FARNET's Weekly Washington Update

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Written from FARNET's Washington office, "FARNET's Washington Update" is a
service to FARNET members and other interested subscribers.  We gratefully
acknowledge EDUCOM's NTTF and the Coalition for Networked Information for
additional support.  If you would like more information about the Update
or would like to offer comments or suggestions, please contact Heather
Boyles at heather@farnet.org. 


FARNET's Washington Update --- March 15, 1996

IN THIS ISSUE:

  o  ACTA petition update:  timeline for comments at FCC

  o  NSF announces new Connections Program

  o  FCC releases questions for comment about Universal Service

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ACTA PETITION UPDATE:  TIMELINE FOR COMMENTS AT FCC

The ACTA petition, discussed here last week, has been addressed by the FCC
in a Public Notice.  The Notice sets an April 8, 1996 deadline for
comments on the petition.  Reply comments will be due April 15.  The
Commission may, upon receiving the comments, either a) throw the petition
out, or b) initiate a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) or a Notice of Proposed
Rule-Making (NPRM) on the issue. 

To recap, the petition asks the FCC to 1) classify the software providers
of voice over the net applications as "telecommunications carriers"
subject to the relevant regulation, 2) affirm the FCC's regulatory
authority over the Internet, 3) prohibit the use of voice over the net
applications, pending 4) a rulemaking on such applications.  The
assertions and legal argument in the petition backing these four demands
are dubious at best. 

It is expected that not a few comments will be received at the FCC on this
issue - including FARNET's.  The Commission has had little to say about
the petition and the Public Notice was strictly pro-forma - without
comment or background information.  A copy of the petition has been put on
line at

http://www.commlaw.com/pepper/actapet.htm
(Link inactive 14 May 2004)


NSF ANNOUNCES NEW CONNECTIONS PROGRAM

Mark Luker, Director of the NSFNet Program, held a press conference this
week to announce an update to the "Connections to the Internet" program.
The new grant program will fund meritorious networking applications which
focus on issues such as quality of service and scalability.  Luker said he
expects winning proposals to support networking applications that cannot
currently be accomplished on the present commodity Internet and focus on
delivering quality of service, whether that be through higher bandwidth,
reservation protocols or other techniques.  Grantees will also be expected
to collaborate with their campus, regional and national providers on these
issues and may or may not make use of the vBNS as part of their
connection. 

The first round of proposals is due at NSF by May 15, 1996.  After that,
grant rounds will take place twice a year, on Jan. 31 and July 31.  It is
expected that the typical grant will be approximately $350,000 and last
two years.  (Although NSF has not been appropriated funding for FY96, they
are currently working under a Continuing Resolution that has been extended
until the end of next week.  Congresses is proposing a FY96 Omnibus
Appropriations bill that is being held up by the administration on
concerns over environmental funding, among other things.  It is expected
that the President will allow an appropriations bills to pass sometime
this year - hopefully before the end of FY96.)

A copy of the new Connections grant program and the slides from
Wednesday's press conference can be found at

http://www.cise.nsf.gov/cise/ncri/connect96.html
(Link inactive 14 May 2004)


FCC RELEASES QUESTIONS FOR COMMENT ABOUT UNIVERSAL SERVICE

Last Friday, the FCC released a NPRM establishing a Federal-State Joint
Board on Universal Service and initiating a rule-making to implement the
provisions on universal service in the new Telecommunications Act.  For
the most part, the Commission asks numerous questions about how it should
interpret those provisions.  Basically, they ask:  a) what services to
support, b) how to implement and c) who is eligible. 

For example, the Commission asks how to define "affordability" for rural
customers.  For rural customers, they also ask commenters to discuss
whether "Internet access availability" should be included in the advanced
services that the Commission will contemplate for inclusion under the
Act's call for an "evolving level of telecommunications services."  There
will be discussion about how to determine who and how much to reimburse
for service in a market that will increasingly look nothing like before,
including new entrants, different kinds of providers in the local loop
and, hopefully, competitive markets. 

The NPRM also asks commenters to address the so-called
Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerrey provisions of the Act which call for access to
advanced telecom services for k-12 schools, public libraries and rural
health-care institutions.  The questions there again revolve around which
services to include and how to determine and fund the "discount rate" for
such services. 

Comments are due by April 8, 1996 and reply comments are due by May 3.
There are many interested parties in this rule-making, not least those
carriers that are likely to be required to contribute to the Fund.  A huge
interpretive job was left by legislators to the Joint Board and the
Commission on these issues.  The rule-making must be completed by November
8, 1996.  A copy of the NPRM is available on the FCC's web site at
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Notices/fcc96093.txt
(Link inactive 14 May 2004)


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Heather Boyles, Policy Analyst                      phone:  (202) 331-5342
FARNET, Inc.                                          fax:  (202) 872-4318
1112 16th Street, NW   Suite 600                email:  heather@farnet.org
Washington, DC 20036                           web:  http://www.farnet.org (Inactive)