THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501130478
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
After dozens of hours of bargaining over the past month, the state's cable-TV and phone companies have finally come to the conclusion they basically expected all along: They can't all agree.
So Virginia's lawmakers will likely get a choice of two different bills that propose how to inject more competition into the state's telecommunications industry, industry leaders said Thursday.
``I thought it would be difficult to reach a compromise,'' said Dana Coltrin, an executive of Cox Cable Hampton Roads Inc. who helped lead negotiations. ``Still, I'm frustrated.''
The cable industry, long-distance phone companies and consumer groups are on one side of the issue before the General Assembly. Local-exchange phone companies, led by Bell Atlantic Corp., are on the other side.
Implored by Del. George H. Heilig Jr., a Norfolk Democrat whochairs the House Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee, the two sides negotiated until Thursday morning for a bill that they all could support.
But Coltrin and others on both sides of the issue said the effort fell short.
Now, sources said, Heilig has strongly suggested that he will introduce a bill drafted by each side and refer them to a House subcommittee to consider.
The differences are deep. Cable operators and their allies want the General Assembly to repeal a law that protects the monopolies of local phone-service providers like Bell Atlantic, and let the State Corporation Commission decide how and when to open up competition in what's known as the ``local loop.''
Cable operators point out that Bell Atlantic and other local-exchange phone companies are moving into the cable business. They say that unless cable operators are allowed into the phone business, they stand to be wiped out.
Long-distance companies, meanwhile, say that letting them provide local services will drive down prices for local calling as competition among long-distance service providers has driven down long-distance service prices.
Consumer interests, like the American Association of Retired Persons and the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, generally agree. They and the cable and long-distance companies formed a consortium called Tele-Future Virginia to strengthen their bargaining position.
But Bell Atlantic and its counterparts, like GTE Corp., dug in their heels.
They have insisted that a number of new clauses should be added to existing state laws to protect local-exchange phone companies from what they see as potential unfair advantages for upstart competitors.
Complicating the whole issue is what will happen at the federal level.
On Thursday, Sen. Larry Pressler, R-S.D., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, released a Republican plan that would break down federal barriers to competition in the telecommunications industry within three years.
The proposal would let local phone companies, long-distance companies and cable operators begin competing in each other's markets by 1998. It would lift a host of other phone and cable rules even more quickly.
Regional phone companies like Bell Atlantic were quick to applaud the proposal, which would let them get into long-distance and cable businesses sooner than proposals discussed in Congress last year. Long-distance giant AT&T Corp., though, criticized elements of the plan, saying it was too lenient on the Baby Bells. MEMO: (Bloomberg Business News contributed to this report.)
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB