New York State Communications

Tuesday's massive telephone breakdown in New York, the fourth major disruption of a U.S. telecommunications network this year, underscores how cutthroat phone competition and reduced regulation have left the nation vulnerable to serious disruptions in commerce and communications, officials said Wednesday.

Tuesday's massive telephone breakdown in New York, the fourth major disruption of a U.S. telecommunications network this year, underscores how cutthroat phone competition and reduced regulation have left the nation vulnerable to serious disruptions in commerce and communications, officials said Wednesday.

A communications power failure at an American Telephone & Telegraph Co. switching station in Lower Manhattan Tuesday disrupted traffic control at the three major airports in the New York area, grounding all departures and severely limiting arrivals for several hours. All domestic flights to John F. Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark airports that were not already in the air at the time of the power failure were held on the ground throughout the United States.

A communications power failure at an American Telephone & Telegraph Co. switching station in Lower Manhattan Tuesday disrupted traffic control at the three major airports in the New York area, grounding all departures and severely limiting arrivals for several hours. All domestic flights to John F. Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark airports that were not already in the air at the time of the power failure were held on the ground throughout the United States.

MCI WorldCom Inc., the No. 2 U.S. long-distance company, said Wednesday it plans to launch an Internet access service for consumers--a business it was forced to exit last year--and offer local telephone service in New York state. MCI Communications Corp. was forced to sell its Internet business to gain regulatory approval for its $40-billion acquisition by WorldCom Inc. in September.

A federal judge Monday barred enforcement of the Helms amendment, passed hastily by Congress last year in an attempt to prevent minors from listening to sexually explicit telephone recordings. Saying the law "presents a threat of imminent irreparable harm to First Amendment freedoms," U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson Jr. ruled two days before the sweeping law was scheduled to take effect.