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From: goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: PacTelesis Power Grab
Message-ID: <2161@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 14 Dec 89 16:02:05 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 573, message 6 of 10


In article <1863@accuvax.nwu.edu>, ktl@wag240.caltech.edu (Kian-Tat Lim) 
writes...
 
>	Pacific Telesis ran a full-page ad in today's Los Angeles
>Times.  Here's the text (there is no copyright on the ad):
 
>[Big headline]	Can you imagine living in a country that limits the
>		flow of information to its students?
 
>[Big headline]	You do....
>[Headline]	Why is the U.S. behind?
 
>	In 1984, an agreement between AT&T and the U.S. Justice
>Department split up the nationwide Bell system, forming Pacific
>Telesis and six other regional holding companies.  At that time, very
>narrow limits were imposed on the services that their phone company
>subsidiaries, like Pacific Bell, could offer.

Cute.  PacTel is simply doing the usual pressure-job on the courts.

Under the judicially-imposed regulations (i.e., the consent decree's a
settlement to an antitrust suit, and implies previous guilt), "Bell"
companies are allowed to have monopolies on local telephone service,
but are not allowed to manufacture or own information providers.  They
have to buy their goods from the free market (what's that, they
wonder?).

Indeed Naason Sanches is allowed to have information services,
available by phone.  What PacTel isn't allowed to do is sell the
information.  They can sell the access to third parties who provide
the information.  But Bells are common carriers, who carry information
for a price, and not information providers.  The court has ruled, in
effect, that if they were to be both, they'd have too much clout to
compete with other information providers.  If they really guaranteed
fairness, they'd probably be given more leeway.  (The FCC has relaxed
its rules, but the court is now the limiting factor.)

It takes time for a monopoly to learn to compete fairly.

      fred

Disclaimer:  I speak for me.  Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires 
permission.