Benton RSS Feed

Universal Service
WSJ: Gore Ties Grants To Schools, Libraries To
Internet Protection
TelecomAM: Furchtgott-Roth Attacks Use of State Funds For
Universal Service

Long Distance
TelecomAM: Kennard Says FCC Already Has Provided
Guidance On Section 271

Free Time for Candidates
WP: FEC Rules Against Perot

Mergers
WSJ: Bertelsmann to Buy Random House
NYT: German Media Giant Will Buy Random House for $1.4 Billion
WP: Random House Sold to German Publisher

Internet
WSJ: Group Contests Plan to Dispense Domain Names
WSJ: Williams Cos. Sues WorldCom Alleging Network Deal Broken

Arts
NYT: Moving Beyond Country Music to a Political Stage

Spectrum
WSJ: Pocket and U.S. Agree On Plan to Allow Sale Of Wireless Licenses
WP: Wireless Phone Firm to Return Licenses

Philanthropy
WP: Bankrolling an Activist Agenda

** Universal Service **

Title: Gore Ties Grants To Schools, Libraries To Internet Protection
Source: Wall Street Journal (A24)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The White House wants schools and libraries to develop plans to
protect children from inappropriate material on the Internet before they can
receive federal technology grants. In a speech to the Nat'l P.T.A., Vice
President Gore said that "as we connect every school and classroom to the
Internet, we must protect our children from the red-light districts of
cyberspace." Mr. Gore urged Congress to pass legislation making federal
subsidies for school and library technology contingent on such safeguards.
This spring, schools and libraries nationwide are expected to begin
receiving subsidies that will help pay for connections to the Internet
amounting to $2.25 billion a year.

Title: Furchtgott-Roth Attacks Use of State Funds For Universal Service
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: FCC Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth expanded his attack on the
FCC's role in implementing universal service to include its use of
intrastate revenues. "The legality of this approach to calculating
contributions is highly questionable," he said. In a five-page manifesto
released the day second-quarter universal service contribution factors take
effect, Furchgott-Roth defended state authority over intrastate revenues. He
said the law "makes clear" that the use of such monies "are within the
exclusive province of the states."

** Long Distance **

Title: Kennard Says FCC Already Has Provided Guidance On Section 271
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: There's little left to say on what standards Bell companies
need to meet to enter long distance, FCC Chairman Kennard told the Hill in a
letter Telecom A.M. obtained Mar. 23. Responding to the request of Senate
Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Brownback (R-KS)
that he lay out exactly what Bells must do, Chairman Kennard said the FCC
already has
done so in the course of prior rulemakings. He reiterated his "Golden Rule,"
a rephrasing of the Act's requirement of "nondiscriminatory access": Bell
companies don't need to achieve "perfection" in allowing competitors to sue
their facilities but must "do unto others" as they "would do unto [themselves]."

** Free Time for Candidates **

Title: FEC Rules Against Perot
Source: Washington Post (A17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/24/054l-032498-idx.html
Author: David S. Broder
Issue: Campaigns
Description: The Federal Election Commission made public yesterday a 5 to 0
decision which overruled a report by FEC general counsel Lawrence M. Noble.
Noble had charged that "the Commission on Presidential Debates and the Dole
and Clinton campaigns had violated the law by their actions in excluding
Perot and the Natural Law party candidate, John Hagelin," in the final
televised debate of the 1996 campaign. No explanation was provided for
yesterday's ruling, but FEC officials said one would be forthcoming.

** Mergers **

Title: Bertelsmann to Buy Random House
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Patrick M. Reilly & Greg Steinmetz
Issue: Mergers
Description: German media giant Bertelsmann AG rocked the publishing world
with plans to buy Random House, Inc. The two companies would combine into a
super-power that would dominate book publishing and wield enormous clout
over retailers, agents, and Hollywood. Bertelsmann and Advanced
Publications, owner of Random House, didn't release terms of the deal. But
Wall Street insiders estimate Bertelsmann is paying between $1.2 billion and
$1.4 billion. The purchase could also help Bertelsmann's chances of becoming
a major force on the Internet. The deal is already prompting some
predictions that Random House's new power will lower the prices authors
receive for their books.

Title: German Media Giant Will Buy Random House for $1.4 Billion
Source: New York Times (A1,D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/random.html
Author: Doreen Carvajal
Issue: Merger
Description: The German media giant, Bertelsmann, struck an estimated 41.4
billion deal yesterday to buy the "shiny crown jewel of American
publishing," Random House. The deal will increase Bertelsmann's share of the
$21 billion total book market in the U.S from nearly 6 percent to 10
percent. "It's as if the New York Yankees were sold," said Paul Aiken, the
executive director of the Authors Guild. "We're losing one of the major
players at a time when there's been a great deal of concern about
consolidation and fear of book contract cancellations. Our fear is that with
this sort of situation they're going to look for efficiencies and some ways
to cut costs." The merger further increases the power of Bertelsmann, which
currently ranks as the world's third-largest media conglomerate, behind
Disney and Time Warner.

Title: Random House Sold to German Publisher
Source: Washington Post (A1,A9)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/24/071l-032498-idx.html
Author: David Streitfeld and Paul Farhi
Issue: Merger
Description: Bertelsmann, the German media conglomerate, announced yesterday
that it would buy Random House, the "largest and most prominent" American
book publisher, from billionaire S.I. Newhouse. The agreement, estimated to
be worth $1.6 billion, marks another step towards the consolidation of
companies in the publishing industry. Following this deal, only seven major
New York publishing houses will be left -- four owned by foreign conglomerates.

