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--THE LAST WORD 1-800-VIDEO T he lights dim. Standing in the shadows, Rod Serling speaks. "Imagine, if you will, the inside of a typical bar location. There used to be a jukebox and two or three video games for the patrons to play. Now, though, that space is occupied by a row of monitors attached to telephone lines and menus. The customer can pick and choose his favorite music videos and video games without getting up from his bar stool . And the location owner, to his delight, is rid of that pesky operator . His new partner? AT&T." This may sound like the Twilight Zone, but it could happen if AT&T and its ''baby Bell' ' operating companies score victories in an appeals court and the halls of Congress. It should be noted, however, that the preceding scenario is of the worst-case variety. More on that later; let me give you some background first . Congress is interested in re-regulating the cable television industry. Senators such as Tennessee' s Albert Gore believe that cable TV operators are taking advantage of their status as a monopoly, but how can they be reigned in? AT&T says it knows how. Forget holding the FCC hammer over their heads. Give them some old-fashioned competition: us. As it stands now , AT&T' s operating companies are not allowed involvement as a " content controller," i.e. , they cannot provide information services. AT&T wants Congress to change this . But how , you ask , can the telephone behemoth 190 PLAY MET ER/ May 199 1 compete with cable TV in terms of offering different programming? The answer: through fiber-optic technology, a budding form of communication that allows transmission of digital images through telephone lines. Video images. According to Bob Wilbur, AMOA's government relations liaison, an appeals court has ordered the judge who broke up AT&T to reconsider part of his decision-the part concerning transmission of information services. Wilbur says there' s speculation that the judge may allow the baby Bells to enter the programming arena on a limited basis. On the congressional front, Wilbur expects cable regulation and telephone cable transmission bills to be introduced this session. The former died in Congress last year, while the latter was never formally introduced. AMOA president Jim Trucano says there's been no indication that AT&T is interested in anything but the cable TV angle. And even if a victorious AT&T cast its gaze toward the amusement industry, who 's to say it would want to leave operators trampled under foot? The increased installation of fiber-optic cables across the country could open huge new markets for operators in the 21st century, should AT&T look to them as partners in this space-aged venture. Tennessee operator Bill Stone is a bit more leery of AT&T's intentions. He says at last year's AMOA Washington Conference, his congressman told him in no uncertain terms that AT&T wanted to get into the amusement business. Once given clearance to be a seller of video programming, AT&T could transmit music videos over telephone lines, giving locations a low cost alternative to jukeboxes. Competition for video games would be a natural progression, Stone fears. He's encouraging operators to buy one share of telephone company stock, which would enable them to read the information sent to stockholders and get a gauge on AT&T's intentions regarding content controller legislation. This column isn 't meant to scare the pants off of operators. As was mentioned earlier, 1) AT&T still has to win in court and in Congress, 2) assuming AT&T prevails, it isn't clear that the coin-op industry would be a target for competition, and 3) even if AT&T wanted to enter our industry , it could be that it would welcome a partnership with AMOA to take advantage of operators' expertise. As Trucano said, the last thing AMOA wants right now is a lot of angry operators making themselves visible to AT&T and the baby Bells. Coin-op could very well be a market that hasn't occurred to them yet. Don 't sound off any alarms; just monitor the events as they unfold. D Christopher Caire News Editor