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The telephone industry, after fighting this act tooth and nail, is
slowly getting used to the idea. Its problem with the bill is not so
much privacy considerations as a well-grounded fear that retrofitting
older digital equipment and new digital phone systems will cost it a
fortune in unnecessary expenses. The government will be supplying $500
million for retrofitting existing systems, but the telephone companies
fear this will only be the first down payment on a bill that could
swell to the billions of dollars.
The telephone companies have some small protection from a never-ending
spiral of wiretapping bills. The legislation only requires that they
pay `reasonably achievable ` costs. The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) will decide, on a case by case basis, what costs fall
into this category. If the FCC judges the costs unreasonable, a
telephone company could petition the attorney general for funds to
accomplish the operation. If the attorney general doesn't reimburse the
company, the phone company could refuse to comply, remaining on the
right side of the law.
Denis Arnaud
12/19/1997