** Internet **

Title: Group Contests Plan to Dispense Domain Names
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Rebecca Quick
Issue: Internet
Description: A nonprofit group of Internet experts is challenging a U.S.
gov't. proposal to change the way the addresses are doled out. The Internet
Council of Registrars, known as CORE, has expressed disagreement with the
government proposal in the past, but yesterday it spoke out more defiantly.
"The Internet doesn't need a plan for the U.S. government to get out of
domain name oversight... it just needs the U.S. government to quietly step
aside," said Alan Hanson, chairman of CORE's exec committee. The Clinton
administration's proposal would create a not-for-profit corporation to
oversee domain names. It would also allow the creation of five new top-level
domain names, a move intended to ease a growing shortage of available names.

Title: Williams Cos. Sues WorldCom Alleging Network Deal Broken
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Legal Issues/Infrastructure
Description: Williams Cos. sued WorldCom alleging that the big
telecommunications company reneged on several provisions of an agreement
that allows Williams to use a strand of WorldCom's fiber-optic network.
Williams accused WorldCom of failing to comply with key elements of the
agreement, which the companies signed when Williams sold its WilTel
fiber-optic network to WorldCom in 1995 for $2.5 billion. The suit seeks
unspecified compensatory damages and a declaratory judgement ordering
WorldCom to comply with the agreement. Under the agreement, Williams can't
use the strand to compete with WorldCom in certain businesses, including
retail long-distance. But Williams contends that WorldCom has disputed
Williams' right to use the line for Internet traffic. Williams alleged that
WorldCom did so "for purposes of jeopardizing and thwarting" Williams'
relationships with its Internet customers.

** Arts **

Title: Moving Beyond Country Music to a Political Stage
Source: New York Times (3/23/98-B1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/arts-czar.html
Author: Peter Applebome
Issue: Arts
Description: Bill Ivey, who was nominated last month by President Clinton as
chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts, is described by those who
know him as a man who has "a folklorist's heart, an academic's head and a
politician's gut: all qualities he may need at the arts endowment." "Bill
Ivey's genius is that he has been able to speak a variety of different
languages," said Bruce Feiler, author of "Dreaming Out Loud: Garth Brooks,
Wynona Judd, Wade Hayes and the Changing Face of Nashville." "He speaks
politics, he speaks money, he speaks art, and he speaks academics, and those
are all skills he's going to need in Washington. He's a liberal-minded
intellectual who has managed to thrive in a conservative culture, all of
which makes him an ideal person to come to the NEA today." Ivey has declined
to talk about some of the endowment's more controversial issues, saying that
it is not appropriate to comment on matters that will surely come up at his
confirmation hearings, which have yet to be scheduled. But even if his stand
on issues have yet to be clarified, his stand on a Federal role in the arts
is clear. Ivey says that he is a strong believer in a government role for
the arts and is optimistic that the coming millennium will provide an arena
to increase public awareness of, attention on and interest in the nation's
artistic heritage and future.

** Spectrum **

Title: Pocket and U.S. Agree On Plan to Allow Sale Of Wireless Licenses
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Pocket Communications and the federal gov't. agreed on a
reorganization plan under bankruptcy proceedings that would allow Pocket's
wireless licenses in the Chicago and Dallas markets to be sold. Under the
plan, a yet-to-be-determined company with financial backing from five
communications companies would buy Pocket's 14 wireless-communications
licenses for $359 million. The five companies are Ericsson Inc., Siemens
Telecom Networks, Pacific Eagle Investments, Masa Telecom Inc., and Masa
Telecom Asia Investment. The plan requires bankruptcy-court approval. It
would untangle Pocket's licenses from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and
let the FCC sell the company's spectrum without losing money. Pocket won the
licenses as part of the FCC's so-called C-block auctions of wireless
spectrum two years ago.

Title: Wireless Phone Firm to Return Licenses
Source: Washington Post (C2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/24/026l-032498-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Spectrum
Description: Pocket Communications Inc., a cellular phone company based in
Washington DC, bid $1.4 billion in 1996 auctions to win 43 wireless
licenses. Due to Pocket's inability to pay for them, Pocket, along with its
license-owning subsidiary DCR PCS Inc., will return many of the licenses
back to the federal government and hand the rest over to a new company.
These steps are part of a bankruptcy settlement announced yesterday by the
Federal Communications Commission. The agreement helps to clear up "the most
embarrassing chapter in the FCC's auction program, the 1996 competition for
so-called C-Block licenses. Bids went sky-high to a total of $10.2 billion,
but afterward many of the winners went back to the commission saying they
could not raise the money necessary to pay for the license and build
businesses."

** Philanthropy **

Title: Bankrolling an Activist Agenda
Source: Washington Post (A17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/24/105l-032498-idx.html
Author: Judith Havemann
Issue: Philanthropy
Description: Paul C. Light, director of Pew Charitable Trusts, is heading up
one of the most activist philanthropic agendas in the nation. Light was
recruited in 1995 to invest foundation resources in "bold political, news
media and administrative experiments to ameliorate," what Pew Trust
President Rebecca W. Rimel calls, a "democratic crisis" in America. Since
that time, Light has "pushed to improve political campaign consulting,
campaign finance and campaign discourse. He has funded an experiment with
campaign codes of conduct, financed a training program for political
candidates and studied the role of polling as well as the sources of
declining trust in government. He has attempted to assess the results of
civic journalism and to encourage civic engagement." As a professor at the
Univ. of Minnesota, a writer at the Brookings Institute, author of 10 books
and innumerable articles, and now with his position at Pew, Paul Light has
become one of the "best-known" scholars on government. "Paul Light is the
most original thinker in the field of public administration today," said
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). For many years "everybody has been
starting up institutes on policy. But policy doesn't get you very far if you
can't make it work," he said.
*********

PROVIDED COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL EXCHANGE CARRIER ASSOCIATION, INC.
www.neca.org

Universal Service Update

United States Telephone Association (USTA) President and CEO Roy Neel stated
that USTA will "fight to the end" to ensure that recently added language to
an appropriations bill passed earlier this week does not require the Federal
Communications Commission to fund the new universal service schools,
libraries and rural health care programs with money freed up from reductions
in interstate access charges exclusively. Mr. Neel's remarks were given
during a press conference yesterday in Washington. The language, introduced
by Senator Ted Stevens, would require the FCC to make an estimate of
expected reductions in access charges, predict rates-of-return for various
incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), and to provide a "complete
explanation and accounting for any headroom claimed to be available to an
ILEC whose actual rate of return is greater than 11.25%."

