CMP's TechWire (http://www.techwire.com) Posts Comprehensive Coverage Direct From Regional Bell/FCC Federal Court Hearing

PRNewswire
MANHASSET, N.Y.
Jan 17, 1997

Former U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr led the attack Friday on the "Beltway bureaucracy," arguing before three judges on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Those 3 federal judges are deciding the future of the telecommunications industry, specifically the details of how local telephone companies can offer long-distance services.

CMP's TechWire (http://www.techwire.com/), a technology news service, this afternoon is posting extensive coverage of today's oral arguments.

TechWire Government Correspondent Rex Nutting, filing from St. Louis, reported that both sides painted pictures of doom.

If the court overturns the FCC rules, effective local competition could be delayed by uncertainty and undermined by a piecemeal, state-by-state approach, the FCC and its backers argued.

On the other hand, if the court upholds the FCC's authority, the phone companies argued, competition will never come because the rules create disincentives for any investment in advanced telecommunications networks.

CMP's TechWire™ is an international news wire service owned by CMP's TechWeb®, the technology super site. TechWire was singled out in a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle. "The site's international focus and investigative reporting make for some juicy reading that you won't find elsewhere on the Net," the Chronicle wrote.

TechWeb is a leader in engineering new sites and features to address the unique needs of various high-tech audiences, particularly high-end, technology-savvy users who are responsible for buying technology for themselves and others. In recent months, TechWeb has launched more than six individual sites, all free to users, all advertiser-supported and all filling a gap left open by other high-tech sites. Recent additions include TechTools™, TechCalendar™, TechInvestor™, TechPrice™ and TechHelper™.

CMP Media Inc., now in its 25th year of uninterrupted growth, is the only provider of publishing, marketing and information services to reach the entire spectrum of the high-technology market -- the builders, sellers and users of technology. With sales of $418 million in 1996, CMP has marked a quarter century of success with an average yearly growth of 20 percent.

-0- 1/17/97

SOURCE: CMP Media Inc.

CONTACT: Steve Rubel, 516-562-7434, or srubel@cmp.com, or Leslie Dunbar,
516-562-7040, or ldunbar@cmp.com, both of CMP Corporate Communications