================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 40 ISSN 1069-7799 April 14, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (80 lines) FCC SUBMITS REPORT TO CONGRESS ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE _________________________________________________________________ FCC SUBMITS REPORT TO CONGRESS ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE On April 10 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) submitted a Report to Congress on the universal service. The report, approved by a four to one vote of the FCC commissioners, did not recommend any changes to the schools and libraries (e-rate) program. The report is the result of 1998 appropriations legislation passed last November for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State (H.R. 2267). It focuses primarily on issues surrounding the regulation of traditional telecommunications and the Internet. Highlights of the report include: -- The FCC examined whether to reclassify Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as telecommunications carriers and thus required to contribute to the universal service fund. The FCC decided not to require ISPs to contribute to the universal service fund at this time. However, the FCC did indicate that it would be taking a closer look and might reclassify Internet telephony as a telecommunications service at a later date. -- The FCC will reexamine the federal and state funding levels for the traditional universal service program (which subsidizes the cost of rural telephone service). Many rural states have been disturbed that the FCC had previously only agreed to fund 25% of the cost of universal service in those states. The FCC pledged to find a mechanism to ensure that telephone service remains affordable in those states, including the possibility of the FCC shouldering more than 25% of the cost of universal service. -- The FCC reviewed its determinations of who was required to contribute to the universal service fund and who was eligible to receive universal service support for both the traditional high cost program and the schools and libraries program. The FCC decided that no changes were necessary in determining contributors or recipients. This report is the first of two that the FCC will be preparing; the second report is due on May 8. The May 8 report will address a number of issues directly affecting the e-rate program, including the funding level for the discounts and the administration of the program. The full text of the April 10 report and the FCC's news release are available at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Reports/fcc98067.html. _________________________________________________________________ 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. 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: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================