Neel said he "does not think that is a reasonable way to fund the subsidy
program for schools and libraries." Senate staffers told Neel that it is
"just a study," but Neel said USTA was "working hard to reeducate Congress"
against funding the programs through reductions in access charges.

Also, NECA was kind enough to inform Headlines staff about an incorrect
posting on March 18.

Title: Senate Appropriations Approves Bill Changing Universal Service
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill yesterday
that "would require the FCC to propose by May 8 a revised administration for
its new universal
service programs and explain and justify their funding mechanisms. Citing the
General Accounting Office's finding that the FCC overstepped its legal
authority in creating the current structure, the bill would require the
Commission to
replace the three universal service organizations -- the Universal
Service Administrative Company (USAC) and its subsidiaries, the Rural Health
Care
Corporation and the SLC -- with a single entity." The bill also would require a
report detailing how the programs will be paid for.

NECA informs us that the legislation would fold the Rural Health Care
Corporation and the Schools and Libraries Corporation into one entity, but
USAC would remain separate.

The legislation in question is S.1768 -- the 1998 Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations Act for Recovery From Natural Disasters, and for Overseas
Peacekeeping Efforts. Section 2004 of the bill appears below:

SEC. 2004.
PROVISIONS RELATING TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC
INSTITUTIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS USERS. (a) NO INFERENCE REGARDING EXISTING
UNIVERSAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE MECHANISM- Nothing in this section may be
considered as
expressing the approval of the Congress of the action of the Federal
Communications Commission in establishing, or causing to be
established, one or more corporations to administer the schools and
libraries program and the rural health care provider program under section
254(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.254(h)), or the approval
of any provision of such programs.

(b) FCC to Report to the Congress-

(1) REPORT DUE DATE- Pursuant to the findings of the General Accounting
Office (B-278820) dated February 10, 1998, the Federal Communications
Commission shall, by May 8, 1998, submit a 2-part report to the Congress
under this section.

(2) REVISED STRUCTURE- The report shall propose a revised structure for
the administration of the programs established under section 254(h) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)). The revised structure shall
consist of a single entity.

(A) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAMS- The entity proposed by the
Commission to administer the programs--

(i) is limited exclusively to the ministerial acts of processing the
applications necessary to determine eligibility for discounts under section
254(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.254(h)) as determined by
the Commission;

(ii) may not administer the programs in any manner that requires that
entity to interpret the intent of the Congress in establishing the programs
or interpret any rule promulgated by the Commission in carrying out the
programs.

(B) APA REQUIREMENTS WAIVED- In preparing the report required by this
section, the Commission shall find that good cause exists to waive the
requirements of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to the extent
necessary to enable the Commission to submit the report to the Congress by
May 8, 1998.

(3) REPORT ON FUNDING OF SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES PROGRAM AND RURAL HEALTH
CARE PROGRAM- The report required by this section shall also provide the
following information about the contributions to, and requests for funding
from, the schools and libraries subsidy program:

(A) An estimate of the expected reductions in interstate access
charges anticipated on July 1, 1998, including individual estimates of--

(i) the value of the current price cap formula, excluding the `g'
(growth) component;

(ii) the value of the `g' (growth) component;

(iii) the value of the exogenous cost component;

(iv) the amount of available headroom; and

(v) the amount of reductions for incumbent local exchange carriers
still subject to rate-of-return regulation.

(B) The 1997 interstate rate of return for each incumbent local
exchange carrier subject to price cap regulation;

(C) Based on the information in subparagraphs (A) and (B), a complete
explanation and accounting for any headroom claimed to be available to an
incumbent local exchange carrier whose actual rate of return is greater than
11.25 percent.

(D) An accounting of the total contributions to the universal service
fund that are available for use to support the schools and libraries program
under section 254(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h))
for the second quarter of 1998.

(E) An accounting of the amount of the contribution described in
subparagraph (D) that the Commission expects to receive from--

(i) incumbent local exchange carriers;

(ii) interexchange carriers;

(iii) information service providers;

(iv) commercial mobile radio service providers; and

(v) any other provider.

(F) With regard to incumbent local exchange carriers--

(i) the amount of the contribution for universal services under
section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) that will be
recovered from subscribers; and

(ii) the amount that will be passed on to interexchange carriers
in the form of increased access charges, the access and end-user rate
elements in which any increase in incumbent local exchange carrier
contributions will be reflected, and an explanation of why this method of
cost recovery is consistent with the goal of competitive neutrality set
forth in section 254(d) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 254(d)).

(G) Based on the applications for funding under section 254(h) of
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)) received as of April 15,
1998, an estimate of the costs of providing universal service support to
schools and libraries under that section disaggregated by eligible services
and facilities as set forth in the eligibility list of the Schools and
Libraries Corporation, including--

(i) the amounts requested for costs associated with
telecommunications services;

(ii) the amounts requested for costs described in clause (i)
plus the costs of internal connections under the program; and

(iii) the amounts requested for the costs described in clause
(ii), plus the cost of internet access.

(H) A justification for the amount, if any, by which the total
requested disbursements from the fund described in subparagraph (G) exceeds
the amount of available contributions described in subparagraph (D).

(I) Based on the amount described in subparagraph (G), an
estimate of the amount of contributions that will be required for the
schools and libraries program in the third and fourth quarters of 1998, and,
to the extent these estimated contributions for the third and fourth quarter
exceed the current second-quarter contribution, the Commission shall provide
an estimate of the amount of support that will be needed for each of the
eligible services and facilities as set forth in the eligibility list of the
Schools and Libraries Corporation, and disaggregated as specified in
subparagraph (G).

