Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 17, 1990                   TAG: 9004170468
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: T.B. JONES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LET C&P COMPETE IN CABLE TV

Under law, C&P can carry television signals for video programmers. However, C&P is barred from functioning as a full-service cable television provider. C&P would like to be a competitor in the cable TV business, and surveys show that the American public supports the idea of telephone companies entering that arena. The editorial correctly alludes to the "fetters" restraining the telephone companies from fully entering this market.

We believe that if the legal barriers were removed, we would have more of an economic incentive to speed up the deployment of the fiber-optic network that would carry the broad-band signals to customers' TV sets. There are profits to be made by programming and its associated advertising, and the capital that we raise in this way would be reinvested in fiber-optic network construction.

We believe we have a First Amendment right to offer programming. We also see the reinvestment of associated profits into the fiber network as free enterprise, as American and as fair as can be.

The editorial's contention that telephone companies could cross-subsidize fiber networks with monies from telephone customers is unrealistic. Federal and state regulators have set down rigid accounting guidelines that separate regulated and competitive products right now. If C&P were permitted to compete in the cable business, we presume that the associated accounting would most likely be governed by an extension of the present regulations, which work very well.

The allegation that allowing the telephone companies to provide television content over a fiber-optic distribution system would give the companies frightening control is mythology. The fact is that, currently, the cable television companies are operating throughout the country with virtually no competition. In the Roanoke area alone, prices for cable TV basic fees have increased significantly.

The reality is that if C&P could compete in cable TV, the public would have a broader choice of programming. This is because the telephone companies, as common carriers, are required by law to make their facilities available on a non-discriminatory basis. C&P has the expertise to upgrade its network to carry the video signals of multiple cable TV operators and independent programmers. Programming, or information content, would be available to any business person who wanted to pay for access to the fiber network.

Congressman Boucher's objective of bringing cable to rural areas would become reality in a relatively short period if the telephone company were permitted to compete in cable TV. We use fiber and the latest electronic technology to carry voice services to distribution points in remote parts of our serving area. The last step, `'fiber to the home," is being successfully tested in several locations within Bell Atlantic and other telephone companies and can be readily deployed once the barriers are removed.