W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA (Keith Petersen) (03/19/88)
From the Los Angeles Times, March 17, 1988...
WASHINGTON--The Federal Communications Commission plans to scrap
a proposal that would substantially increase telephone charges
for business and home computer users, sources said Wednesday.
FCC Chairman Dennis R. Patrick has concluded that, based on
strong and nearly unanimous opposition to the proposal, the plan
should be dropped, according to sources at the commission and on
Capitol Hill.
Commissioner Patricia Diaz Dennis said Patrick had not
spoken with her about a recommendation to drop the plan, but she
said she agreed with the idea.
"There's a lot on our plate right now and I don't think I'd
miss not seeing that on it," she said.
The third commissioner, James Quello, could not be reached
for comment. Patrick's office had no comment on the reports.
The commission was expected to vote in two to three months
to drop the proposal.
A decision to scrap the plan would be a victory for the
hundreds of thousands of computer users who dial into data bases
such as CompuServe and QuantumLink for a variety of information
services, like news stories and financial reports, and electronic
communication with other users.
May Delay Legislation
Users of these services flooded the FCC and Capitol Hill
with thousands of letters opposing the plan, which would add
about $4.50 an hour to the cost of hooking up to information
services.
They said the increased charges, which would double the
hourly hookup price for some information services, would drive
many of them off the computer networks and crush a fledgling
industry.
Rep. Edward J. Markey, (D-Mass.), chairman of the House
Energy and Commerce telecommunications subcommittee, said that in
light of the commission's apparent reversal on the proposal he
would delay indefinitely introduction of a bill preventing the
FCC from imposing the access charges.
But Markey said, the panel "will closely monitor the
commission's actions to ensure that these onerous charges do not
re-emerge in a new form."
The FCC had proposed extending to computer users the same
access charges now paid by long-distance companies for access to
the local phone network. But the commission found virtually no
support for the proposal, and users warned that the charges could
strangle a new industry.