SAN FRANCISCO-Uncertainty about the cellular long-distance service offered by AirTouch Communications Inc. was dissolved when the 1996 telecom bill was signed into law last week.
The telecom bill erases restrictions on activities by Baby Bells contained in the 1982 Modification of Final Judgment decree, including restrictions that may have applied to former Baby Bells. AirTouch spun off from Pacific Telesis in 1994 to avoid MFJ restrictions.
MCI Communications Corp. complained to the U.S. Justice Department in August 1994 that AirTouch should not be allowed to offer cellular long distance in its cellular markets because it fell under the 1982 decree.
While U.S. District Judge Harold Greene reviewed the matter, AirTouch reached a standstill agreement with the Justice Department, said AirTouch spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg. AirTouch was allowed to continue to offer long-distance service in the cellular markets in which it already offered the service, but it couldn’t expand into new markets.
The new telecom law lifts any hesitation and frees AirTouch to pursue the long-distance wireless and satellite service important to its strategy, Rosenberg said.
