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

DATE: TUESDAY, September 26, 1995                   TAG: 9509260058
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

ACCESS INEQUITY FEARED

Federal and state officials warned Monday against creating an information disparity as regulations are lifted and the communications industry becomes more competitive.

"We want to make sure that the information superhighway reaches rural America," Clarence Irving, assistant secretary of commerce for telecommunications policy, told participants in a conference at Virginia Tech, hosted by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon.

Rural Americans are behind city dwellers in access to computers and communications technology, Irving said.

Preston Shannon, chairman of Virginia's State Corporation Commission, said the concept of providing universal service, developed decades ago when AT&T became a regulated phone monoply, has relevance today as the communications industry is deregulated.

"We cannot afford to allow the development of an informational caste system of haves and have-nots," Shannon said.

Making sure his Southwest Virginia constituents have access to modern communications technology has been a priority for Boucher. Conference speakers, including government officials and executives from major communications companies, cited his role in writing a telecommunications overhaul bill that's on the verge of becoming law.

A conference committee to resolve differences between House and Senate versions is to be named this week and Boucher said he expects a bill to go to President Clinton for signing this fall. The bill opens markets for competition over a wide range of communications services. Among other things, it allows telephone companies into the cable television business and cable companies into the local telephone business.

What drives companies to take risks and provide new services is the threat of competition, said Thomas J. Morrow, president of Time-Warner Communications.

Irving said the Clinton administration has some concerns about the reform bill. It wants to ensure cable companies have competition before deregulating their rates, and opposes lifting barriers against one company owning all the media - television cable, radio, newspapers and telephone service - in smaller communities, he said.

Boucher said he would support Clinton in dealing with those concerns, adding that phone companies shouldn't be allowed into the cable TV business by simply buying cable companies.

Irving also expressed misgivings about the proposed merger of Time Warner Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System because of, among other things, the power it would give large Turner shareholder John Malone, who runs Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable TV company. "We wouldn't be earning our salary if we didn't ask these questions," Irving said. He said the Clinton administration hasn't made any decisions about challenging the deal.

by CNB