UNIVERSAL SERVICE/TELEPHONE
USTA Proposes Surcharges to Pay for Universal Service (TelecomAM)
Connection Fee Waived for the Poor (ChiTrib)
TCI, AT&T Look to Enter Partnerships with Cable-TV Firms
on Phone Service (WSJ)
MERGERS
Public Shrugs Off SBC, Ameritech Merger Bid (ChiTrib)
WIRELESS
Powell Says Regulators 'Too Timid' in Loosening
Wireless Rules (TelecomAM)
Wireless Opportunities in Latin America (NTIA)
OWNERSHIP
Consolidation and Discrimination: Responding to
the Challenge (NTIA)
COMPETITION
Competition in Cable TV Arrives (WP)
INTERNET
Start-up Vignette Makes Life Easier for Web Publishers (WSJ)
Dell, Excite Will Give Users of Certain PCs Individual Web Pages (WSJ)
Reviving the Not-So-Wonderful World of Disney (WSJ)
New Technology Unveiled to Speed Internet Access (WSJ)
JOBS
Deal Reached on Foreign Workers (WP)
An Agreement to Increase Special Visas (NYT)
EDTECH
Scholarships Provide Laptops Instead of Money (NYT)
ADVERTISING
The Media Business: Advertising (NYT)
===========================
UNIVERSAL SERVICE/TELEPHONE
===========================
USTA PROPOSES SURCHARGES TO PAY FOR UNIVERSAL SERVICE
Issue: Universal Service
In a plan filed at the FCC last week, the U.S. Telephone Association (USTA)
is proposing a new system to collect universal service funds. The USTA plan
would replace the current implicit universal service subsidy system with
explicit charges on customer bills. The charges would be placed on "total
retail bills," including interstate and intrastate service and every telecom
carrier would impose a charge to assure "competitive neutrality." If states
collect funds for their own universal service plans, those fees should be
based on total revenue as well to maintain equity.
[SOURCE: Telecom AM]
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
CONNECTION FEE WAIVED FOR THE POOR
Issue: Universal Service
Beginning next month, low-income residents of Illinois will not have to pay
Ameritech's $55 connection fee. Earlier in the year the phone company began
offering low-income customers a $5.25 reduction in monthly bills in a
federally-sponsored program. To be eligible, customers must receive some
form of government assistance.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1), AUTHOR: Melissa Wahl]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-2570,00.html
TCI, AT&T LOOK TO ENTER PARTNERSHIPS WITH CABLE-TV FIRMS ON PHONE SERVICE
Issue: Telephony
Merger partners Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) and AT&T Corp. hope to
persuade cable-TV companies to join them in offering local phone service
over cable-TV lines. They're offering technical, marketing, and financial
assistance to help cable companies provide phone service in exchange for
10-15 year commitments to provide co-branded phone service over existing
cable lines. This is seen as an effort of AT&T's to reach the affiliate
partners of TCI's that AT&T's recent buy-out of TCI won't include. These
affiliates reach 33 million potential subscribers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12); AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
=======
MERGERS
=======
PUBLIC SHRUGS OFF SBC, AMERITECH MERGER BID
Issue: Mergers
A new poll commissioned by AT&T finds that most Midwestern customers of
Ameritech do not care about th pending merger with SBC. Opponents think that
once customers realize what is going on, they will not favor the combination
of the two phone giants. "The one thing that's clear from our poll," said
Gary Mack, executive director of the Illinois Partnership for Fair
Telecommunications Policy, "is that Illinois customers want competitive
suppliers of local phone service, and this merger won't help make that
happen." The poll found that across the region, 44% had no opinion, 36&
oppose the merger and 20% favor it. Among Illinois residents, 39% had no
opinion, 39% oppose the merger and 22% support it. The poll has a 4 percent
margin of error. Sixty percent of all respondents have concerns about lack
of competition for local phone service -- 67% of Illinois respondents. After
hearing arguments for and against the merger, people tend to oppose the
idea. Merger opponents are lining up and may start a media campaign to
enlist customers in the effort to block the deal.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3), AUTHOR: Jon Van]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9809240358,00.html
========
WIRELESS
========
POWELL SAYS REGULATORS 'TOO TIMID' IN LOOSENING WIRELESS RULES
Issue: Regulation
FCC Commissioner Michael Powell told the Personal Communications Industry
Association '98 show that the Commission should be making better use of the
forbearance language in the Telecom Act. TelecomAM reports: "Instead of
swinging forbearance like a lumberjack's ax, Powell said, the agency has
been afraid "in even gripping the handle." Forbearance is a key tool to move
