China Unicom, carrier that’s competitor of incumbent China Telecom, is adding nearly one million subscribers every month, China Unicom Pres. Jianzhou Wang told Credit Suisse First Boston conference Wed. To boost sales, company is using employee incentive methods that are relatively new to China, such as basing employee salaries on sales results, he said. China Unicom also has signed agreement with China Postal Service in which 60,000 branch offices will sell company’s telecom products, Jianzhou said. China Unicom forecasts it will have 35% market share in 2005, which would give it 100 million subscribers up from current 15 million, he said. China Unicom, which operates GSM network, is testing CDMA network. Decision to try another standard was driven by need for additional capacity and expectation that customers would want choice of more than GSM, Wang said. China Unicom now has 1% market share in long distance and expects it will grow to 10% in 2 years and 20% in 5 years, Wang said. For long distance, 600 million min. of traffic last year were carried by voice over IP, vs. 400 million min. over public switched telephone network, he said.

Telemundo Network faces $7,000 FCC fine for delivering programming to XHAS-TV Tijuana without valid authorization, Enforcement Bureau said. Telemundo’s 5-year permit expired Sept. 1, but network continued to deliver programming for nearly 3 months, Bureau said.

Using broadband technology, Disney Co. in “near future” will begin delivering movies direct to home via its Movies.com Web site, Chmn. Michael Eisner told shareholders Tues. at annual meeting in Ft. Worth. Using same technology, Disney Pres. Robert Iger said company later this year would start My SportsCenter -- “a sports enthusiast’s dream.” He said Disney Internet Group also was developing service using wireless technology as “more and more people are assessing the Web from portable devices.” One of Internet Group’s “most dramatic innovations” is Enhanced TV in convergence of TV set and computer, he said. System already has been used by ABC TV Network for several telecasts. “The Internet is evolving from a purely information medium to an entertainment medium,” Iger said -- with ESPN in forefront of that change where major growth opportunities are centered in Asia, Europe, Latin America. Despite closing of Disney’s Go.com Web site earlier this year, Eisner said Disney Internet Group registered 17 million users monthly: “Our Internet businesses are healthy, growing and… they are approaching profitability.” He said usage of ESPN Internet properties had grown “an incredible 225%” in last year, with ABC Entertainment brands up 155%. CFO Thomas Staggs told shareholders Disney interactive revenues increased 30% in first quarter this year -- even though Internet Group lost $253 million in same period (CD Feb 7 p9).

“Multimedia is the direction the industry is going,” Tribune Chmn. John Madigan told Bear, Stearns Media conference in Boca Raton Tues., referring to placing content on TV, Internet and other platforms: “Multiple distribution channels in the same market enable media companies to do at least 3 things better: share and enrich content, cross-promote brands and cross-sell advertising.”

Moody’s cut debt ratings on $3 billion of debt securities issued by RCN Corp., citing company’s slower network construction pace, higher than expected capital costs, thinly spread management and past missteps in execution. Moody’s, which began reviewing RCN’s debt ratings 2 months ago, cut rating for $1 billion of senior secured bank credit facilities to B2 from B1. As result of RCN’s problems and its recently curtailed expansion plan, rating service said it believed that “a fundamental mismatch may exist between the company’s likely operating profile two years out… and the capital structure that remains in place today.” Moody’s warned that unless RCN’s operating performance improved dramatically or company received fresh equity infusion, cable- telco overbuilder “will deplete its still good-sized liquidity position prior to attaining a level of operations and sufficient assets to adequately support its large and growing debt burden.” Moody’s said its future outlook for all RCN debt ratings remained “negative,” although it said company could sell its dark fiber, cable systems in N.J. and stake in Mexican cable operator to raise cash and pare down debt.

DirecTV announced launch of “DirecTV Goes To School” initiative that will provide up to 50,000 schools with free access to special School Choice programming that offers 60 educational channels such as A&E, CNN, C-SPAN, Discovery Channel, History Channel and Learning Channel. Program also gives teachers ability to record programming, edit content and replay it later to fit their needs. Participating schools that purchase DirecTV receiver with TiVo service will receive lifetime TiVo service membership.

Time Warner Cable selected Portal Software to supply customer management and billing systems for MSO’s rollout of multiple ISP access. Under deal, AOL Time Warner unit will license Portal’s Infranet platform as part of MSO’s effort to provide its high- speed data subscribers with choice of ISPs, starting this summer. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Sen. Burns (R-Mont.) said he would push appointment of Mont. PSC Comr. Bob Rowe to FCC, although he admitted other members, notably Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.), had other candidates in mind. “We're going to try to do something with [Rowe],” Burns said Wed. at OPASTCO conference in Washington. He also addressed what he said was mixed effectiveness of Telecom Act, and wouldn’t rule out possibility of rewrite: “It has worked very well, [but] in some areas it has not. Will we have to open it up down the road? Maybe so.”

Local branch of NAACP asked U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., to overturn FCC decision renewing license of WWSB-TV Sarasota- Bradenton, saying Commission had abused its discretion. Manatee County Branch said agency “failed to seriously consider” NAACP evidence of discrimination by station, and required NAACP “to prove what was in the mind and conscience of its opponents’ witnesses,” burden that it said was “inconsistent with well- established precedent.”

Southwestern Bell Long Distance unit of SBC Communications started interLATA long distance service in Kan. and Okla. Wed., triggering apparent competitive response from AT&T. SBC in both states began offering flat 10-cent-per-min. rate on all intrastate and interstate long distance calls with no fees or minimums, or 7- cent rate with $4.95 monthly fee. Customers who buy SBC long distance in Southwestern Bell service packages will get 8-cent rate with no extra fee. SBC also offers 500 min. of interLATA calling for $24.95 monthly (5 cents per min.). SBC in late Jan. received FCC’s permission to provide interLATA service in states after satisfying Telecom Act’s open local market requirements. In competitive response, AT&T Mon. announced loyalty incentives to keep its customers from changing carriers. AT&T now is playing recorded notice to residential customers during interval between dialing and call connection that they will get credit for 30 free min. of long distance for staying with AT&T. Loyalty offer is confined to Kan. and Okla. AT&T declined to confirm link between loyalty offer and SBC long distance entry. It described offer as trial and said there were no immediate plans to extend program to other states.