(J) An explanation of why restricting the basis of
telecommunications carriers' contributions to universal service under
254(a)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(a)(3)) to
interstate revenues, while requiring that contributions to universal service
under section 254(h) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 254(h)) be based on both
interstate as well as intrastate revenues, is consistent with the provisions
of section 254(d) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 254(d)).

(K) An explanation as to whether access charge reductions should
be passed through on a dollar-for-dollar basis to each customer class on a
proportionate basis.

(c) SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES PROGRAM ASSISTANCE CRITERIA- In carrying out
the schools and libraries program under paragraphs (1)(B) and (2) of section
254(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)), the Commission
shall prioritize assistance on the basis of need. In determining need under
this section, the Commission shall make funds available for distance
delivery education programs where advanced learning technologies are not
otherwise available at affordable rates.

(d) IMPOSITION OF CAP ON COMPENSATION OF INDIVIDUALS EMPLOYED TO CARRY
OUT THE PROGRAMS- No officer or employee of the entity to be proposed to be
established under subsection (b)(2) of this section may be compensated at an
annual rate of pay, including any non-regular, extraordinary, or unexpected
payment based on specific determinations of exceptionally meritorious
service or otherwise, bonuses, or any other compensation (either monetary or
in-kind), which exceeds the rate of basic pay in effect from time to time
for level I of the Executive Schedule under section 5312 of title 5, United
States Code.

(e) SECOND-HALF 1998 CONTRIBUTIONS- Before June 1, 1998, the Federal
Communications Commission may not--

(1) adjust the contribution factors for telecommunications carriers
under section 254; or

(2) collect any such contribution due for the third or fourth
quarter of calendar year 1998.

------------------------------
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Universal Service
FCC: Fact Sheet on Universal Service

Long Distance
TelecomAM: PacBell To File Long Distance Bid With California on March 31

Competition
TelecomAM: Analysts At Senate Hearing Say CLEC Gains Due To FCC Favoritism
TelecomAM: New S.D. Law Gives Telcos Freedom To Match Competitors' Offers

Spectrum
WSJ: Wireless Phones Poised to Roam World-Wide
NTIA: Interoperability Test Project

Internet
NYT: For Fanatics, Sports Webcasts
WSJ: Apache's Free Software Gives Microsoft, Netscape Fits

InfoTech
NYT: Few Answers on Monster of All Cyberbugs
WP: GAO: Year 2000 Computer Problems Persist
NYT: Forget Big Brother
NYT: Microchips Are Latest Addition To Gear For London's Marathon

Arts
NYT: Aiming Camera at Web, and Himself

Microsoft
WP: Microsoft Boosted Lobbyist Spending
NYT: As Big as Microsoft: Ribbing Gates

** Universal Service **

Title: Fact Sheet on Universal Service
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Factsheets/univers.html
Issue: Universal Service
Description: Common Carrier Bureau issues a new fact sheet to answer
questions consumers frequently ask about the FCC's Universal Service Support
mechanisms including telephone customers with low incomes; telephone
customers who live in areas where the costs of providing telephone service
is high; schools and libraries; and rural health care providers.

** Long Distance **

Title: PacBell To File Long Distance Bid With California on March 31
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: Pacific Bell is expected to file an application with California
regulators on March 31 to enter the state's long distance market. A
spokesman for parent company SBC didn't confirm the story, but said that
SBC is seeking to enter the long distance market in all seven states in its
territory "by the end of the year." After the application is filed, parties
will have 30 days to comment on it. Reply comments will be due 20 days later
and a 5-day hearing will be held two months after the filing.

** Competition **

Title: Analysts At Senate Hearing Say CLEC Gains Due To FCC Favoritism
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: Competitive local exchange carriers have raised enormous
amounts of capital and seen their stock soar because investors perceive them
as the beneficiaries of FCC favoritism and arbitrage opportunities.
Financial analysts told a Senate panel at a hearing of the Communications
Subcommittee that situations shouldn't be confused with real, sustainable
competition and that most consumers will never see improvement until rate
structures and universal service are reformed.

Title: New S.D. Law Gives Telcos Freedom To Match Competitors' Offers
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow has signed a bill allowing large
telephone companies to match the promotional price and service offers of
their local and interexchange competitors without seeking regulatory
approval. Under HB-1160, a telephone carrier is free to introduce
promotional rates and service terms "necessary to meet competition" and keep
them in place for as long as the competition does. This law, which takes
effect July 1, also prohibits an increases in basic local exchange rates for
large telcos. Local rates can be cut, but once cut cannot return to their
former level. This provision doesn't apply to temporary promotional rates.

** Spectrum **

Title: Wireless Phones Poised to Roam World-Wide
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Elizabeth Jensen
Issue: Wireless
Description: In the next few months, several companies, taking advantage of
shrinking electronics, plan to introduce phones that will work in the U.S.
as well as in much of Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia. That
means U.S. travelers to Europe or Asia won't have to rent a handset when
stepping off the plane. All those numbers stored electronically will travel
with them as well. The new phones work on the digital GSM (Global System for
Mobile Communications) technology. The multiband phones are necessary
because not all GSM systems operate on the same radio frequency. European
and Asian GSM is available on the 900 megahertz and, in some places, the
1,800 megahertz frequencies, while in the U.S., GSM is found on the 1,900
megahertz frequency.

Title: Interoperability Test Project
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/wisconsi.htm
Issue: Spectrum
Description: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA), working with the Department of Defense (DoD), signed an agreement to
authorize the state of Wisconsin to use federal radio frequencies to test a
shared land mobile trunking communications system that will greatly
facilitate communication during emergencies as well as during day-to-day
communications. For more information contact Paige Darden 202-482-7002 or
pdarden( at )ntia.doc.gov.

