
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 28, 1995                   TAG: 9507280036
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INTERACTIVE AGE

WRITERS OF popular entertainment envision computer technology capable of putting their heroes on a plane of virtual reality so real that their fantasies could kill them if they are not careful - not to mention smart, courageous, strong and good-looking. The stories can be fun, but they're pure fairy tales.

Writers of business plans envision interactive computer networks capable of allowing users to access games and movies on demand, tap into interactive health-care videos and take advantage of home shopping and "distance learning."

These latter possibilities aren't fairy tales. They are possible - nay, probable. But wiring whole communities for interactive consumerism is proving a greater challenge than even huge, well-capitalized operations like the Baby Bells and Time Warner had counted on.

And, while telecommunications deregulation might eventually speed the rewiring of America by putting such phone and cable giants in competition, a recent Wall Street Journal report cautions that, in the short term, it could slow progress. The Bells, facing a challenge from cable companies, would have to fight against any drain on their life's blood, local phone service, while jumping into long-distance phone service, a safer venture into a field it already knows.

The path to the interactive age, on the other hand, is strewn with low-tech obstacles. Foremost is the fact that, while the Bells have a sophisticated infrastructure in place, more than 90 percent of their phone lines are copper wiring, which can't handle interactive traffic. So their impressive network has to be rewired with fiber-optic lines. This will take lots of time and money.

The Bells and their cable-industry rivals continue to promise widespread interactive service - some day. That day undoubtedly will come. But deregulators in Congress should be aware of the current talk about consumer benefits: They're being pushed farther into the future.

by CNB