ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200074
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Bell Atlantic Corp., the dominant regional telephone company, and Cox Communications Inc., whose primary business is cable television, have agreed to connect their networks, making it possible for Cox to get into the phone business in Virginia.
Cox plans to compete with Bell Atlantic for local phone customers in the Tidewater area, where Cox already provides cable TV service.
The company, which also provides cable television services in the Roanoke Valley, said this week that it has no near-term plans to provide local phone service here in competition with Bell Atlantic.
The 1996 federal Telecommunications Act provides for local phone companies, long-distance carriers and cable television companies to compete for each other's business. Under a provision of the new law, Bell Atlantic needs competition for its local phone service before it can compete with AT&T and other companies for the long-distance business in its service area.
Bell Atlantic, based in Philadelphia and providing local phone service in parts of six Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia, said it has now signed 31 so-called interconnection agreements with 10 competing local exchange companies. "This brings us a significant step closer to bringing true competition to the long-distance business in Virginia," Hugh Stallard, president of Bell Atlantic-Virginia, said.
Cox, of Atlanta, is one of 16 companies that have already received permission from the State Corporation Commission to compete with existing local-phone companies in Virginia. R&B Communications Inc., which provides phone service to most of Botetourt County, has indicated that it plans to offer local phone service throughout the Roanoke Valley later this year.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB