Baby Bell from Texas plans Colorado service

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Oct 14, 1999

Within the next 18 months, Denver customers of US West Inc. will get the chance to receive local telephone service from a rival Baby Bell: Texas-based SBC Communications Inc.

Fresh from completing its $74 billion merger with Ameritech Corp., SBC detailed plans to offer local dialing and other communications services to business and residential customers in Denver and 29 other cities outside SBC's 13-state region.

SBC plans to offer customers in the new markets a combination of local and long-distance dialing, as well as Internet access, voice mail and custom-calling features. It will market the services under the SBC Telecom name.

In Denver, SBC plans initially to deliver local service over its own facilities and lease the local phone networks of other carriers, such as US West. Eventually, the San Antonio-based Baby Bell said, it plans to rely exclusively on its own local network.

- Knight Ridder Tribune

Copper Mountain cuts back expansion plan: Copper Mountain Resort has scaled back its 30-year development plan in response to a proposal by White River National Forest to limit all ski resort development, officials said.

Copper Mountain submitted a plan 18 months ago asking the U.S. Forest Service for a 6,000-acre expansion, including a second base area.

The Forest Service has since outlined nine alternative plans for the development of the White River forest, which includes 2.3 million acres and parts of nine counties in Colorado.

The service's preferred plan, called Alternative D, emphasizes managing wildlife habitat over other uses and would limit all development at ski resorts to the size of their current permits.

As a result, Copper Mountain is asking the Forest Service to approve a 1,200-acre expansion, without a second base lodge.

Ski resort officials in Copper Mountain have criticized the Forest Service's proposed management plan, arguing it rigidly restricts growth and does not reflect a consensus.

- Associated Press

Air fares jump for Denver business travelers: A survey shows business travelers in Denver have seen the country's largest jump in air fares from a year ago - 39 percent.

An American Express survey showed the typical business fare in August was $647. It was the fifth consecutive month of rising fares.

The next-highest increase was in Phoenix, where business fares shot up 23 percent.

For other Denver travelers, fare increases were quite a bit lower. The survey showed the lowest advertised nonbusiness air fare was only 4 percent higher than the same month a year ago. The lowest advertised fare was $151.

The figures released by American Express don't reflect the latest increase announced this week by United Airlines, which dominates the Denver market. United has joined Northwest in raising fares $20 on round-trip flights of more than 500 miles and $10 on shorter flights.

The monthly American Express survey tracks four categories: full coach, typical business, lowest discount and average fare paid.

Data are gathered from American Express travel agencies for the same 10 cities paired with Denver each month.

- Associated Press

Frontier announces resignation: Frontier Airlines said Wednesday that B. Ben Baldanza has resigned from the company's board of directors. Baldanza was recently named senior vice president, marketing for US Airways.

With Baldanza's departure, the airline's board will consist of five outside members and one inside director, company President Sam Addoms, for a total of six directors.

- The Gazette