On this side of the Atlantic, legislators, lawyers and lobbyists are struggling to undo the Gordian knot of regulations constraining the development of the 21st-century telecom services. Meanwhile, consumers in the United Kingdom can already receive telephone, cable television and data services over the same network from the same provider.
Ironically, the carriers furnishing these services are not obscure British concerns. Rather, they are household names like TCI , NYNEX and Southwestern Bell -- American companies unable to offer similar services in their own backyards.
Besides cashing in on a lucrative opportunity, these companies are gaining valuable technological and marketing experience they can apply at home once the American market becomes as free as Britain's.
"When we went to the U.K. we hoped to learn more about packaging cable and telephone service and see what we could apply to the U.S.," said Steve Lang, a spokes-man for US West's multimedia group.
In 1984, the British government decided to end British Telecommunication's monopoly of telephone service in the United Kingdom.
To foster competition from traditional and non-traditional carriers, the right to provide voice and data services was extended to cable television operators.
It worked: In the past 10 years, the cost of telecommunications service has fallen an estimated 40 percent in the U.K.
One such venture is TeleWest, a joint venture between Baby Bell US West and TCI, the world's largest cable television company.
US West first entered the market in 1989 and in 1991 joined forces with TCI to form TeleWest, which is now the U.K.'s largest provider of combined telephone and cable television services, with 150,000 telephone access lines and 230,000 cable subscribers.
Another Baby Bell, NYNEX, entered the British market in 1990, and as NYNEX CableComms is now the kingdom's second largest cable communications operator, with 71,000 cable customers, and more than 53,000 telephone exchange lines.
These and other cable/telephone hybrids all share several distinct features. Although subscribers have the option of receiving only telephone or television service, a majority, between 70 and 80 percent, opt for both.
Consumers clearly prefer the convenience of dealing with one provider, said Ed Mattix, executive director with US West International in Great Britain. There is one less bill to pay, one less repair number to call and far more calling and viewing options available.
