02/17/97 ARE CYBERSURFERS PHONE HOGS OR GOOD CUSTOMERS?

ARE CYBERSURFERS PHONE HOGS OR GOOD CUSTOMERS?

COMPUTER AND ONLINE outfits are tired of hearing local phone companies complain that exploding Internet usage is straining the public phone network--and they've issued a study debunking the charge. The Baby Bells grouse that while the average phone call lasts just three minutes, cybersurfers often tie up the line for hours. The local carriers want Internet service providers to ante up an access fee that will finance upgrades to handle all that data traffic.
Baloney, says the Internet Access Coalition, a lobbying group representing 21 of the computer industry's biggest names, among them America Online, Netscape, IBM, Apple, and Microsoft. The coalition's study, by Boston-based consulting group Economics & Technology, contends that Net usage is a bonanza for the Bells. The study found that local carriers collected revenues totaling $1.4 billion in 1995 from second home phone lines used mainly for Net links, while spending only $245 million to beef up their networks for the additional usage.
The Bells can't argue with the fact that second phone lines installed in homes grew by more than 25% last year, fueling a hefty 8% to 9% profit growth. But that's irrelevant, says a Bell Atlantic spokesman: The problem is, they have no idea in advance when a line will be used for data rather than voice, thus how long it may be tied up. Both sides agree the solution is to build higher capacity phone networks. The fight is over who will pay the tab.
By Catherine Arnst
EDITED BY LARRY LIGHT