================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 74 ISSN 1069-7799 August 21, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (123 lines) LIBRARY SUPPORTERS URGED TO PROTEST BELLSOUTH CHALLENGE TO DISCOUNTED TELECOMMUNICATIONS RATES _________________________________________________________________ LIBRARY SUPPORTERS URGED TO PROTEST BELLSOUTH CHALLENGE TO DISCOUNTED TELECOMMUNICATIONS RATES The American Library Association is calling on library supporters in states served by BellSouth to urge the company not to challenge new federal universal service provisions dealing with libraries and schools. BellSouth Corporation, the local telephone company for much of the nation's southeastern region, filed suit in the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta on Friday, August 15. The suit is the second by a major telephone company challenging the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) May 7 decision on universal service. While BellSouth has not officially stated what aspects of the FCC ruling it will challenge, the company is expected to protest Internet access and internal connections as services eligible for discounted telecommunications rates. It is also expected to oppose the ability of libraries and schools to receive discounts on services provided by "alternative" providers, such as wireless and cable services. "We are extremely concerned that BellSouth -- which has invested generously in wiring, Internet access and other telecommunications services for schools -- could threaten this discount program that could connect millions more children and adults to the information superhighway," said Barbara J. Ford, president of the American Library Association. "I encourage library supporters to join in expressing their concern to BellSouth." BellSouth serves much of the Southeast, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. According to its most recent annual report, BellSouth had a 22 percent return on equity, with net income of $2.86 billion on $19 billion in revenues. Library advocates living in states served by BellSouth are requested to write CEO and President F. Duane Ackerman and urge BellSouth not to challenge the new federal universal service provisions dealing with libraries and schools. The address is: F. Duane Ackerman, President and CEO, BellSouth, 1155 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 2000, Atlanta, Ga. 30309. Fax: 404-249-3084. Ford said she is confident the discounts will become effective January 1 as scheduled, despite the legal challenges. She noted that momentum continues at the state and local levels and in Washington, D.C., and that 40 states have adopted the FCC's discount matrix. Several local telephone companies -- including Bell Atlantic, NYNEX, Ameritech and U.S. West -- have indicated they will not join the lawsuit. "We applaud those companies that are working with the library and education communities to implement telecommunications services and would welcome the opportunity to work with BellSouth," Ford said. At the same time BellSouth opposes universal service provisions, it has nominated J. Richard Teel, vice president of Regulatory & External Affairs for BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., for a position on the Universal Service Administration Company's board. Ford said she questioned whether such an appointment might be a conflict of interest. Libraries and schools were designated as eligible for discounted telecommunications rates in the Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey-Exon amendment to the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The FCC ruling in May mandated discounts ranging from 20 to 90 percent with the deepest discounts for libraries and schools in rural, high-cost and low-income communities. Ford called the ruling the most significant federal policy dealing with libraries in the last 30 years. SBC Communications, Inc., which owns Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis, filed suit in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on June 18 to overturn parts of the FCC's order on universal service, alleging that discount services for libraries and schools are a new tax. The American Library Association expressed strong opposition to the lawsuit. The oldest and largest library organization in the world with more than 57,000 members, the association has been at the forefront of the campaign for discounted rates and continues to work closely with EdLiNC, the Education and Library Networks Coalition, in support of this new policy. _________________________________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. 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