MCI PLANS TO BUNDLE SERVICES ON ONE BILL.Byline: Jeff Pelline San Francisco Chronicle The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young.[2] The paper grew along with San Francisco to become the largest circulation newspaper on the West Coast of the The concept of ``one-stop shopping'' in telecommunications is getting a step closer. On Monday MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. Telecommunications Corp. is expected to announce plans to bundle its long-distance, paging and Internet access services into a single bill for many customers. MCI wouldn't comment, but industry sources outlined the plan, dubbed ``One,'' Friday. MCI's strategy follows a similar plan by AT&T to bill some of its long-distance customers directly rather than through Baby Bells such as Pacific Bell. The industry is betting that consumers will latch onto the idea. It costs an average of $40 to $70 in advertising, telemarketing and direct mail to grab a customer, according to the Yankee Group, the industry consulting firm. Some consumers are skeptical, however. They say they will be guided solely by price. In other telecommunications news: Tele-TV, the Baby Bell television programming alliance, plans to hold more meetings with Americast to discuss a possible merger, Mike Fitzpatrick, chief executive of Pacific Telesis Enterprises, said in an interview. As reported, an exploratory meeting already has been held. No decision has been made, however. PacTel belongs to Tele-TV, along with NYNEX NYNEX New York-New England & X for the Unknown (Telephone Company) NYNEX New York Network Exchange and Bell Atlantic. Americast's members include SBC (1) (SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, TX, www.sbc.com) A large, national telecommunications company that grew from a multitude of local and regional companies, including Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, into a single, unified brand by 2002. Communications (which is proposing to buy PacTel), Americast, BellSouth, GTE GTE General Telephone & Electronics GTE Génie Thermique et Énergie (French) GTE Gas Turbine Engine GTE Global Tropospheric Experiment GTE Geothermal Energy GTE Gas Turbine Efficiency plc (Sweden & USA) and Disney. Fitzpatrick also said Tele-TV is close to wrapping up a deal for microwave dishes for its digital TV service in the Bay Area and Southern California. The rooftop device is curved, ``like a swan,'' not a satellite dish, he said. PacTel late Friday filed papers with the California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC; also often commonly referred to as simply the PUC) [1] is a state Public Utilities Commission which regulates privately-owned utilities in the state of California, including electric power, seeking approval of the PacTel-SBC merger. The company reiterated reasons for approving the merger, including its ``commitment to California'' and improvements in service. As part of the process, the company must seek an advisory opinion from the California Attorney General The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of the government of the state of California in the USA. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (California Constitution, Article V, Section 13. . PacTel hopes to complete the deal by year-end, but will face opposition from cable and long-distance carriers. |
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