Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.telcom From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: telcom Fri, Mar 20 1992 Date: Fri, 20 Mar 92 05:44:41 EST Message-ID: 03-20 0000 DECISIONLINE: Telecommunications USA TODAY Update March 20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network AT&T TO REDUCE RATES: AT&T said Thursday it has reduced its rates for direct-dialed long distance calls made within Louisiana by an average of 16.5% effective March 18. Rates for AT&T intrastate business services have also been reduced. The reduction is the result of a Louisiana Public Service Commission order which reduces access charges carriers must pay Bell Companies to connect to local users. RATES ARE DOWN 44.6% SINCE 1984: Using rates that will go into effect March 18 in Louisiana, a three-minute AT&T long-distance call from New Orleans to Shreveport has been reduced to 71 cents during business hours. Since the breakup of the Bell System in January 1984, AT&T has reduced direct-dialed long distance rates 44.6% in Louisiana, which includes a 27.7% decrease within the past year. ALABAMA CUTS PHONE LINES: Budget cuts in Alabama have reduced the number of telephone lines available to state employees. Access to state long-distance phone lines from homes was cut to 4,000 employees Thursday. Four state circuits carrying 24 lines each will be disconnected Friday. FREE ASSISTANCE CALLS REDUCED: The Maryland House of Delegates passed a bill reducing from 12 to five the number of free telephone directory assistance calls allowed per year. Additional calls to "411" would cost 25 cents each. In return, C&P Telephone will reduce its basic home rates 20 cents per month. The company says it can operate more efficiently if people look up numbers themselves. FCC TO GIVE OUT HDTV LICENSES: The Federal Communications Commission plans to give 1,700 new TV licenses to TV stations as part of its program to encourage high-definition television, according to The Wall Street Journal. For each current license, a station owner would get one new one free. The new licenses would be intended for broadcasting special HDTV signals, but the stations could use them any way they wanted. ENABLE 4.5 DUE OUT: Enable has been upgraded with links to Higgins E-mail, calendaring and scheduling software; DOS and OS:2 single user and LAN support, and expanded import:export with top stand alone packages. Enable 4.5 will be available March 30. Features include easy setups for on-line databases and bulletin boards and the ability to generate modem tables. Suggested price is $795. WIRELESS BILL INTRODUCED: A bill that would allow wireless cable operators to continue to carry local broadcast signals by paying into the cable compulsory license has been introduced by House Copyright Subcommittee members Carla Moorhead, R-Calif., and Rick Boucher, D-Va. Under current rules, wireless systems do not qualify as cable systems. ROCKY MOUNTAIN EXPOSITION SET: The Colorado Chapter of the Telecommunications Association Inc. will host the 7th Annual Rocky Mountain Telecommunications Exposition April 15 and 16 at the Sheraton in Denver. The show will focus on voice and data communications technologies and services. The event costs $40 for members, $80 for nonmembers. NEW NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE: The Telcom Publishing Group has begun a new newsletter called Telephone Week. It includes news about the nation's local exchange carriers and their unregulated affiliates. It will also report on new products and services, as well as technological innovations. The cost: $667 per year. For information, call 1-800-327-7205. FAX DIRECTORY AVAILABLE: A directory for corporations and information providers who are evaluating fax as an information delivery vehicle has been published by Marketfiners. Called the Enhanced Fax Directory and Buyer's Guide, it includes comparative data for making purchase decisions. For information, call 512-343-1295. SECURITIES FAX OFFERED: DataFAX Communications Corp. of New York City has developed Automated Portfolio System. It is a real-time customized securities portfolio by fax. Callers can access the system at 1-900-88-INDEX. Each call costs $2.95. ILL. BELL UPDATES 976 SERVICE: Illinois Bell has added a new option to its 976 services which allows information providers to customize their programs and add new features. Using the new option, calls to 976 programs can now be routed over business telephone lines to call-handling equipment that is owned and operated by the information provider. Telecommunications Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM