Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study PREVIOUS CONTENTS APPENDIX 5
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U.S. Congress Internet Caucus Advisory Committee Broadband OverviewAppendix 5: Excerpts from Selected Resource Documents
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Outlook
Looking forward to 1999, the challenge before this Commission is clear: to promote competition, to foster new technologies, to protect consumers, and to ensure that all Americans have access to the wonders of the communications revolution. These goals are the will of the American people and of Congress, set forth in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. And we at the FCC will continue to work hard to bring these benefits to every American.
-- William Kennard, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission, January 1999
Chairman Kennard's Agenda for the FCC for 1999:
Promote Competition
We will promote competition throughout the communications marketplace.
- Ensure all communications markets are open.
- Reform access charges mechanisms to promote the development of competition and preserve affordable rates.
- Scrutinize merger proposals to ensure that they are pro-competitive and benefit consumers.
- Allow the Regional Bell Operating Companies into the long-distance market when they have opened their own local markets to competition, as required by law.
- Promote competition and choice in the video marketplace.
- Promote alternatives to wire line technology in the local telephone market.
Deregulate As Competition Develops
We will adapt the Commission, its rules, and procedures to the competitive future.
- Aggressively continue our efforts to eliminate any unnecessary regulatory burdens.
- Reduce burden of reporting and accounting requirements where no longer necessary to further the public interest.
- Allow access pricing flexibility where competition has developed.
- Streamline rules for the certification of telephones and other equipment.
- Streamline our internal functioning so that we can issue licenses faster, resolve complaints quicker, and be more responsive to the competitors and consumers in the marketplace.
Protect Consumers
We will protect customers from unscrupulous competitors, and give customers the information they need to make wise choices in a robust and competitive marketplace.
- Ensure consumer bills are truthful, clear and understandable.
- Show zero tolerance for perpetrators of consumer fraud such as slamming and cramming.
- Simplify the process for consumers to file complaints by phone or over the Internet.
- Cut our complaint resolution time in half.
- Remain vigilant in protecting customer privacy.
Ensure Broad Access to Communications Services and Technology
We will ensure that all Americans -- no matter where they live, what they look like, what their age, or what special needs they have -- have access to new technologies to take advantage of the enormous opportunity created by the communications revolution.
- Complete Universal Service Reform to ensure affordable, available communications services nationwide.
- Ensure that the 54 million Americans with disabilities can use and have access to the communications network.
- Encourage the accessibility of emergency information via closed-captioning and video description.
- Assure reliable wireless compatibility with E911.
- Continue oversight of the Schools and Libraries and Rural Health Care universal service programs to ensure their efficient operation.
- Preserve free, over-the-air broadcast services and ensure satellite coverage in underserved areas.
- Open low-power radio frequencies for local use.
- Promote the participation of people of all backgrounds in broadcasting and other communications media.
Foster Innovation
We will work to ensure that America remains the world's leader in innovation.
- Promote the development and deployment of high-speed Internet connections to all Americans.
- Promote compatibility of digital video technologies with existing equipment and services.
- Promote competitive alternatives to cable and broadcast TV.
- Clear regulatory hurdles so that innovations, and markets for them, can flourish.
Advance Competitive Goals Worldwide
We will serve as an example and advocate of telecommunications competition worldwide
- Encourage the development of international standards for global interconnectivity.
- Promote fair spectrum use through the WRC 2000.
- Aggressively work for the worldwide adoption of the WTO Agreement of Basic Telecommunications.
- Assist other nations in establishing conditions for deregulation, competition, and increased private investment in their telecommunications infrastructure so that they can share in the promise of the Information Age and become our trading partners.
Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study PREVIOUS CONTENTS APPENDIX 5
returnNEXT Selected Resource Documents:
U.S. Congress Internet Caucus Advisory Committee Broadband Overview