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Ontario should open power market
National Post 04/05/01 California lawmakers want windfall profits tax on energy companies Houston Chronicle, 04/05/01 SURVEY - SITE FEED - WORLD PULP AND PAPER: Online trading gets the cold shoulder The industry seems to be taking a cautious attitude towards the web Financial Times; Apr 5, 2001 COMPANIES & FINANCE UK: BG to get Pounds 51m from Enron NEWS DIGEST Financial Times; Apr 5, 2001 COMPANIES & FINANCE THE AMERICAS: Duke outlines its Dollars 1bn Europe plan Financial Times; Apr 5, 2001 UK: UPDATE 1-Britain gears up for offshore wind power. Reuters English News Service, 04/05/01 INDIA: Enron issues arbitration notice to India govt. Reuters English News Service, 04/05/01 FDI proposals worth Rs 545 crore cleared The Economic Times, 04/05/01 Law Lords order Enron to pay pounds 100m over pipeline The Daily Telegraph, 04/05/01 Merger Increases Value of King of Prussia, Pa., Video-Conferencing Company KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Philadelphia Inquirer - Pennsylvania, 04/05/01 Bandwidth Mkt: Price Adjustments Fail To Spur Action Dow Jones Energy Service, 04/04/01 Financial Post: Editorial Ontario should open power market Kenneth L. Lay National Post 04/05/2001 National Post National C19 © National Post 2001. All Rights Reserved. In the face of the California crisis, it is all the more important for legislators and policymakers -- and for the public generally -- to remember why a competitive market structure is so important for electricity consumers. The time is right to leave behind the central planning, socialized risk structure that resulted in the billions of dollars of stranded costs and stranded debt left to consumers in many regions of North America (not just Ontario) by poor management, bad planning and enormous cost overruns. That can't happen again, and will not happen again in a competitive open market. In a restructured and competitive electricity market, the risk and cost of new investment in generation will be borne by investors and shareholders rather than by ratepayers. This protects consumers from bearing the cost of bad decisions. Last week, the government and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) announced an end to the freeze of Ontario's bulk power rates that has been in place for about eight years. That will represent an increase of 12% to 15% in bulk power rates. It was explained on the basis of the need to pay for the mistakes of the past. At Enron, we cannot think of any other jurisdiction in North America where a price freeze has been in place for that length of time. In future, a competitive market can deliver lower prices than a regulated structure can. This is borne out by the experience in Pennsylvania, England and other European markets. Pennsylvania estimates that consumers have saved US$3-billion over the past three years. In England's first year of customer choice (June, 1999 -- June, 2000) consumers saved in excess of (ps)299-million ($673-million). In Germany, industrial prices have fallen by over 50% since 1995. In Finland, industrial prices have fallen over 23% since 1995. Competition gives customers choice, which gives suppliers and retailers a strong incentive to improve customer service, lower prices and develop demand-side (load management) solutions. This leaves the issue of timing for the opening of the market. The Electricity Market Readiness Plan adopted by the Ontario Energy Board and the Independent Market Operator targets the systems, processes and other requirements of the wholesale and retail markets to be ready for a market opening in October/November, 2001. This represents a realistic and achievable approach to market opening. We see real benefits to opening the market this fall, rather than waiting until 2002. Major institutions are gearing up for a market opening later this year, and the momentum is ours to lose. Indeed, many participants, including large industrial customers, have already entered into the commercial arrangements necessary for market opening and the post-market opening period in the expectation of market opening later this year. Those commercial arrangements with respect to power procurement, power supply, risk management, and settlement and dispatch services have helped and are helping industrial consumers lock in prices. Opening the market in the fall will preserve those arrangements for which parties have bargained, leaving just those consumers who have chosen to enter the market unhedged, and giving them seven or eight months to experience the operation of the market prior to the summer of 2002. This was a key consideration in the decision to open the New York market in November, 1999, rather than the spring of the following year. Remember that, although Ontario's demand traditionally peaks in the winter, we would expect prices to peak in the summer months. Moreover, because the summer is the period of peak demand across the Eastern interconnect as a whole, the summer months generally see relatively more operational/transmission related constraints than the winter. A fall opening will also