Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994 TAG: 9406210100
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: A11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The plan, which was filed Thursday, must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission before Bell Atlantic can begin building the networks to offer consumers broadcast channels, cable programs, shopping services and movies on demand. It also plans to offer a variety of interactive services through which customers can electronically send and receive information about health care or education using their TV sets.
Bell Atlantic, the Philadelphia parent of the Bell Atlantic-Virginia telephone company, plans to provide service to some areas as early as 1995, depending on how quickly the FCC acts, said spokeswoman Shannon Fioravanti.
The areas covered by the plan include the Tidewater and Washington metropolitan areas in Virginia, plus Baltimore, northern New Jersey, Philadelphia-Delaware Valley and Pittsburgh. The company plans to build facilities in each of these areas at the same time, but could not specify which communities in those areas would be the first to receive service.
About 3 million people should have access to the service within three years of construction.
Customers would be charged between $8 and $12 a month for a ``basic connection,'' a coaxial cable line into the home to receive the service. On top of that, consumers would pay fees for programs. The systems will have a capacity of at least 497 channels, according to the filing.
Of the nation's regional phone companies, Bell Atlantic is the most ambitious in its efforts to get into the cable television business. Earlier this year, it opened a multimillion-dollar program production and distribution center.
It was the first of only two regional Bell companies to be allowed to own video programs and deliver them directly to telephone customers. US West on Wednesday received federal court relief from a 1984 law that bars telephone companies from providing cable service.
The cable industry opposes Bell Atlantic's efforts to provide video services and has filed petitions with the FCC.
Consumer groups also have raised concerns about Bell Atlantic and other phone companies' plans to provide video services. They have alleged that only prosperous areas would be wired for service. Neighborhoods with large minority populations and poor communities would be left out, they contend.
However, Edward Young, Bell Atlantic's vice president and general counsel, said, ``This should put to rest any concern about so-called electronic red-lining. The area where the advanced services will be deployed is 36.2 percent minority in population.''
Bell Atlantic's telephone service area spans six states and the District of Columbia. Minorities make up 23.8 percent of the population in this region, the company said.
The filing carries through on Bell Atlantic's previously announced plans to build advanced telecommunication networks, capable of carrying voice, video and data in two directions, throughout its phone territory. The company's goal is to wire 8.5 million homes to the new service by 2000.
by CNB