** Internet **

Title: For Fanatics, Sports Webcasts
Source: New York Times (E9)
http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Internet Content/Lifestyles
Description: For sports fans separated from their favorite team by distance,
the Internet is offering a new version of live coverage. ESPN Sportszone,
CBS Sportsline and other websites offer a new way to watch a game unfold.
Although the medium does not offer the excitement of being there or even
watching a game on TV, fans are delighted nonetheless. "We've built the
Edsel," says CBS Sportsline Executive Producer Ross Levinsohn. "This is the
forebear to the Rolls-Royce, which is still three to six years away." Check
out these sites: ESPN Sportszone http://espn.sportzone.com/; CBS
Sportsline http://www.cbssportsline.com/; Total Sports
http://www.totalsports.com/; or NCAA Final Four
http://www.finalfour.net/. [Maybe I don't have to move back to Chicago to
follow the Cubs after all.]

Title: Apache's Free Software Gives Microsoft, Netscape Fits
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jared Sandberg
Issue: Online Services
Description: The epic struggle between Netscape and Microsoft over software
for the World Wide Web is a well-chronicled David vs. Goliath tale. But both
companies are losing business to a rival product few people have ever heard
of: Apache. Among the vast features of this little-known program is one that
is particularly hard to resist: It is entirely free. Apache, it turns out,
doesn't come from a company at all. It's the loving labor of a loose
confederation of programmers who wanted to build a better way to serve up
Web pages to the millions of people who want to see them. "Direct
remuneration itself wasn't an interest," says Brian Behelendorf, one of the
chief organizers of the Apache Project. "We needed a better server for our
own purposes, and we wanted to take our future into our own hands."

** InfoTech **

Title: Few Answers on Monster of All Cyberbugs
Source: New York Times (A19)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/031998millennium.html
Author: Matthew L. Wald
Issue: Computers/Year 2000 Bug
Description: On Wednesday, high-ranking government auditors warned a joint
House hearing of two technology subcommittees, that some government
functions are likely to be disrupted at the end of century due to the Year
2000 bugs in their critical computer systems. A count by the Office of
Management and Budget in mid-February found that only 35 percent of
computers that are critical for agencies to function have been checked and
adjusted. According to witnesses, it took two years to complete this task
and there are 3,500 computers to fix in the next 21 months.

Title: GAO: Year 2000 Computer Problems Persist
Source: Washington Post (A19)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/19/143l-031998-idx.html
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Stephen Barr
Issue: Computers/Year 2000 Bug
Description: Gene L. Dodaro, the General Accounting Office's assistant
comptroller general, issued a warning yesterday that several federal
agencies are still not moving fast enough to fix their computers systems so
they will work when the year 2000 roles around. He predicted that despite a
likely last minute push, some agencies will not be able to complete the
adjustments in time, increasing the possibility of problems ranging from the
grounding of airplanes to the issuing of Medicare checks every month. "At
the current pace, it is clear that not all mission critical systems will be
fixed in time," Dodaro told the two House technology subcommittees. His message
was bleak and raised the possibility of government computer failures
spilling over into the private sector. "America's infrastructures are a
complex array of public and private enterprises with many interdependencies
at all levels," he said.

Title: Forget Big Brother
Source: New York Times (E1,E6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/circuits/articles/19data.html
Author: Peter H. Lewis
Issue: Privacy
Description: Nearly everywhere we go these days, computers record small bits
of data that could be accessed by just about anyone if they are interested
enough. Each day we make these bargains of convenience, trading in our
privacy for a little extra time, be it at the ATM, local service station or
logging onto the Internet. Many people accept this as part of growth in the
information age. Yet do we act differently knowing that we are under almost
constant surveillance of one type or another? Maybe in the process of
worrying about George Orwell's totalitarian Big Brother, we forgot to pay
attention to the multitude of "tattletale busybodies." In 1958, Supreme
Court Justice William O. Douglas wrote, "Freedom of movement is basic in our
scheme of values." And yes, we do have an exceptional ability to move freely
about. But don't count on moving about anonymously unless you plan on paying
by cash and traveling by car -- or better yet walking. Marshall McLuhan, the
media critic, wrote about the electronic Global Village in the 1960's. He
was referring to television, which he thought would link people around the
world into something "resembling a tribal community." While many of
McLuhan's ideas have been challenged, "modern McLuhanites would say computer
networks have had more to do with any return to tribalism than, say,
'Baywatch.' But in our current information revolution, the electronic Global
Village may still be a useful metaphor -- for all those nosy neighbors."

Title: Microchips Are Latest Addition To Gear For London's Marathon
Source: New York Times (E4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/circuits/articles/19feet.html
Author: Andrew Ross Sorkin
Issue: Lifestyle
Description: Runners in this year's 26.2 mile London Marathon will have to
attach a small microchip to one of their shoelaces. The chip dubbed the
Championchip, which is the size of your thumbnail and weighs only three
grams, is a tiny tracking device designed by Champions Worldwide, a Dutch
timing company. Each chip carries the racer's personal data, including
number and running club. As each runner crosses over strategically placed
mats throughout the course, information is sent to a computer system that
calculates how fast the runner is going. "The system that we are using means
stewards won't have to read the runners' bar codes to give exact finishing
times, even when numerous runners arrive within milliseconds of each other,"
said Martin Trees, marketing director of the London-based unit of Electronic
Data Systems, which will run the tracking system. The chips, which run about
$33 each, will be owned by the marathon.

** Arts **

Title: Aiming Camera at Web, and Himself
Source: New York Times (E3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/circuits/voices/19doug.html
Author: pamela LiCalzi O'Connell
Issue: Art
Description: Documentary film maker, Doug Block, is working on a new film
called "Home Page." What makes this film different from his past works is
that it is an account of how the World Wide Web and personal home pages
inspired Block to re-examine the "important" connections in his life. In an
interview, Block said that societies interest in personal home pages
"reflects our navel-gazing, media-saturated, everyone-can-be-a-celebrity
cultures, but it also vividly illustrates people's need to connect to others
at a time when the institutions, rituals and communities that previously
connected us are disappearing." "Home Page" will make its debut in a film
festival this fall.

