Intense lobbying-both for and against-on a bill that would allow the Baby Bells to offer long-distance data services continued last week as action occurred or was announced in the House and the Senate. The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill the Bells saw as friendly. Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), the new chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and a well-known opponent of the Baby Bells, has scheduled a hearing on local competition for Wednesday.
The United States and China after 14 years of negotiations have reached a trade agreement that should clear the way for China to join the World Trade Organization.
The new chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Timothy J. Murris, said last week at the Second Annual Conference of the American Antitrust Institute that he expects more continuity with the Clinton-era FTC than conflict. Murris said that Robert Pitofsky had a “coherent, principled vision for the [FTC] and was able to implement it.”
A recent deal between Telefonos de Mexico and WorldCom Inc. could lead to the end of a WTO dispute between the United States and Mexico, said Rich Mills, spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative. Telemex and WorldCom reached a deal late last month on the fees international carriers charge each other for completing calls. These fees are known as settlement rates.
The United States Telecom Association tapped the head of the American Trucking Association to be its new chief executive officer. Walter B. McCormick Jr. replaces Gary Lytle who has been acting as interim CEO since the departure of Roy Neel last year. “In hiring Walter McCormick as USTA’s President & CEO, we are bringing someone to USTA with broad experience in telecommunications policy, regulation, and government affairs, strong management and proven leadership to the job of executing our organization’s bold strategic plan to become the forum where the telecommunications industry comes together,” said USTA Chairman Michael R. Coltrane.
Compiled from various news sources.
