Word: fcc
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...question Rex Harrison might ask of these super-connected '90s: Why can?t a cell phone be more like a land line? Well, the FCC is working on it, proposing new rules Thursday that would allow wireless service carriers to charge only the caller for calls, the way they do with traditional service, where simply answering the phone doesn?t cost you. It makes sense, not only karmically but commercially: By taking away one of the last financial stigmas surrounding the already ubiquitous cell phone -- Why the heck should I pay when someone else calls me? -- the wireless as bona...
...Case has that covered too. In the same week as his Microsoft deposition, the AOL boss took time out to appear on Capitol Hill to make an impassioned argument for government regulation in the cable-Internet industry. His pitch: the FCC needs to make sure that the little guys--which in his book include AOL--don't suffer if proprietorial cable services like AT&T's At Home or Time Warner's RoadRunner end up owning the online gateway. "It's a battle," Case said, "between good and evil." The FCC isn't entirely convinced, but it has agreed...
...industry aren't happy about the muscle-flexing. Consumers Union, a consumer advocacy group, plans to challenge the deal as a violation of antitrust laws and rules meant to limit concentration in the cable industry. But in an effort to let the market have its way, the FCC has temporarily stayed those rules. The deal will be pricey for AT&T: $23 billion would go to finance the cash part of the purchase. Another $1.5 billion would go to Comcast, since MediaOne has already agreed to pay Comcast $1.5 billion in breakup fees. But if the deal goes through...
Telecom customers will soon have a new weapon in the fight against "slamming," the notorious practice in which a long-distance provider swipes your account without your permission--subjecting you to big charges. Under new FCC guidelines that take effect in the next two months, slamming victims can pay their chosen carrier at normal rates instead of paying the higher, disputed bill. Also, telcos will no longer be able to make a switch just because you failed to mail back a firm "no" to their offer...
...FCC, in a study released last week, cited the billions of dollars being spent by companies like Sprint on their own high-speed voice and data networks, saying that such robust competition "will lead, in the near future, to greater deployment of this capability." In other words, more people will get better wires cheaper and faster. And that's good news...