enhance the efforts to "decontrol" or divest OPG assets. Those entities which might have an interest in acquiring OPG assets will, for valuation purposes, want to have as much information as possible about pricing in the Ontario market. Opening in the fall will give those entities a longer period of time over which to observe the way the price-setting mechanisms in the Ontario market actually operate. Accordingly, opening in the fall will help reduce uncertainty over the valuation of Ontario Power Generation assets. This would mean that the decontrol initiative will attract more potential buyers, and that those buyers will pay more than they otherwise would in the face of uncertainty. Focusing on getting the market open this fall will help maintain the commitment of those, like Enron, who have already devoted significant resources and capital to the market, while attracting more new players, sooner, into the province. The Ontario government should have confidence that the best way forward is to proceed with the implementation of that plan and with the opening of the Ontario wholesale and retail markets in the fall of 2001. The case for open markets is strong. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. April 5, 2001 Houston Chronicle California lawmakers want windfall profits tax on energy companies Reuters News Service SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A coalition of California lawmakers Wednesday introduced a bill that would slap a windfall profits tax on power generators they claim have made a killing from the state's unfolding power crisis. "This says to the large generators who are gouging us that we are going to set a reasonable rate of return, and reasonable profits, and anything beyond that would be returned to the state of California," said Assembly member Dion Aroner. "They've been gouging us, and it is time to gouge them. We're sick of paying these outrageous bills to the Texans." A spokesman for Gov. Gray Davis, who has been scrambling to address his state's escalating energy emergency, said he would have no comment on the bill until it reached his desk. Aroner said the bill, proposed by a coalition of Democratic women, calls for the state to establish a formula to determine "reasonable" profits for generators and tax back anything over that amount. Major power generators, many of them based in Texas, have reported sharply higher earnings as wholesale power prices skyrocketed in the Western U.S. spot market. Last year at this time, prices were $30 to $40 per megawatt hour of electricity. This year, that same electricity costs between $300 and $400. Those high prices, combined with a botched 1996 state deregulation effort that kept caps on consumer rates, have pushed California's two largest utilities close to bankruptcy, forced the state into the energy-buying business and led to several days of rolling blackouts from San Diego to the Oregon border. Richard Wheatley, a spokesman for Houston-based Reliant Energy, said any windfall profit tax was a terrible idea. "We would oppose any such form of legislation," Wheatley said. "It does nothing to solve the fundamental problem that confronts California consumers -- namely, the lack of adequate power supplies." Wheatley said the proposed tax also could exacerbate the situation by removing incentives for power producers to build plants and bring more power on line through investing in upgrades of aging facilities. Enron Corp. and other power sellers continued to reap the benefits of California's electricity shortage in the first quarter, with some bringing in record profits, analysts said Wednesday. Earnings at Houston-based Enron rose about 13 percent, analysts estimated. SURVEY - SITE FEED - WORLD PULP AND PAPER: Online trading gets the cold shoulder The industry seems to be taking a cautious attitude towards the web Financial Times; Apr 5, 2001 By NICHOLAS GEORGE World Pulp and Paper survey THE INTERNET by Nicholas George It has been billed as the marriage of the old and new economies, but, so far, the union of the internet and the pulp and paper industry has been marked by suspicion rather than harmony. Only 18 months ago, it seemed that newly-started dotcoms were stumbling over each other to set up online marketplaces, which, they claimed, would revolutionise the industry. Technologies and target groups differed slightly, but the message being preached was largely the same. Buying and selling pulp and paper products had, for too long, been characterised by inefficiencies and high costs. For an industry whose products have become global commodities, the internet could give the flexibility and price transparency producers and consumers deserve. Yet, far from embracing the new breed of online marketplaces, the paper producers' reaction has ranged from caution to outright distrust. According to Jorma Saarikorpi, head of e-business at papermaker UPM-Kymmene, neither customers nor producers have much to gain from third party marketplaces. Moreover, the concept of an open marketplace is ill-suited to the businesses' structure. "If you think about the customer relationships in the industry, it is big suppliers and big customers and the number of suppliers and customers are decreasing all the time," he says. Such scepticism has made it tough going for the dotcoms, and some of the smaller projects, such as AccessPaper.com, have fallen by the wayside. AccessPaper blamed its failure on boom conditions in the industry, which meant producers had no incentive to look for new sales channels. "We are not synchronised with the market or the players in the market," says Michael Palm, a co-founder. "At present, the current sales channels are screaming for products, and sales staff just do not want to hear of new channels." But even the bigger and better funded start-ups have had to adapt to the negative reaction of the industry. For example, the European-based PaperX.com now focuses much less on its marketplace functions and more on its ability to offer software solutions to forest product companies setting up their own sites. Bengt Roselund, project leader of Papinet, the European industry's own internet initiative, says the marketplaces "scared the producers away when they said they wanted a commission of 2-3 per cent on each trade. That is an enormous amount of money". He adds: "The marketplaces realised they had done the wrong thing, but the damage was done and the industry does not trust them. That's a pity because the marketplaces could have played a role." Papinet was set up to standardise the terms used in electronic trading messages. Although it was started in Europe, it is now attempting to create a more global standard. By doing so, it aims to cut the cost and complexity of e-commerce. This is vital if e-commerce is to gain wide scale acceptance, says Mr Roselund. In the US, the independent marketplace, PaperExchange, also has to compete against industry-backed rivals. However, Bob Brenner, chief executive, is convinced his company has a role. The problem, he believes, has been that the industry has misunderstood what the internet marketplaces are for. They are not an alternative for traditional long-term customer relationship, but a channel for a certain type of product or inventory, he says. Mr Brenner points out that 10 per cent of pulp and paper sales are already being conducted on the spot market, a market that is often expensive for producers to use. PaperExchange, which has now launched in Europe, had trading levels of nearly 42,000 tonnes last year. "Twelve months ago, people were experimenting, while six months ago they were using the site as a way to move extra product. Now, people are thinking of it as a channel for selling, or as a part of their sourcing strategy," says Mr Brenner. Other companies also see the advantages of an internet market. Enron, which has been offering risk management products to the pulp, paper and wood industry since 1997, expanded its Clickpaper.com site to Europe in January. So far, the industry has preferred to find its own solutions by modernising its existing electronic links with customers. Outsiders, in the form of third-party marketplaces, still have their work cut out to convince management they really do have a big role to play. March 1 2001 Copyright: The Financial Times Limited COMPANIES & FINANCE UK: BG to get Pounds 51m from Enron NEWS DIGEST Financial Times; Apr 5, 2001 By DAVID BUCHAN BG to get Pounds 51m from Enron BG, the gas group, said yesterday it would receive Pounds 51m from Enron's Teeside Gas subsidiary after the House of Lords ruled in its favour in a dispute over unpaid gas transit fees and interest. The dispute centred on a 1990 contract by Teeside Gas to reserve capacity in the Central Area Transmission System, owned 51 per cent by BG. In 1993 the CATS pipeline was completed and Teeside Gas started making payments even though it had no need for capacity at that time. In 1995 it stopped payments and reclaimed past payments, at which the owners of CATS - chiefly BG, BP Amoco and Amerada Hess - took it to court. The UK court of appeal ruled in Teeside's favour in 1999, but this was yesterday overturned by the House of Lords. BG's share of the House of Lords award will be Pounds 34m in back-payment, plus Pounds 17m in interest. David Buchan Copyright: The Financial Times Limited COMPANIES & FINANCE THE AMERICAS: Duke outlines its Dollars 1bn Europe plan Financial Times; Apr 5, 2001 By MATTHEW JONES Duke Energy, the US power and gas group, is aiming to spend up to Dollars 1bn this year on European generation assets. The plans, outlined by the company yesterday, are part of a group-wide strategy to move into deregulating energy markets. They mark a relatively late entrance into Europe compared with other US energy companies such as Enron. Bruce Williamson, president of Duke Energy International, said the group was looking to secure between 1,000MW and 2,000MW of generation capacity to underpin a large increase in its electricity trading. The company plans to do this either by entering into long-term agreements with generators or by buying flexible coal or gas-fired power stations. "Our aim is to spend between Dollars 500m and Dollars 1bn in Europe in the next 12 months," he said. Duke is one of the largest US power generators and energy traders with assets worth Dollars 58bn and a market capitalisation of Dollars 28bn. It currently trades natural gas in the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands but only trades electricity in Italy. Mr Williamson said the group wanted to extend its power trading activities across all five countries and was talking seriously to "between five and a dozen" companies about generation plant deals. Its first move would be in the UK, where it would aim to secure at least 500MW by the middle of the year. Analysts cited TXU, Edison Mission Energy and Innogy as possible sellers of plant. Duke is focusing the rest of its international expansion on Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. The group is aiming to double its investment in these countries in the next two to three years, representing a total spend of about Dollars 3bn. www.ft.com/utilities Copyright: The Financial Times Limited UK: UPDATE 1-Britain gears up for offshore wind power. By Andrew Callus 04/05/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - Britain cleared the way on Thursday for a 1.6 billion pound ($2.3 billion) offshore wind power investment, the first large scale British attempt to tap the clean energy source. Built around the windswept UK coastline, 540 sets of blades spinning more than 100 metres above the waves should be supplying one percent of Britain's energy needs by 2004-2005. The Crown Estate, manager of land and territorial waters owned by Britain's Queen, said it was issuing seabed leases to 18 companies at 13 sites that will produce between 1,000 and 1,500 megawatts of power altogether. The set of projects goes one tenth of the way towards a government plan to see 10 percent of the UK's energy needs produced from renewable sources by 2010, according to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), which represents most of the businesses involved. Offshore wind is more expensive to tap than onshore, but local resistance to noise and to the sight of tall land-based turbines has made it an option worth exploring. The BWEA believes wind energy blowing across the seas around Britain could supply its electricity needs three times over, and says wind power onshore and offshore already competes effectively with alternatives at between 1.9 and 3.0 pence per kilowatt hour compared with 1.8-2.2 pence for gas. "We don't need subsidies any more. We are price competitive," said a spokeswoman for the BWEA. The association already backs a pilot offshore wind project at Blyth on England's northeast coast that began delivering electricity in December last year. Companies involved in the projects still have to obtain planning permission from the government and other planning bodies, and must gain all consents within three years or lose their lease. But the UK Department of Trade and Industry aims to set up a "one-stop shop" to help them through other planning hurdles. Developers include global energy names like Enron and Royal Dutch/Shell , British power and construction companies Powergen and AMEC , and smaller specialist companies. In all, 540 high-tech windmills producing three megawatts of power each will be installed in groups of 30, with the nearest turbine of each sited between 1.5 and 10 kilometres offshore. More than half will be positioned in the Irish Sea along England's northwest coast between Liverpool and the Scottish border. Others will spring up on the east coast off East Anglia and in the mouth of the Thames estuary, further north at Teesside, and in the coastal waters of south Wales in the Severn estuary. Environmental groups Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth backed the plan, but urged the government to catch up with countries like Denmark, where the wind industry already employs 14,000 people. "After thirty years of opposing industrial abuse of our seas, Greenpeace can at last welcome a move to exploit the fantastic renewable energy resources off our coastline," said Matthew Spencer, head of Greenpeace's Climate Campaign. "Let's hope this signals a new commitment to developing Britain's renewable energy industry," he said. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. INDIA: Enron issues arbitration notice to India govt. 04/05/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. BOMBAY, April 5 (Reuters) - The Indian unit of Enron Corp has issued a notice of arbitration to the Indian government to try to recover 1.02 billion rupees ($21.88 million) it says is owed for supplying power to the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). The notice means the dispute will be taken to the Court of Arbitration in London. MSEB wanted the power bill offset against a four billion rupee fine it levied on Enron's controversial Dabhol Power Co for what it said was the non-supply of power for intermittent periods between October and the end of January. The Indian government asked the two companies to sort out the dispute before it would consider covering any of the payment from central coffers. Government officials could not be reached for comment. "We strongly believe that the federal government's position is in direct conflict with the power