Subject: Alliance for Public Technology, fyi #2, Universal Service
Curt Priest (cpriest@juno.com)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 09:31:11 EDT
To: ROUNDTABLE@CNI.ORG Subject: Alliance for Public Technology, fyi #2, Universal Service Message-Id: <19980812.093013.7783.2.cpriest@juno.com> From: cpriest@juno.com (Curt Priest) Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 09:31:11 EDT
forwarded message from Maureen Lewis <mlewis@apt.org>
Good Morning:
As a follow-up to yesterday's message urging you to submit
comments to the FCC during its inquiry under Sec. 706, I'd like to
refer you to APT's webpage at <http://www.apt.org/>. There you'll find
some documents that may help you draft comments on APT's recommendations
set forth in Paragraphs 70-73 of the Notice of Inquiry.
First, Section III. C. of APT's original petition
<http://www.apt.org/706filing.html> describes in detail APT's proposal
on community/industry partnerships that help underserved communities
pool the demand of various institutions for telecommunications services.
The "aggregated demand" of community based organizations and others
using the technology to serve important life needs of the residents can
make markets that providers traditionally overlook more attractive
service areas.
Also, APT suggested in Sec. III.B. of its petition that the
FCC impose conditions on mergers that require the merged company to
commit to deploying advanced telecom networks in underserved areas.
This is a potential "regulating method" under Sec. 706 that APT
advocates the FCC use to ensure the universal deployment of advanced
services. As industry consolidations continue, parties may also want to
comment on this proposal.
Statements of Don Vial, APT's Policy Chair, to the National
Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, may also be helpful in
drafting your comments. The comments are found at
<http://www.apt.org/dvial.html>. In them, he expressed concern that
regulators' misplaced focus on competition may conflict with sec. 706's
mandate to deploy advanced telecom networks to everyone. The economics
of the marketplace will dictate that providers focus on high-end,
high-margin customers to the exclusion of ordinary consumers.
Finally, APT's press release at <http://www.apt.org/080898.html>
offers the organization's initial reaction to the FCC's actions. It
also cautions that the FCC's proposal in the rulemaking notice to permit
incumbent carriers to offer advanced services through separate
unregulated subsidiaries will force these subsidiaries to compete as
competitive local exchange carriers. Consequently, they too will focus
on high-end business customers. To combat this danger, APT urges the
Commission also to enact proactive measures like those discussed above.
The FCC press releases and summary order at
<http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8057.html>
and
<http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8058.html>,
respectively, provide useful general summaries of the FCC's actions
under Sec. 706.
Please contact me if you need additional information or
assistance. Thanks again for your support.
Maureen
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