Universal
Service and Access
Goal Team

Definition

Milton Mueller, of Rutgers University, has a paper coming out called. OTFC members should find some good information in this summary/interpretation. "Universal service is defined as an "evolving level of telecommunications services" and the definition must take into account advances in telecommunications and information technology. The Commission must include, at a minimum, any telecommunications service that is subscribed to by a substantial majority of residential customers. The definition must be revised and updated by the Commission periodically. Once a service or capability has been declared part of "universal service," it becomes eligible for subsidy supports. Financial contributions to the preservation and advancement of universal service will be provided by "all telecommunications carriers providing interstate telecommunications services."

The RAND Institution asks if e-mail should be a part of universal service, in itsreport. "What if e-mail were as ubiquitous as telephones, TVs, and VCRs, so that literally everyone were on-line, accessible by e-mail, and able to send messages to bulletin boards, news groups, friends, family, and colleagues? Is this technically feasible? If so, at what cost? What would be the personal and societal benefits resulting from "universal access to e-mail?" In particular, in addition to possible economic benefits, could universal access help in creating a more aware and participatory democracy by aiding the formation of interest groups ("virtual communities"), access to current information, and person-to-person contacts?"

Which services should be covered by universal access, and their affordability, are covered in by the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service.

Affordability

Mark Cooper, in a joint publication of the Benton Foundation and the Consumer Federation of America, publishedhus, in a flurry of proceedings, 50 regulatory bodies (the States) will write the road map for the information superhighway, determining who has access to what services at what prices. And if the Internet and other advanced telecommunications services prove to be anywhere as powerful a social force in the twenty-first century as plain old telephone service proved to be in the twentieth century, a great deal is at stake for consumers."

Specific recommendations about overall affordability policy can be found at

Access

InBenefits and Costs of Public Information Networks: The Case for Narrowband ISDN, Bruce Egan talks about building-out the existing infrastructure to accomodate new technologies. "A concerted and coordinated national effort to upgrade America's public telecommunication network infrastructures is, from society's perspective, more efficient than a haphazard piecemeal approach. Unless there is a broad sharing of the costs of an advanced telecommunication infrastructure, many individual subscribers will not be able to participate in the "Information Age," as the costs of private access to such information will be prohibitive." A full-length version< of this paper is available in .pdf format.

School districts, ESDs, a community college, and other partners came together to create the South Oregon Coast Telecommunications Project. The problem was providing access to telecommunications resources to a sparcely populated area. The partnership set up goals and a timetable. They are now providing enhanced services. Their recently-moved home page has more information.

Bringing affordable access to the public is the lists the services they provide.

Cost

Bruce Egan has made a number of his papers available online. An abstract of Costs and Financing for the National Information Infrastructure (about one page) begins, "There are substantial differences of opinion among academics and practitioners regarding the financial viability of residential broadband telecommunication networks. Market research to date has generally concluded that there is insufficient demand to justify the rapid massive investment required by telephone companies, cable television companies or others to deploy broadband networks for the mass market of residential subscribers." A full-length version is attainable in .pdf format.

Cost is something we tend to associate with the comsumer perspective, but the telecomm companies have to work with both public demands and regulatory directives. Some basic information can be found at the Pacific Telesis page concerning public policy.

Reference

For those of you who wish to have a copy of the original 300K download. Also weighing in at about 300K is the

The Federal Communications Commission's will keep you up-to-date on the latest hearings, official proceedings, and developments.

The LBJ School of Public Affairs conducted a research project in 1995 entitled "The Evolution of Universal Service in Texas." The core of the research was a survey of people without phones in Texas. The research strategy was based on the premise that since universal service-availability and affordability-remains a prominent goal in a rapidly changing telecommunications environment, it is important to have detailed knowledge about why some segments of our population do not have telephone service in the home. The survey therefore sought to elicit whether affordability-as opposed to availability, which is not an issue for plain old telephone service (POTS)--is the primary barrier to having service or whether there are other reasons why a household is phoneless.

WINGS -Web Interactive Network of Government Services - The WINGS vision is to provide: 1) 24-hour, seven day-a-week public access to government services, 2) One-stop shopping (no arcade of kiosks), 3) On-line Federal, State, and Local information and services (transactions), and, 4) Universal reach and coverage to ensure equal access for everyone. WINGS is a joint Local, State and Federal government customer-service initiative being facilitated and managed by the U.S. Postal Service. The WINGS goal is to integrate services around life events, allowing people to complete government business on many levels in one session. Through public access terminals, kiosks and even home computers, WINGS will enable the public to conduct their business with the government quickly, effectively, whenever and wherever they want to.

FCC 97-157, CC Docket No. 96-45 - Download and Viewing Options - 1) WordPerfect 5.1 Format - zipped, Full Report in WordPerfect 5.1 file format - zipped, The unzipped version is also available 829 pages, 808 KB (2.9 MB unzipped) 2) HTML Format, All Sections and Appendicies of the Full Report linked via a click-able, Table of Contents to separate files in HTML format 3) Adobe Acrobat Format, All Sections and Appendicies of the Full Report linked via a click-able Table of Contents to separate files in Adobe Acrobat format.

On May 7, 1997, the FCC adopted changes to its system of interstate access charges to make them compatible with the pro-competitive deregulatory framework established by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Commission took a series of actions to reduce long-distance rates and to allow the costs of phone service to be recovered in a more economically-efficient manner. Included in this package were changes in the rate structure for additional phone lines used by residential customers. At the same time, the FCC also adopted rules to implement a new system of universal service, as directed by Congress in the 1996 Act. This fact sheet addresses some of the questions that have been raised about what the FCC did -- and did not do.

n May 7, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules to implement the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act) and to guarantee affordable telecommunications services are available throughout the nation. These universal service rules also provide schools and libraries significant discounts to help them connect and remain connected to the Internet. This briefing summarizes the FCC's decisions concerning: the principles on which universal service policy will be based, the package of services that will constitute basic service, eligibility requirements for carriers to receive universal service funds, the definition of "affordable" service, support for low-income consumers, keeping service in rural areas affordable, making high-bandwidth services affordable for rural health care providers, making telecommunications services more affordable for schools and libraries, and administration of the universal service fund.