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 27 1992 Date: Fri, 27 Mar 92 05:43:21 EST Message-ID: 03-27 0000 DECISIONLINE: Telecommunications USA TODAY Update March 27-29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network LONG-DISTANCE RATES UP: Interstate long-distance telephone rates are up for the first time since the breakup of AT&T, according to an annual survey by San Francisco-based Consumer Action released Thursday. The survey found that all three major long-distance carriers - AT&T, MCI and Sprint - increased rates for interstate calls in the past year. For example, 12 calls on AT&T cost $20.50, up 0.4% from a year earlier. INCREASES OFFSET DISCOUNT PLANS: Consumer Action says the rate increases by long-distance phone companies this year are relatively small compared with a 40% drop in rates from 1985 to 1991. Consumer Action says it believes the companies are raising rates to offset revenue lost from discount calling plans. In a comparison of 12 interstate calls, MCI calls were up 1.2% compared to a year ago. Sprint was up 3.9%. CABLE BILL INTRODUCED: Cable customers could see lower rates and better service under a bill that has been introduced in the House. Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the subcommittee that oversees cable, said his bill will be a starting point when the subcommittee meets next week. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Alfred Sikes says he expects Congress will pass a cable bill this year. (For more, see special Cable package below.) NIPPON STOCK MAY BE AVAILABLE: Japan is set to end a ban the foreign ownership of Nippon Telephone and Telegraph stock. Officials expect Japan's Cabinet to approve a bill Friday that would allow foreigners to own up to 20% in NTT, Japan's largest company. CONTRACT TALKS TO BEGIN: The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers will begin joint negotiations for new three-year contracts with AT&T on Monday in Washington, the union says. CWA represents 127,000 AT&T workers and more than 600,000 workers in the U.S. telecommunications industry. NESE GOES ON SATCOM K-1: The country's first live, regional, nighttime radio network will join the Satcom K-1 radio neighborhood on May 1. North East Satellite Entertainment and GE American Communications Inc. have signed an agreement for transmission service on the GE satellite. The contract calls for services on Transponder 7 through the mid-1990s. NESE offers live programming in a 13-state region. CELLULAR USES TALKING BILLBOARD: A talking billboard, in which drivers can listen to a message on their car radio, is part of a $500,000 ad campaign created for San Francisco's Bay Area Cellular Telephone Co. Drivers at the intersection of Stevens Creek Boulevard and Winchester in Santa Clara will see a billboard that reads "Now Hear This. Tune Your Radio to FM 91.3" By doing so, they will hear an ad pitch. CELLULAR DATA SIGNS DEAL: Cellular Data Inc. says it has signed a non-exclusive license agreement with Trible Navigation, a global positioning satellite vehicle tracking systems manufacturer. "Geographic coverage by the cellular networks provides an ideal medium for creating a nationwide data network to serve vehicle tracking application," said James M. Janky of Trible. SYNTELLECT NAMES NEW CEO: Syntellect Inc. has named Thomas R. Mayer its new CEO, effective April 6. The position was held by S. Thomas Emerson, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board. Syntellect makes interactive voice response systems. They link touchtone telephones with computer-processed vocabulary to help revolutionize the way organizations provide information. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON CABLE: BILL DESIGNED TO STOP GOUGERS: A bill introduced Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. is designed to control cable rates, create consumer protections and spark new competition to cable, he says. "At its core, this is pro-consumer, pro-competition legislation designed to rein in the renegades in the cable industry who are gouging consumers with repeated rate increases," Markey says. ASSOCIATION OPPOSES BILL: James Mooney, president of the National Cable Television Association says several provisions in Markey's bill are "at least as bad as" a recently passed Senate bill to regulate cable. "This proposal appears to be less extreme than (the Senate bill) on rate regulation, but it's difficult to ascertain with precision exactly what it does do on rates," he said. SIKES EXPECTS A BILL WILL PASS: Alfred Sikes, head of the Federal Communications Commission, says he expects Congress to pass legislation to regulate cable television rates this year. Sikes says pressure from consumers upset with rate hikes will make passage of a bill likely this election year. Sikes wouldn't say whether President Bush would sign such a bill into law. SENATE HAS PASSED LEGISLATION: Markey's proposal is the first time House lawmakers have turned to cable since the Senate killed a House-passed cable measure in 1990. The Senate approved a far-reaching cable bill on Jan. 31 to impose government regulation on some cable rates, set service standards and give local TV stations power to control the rebroadcast of their signal on cable systems. (End of package.) 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. 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