The newest phone war: log on, sign up and talk is cheaper
Article Abstract:
Long-distance telephone customers can log onto the Internet to take advantage of special rates. Offers ranging from 5 to 10 cents a minute are intensifying competition for the 25 million US homes that connect to the Internet. AT&T is expected this week to announce new long-distance rates that would match MCI's recent offer of 9 cents a minute for Internet customers. Both telecommunications giants are following a deal between small long-distance provider Tel-Save Holdings and AOL. Tel-Save Holdings since Dec 1997 has offered a 9-cent-a-minute rate to AOL's 11 million on-line subscribers. America Online hopes to boost its present membership of 400,000 customers to a million by the end of Jun 1998. These programs will spark a revolution that will not only lower all long-distance rates but also raise consumer awareness of connecting the Internet and phone service, according to many industry experts.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1998
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Sprint and cable-TV partners plan $4.4 billion investment
Article Abstract:
Sprint and the partners in its cable-TV alliance, Cox Communications Inc and Comcast Corp, say they are poised to invest $4.4 billion to mount the largest challenge to date against the Baby Bells and GTE Corp. The Sprint alliance was formed in Oct 1994, to offer wireless, local and long-distance telephone services and cable-TV service to customers all under one bill. In Oct, the alliance did not specify how much money it planned to invest. The $4.4 billion is to be spread over three years and is almost double the amount MCI says it will spend to build its own local phone network. The Sprint alliance and MCI have voiced their eagerness to challenge the Baby Bell's monopoly in a local phone market estimated at $90-billion per year. Sprint and its partners are expected to use the money to jointly construct wireless networks that will serve markets with nearly 182 million people.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1995
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F.C.C. may let Bells decide when to drop access fees; aim is to cut cost of long-distance calls
Article Abstract:
The FCC unveiled Dec 24, 1996, two proposals for reducing the fees local telephone companies can charge long-distance carriers for access to customers. The FCC could dictate when the access fees will go down, or it could simply lift its regulation on these fees, letting local companies charge what they will until competitors infiltrate the market and drive prices down. Currently, these access fees total around $30 billion annually. The FCC also has decided that Internet service providers do not have to pay the same access fees as long-distance phone service providers. When the FCC decides how much these companies should pay in access fees, it will likely build in incentives for technology that moves data faster. Local telephone companies favor the market forces plan, while long-distance companies favor the FCC fee reduction timetable.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1996
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