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December 29, 1999, Wednesday NASSAU AND
SUFFOLK EDITION
SECTION: BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY;
Page A54
LENGTH: 529 words
HEADLINE: LONG ISLAND INC. / AT&T, COVAD IN COURT
TO BLOCK BELL ATLANTIC
BYLINE: Reuters, Bloomberg
News
BODY:
No. 1 long distance carrier
AT&T Corp. and Covad Communications Group Inc., a h igh-speed Internet
connections provider, yesterday went to court to prevent Bel l Atlantic Corp.
from offering long-distance telephone service in New York. The two companies
asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to overturn the
Federal Communications Commission's decision last Wednesday allowing No. 2 local
carrier Bell Atlantic into New York's $ 7 billion long- distance market.
Manhattan-based Bell Atlantic plans to begin offering service on Jan. 5,
but AT&T and Santa Clara, Calif.-based Covad asked the court to delay the
company's entry until their challenge was resolved. Under the 1996
Telecommunications Act, Bell Atlantic cannot offer long-distance voice or data
service in any of the 13 states where it offers local phone service until it
satisfies the FCC that it has opened those local networks to competitors.
After rejecting five long-distance applications from other Bell
companies, the FCC said last week that Bell Atlantic had passed the test by
giving competitors equal access to 14 key parts of the local network in New
York, ranging from the copper wires that go into each customer's home or
business to the computer software for placing orders.
Before Bell
Atlantic won long-distance authority last week, it agreed to establish a
separate data unit in New York to satisfy providers of high-speed Internet
access, such as Covad. Covad said that new unit did not go far enough to ensure
equal access to the Bell Atlantic network, a key charge made by competitors.
The FCC disagreed, saying some claims were unsubstantiated. It allowed
Bell Atlantic to become the first regional phone company to enter the
long-distance business beginning Jan. 5.
The legal challenge could also
complicate Bell Atlantic's pending acquisition of GTE Corp., a more diversified
carrier based in Irving, Texas. The FCC has not approved the merger because GTE
offers long-distance voice and Internet services that Bell Atlantic is
prohibited from owning.
-Reuters Time Warner Agrees To Carry Fox'
Signals Manhattan-based Time Warner Inc., owner of the largest U.S.
cable-television system, agreed to carry analog and digital TV signals from Fox
Entertainment Group Inc.'s 22 stations on its cable systems across the United
States.
The agreement means Time Warner Cable customers in markets where
Fox owns a station will continue to get local and national programs.
Fox
also agreed to provide Time Warner customers with its high-resolution digital
programing.
The agreement comes almost four months after AT&T, which
will become the largest U.S. cable company after it completes its pending
purchase of MediaOne Group Inc., agreed to carry the digital signals of the Fox
stations. It comes as broadcasters switch from analog to digital, which offers
better pictures and sound and more channels.
As part of the agreement,
Time Warner will provide its customers with greater access to Fox Sports World,
a 24-hour global sports channel, and FXM: Movies from Fox, which features movies
from Fox' 20th Century Fox Film library.
-Bloomberg News
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