FCC requires firms to report phone outages

Article Abstract:

Telephone companies are now required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to report outages that cause service disruptions to at least 50,000 customers for 30 or more minutes. The companies have to send a facsimile report or hand-deliver one to the FCC's Washington DC office within 90 minutes of the disruption. The new procedure could be revised into a more stringent one following a study by the FCC's Network Reliability Council on whether tighter reporting rules are necessary for disruptions to public safety or health communications, such as 911 numbers or airport communications. The Council is expected to come up with a report within two months. FCC Commissioner Ervin Duggan is concerned that the 50,000-customer standard would only cover large outages. He is pushing for a lower threshold for reporting disruptions that affect emergency services.

Regulation, admin. of utilities, United States. Federal Communications Commission, Telephone companies, Power failures, Government Agency, Telephone Company, Reports, Power Failure

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Telephone service seems on the brink of huge innovations; Baby Bells and cable firms vie to win video market and add host of services; preening for video phone call

Article Abstract:

Huge changes are looming in telephone technologies and services. Local phone companies are facing competition for the first time, chiefly from cellular service providers, and, in the near future, cable TV firms, which want regulatory permission to carry phone calls on their wires. Phone companies, for their part, are eyeing ways to provide TV programming and other new services to their customers. Fueling many of the changes is the discovery in 1991 of how to send full-motion video through phone company's existing copper wires. The discovery means that phone companies can economically phase in the costly installation of fiber optics wiring to all users. Bell Atlantic is now asking a federal court to rescind regulations barring phone companies from supplying TV programs to their customers. Interactive video systems are also on the way.

Planning, Innovations, Internet services, Cable television, Regional Bell Operating Companies, Telephone systems, Telephone System, Outlook, Future Technologies, Market Analysis, Interactive Systems, Cable Television/Data Services, Bell Regional Holding Companies

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