================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 19 ISSN 1069-7799 March 21, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (110 lines) MARCH 19 HEARING ON RURAL ACCESS TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE RURAL EDUCATION AND THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY - MARCH 25 TELECONFERENCE SPONSORED BY OCRE _________________________________________________________________ MARCH 19 HEARING ON RURAL ACCESS TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE A second hearing on universal service was conducted on March 19 by the Subcommittee on Communications of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, chaired by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT). The hearing focused on rural communities and universal service. The four witnesses were Gene Kimmelman, Co-director of Consumers Union, Jay Kitchen, President of the Personal Communications Industry Association (a paging service company), Joan Mandeville, General Manager of the Montana Telephone Association (rural phone companies), and Donn Wonnell, President of Pacific Telcom. Inc. (rural and mid-size phone companies.) From their different perspectives, all four witnesses sounded alarms about the urgency and problems for rural communities and consumers as new approaches to universal service develop during implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Kimmelman warned the senators that "consumers will come out losers unless Congress and the regulatory implementers of this law fine-tune mechanisms designed to bring consumers the fruits of competition." Noting that cable TV, long distance as well as local telephone service rates have all increased since passage of the Act, Kimmelman also cited the problems caused by mergers and the related issues of consolidation and concentration of ownership within industry sectors. There has been a retrenchment rather an increase in cross-industry competition. Speaking for a paging company, Kitchen argued that such companies should not have to contribute into the universal service fund (USF) when they are not eligible to receive such funding. "Paging companies should not have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars per year into a program from which they will not receive any funding...Paging contributions should be reduced by the FCC in order to ensure that the level of contributions to the universal service fund is equitable and non-discriminatory." Mandeville urged Congress to ensure that the FCC "delicately balance" its various proceedings on universal service, access charge reform, and separation proceedings since these policies are so intertwined. Wonnell, representing small and rural telephone companies, argued that the FCC should recognize "actual costs", ensure an adequate USF, and permit appropriate transition periods and mechanisms, especially relating to the 7% of American consumers served by rural and mid-size companies. No actions or new proposals appeared on the horizon regarding these issues. Clearly the subcommittee will continue to press for close monitoring of universal service and its applications to rural communities. _________________________________________________________________ RURAL EDUCATION AND THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY - MARCH 25 TELECONFERENCE SPONSORED BY OCRE On Tuesday, March 25 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.OCRE, Organizations Concerned About Rural Education, will host a live interactive teleconference on "Rural Education and the Information Highway - Making Connections, Building Community." The teleconference is being produced in conjunction with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the U.S. Distance Learning Association. The 90-minute program will feature a message from President Clinton. Other invited speakers include: Secretary of Education Richard Riley, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, and FCC chairman Reed Hundt. Former Wisconsin Congressman Steve Gunderson has agreed to be the moderator. The program will also include many success stories from rural communities utilizing the information superhighway. Over 300 community groups are expected to participate in the teleconference. For further information about receive sites and where to attend or how to arrange for a downlink contact: PBS at 1-800-257-2578 or call OCRE directly at 202-223-6304. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Claudette W. Tennant All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================