks with Verizon.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A2), AUTHOR: Deborah Solomon And Yochi J.
Dreazen]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB966875958689725226.htm)
(requires subscription)
See Also:
VERIZON STRIKE LIKELY HELPED THE FIRM PROMOTE THE SWITCH TO ITS NEW NAME
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A6), AUTHOR: Jennifer Rewick]
(http://interactive.wsj.com)
(requires subscription)
LABOR ACCORD HITS NEW-ECONOMY NOTES
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/082200verizon-talks.html)
(requires registration)
THE INDIAN TELECOM TRAINING INITIATIVE
Issue: Digital Divide
From Press Release: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announces a
historic partnership with 29 co-sponsors and over 50 telecommunications
experts for the Indian Telecom Training Initiative (ITTI 2000). ITTI 2000 is
a four-day tribal leader telecommunications seminar that will be held
September 25-28, 2000 at the Radisson Hotel, St. Paul, Minnesota. The FCC in
cooperation with the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), is
hosting this historic training event to provide tribal leaders with the best
and most up-to-date information available to help increase
telecommunications services in native communities. For more information on
the seminar and on the availability of scholarships for tribal governments
please call (888) CALL FCC / (888) 225-5322; (717)338-2888; or email the FCC
at ITTI2000( at )fcc.gov. Additional information is available at the FCC Indian
Initiatives Web site at (www.fcc.gov/indians) FCC ITTI '2000 Contact: Nancy
Plon at (202) 418-2899; nplon( at )fcc.gov; TTY at (202) 418-8233
NECA Contact: Dustin Logan at (402) 592-2111 or dlogan( at )neca.org.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/News_Releases/2000/nrwl0027.html)
BROADBAND
AT&T THREATENS TO SUE SAN JOSE OVER CABLE MODEMS
Issue: Broadband
In a letter dated Aug. 18, Richard R. Patch, a lawyer representing AT&T,
threatened to sue the city of San Jose to let AT&T begin construction to add
capacity for cable modem service. The dispute involves a cable network
within San Jose that AT&T bought from Pacific Bell in late 1998 for $25
million. The network, which serves 55,000 subscribers and passes within
service range of about one-fourth of the city's homes, is more modern than
the rest of AT&T's cable system in San Jose, which it acquired when it
bought Tele-Communications Inc. last year. AT&T has proposed to invest more
than $50 million to make the old Pacific Bell network capable of high-speed
Internet access as soon as this fall, before undertaking a larger network
renovation that would eventually include the entire city. City officials
contend that AT&T doesn't hold a valid franchise for the Pacific Bell
system, and they won't let the company proceed with construction until it
signs a new franchise agreement covering all its San Jose operations. As
conditions for reaching a franchise agreement, AT&T said, San Jose wants the
company to increase the number of public access channels in the city to
seven from two, and to build a network connecting city buildings.
[Source: Mercury News, Author: Jennifer Files]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/att082200.htm)
INTERNET
FOR SALE: WEB ADDRESS, UNUSED, NOT CHEAP
Issue: Internet
Until recently, original domain name registration generally cost around $35
a year. But ever since Network Solutions, which had a monopoly on
registrations, lost its government contract, domain prices have been known
to range from less than $10 to more than a million. Now, 50 companies
compete to register both new and old addresses. And as "good' names become
increasingly difficult to come by, the price for catchy or easy to remember
domain names is soaring. Early this year, www.business.com/ sold for $7.5
million and www.loan.com/ for $3 million. A growing number of companies have
built businesses just by helping owners resell the names they no longer want
or need. "The whole market is shifting; it's now all about the secondary
market," said Jeff Tinsley, chief executive of GreatDomains.com, a Los
Angeles company that is one of the largest resellers of names. "All the best
names are bought up."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C6), AUTHOR: Sabra Chartrand]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/biztech/articles/22domain.html)
(requires registration)
CME COMMENDS FTC'S COPPA COMPLIANCE TRAINING FOR WEBSITE OPERATORS
Issue: Privacy
The Center for Media Education (CME) issued a release supporting the Federal
Trade Commission's (FTC) efforts to train Website operators on how to comply
with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC held its
"COPPA Compliance Training for Website Operators" workshop today in
Washington, DC. "We worked long and hard to get COPPA passed," said CME
President Kathryn Montgomery, Ph.D. "We're glad to see the FTC taking a
proactive role in teaching companies how to follow the law. It's an ongoing
process." Although many Websites have complied with the FTC Rule
implementing COPPA, which went into effect April 21, 2000, others still have
not.
[SOURCE: Center For Media Education]
(http://www.cme.org/publications/press.html)
TELEVISION
REMINDER: PEOPLE FOR BETTER TV RALLY IN DETROIT TODAY
Issue: DTV
Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) will participate in a People for Better TV public
rally and press conference on Wednesday, August 23, from noon to 2PM at the
Southfield Performing Arts Center in Detroit. For more information, call
Richard Singleton at 313-962-0340.
[SOURCE: People for Better Television]
(http://www.bettertv.org/20000823dt.htm)
MERGER
CANADIAN COMPANY BIDS $3 BILLION FOR WIRELESS NETWORK
Issue: Merger
In a scramble to gain geographic reach in anticipation of a boom in demand
for Internet services delivered via wireless networks in Canada, the Telus
Corporation made an offer worth $3.1 billion for Clearnet Communications
Inc. of Toronto that would make it the largest telecommunications company in
western Canada. The takeover would greatly accelerate the expansion of Telus
and pose a competitive challenge to two other big Canadian
telecommunications providers, the Bell Mobility division of Bell Canada of
Montreal, which is the country's largest telecommunications organization,
and Rogers AT&T Canada. "Wireless and Internet applications are the two
fastest-growing areas in telecommunications," said Darren Entwistle,
president and chief executive of Telus. "Our objective is to become the
Canadian leader of this market." Although Telus had strengthened its hand
by moving quickly to gain a national wireless network, it might find itself
in tough competition with new marketers who are able to buy capacity at
inexpensive rates, warned Michael Cant, an analyst at Renaissance Strategies
in Waltham, Mass.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C4), AUTHOR: Timothy Pritchard]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/biztech/articles/22wireless.html)
(requires registration)
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