** Microsoft **

Title: Microsoft Boosted Lobbyist Spending
Source: Washington Post (C5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/19/176l-031998-idx.html
Author: Reuters
Issue: Lobbying
Description: Newly disclosed reports to the government show that the
Microsoft Corp. significantly increased its efforts to influence federal
policy makers as it became entangled in a legal battle with the Justice
Department. In the second half of 1997, Microsoft spent $1.2 million,
attempting to influence Congress and the Clinton administration. That figure
is almost double the $660,000 the corporation spent in the first half of the
year. These figures were compiled for Reuters by the Campaign Study Group,
using the latest reports to the Federal Election Commission and the House of
Representatives.

Title: As Big as Microsoft: Ribbing Gates
Source: New York Times (E5)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/circuits/articles/19micr.html
Author: Michel Marriott
Issue: Lifestyles
Description: Okay, who out there is starting to get tired of reading (and
writing) about Bill Gates and Microsoft practically every day? Well, now you
have the opportunity to sit back, relax and have some fun with "Gates gags."
What are "Gates gags" you ask? They are "digitalized barbs flung playfully
across cyberspace at the expense of the billionaire computer icon Bill Gates
and the ubiquitous goods of his software company, Microsoft." You can tag
these barbs with another name, but regardless of what you call them, mockery
of the two is flourishing in email exchanged, on the Web and on commercially
available CD-ROM's. You have to know someone with the email attachment "Pie
Bill Gates" to enjoy partaking in a computerized version of the Brussels
cream pie incident. But you can download your very own "babygates" screen
saver as well as have fun dressing a digitalized Gates up in "fanciful
outfits." Just click on the above link and find your fancy at the end of the
article. (To borrow a disclaimer quote from one of these games created by
someone called "The Imposter:" "No offense is meant by this [news summary];
it was simply created just for fun, no other reason.)
*********

Universal Service
TelecomAM: States Ask FCC To Cooperate More On Universal Service Reform

Long Distance & Competition
TelecomAM: McCain Introduces Bill To Allow Bell Companies Into Long Distance
TelecomAM: Burns Urges FCC to 'Act Expeditiously' to Ease Regulation
TelecomAM: Dewine Says His Subcommittee Will Be Telecom 'Player'
TelecomAM: Powell Highlights Regulatory Philosophy To Investors
TelecomAM: MCI Uses 'Ivan' Campaign To Highlight Lack of Competition

Security
WSJ: Scam Aimed at Corporate Phone Systems Receives a Big Warning on the
Internet

Television
NTIA: The Unconstitutionality of Federally Mandated "Free Air Time"

Campaign Finance Reform
WP: Cincinnati Case to Address Constitutionality of
Campaign Fund Caps
WP: Get Ready for the 'Issue Ads'

Minorities/Jobs
FCC: Creating Conditions for Positive Change

Computer Industry
WP: Study Calls Chip Key Economic Driver
NYT: Internet Is Expanding Arms Race With Junk E-Mail
NYT: Overcoming Skepticism, French Plan All-Out Internet Celebration

Microsoft
WP: Special Advisor Was Leaning Against Microsoft
WSJ: Microsoft Probe Expanded to Cover Sun's Java

Mergers
WP: Alltel Plans $4 Billion Acquisition
NYT: Alltel to Buy Big Carrier of Cellular Calls
WP: Computer Associates' Bid for CSC Expires
WP: Ciena Stock Gains on News of Sprint Contract

** Universal Service **

Title: States Ask FCC To Cooperate More On Universal Service Reform
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The FCC should allow state regulators on the Federal-State
Joint Board to review decisions that change the universal service program,
state members of the panel told the FCC Mar. 11 in a petition. State
regulators called for more input on: 1) whether the FCC should fund only 25%
of the subsidy and leave the remaining "shortfall" to the states; 2) whether
the federal part of the subsidy should be applied only to reducing
interstate access charges; 3) what should be used for collecting and
distributing funds to the states; and 4) what role the FCC should have in making
the subsidy explicit. The state regulators said none of those items were
considered by the Joint Board before the FCC adopted them, yet all four
"will have a significant and direct impact on state policy."

** Long Distance & Competition **

Title: McCain Introduces Bill To Allow Bell Companies Into Long Distance
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Long Distance
Description: Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ)
introduced his
promised bill to free Bell companies from the Telecom Act's restrictions --
including the ban on long distance service -- within one year.
In its findings, the Telecommunications Competition Act of 1998 says that
"existing regulatory devices no longer work" and that antitrust issues
should be handled by the Justice Dept., with the FCC confined to "the
regulatory perspective."

Title: Burns Urges FCC to 'Act Expeditiously' to Ease Regulation
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Regulation
Description: Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns (R-MT)
has urged the FCC to "act expeditiously" on Bell company petitions for eased
regulation of advanced network infrastructure. In a letter to FCC Chairman
Kennard, Sen. Burns said he shares US West's concern that "it may never make
economic sense" for the company to provide Internet back bone service under
the restrictions currently placed on Bell companies. He said there is "no
question" that Section 706 of the Telecom Act authorizes the FCC to grant
regulatory relief.

Title: Dewine Says His Subcommittee Will Be Telecom 'Player'
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Mike Dewine (R-OH)
intends his panel to be an important "player" in the telecom industry.
Dewine said his subcommittee won't introduce new legislation, but will use
its oversight powers on "issues that aren't being looked at or aren't being
looked at in as thorough a manner as we might want." As examples of how it
will proceed, Dewine pointed to his draft of a bill to break up Bell
companies, which he said has sparked new dialogue with the companies,
forcing them to talk about the Section 271 process.

