THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 8, 1996 TAG: 9610080428
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 36 lines
GTE Corp. has asked Virginia's State Corporation Commission to classify it as a rural local telephone company. If granted, GTE's rural status could make it harder for other telephone companies to offer competing local-exchange phone services in GTE's service territory.
GTE is the nation's largest local phone services provider and the second-largest in Virginia, behind Bell Atlantic Corp. But it contends its individual systems in Virginia are largely in rural areas.
The distinction is important. Under the federal telecommunication-reform bill signed into law in February by President Clinton, rural telephone companies aren't required to take many of the same steps as other local phone-services providers, like Bell Atlantic, to open their networks to competition.
With a rural exemption, GTE would have much more control over which parts of its network to lease to competing providers that want to ``resell'' local phone services to consumers. It also would have much more control over the terms by which it connects with so-called ``facilities-based'' providers, like Cox Communications Inc., that are building their own networks to compete in local-exchange service.
Cox, Hampton Roads' largest cable-TV provider, has filed an objection to the GTE request. Cox says GTE is not a rural provider, noting that the company operates in several of the state's largest metropolitan areas, including Hampton Roads. GTE has about 50,000 customers in southeastern Virginia.
The commission is expected to make a decision on GTE's request within the next several weeks. by CNB