Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 23, 1993 TAG: 9311230379
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Three congressmen, Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Jack Fields, R-Texas, introduced the National Communications Competition and Information Infrastructure Act of 1993, which would make the local phone companies common carriers.
But Boucher said the bill would do much more than make local phone service competitive.
The bill would repeal the cross-ownership restrictions of the 1984 Cable Act, allowing local phone companies, such as the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. of Virginia, to offer television cable services in competition with local TV cable companies.
It would also require the phone companies to allow other would-be providers of video services to use local phone lines for a reasonable fee.
State public utilities commissions, such as the Virginia State Corporation Commission, would continue to regulate rates.
Boucher said the bill should help speed up deployment of a broad-band fiber-optic communication network around the country.
Bell Atlantic Corp., the parent of C&P, said it welcomes the competition for local service and the opportunity to enter the cable television business.
"The Markey-Boucher-Fields bill is the most positive and encouraging proposal that we've seen in this area for some time," said Aubrey Sarvis, Bell Atlantic's vice president for federal relations.
"Bell Atlantic . . . welcomes the congressional recognition that it's time for telephone companies to be in the cable business," Sarvis said. And on the day local-exchange competition goes into effect, local phone companies should, in turn, be allowed to compete for long-distance business outside current regional long-distance calling areas.
"Our feeling all along is we welcome competition, so long as we're able to compete on a level playing field," said C&P spokesman Paul Miller. "If there's going to be competition, we expect to be allowed to compete in the long-distance markets."
Sarvis said if the bill becomes law next year, it may overtake action in the courts. In August, a federal district judge in Alexandria overturned the 1984 rule barring telephone companies from providing cable television in the same areas they provide phone service.
The district court ruling and the planned merger of Bell Atlantic with Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest television cable operator, has shown Congress that if it doesn't act, it may lose its ability to help shape the telecommunications industry, Boucher said.
All the leaders of telecommunication policy in the House support the bill, ensuring its passage early next year, he said.
He expects the Senate to go along with the legislation, and for the Clinton Administration to support it.
The Newspaper Association of America, which earlier had opposed allowing phone companies to offer cable television and other information services, endorsed the bill, Boucher said, because it will allow newspapers to deliver information over phone lines. The association could not be reached Monday to confirm its endorsement.
An earlier bill introduced by Boucher would have allowed the phone companies to provide information services such as cable television but did not open up local phone service to competition.
But with the advances in technology and the combinations in the industry, such as the proposed Bell Atlantic-TCI merger, introducing competition into local phone service makes sense, he said.
The proposed bill would require that 75 percent of a phone company's network be open for use by competitors. The remaining 25 percent would be more than adequate for the phone company's own use, considering modern technology, Boucher said.
Many of the provisions of the bill still need "fine-tuning," and will be changed following participation of the public, Boucher said.
Boucher said he wants to make sure that the final legislation contains provisions that would require the same equal access to cable television networks that it requires of local phone networks.
To ensure that universal service continues to be provided to phone customers in rural areas where it is not profitable, the legislation requires that all providers of telecommunication services pay their fair share of the cost of universal service.
The legislation contains other provisions to ensure access digital technology in rural areas and access for the handicapped to the most modern services. It also prohibits buyouts of cable systems by phone companies within a phone company's own service territory.
\ KEY PROVISIONS OF THE BILL
Ban on telephone companies providing cable television service would be repealed with certain safeguards.
Phone companies would be required to form separate subsidiaries to provide cable television, preventing the possibility of phone customers' subsidizing cable television business.
A federal-state board would be created to ensure that universal phone service is preserved, requiring all telecommunications providers to contribute to its cost.
The Federal Communications Commission would study how universal service is to be expanded to include digital services where feasible.
Phone companies would become common carriers, providing a "video dial tone" so any programmer could transmit video over their networks.
Any state laws prohibiting competition for local phone service would be pre-empted.
FCC would set standards to ensure access to advanced services by the handicapped.
Any provider of telecommunications services would have access to local phone networks for a reasonable fee.
FCC could exempt small and rural phone companies from access requirements where public interest would not be served.
FCC would study rural phone service.
Standards would be set to ensure the interworking of public and private telecommunications networks for voice, data, fax, multimedia and video.
by CNB