Telephone And Cable

Bell Atlantic in cable TV ventureIn another sign of the accelerating clash between the telephone and cable TV industries, Bell Atlantic Corp. announced yesterday that it would team with a small New Jersey company to provide 60 channels of television over new high-capacity lines to 38,000 homes in Dover Township, N.J.The venture will be the first in which a telephone company has competed head to head against a cable television service.Fleet Finance faces 3rd lawsuitA Georgia judge ruled yesterday that thousands of borrowers may join a new class-action suit accusing Fleet Finance Inc. of unfair lending practices.

WASHINGTON -- After making scores of deals with the nation's biggest communication companies, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill yesterday that would sweep away decades of regulation for telephones, cable television and broadcasting.The vote, 81-18, eliminates the biggest remaining uncertainty behind efforts to rewrite the nation's communications laws and replace traditional regulations with open competition.The bill is broadly similar to a measure recently approved by the House Commerce Committee; that measure is considered likely to pass the full House later this summer.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration and the top federal communications regulator yesterday softened several of their key objections to a controversial bill that would let telephone companies own cable television networks.In testimony before a Senate Commerce subcommittee, FCC chairman Alfred C. Sikes and Thomas Sugrue, acting assistant secretary of Commerce in charge of telecommunications policy, strongly suggested that the administration and the Federal Communications Commission were eager to strike a bargain in the bitter political battle.

If Marylanders listen closely this year, they should be able to hear the faint sound of telecommunications monopolies crumbling.It won't be the crash of giants being toppled that you hear, but a steady chipping-away. Bell Atlantic Corp. is not going to lose a significant percentage of its business market share this calendar year. And chances are that if you're paying Company X for cable service in January, you'll still be paying the same company in December.But 1995 will be the year when the regulatory decisions of 1994 and previous years begin to take their toll on the incumbents in telephone and cable services.

WESTMINSTER - City Council members -- faced with choosing whether utility lines will be moved to the north side of the street, the alleys or placed underground -- have decided to seek citizen input on the East Main Street reconstruction plan.The special meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Westminster Fire Hall, also will hear citizen's concerns about trees, sidewalks and widening the street."This is certainly a decision where we can solicit opinions of people," Councilman Mark S. Snyder said Monday, adding that some residents have said they want the lines in the alley or underground.

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration is poised to make broad changes in communications policy and will give its support this week to legislation that would break down the legal barriers that currently separate the telephone and cable television industries.Tomorrow, Vice President Al Gore plans to give the first of two major speeches outlining this and other principles in the administration's plan for a "national information infrastructure."Broadly, Mr. Gore will support bills now pending in Congress permitting greater competition between the cable and telephone industries as well as moves to relax restrictions that bar local telephone companies from competing in the business of providing long-distance service.

WASHINGTON -- The White House is pressing for legislation to force telephone and cable television companies to install computer software on their networks that would enable law enforcement agencies to eavesdrop on phone calls and computer transmissions, Clinton administration officials said yesterday.The move, intended to preserve the law enforcement agencies' ability to conduct court-authorized wiretaps, is intended to overcome the difficulty of intercepting telephone conversations and other electronic transmissions in the on-off pulses of digital computer code, which is being used increasingly for everyday communications.

WASHINGTON -- The dysfunctional relationship between the cable television and telephone industries reached new depths this week as Bell Atlantic Corp. asked the Federal Communications Commission to punish a leading cable industry trade association for wasting the commission's time.In a filing Thursday, the Philadelphia-based phone company accused the National Cable Television Association of inundating the FCC with frivolous and repetitive challenges to Bell Atlantic's application to provide video services over its phone lines.

There's about as much ferment in the legal and strategic planning offices of communications companies these days as in their historically productive research labs. As quickly as the engineers come up with technological breakthroughs, the marketers think up ways to convert them into products and the lawyers figure out how to avoid legal obstacles.A federal court in Alexandria, Va., has raised the stakes considerably for regional telephone companies and local cable TV systems. In a case brought by Bell Atlantic, which owns C&P Telephone Co., the court ruled the phone companies had a First Amendment right to sell their own programs over their networks.

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives voted yesterday to give consumers a choice in the monopoly-dominated local telephone and cable television markets as it passed legislation to rewrite the nation's basic telecommunications law for the first time in 60 years.Two related bills sailed through the normally contentious House with thumping bipartisan majorities.The bill known as Brooks-Dingell, which would break down barriers between the local and long-distance telephone industries, carried by a 423-5 vote.