from monopoly to competition in telecom markets, he said." [Also see links
to speeches by Commissioner Susan Ness (Blueprint for Spectrum Management
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Ness/spsn815.html) and Chairman Bill Kennard
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/spwek828.html]
[SOURCE: Telecom AM]
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
WIRELESS OPPORTUNITIES IN LATIN AMERICA
Issue: International/Wireless
Assistant Secretary Larry Irving delivered two recent speech, "Wireless
Opportunities in Latin America," at the Personal Communications Showcase
Latin America '98 on September 22: "We at the Department of Commerce share
PCIA's excitement about the recent, overwhelming growth in the
telecommunications sector in Latin America. The creation of this conference
by PCIA is a tribute to the growing importance that wireless services now
play in Latin America....Latin America's important role in
telecommunications has been reflected in numerous ways. In July, Business
Week issued a list of the top 100 emerging market companies around the
world. It may not surprise any of you that three of the top five companies
were in the telecommunications sector. What impressed me was that two of the
top five companies were Latin American telecommunications companies.
Brazil's Telebras ranked second (and that was before its privatization) and
Telefonos de Mexico ("Telmex") ranked fourth among the world's top 100
high-growth companies."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/pcs92298.htm
=========
OWNERSHIP
=========
CONSOLIDATION AND DISCRIMINATION: RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGE
Issue: Ownership
Assistant Secretary Larry Irving delivered a speech, "Consolidation and
Discrimination: Responding to the Challenge," at the National Association of
Black Owned Broadcasters' Annual Meeting on September 18: "Vice President
Gore yesterday gave you a preview of the findings of the report. To recap,
there has been a negligible increase in minority ownership since last year.
Minorities now own 337 of the 11,524 commercial broadcast stations, or 2.9%
of those stations, up from 2.8% last year."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/nabob91898.htm
===========
COMPETITION
===========
COMPETITION IN CABLE TV ARRIVES
Issue: Cable
Direct competition in cable television is coming to the Washington, D.C.
area in early 1999. Starpower Communications, a venture owned partly by
Potomac Electric Power Company, first plans to begin sending 94 channels to
Gaithersburg, MD homes with at rates below that of the current cable
supplier. Expansion plans call for providing packages of voice, video and
data services to parts of Maryland and Virginia and to the District of
Columbia. Starpower is using the OVS portion of the 1996 Telecommunications
Act which does not require a formal franchise in a market.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E03), AUTHOR: Paul Farhi]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/digest/tech3.htm
========
INTERNET
========
START-UP VIGNETTE MAKES LIFE EASIER FOR WEB PUBLISHERS
Issue: Electronic Publishing
To address the fact that online journalists were spending too much time
marking up HTML code instead of drafting content, a new software package
called Story-Server provides a template that separates story content from
page format, allowing authors to just drop story text into the Web page
without doing any formatting or coding. The article goes on to describe
the business deals that lead to this product, mentioning also that
companies like Microsoft and Netscape will probably develop something
similar very soon.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B4); AUTHOR: Nick Wingfield]
http://wsj.com
DELL, EXCITE WILL GIVE USERS OF CERTAIN PCs INDIVIDUAL WEB PAGES
Issue: Internet
Computer manufacturer Dell Computer Inc. is partnering with #2 rated
Internet guide service, Excite.com in a deal that will let buyers of the
Dell Dimension computer to sign up for Internet access (brought to you by
AT&T and SBC Communications) as soon as they turn on the machine. These new
owners will be taken immediately to Excite's site that allows users to set
up their own customized Internet portal. [See my.excite.com to see what it
looks like]
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6)]
http://wsj.com
REVIVING THE NOT-SO-WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY
Issue: Internet
In an effort to boost its lagging profits, Disney is expanding beyond theme
parks and animated movies as demonstrated by its recent acquisition of 43%
of Infoseek Corporation, through which it hopes to develop an Internet
portal site to rival Yahoo. Disney is also trying to develop a model for
interactive television. Disney's web experience to date has been mixed.
Daily Blast, a subscription-based kids entertainment site has been slow to
get going; however, Disney's online product sales match the revenue of
eight actual Disney stores.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1, B8); AUTHOR: Bruce Orwall]
http://wsj.com
NEW TECHNOLOGY UNVEILED TO SPEED INTERNET ACCESS
Issue: Internet
Qualcomm Inc. [makers of Eudora Pro email software] demonstrated a new
technology that it claims will speed access to the Internet at a rate of
1.5 million bits per second -- five to six times the pace of today's
fastest wireless technologies, and far faster than 56kb modems. No release
date was given.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B14); Business Briefs]
http://wsj.com
HOUSE HUNTING WITH CURSOR AND CLICK
Issue: Internet
The Internet is changing the way real estate is bought and sold. Potential
buyers are going to the Web for information on neighborhoods and mortgage
prices, as well as specific information on property. The process reduces
the travel with the real estate agent to look at properties. Newspapers and
magazines are moving to place real estate ads on their Internet sites to
avoid losing the market since use of their traditional services is expected
to decline. Some estimates place the number of Web sites with real estate
information at 200,000.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E1), AUTHOR: Barbara Whitaker]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/09/circuits/articles/24real.html
====
JOBS
====
DEAL REACHED ON FOREIGN WORKERS (WP)
AN AGREEMENT TO INCREASE SPECIAL VISAS (NYT)
Issue: Employment
The White House and Congressional leaders compromised on legislation to
increase the number of visas for foreign workers with high-tech jobs. The
numbers of workers admitted with special skills would jump from 65,000 a
year to 115,000 a year for the next three years. A similar measure now
before the Congress was supported by firms in the technology industry but
was opposed by labor unions and the White House. The earlier bill will be
withdrawn and the new one voted on in the next few weeks. The White House
said the new bill includes concessions on protection of U.S. jobs and more
money for training U.S. workers.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A02), AUTHOR: William Branigan]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-09/24/167l-092498-idx.html
[SOURCE: New York Times (A23), AUTHOR: John H. Cushman, Jr.]
http://www.nyt.com/
======
EDTECH
======
SCHOLARSHIPS PROVIDE LAPTOPS INSTEAD OF MONEY
Issue: Education
California State University at San Marcos gave $2,400 Fujitsu laptops to 40
incoming freshmen this year instead of financial aid. Their stated goal is
to narrow a technology gap among lower income students. The recipients of
the laptops also are receiving $5,000 in monetary grants for tuition, books
and expenses this year. Financial aid experts say the award plan is likely
to be copied at other schools.
[SOURCE: New York Times (E3), AUTHOR: Andrea Adelson]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/09/circuits/articles/24ugee.html
===========
ADVERTISING
===========
THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING
Issue: Advertising
A new public service campaign from the Ad Council will ask adults to do
volunteer work with children. The campaign theme "Give a kid a hand" will
be distributed to advertisers and media in the International Advertising
Association's 92 member countries and includes both print and television
advertisements and includes information on the Internet. The campaign
begins before the end of September in the United States. It is presently
being translated from English into five other languages.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C9), AUTHOR: Jane L. Levere]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/public-ad-col.html
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
Readers, I don't want to hear anything about fly balls to left field.