purchase agreement as was explained to them in legal opinions," a Dabhol statement said. "This step was necessary in order to preserve our rights in the project, and to ensure that all parties honour their existing contractual obligations," Dabhol said. The move heightens the confrontation between Enron and India and threatens to further damage the country's efforts to attract foreign investment in the power sector. Dabhol's 2,184 megawatt power station is the biggest power investment in India. Critics object to Dabhol charging 7.1 rupees per kilowatt hour for its power versus 1.5 rupees charged by other suppliers. Dabhol originally sought payment of the 1.02 billion rupees from the government in March. The payment covered the supply of electricity during December. The payment was due from MSEB on January 25 and was the latest default from the state electricity board. Under a 1996 counter guarantee agreement, the federal government is obliged to pay Enron when MSEB defaults. Enron invoked the counter guarantee for the first time to cover payment of 790 million rupees for electricity supply in November. The amount was later paid by the Maharashtra state government. ($=46.6 Indian rupees). Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. FDI proposals worth Rs 545 crore cleared Our Bureau 04/05/2001 The Economic Times Copyright (C) 2001 The Economic Times; Source: World Reporter (TM) NEW DELHI FORTY four FDI proposals involving a total inflow of Rs 545 crore, including those of Eli Lilly Ranbaxy to buy out Ranbaxys holding of 50 per cent in the joint venture, Abbott Equity Holding of the UK, General Electrical International and Indian Infrastructure Equipments were cleared by Commerce and Industry minister Murasoli Maran on Wednesday. Eli Lilly will buy out Ranbaxys 50 per cent stake for Rs 79.9 crore and thus convert the JV into 100 per cent subsidiary. General Electric International has been permitted to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary to venture into infrastructure and information technology enabled services, telecommunications and internet. The company will invest Rs 47 crore in the project. Abbot Equity Holding Ltd has been allowed to bring in Rs 106.27 crore to pick up 20 per cent stake in project to manufacture pharmaceutical formulations. Indian Infrastructure Equipments has been permitted to issue 49.8 per cent equity stake worth Rs 24.91 crore and FCCBs worth Rs 97.29 crore. Compaq Computer of Mauritius will bring in Rs 18.5 crore for 7.88 per cent stake in an e-commerce venture. Berjaya Vacation Club Berhad of Malaysia has been allowed to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary with investment worth Rs 70.5 crore to operate hotels and resorts, providing holiday accommodation and other tourism related services. Enron GmbH of Germanys plan to enter the wind energy business with a 100 per cent subsidiary involving investment of Rs 9.4 crore has also been cleared. Astra Pharmaceuticals of Sweden has been allowed to increase holding in IDL to 56.49 per cent from the existing level of 51.5 per cent. The Swedish company will bring Rs 16.75 to acquire additional stake. Other proposals cleared today include those of Schenectady (India) Holdings to ease foreign holding in one project from 80 per cent to 94.97 per cent, and in another from 58.37 per cent to 80.66 per cent, Blaser Swisslube of Switzerland to set up 100 per cent subsidiary with investment of Rs 4.60 crore to import and distribute cutting fluids, and Danisco Ingredients (India) to increase foreign equity to 100 per cent from the existing level of 74 per cent. Danisco will buy out its Indian partners for Rs 10 crore. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Law Lords order Enron to pay pounds 100m over pipeline Sophie Barker 04/05/2001 The Daily Telegraph Copyright (C) 2001 The Daily Telegraph; Source: World Reporter (TM) ENRON, the American oil company, was yesterday forced to pay out around pounds 100m to the shareholders in a North Sea pipeline, led by BG, after the House of Lords overturned a previous Court of Appeal decision over transportation payments. The dispute between Enron and shareholders in the Central Area Transmission Systems (CATS) dates back to 1995, when Enron's Teesside Gas Transportation subsidiary stopped payments to the pipeline, which transports gas from central North Sea fields. Enron's Teesside subsidiary had previously signed an agreement with the CATS shareholders for certain pipeline transportation rights. The CATS shareholders claimed payments were due once the pipeline was completed, but Enron claimed that CATS was not available for use. BG will receive around pounds 35m plus pounds 17m in interest, in line with its 51.18pc stake in CATS. BG declined to comment, while Enron expressed its "disappointment" but said that the payment "would not materially impact earnings". Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Merger Increases Value of King of Prussia, Pa., Video-Conferencing Company Patricia Horn 04/05/2001 KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Philadelphia Inquirer - Pennsylvania Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World Reporter (TM) V-Span Inc., a King of Prussia provider of video-conferencing services, has reached an agreement to acquire Peer Digital Inc., of Boulder, Colo., in a merger that the companies say will position V-Span as one of the industry's top companies. The companies expect the merger to close in two weeks. The headquarters will remain in King of Prussia. The companies, both founded in 1995, declined to put a value on the stock-for-stock deal but said the combined company would have annual revenues of around $42 million. About two-thirds of that would come from V-Span, and one-third from Peer Digital. Elliot Gold, publisher of TeleSpan, a teleconferencing industry newsletter that predicted the merger last month, estimated that V-Span paid $20 million to $28 million for Peer Digital. The merger will allow the combined company to become profitable more quickly, J. Kenyon Hayward, V-Span's founder and chief executive officer, said. Executives for the two companies, however, declined to predict when the merged entity might gain profitability. V-Span said it raised $28 million last year from investors including Goldman Sachs & Co., Comcast Interactive Capital, Motorola Inc. and Enron Corp. The merger positions V-Span as one of the largest five companies in the world that sell video-conferencing from multiple locations, Gold said. The industry, while still small at around $250 million in annual sales, is growing by about 35 percent per year, he said. "I think [Peer Digital] started looking at the competition and realized ... they would be stronger" if they merged, Gold said. "Both were growing nicely, but V-Span was growing faster." Peer Digital had struggled in sales but has superior teleconferencing infrastructure and technology, said Gold, while V-Span excelled at sales but "was having a problem with the infrastructure." The combined company would have about 325 employees. Executives would not comment on whether consolidation would lead to layoffs. "This is a growing business, and we expect to expand worldwide," said John D. Field, Peer Digital's chief executive, who will become V-Span's president. "We expect to see more offices added. "We all believe this is a great consolidation of a major piece of the industry," Field said. "And we intend to be one of the leaders in consolidating this industry." But Gold said V-Span could "end up on the other end of the Pac-Man battle." "There is consolidation in the industry on a global basis ... and there are several companies, such as Genesys Conferencing, that have been acquiring companies like mad," he said. "I think there is a reasonable chance that V-Span will be acquired over time. They are positioning themselves to be acquired." Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Bandwidth Mkt: Price Adjustments Fail To Spur Action 04/04/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Bandwidth traders adjusted prices Wednesday trying to spur trades but didn't get any results. Prices moved higher for several contracts covering bandwidth this year in the eastern half of the country. Lower prices were quoted for one route this year in the western half of the country and for other contracts covering bandwidth next year. For OC3 bandwidth between Seattle and Los Angeles for calendar year 2002, the bid was $.0015 a DS0 mile a month, down $.0005/DS0 mile/month from Tuesday's price. The offer on that contract moved higher for bandwidth delivered to Enron Corp. (ENE) pooling points and lower for bandwidth delivered to LighTrade pooling points, traders said. The offer was $.003/DSO mile/month for delivery to Enron pooling points, up $.0004/DS0 mile/month from Tuesday. The offer for delivery to LighTrade Inc. pooling points fell to $.0021/DS0 mile/month, down $.0005/DSO mile/month from Tuesday. The variations were based on differing views held by market-makers using the pooling points. One trader attributed the lack of buyers in the West to falling prices. "Everybody thinks the price is going to go down and nobody wants to be long," he said. Another trader agreed that prices are expected to fall, but rejected the idea buyers fear being stuck with over-priced capacity. In Eastern markets, prices generally rose Wednesday for contracts with delivery dates this year. Those increases were seen in the New York-Washington, D.C.; New York-Chicago and New York-Dallas markets. Sellers are seeking higher prices because buyers are running out of time to get deals done on contracts that include bandwidth for June. There's less than two months left for provisioning circuits for June. In most of those same markets, prices fell on contracts with delivery dates in calendar year 2002. The exception was the market for OC3 bandwidth for calendar year 2002 between New York and Washington, D.C. The bid remained at $.0021/DS0 mile/month while the offer moved to $.0047/DS0 mile/month, up $.0015/DS0 mile/month. -By Michael Rieke, Dow Jones Newswires, 713-547-9207, michael.rieke@wsj.com and Erwin Seba, Dow Jones Newswires, 713-547-9214 erwin.seba@dowjones.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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