Title: Powell Highlights Regulatory Philosophy To Investors
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Regulation/Competition
Description: FCC Commissioner Powell outlined his ideas for telecom
regulation that his aides said highlights some major themes of his term.
Powell said the FCC should renew faith in the free market, shift focus to
encouraging innovation, prepare for the end of the current regulatory
regime, and begin to regulate "efficiently." Powell said that technological
changes require the FCC to change its "balkanized regulatory framework"
because technology has eroded and will soon eliminate the "legal, economic
and conceptual boundaries" of communications media.

Title: MCI Uses 'Ivan' Campaign To Highlight Lack of Competition
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Competition/Advertising
Description: MCI announced a new advertising campaign, using a character
named "Ivan" to show that Bell Atlantic has no more competition than existed
in the Soviet bloc. In TV spots to be aired in Washington, DC, and Albany --
homes of the regulatory bodies that will decide on Bell Atlantic's long
distance application -- Ivan, dressed in parka and fur hat, says there is no
competition "where I live." Ivan then is seen standing in front of the NYC
skyline. MCI officials said the ad would inject "healthy common sense" into
what Bell companies have tried to make "a confusing legal debate."

** Security **

Title: Scam Aimed at Corporate Phone Systems Receives a Big Warning on the
Internet
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Stephanie N. Mehta
Issue: Security
Description: The scam goes like this: a caller identifying himself as a
phone-company technician -- usually from AT&T -- says he's checking the line
and needs the customer to dial "9-0" and the pound symbol. On certain phone
systems, that combination gets the caller and outside phone line, which can
then be used to make long-distance calls. An e-mail message warning
consumers of this scenario currently is making the rounds, chain-letter
style, via the Internet. Concerned recipients are forwarding copies of the
message to their friends. Big phone companies and equipment vendors say that
the scam isn't new, and that customers are immune to this particular flavor
of fraud. And most big companies have either programmed their systems to
block access to outside phone lines, or they have trained receptionists to
be wary of so-called technicians testing outside lines.

** Television **

Title: The Unconstitutionality of Federally Mandated "Free Air Time"
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/marchmtg/DeVore.htm
Author: P. Cameron DeVore, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Issue: Free Time For Candidates
Description: A Summary Prepared for The National Association of Broadcasters
for Presentation at a Meeting of the Presidential Advisory Committee on
Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters. [For a full
summary of the meeting see http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/meeting4.html]

** Campaign Finance Reform **

Title: Cincinnati Case to Address Constitutionality of Campaign Fund Caps
Source: Washington Post (A19)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/17/055l-031798-idx.html
Author: Ruth Marcus
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: In an effort to curb the ballooning cost of campaigning in
Cincinnati the city council adopted strict ceilings on what a candidate can
spend on the campaign trail -- limiting campaign expenditures to no more
than three times the annual salary for the council jobs, or about $140,000
total. Today, a federal appeals court will hear a challenge to the city's
ordinance. "What's at stake here is the question of whether the city of
Cincinnati has the right to enact reasonable spending limits to protect the
integrity of its election process," said John Bonifaz of the National Voting
Rights Institute, who will defend the law today. Bonifaz's challenge will be
the Supreme Court ruling on Buckley v. Valeo, 22 years ago. In the ruling,
the Supreme Court "rejected Congress's attempt to impose mandatory spending
limits on congressional candidates. The court in Buckley upheld the
constitutionality of contribution limits on the grounds that they were
needed to prevent the appearance and reality of corruption. But equating
political spending with speech, the court said limits on expenditures
violated the First Amendment and were not justified by the exploding cost of
elections, the corrupting influence of large contributions or the need to
equalize the financial resources of candidates."

Title: Get Ready for the 'Issue Ads'
Source: Washington Post (A21)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/17/013l-031798-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Drew
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: There are two thinly disguised campaigning phenomena that we
can all expect to see across the country this fall as parties work to get
around the contribution limits of the campaign finance law. "Issue ads" and
unlimited individual contributions, or direct contributions by labor and
corporations (including nonprofit ones), are the two destroyers -- connected
by the fact that issue ads are paid for with soft money that isn't supposed
to be used in federal campaigns. The 1996 election produced elaborate
stories that "such ads were produced by groups 'independent' of the
campaign, or political party, they were intended to help." The Federal
Election Commission and several reformers are now working to draw up a
definition of "coordination" to prevent the groups running the issue ads
from colluding with the campaigns they are trying to help. This new
phenomena leads back to the out-dated Supreme Court ruling in Buckley v.
Valeo in 1976. The court said, among other things, that it found "no threat
to the new Federal Election Campaign Act, passed in 1974, from "independent"
groups, which wasn't surprising because at that time there were no such
groups. Since then, the decision has been used by opponents of reform, who
maintain that the court made a flat equation between money and speech. It
did not. The court was actually weighing competing values -- free speech and
clean elections."

** Minorities/Jobs **

Title: Creating Conditions for Positive Change
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/spwek809.html
Author: Chairman Kennard
Issue: Minorities/Jobs
Description: Remarks by William E. Kennard to The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
"Telecommunications is now 14% of the economy -- and growing. The United
States will need 1.3 million new workers in information technology over the
next eight years. We're going to need 95,000 new computer scientists,
analysts and programmers each year....We've got work to do. Because that's
not happening today. Not when 78% of schools in affluent communities have
Internet access -- but only half the schools in low-income areas. Not when
the percentage of white children with home computers is triple the
percentage of black and Latino kids. Not when only 2.8% of the owners of the
broadcast stations in this country are minority. And the number is declining."

