MCI Communications Corp and News Corp Ltd are one year older and a lot wiser in the fickle ways of the Internet community. The two have realized that a lot more thought will have to go into ways and means before anyone starts making any money out of users of the Internet, and have scaled back their plans. MCI has quietly dropped its MarketplaceMCI electronic shopping malls, which had 20 retailers signed up and waiting for business and News Corp has abandoned its idea of funding the development of content for a mass consumer market on the Internet. Maybe a year ago we believed there was a mass consumer market for a packaged content and Internet service, Michael Rowny, MCI vice-president for ventures and alliances, told Reuters, but now the two will look to others, like Microsoft Corp, to fund the development of content for consumers. The main thrust of the alliance will now be the provision of satellite television services. MCI denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that it and News Corp Ltd once encouraged Tele- Communications Inc to agree to a Canadian satellite deal that they now want blocked. MCI and News Corp have asked the US Federal Communications Commission to block Tele- Communications’ plan to use a Canadian satellite venture to beam television into US homes on the grounds that Canada does not allow access to US satellite providers and because it would enable Tele-Communications to sidestep the Federal Commission’s auction process. Tele-Communications said MCI and News Corp were in favor of such a deal when the three were on the verge of a three-way satellite alliance in January this year. MCI earlier this year splashed out $683m on the last Federal Commission satellite spot over the US.