WASHINGTON -- The dysfunctional relationship between the cable television and telephone industries reached new depths this week as Bell Atlantic Corp. asked the Federal Communications Commission to punish a leading cable industry trade association for wasting the commission's time.In a filing Thursday, the Philadelphia-based phone company accused the National Cable Television Association of inundating the FCC with frivolous and repetitive challenges to Bell Atlantic's application to provide video services over its phone lines.

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives voted yesterday to give consumers a choice in the monopoly-dominated local telephone and cable television markets as it passed legislation to rewrite the nation's basic telecommunications law for the first time in 60 years.Two related bills sailed through the normally contentious House with thumping bipartisan majorities.The bill known as Brooks-Dingell, which would break down barriers between the local and long-distance telephone industries, carried by a 423-5 vote.

WASHINGTON -- The White House is pressing for legislation to force telephone and cable television companies to install computer software on their networks that would enable law enforcement agencies to eavesdrop on phone calls and computer transmissions, Clinton administration officials said yesterday.The move, intended to preserve the law enforcement agencies' ability to conduct court-authorized wiretaps, is intended to overcome the difficulty of intercepting telephone conversations and other electronic transmissions in the on-off pulses of digital computer code, which is being used increasingly for everyday communications.

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration is poised to make broad changes in communications policy and will give its support this week to legislation that would break down the legal barriers that currently separate the telephone and cable television industries.Tomorrow, Vice President Al Gore plans to give the first of two major speeches outlining this and other principles in the administration's plan for a "national information infrastructure."Broadly, Mr. Gore will support bills now pending in Congress permitting greater competition between the cable and telephone industries as well as moves to relax restrictions that bar local telephone companies from competing in the business of providing long-distance service.

WASHINGTON -- In a decision that further thickens the cloud of controversy over telephone and cable cross-ownership, federal regulators have ordered GTE to end its federally sanctioned experiment to offer state-of-the-art video services in Cerritos, Calif., with Apollo Cablevision.After granting to GTE in 1989 a five-year waiver from federal rules barring a single company from providing cable and phone service in the same community, the Federal Communications Commission rescinded its decision this week.

There's about as much ferment in the legal and strategic planning offices of communications companies these days as in their historically productive research labs. As quickly as the engineers come up with technological breakthroughs, the marketers think up ways to convert them into products and the lawyers figure out how to avoid legal obstacles.A federal court in Alexandria, Va., has raised the stakes considerably for regional telephone companies and local cable TV systems. In a case brought by Bell Atlantic, which owns C&P Telephone Co., the court ruled the phone companies had a First Amendment right to sell their own programs over their networks.

In another sign of the accelerating clash between the telephone and cable television industries, Bell Atlantic Corp. announced yesterday that it would team with a small New Jersey company to provide 60 channels of television over new high-capacity lines to 38,000 homes in Dover Township, N.J.The venture will be the first in which a telephone company hascompeted head-to-head against a cable TV service. The deal comes as the biggest cable companies begin to install technology that allows them to provide a much broader array of information and entertainment.

If Marylanders listen closely this year, they should be able to hear the faint sound of telecommunications monopolies crumbling.It won't be the crash of giants being toppled that you hear, but a steady chipping-away. Bell Atlantic Corp. is not going to lose a significant percentage of its business market share this calendar year. And chances are that if you're paying Company X for cable service in January, you'll still be paying the same company in December.But 1995 will be the year when the regulatory decisions of 1994 and previous years begin to take their toll on the incumbents in telephone and cable services.

NEW YORK -- Changes in the telephone and cable television industries are gaining a critical momentum that could soon see the two businesses offering consumers everything from ordinary telephone services to dial-up football games.The rate of change quickened Tuesday when the Southwestern Bell Corp. announced it was buying two Washington-area cable television systems. For the first time, a telephone company will be operatinga television company, a move that analysts believe will hasten the union of industries.

In another sign of the accelerating clash between the telephone and cable television industries, Bell Atlantic Corp. announced yesterday that it would team with a small New Jersey company to provide 60 channels of television over new high-capacity lines to 38,000 homes in Dover Township, N.J.The venture will be the first in which a telephone company hascompeted head-to-head against a cable TV service. The deal comes as the biggest cable companies begin to install technology that allows them to provide a much broader array of information and entertainment.