** Computer Industry **

Title: Study Calls Chip Key Economic Driver
Source: Washington Post (C4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/17/108l-031798-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Computer Industry/Jobs
Description: According to a study to be released tomorrow by the
Semiconductor Industry Association, U.S. companies that build computer chips
and related electronic devices created goods worth $41.6 billion in 1996.
The study was issued as part of a lobbying trip to Washington by 15
executives in the chip-making industry. The executives plan to voice their
support for "raising the ceiling on immigration and boosting funding for
research at U.S. universities" as they meet with members of the Clinton
Administration and Congress. Their argument is simple: "What helps the chip
industry will help the U.S. economy."

Title: Internet Is Expanding Arms Race With Junk E-Mail
Source: New York Times (D1,D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/17spam.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: E-Mail
Description: Sendmail, the electronic post office that is used on about 75
percent of the computers that route e-mail messages, is being fitted with a
powerful set of tools to combat spam messages. Eric Allman, Sendmail's
author, is expected to announce today the addition of anti-spam tools to
version 8.9 of the software. This move is part of Allman's plan "to create a
company that will continue to develop new features for the free version of
the program and sell software and support services to business users."

Title: Overcoming Skepticism, French Plan All-Out Internet Celebration
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/cyber/eurobytes/17euro.html
Author: Bruno Giussani
Issue: International
Description: Next Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21, will be "la Fete de
l'Internet" -- a national French celebration of the Internet. As part of the
celebrations, schools will offer parents and alumni Web tutorials, artists
will create interactive works, "net-vans" will roam the streets, politicians
will chat online with their constituencies, and companies will hand out
connection software packages for practically nothing. All of this and more
coming from the European country most "skeptical and doubtful" of this "new
form of American colonialism," as one of its ministers said last year. But
with Internet usage figures up 100 percent from last year, it appears that
France's "diatribes against the global network and the threat it poses to
the French language and culture are quickly dissolving." According to Bruno
Oudet, the president of the French branch of the Internet Society (ISOC) and
one of the people behind the festival, the turning point in people's
attitudes came last year when Lionel Jospin, the socialist Prime Minister,
endorsed the Internet in a speech saying it was crucial to business and a
cultural tool for a "responsible information society." Jospin pledged more
than a billion French francs (about $165 million) to wire schools, train
teachers, support innovative companies, ease the contact between citizens
and the administration, and help make newspapers, books and artworks
accessible on the Internet.

** Microsoft **

Title: Special Advisor Was Leaning Against Microsoft
Source: Washington Post (C4)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/17/117l-031798-idx.html
Author: David Lawsky/Reuters
Issue: Antitrust
Description: According to documents made public yesterday, Lawrence Lessig,
Harvard Law Prof. and appointed "special master" in the government's
antitrust case against the Microsoft Corp., was preparing to recommend a
ruling against Microsoft when he was temporarily removed from his post.
"Microsoft must, for a given product, leave [computer makers] free" to offer
rivals' software even if they use its Windows 95 operating system, said
Lessig in an 11-page letter to Microsoft and the Justice Department. Last
month, a federal appeals court put Lessig's job on hold, at least until late
April.

Title: Microsoft Probe Expanded to Cover Sun's Java
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: David Bank & John R. Wilke
Issue: Antitrust
Description: The Justice Dept.'s antitrust investigation of Microsoft has
expanded to include issues related to Sun's Java software. A spokeswoman for
Sun said the company received a civil subpoena from the Justice Dept. and,
separately, from several states investigating the software giant. The move
broadens the government's investigation beyond Microsoft's practices in the
market for Internet-browser software. Sun's Java software is considered a
potential competitor to Microsoft's dominant Windows operating system. Sun's
CEO, Scott McNealy, is a vocal critic of Microsoft. His company has filed a
civil suit against Microsoft alleging that it violated terms of its license
to use Java. The Sun spokeswoman said the subpoenas, "are related to the
Microsoft issue" but wouldn't detail when they were received or what
documents or information they sought.

** Merger **

Title: Alltel Plans $4 Billion Acquisition
Source: Washington Post (C1,C5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/17/104l-031798-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Merger
Description: The Alltel Corp., and independent telephone company, announced
that it will buy 360 Communications Co., a big cellular telephone carrier,
for $4 billion in stock, plus debt. The acquisition will make Alltel one of
the largest cellular companies in the United States. Alltel is about to
complete a 6,800 mile fiber-optic network that will connect all of its
service areas and estimates it will take an additional 1,800 miles of
fiber-optic to tie all of 360 Communications coverage areas into its
network. Joe T. Ford, Alltel's chairman and chief executive, said: "When the
network is complete, transport costs will be reduced dramatically, and the
traffic volume can increase substantially."

Title: Alltel to Buy Big Carrier of Cellular Calls
Source: New York Times (D3)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/alltel.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Merger
Description: Alltel's agreement to acquire 360 Communication Co. will make
Alltel a major player in the Southeastern and mid-Atlantic wireless phone
market. The combined company will serve roughly 6.5 million customers in 22
states. Approximately two-thirds of those customers would use the company's
wireless phones. Dennis E. Foster, 360 Communications' chief executive,
would become vice chairman of Alltel. "They have been a more established,
stronger company," said Foster, in regards to Alltel. "And their credit
rating's better. The interesting thing for us is there are no market
conflicts and there is great adjacency of markets."

Title: Computer Associates' Bid for CSC Expires
Source: Washington Post (C2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/17/112l-031798-idx.html
Author: Mark Leibovich
Issue: Merger
Description: Yesterday, Computer Associates International Inc.'s 9.8 billion
"hostile offer" for Computer Sciences Corp. quietly expired.

Title: Ciena Stock Gains on News of Sprint Contract
Source: Washington Post (C2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-03/17/109l-031798-idx.html
Author: Alex Dominguez
Issue: Merger
Description: The Ciena Corp. announced yesterday that it had signed a
three-year contract to provide the Sprint Corp. with fiber-optic equipment.
The fiber-optic equipment will allow Sprint to more than double the capacity
of its current network.
*********
Sorry we're late -- big day!