Emboldened phone companies are pushing the frills
Article Abstract:
Several new telephone features are boosting the sales and market share of telephone companies in residential areas, but debates surround the sales and management of such services. New technology and increases in memory are spawning phone services such as Call Blocking, Select Forward and Return Call. While general residential telephone service may grow at 3.5 percent per year, the market for new features is growing at 25 percent per year. New services should generate about $300 million in revenue, and companies offering products other than telephone manufacturing and telephone services are joining the boom by merging computer services with telecommunications services. Some critics have attacked the telephone companies offering the new features, claiming that telephone companies have an unfair advantage in wooing potential customers. Voice mail companies, in particular, have complained about unfair sales practices. Caller ID is the most controversial service because companies can identify and store the incoming phone caller's number without asking for permission from the customer.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1992
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F.C.C. devising plan to license future phones
Article Abstract:
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to award a small number of radio licenses for personal communications services for use in relaying data and voice signals for two-way paging devices, advanced portable telephones, electronic organizers and palm-sized computers. The agency is currently drafting ground rules for the licenses as part of its larger effort to reassign a large segment of radio frequencies for advanced mobile communication services by the end of 1992. The plan would give two nationwide licenses and one each for about 47 large regional areas. Some agency commissioners object to the small number of licenses for such large-size markets and the radical difference of this plan in comparison to the licensing approach for cellular telephone companies.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1992
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The 'Baby Bells' as godparents
Article Abstract:
The trend towards government deregulation of the Bell regional holding companies prompts analysts to speculate that the carriers may seek investment opportunities in the small manufacturers that supply communications equipment to the holding companies. The carriers are still forbidden to make telecommunications equipment, but recent court actions and measures passed in Congress point to further deregulation. Analysts feel that the Bell holding companies may not engage in all-out acquisition of the niche-market manufacturers, but may tend to form joint ventures and invest in small companies as minority shareholders. The telephone companies are particularly interested in investing in cable companies, which they are allowed to do outside their operating regions.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1991
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