Hours after an article suggesting a loophole in US telephone rules required no access fees to be paid by carriers when the traffic is data rather than telephony, an AT & T spokesperson told Computergram it would be studying the legalities involved but that plans for it’s new Internet service would not be delayed. The New York Times article spurring the speculation had suggested the Baby Bells would have to provide free local connections for customers of the soon-to-be-launched AT&T Internet service. Effectively, this could subsidize their competitor in a business the Bells themselves plan to enter. The Federal Communications Commission made the ruling in 1983 before modems and the Internet were in wide use, the Times said, noting that the Bells tried in 1987 and again in 1989 to have it repealed. Commenting on the possibility it would have to provide free access to AT&T Internet users, a US West spokesperson said We welcome the competition – the regulatory aspect is not really a done deal and may have to be examined. Pacific Bell also didn’t appear to have any outright objections to the AT& T service saying, We haven’t officially responded to AT&T’s plans. However, it did release a statement saying the exemption was no longer justified.
