======================================================== For Release: March 23, 1993
LEADING TELCO CEOs JOINTLY SUPPORT CLINTON-GORE TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE
The Chief Executive Officers of the nation's leading local and long-distance telecommunications companies today announced that they have signed a landmark public policy position statement (attached) -- signaling strong industry-wide support for the communications technology initiatives envisioned by the Clinton- Gore Administration.
The statement was signed by the CEOs of Ameritech, AT&T, Bell Atlantic, Bellcore, BellSouth, Cincinnati Bell, Inc., GTE, MCI, NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southern New England Telephone Company, Southwestern Bell Corp., Sprint, U S WEST.
The policy statement provides a set of principles consistent with the Administration's initiative, "Technology for America's Economic Growth, A New Direction to Build Economic Strength," and articulates the roles government and industry should play.
The CEOs suggest the Administration and Congress adopt these principles as a framework for cooperation among federal, state and local governments, key users communities -- such as schools, libraries and health care providers -- and the private sector (including telecommunications, computer, information, and related industries.)
In addition, the set of principles recommends that government support research on applications and services that benefit schools, health care, and industries crucial for U.S. competitiveness, as well as research that will make it easier for people to connect to, and use, information networks.
Benefits to come from following these principles would include:
* Increased private sector investment in, and continued development of, a national information infrastructure as a result of government serving as a catalyst.
Partnerships among government, academia, industry and key user communities will focus on development of experimental technologies that leverage limited government funds.
Transferring experimental technologies to commercial (production) networks will provide new capabilities to users, meet their expanding needs, and increase industry's investment in the infrastructure.
* Alternative visions of the national information infrastructure can be integrated into a common vision which provides interactive multi-media and other advanced networking capabilities to all Americans.
* Industry's incentive to invest in the infrastructure will remain strong because the government will not subsidize commercial networks and because commercial services will not be provided on government- supported experimental networks.
* Selected user communities will be provided support for access to, and use of, networks and information through government funding.
Supporting these communities represents a shift of emphasis from government's direct support of networks. These funds, predominantly grants, would be carefully targeted by the government to meet urgent societal needs by communities which otherwise could not afford to take advantage of the benefits that the infrastructure can provide -- for example, innovative math and science programs for children in public schools with limited budgets and resources.
* Alternative network suppliers will be able to interconnect seamlessly with each other, resulting in a wide array of competitive choices that will spur innovation and result in competitive prices to users.
According to George Heilmeier, President and CEO of Bellcore, "The telecommunications industry looks forward to the challenge of evolving information networks to meet urgent societal needs, spur economic growth, and strengthen America's competitive position in the global economy."
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POLICY POSITION ON THE NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE
1.The High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) vision should be expanded to foster the emergence of services and applications that will serve the urgent societal needs of a broad range of users and industries, such as K-16 education, healthcare delivery and cost containment, manufacturing productivity and job creation, and the general public through telecommuting and access to libraries and other data bases. This imperative is shared with the recommendations of the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP).
2.This expanded vision can be most effectively served by a target structure comprised of separate Experimental and Production Networks. Experimental Networks should consist of government supported testbeds (for example, the gigabit testbeds) and high performance national testbeds (for example, interconnecting major supercomputer research sites) for leading edge networking technology and applications requiring such technology. Experimental Networks supported by the government should be used only:
a) To carry traffic directly related to the experimental goals of these networks, and
b) By those researchers who need to perform applications that require the advanced technological capabilities of these networks, and which cannot be performed on Production Networks.
These Experimental Networks will be developed by partnerships among government, academia, private industry and target user communities. These partnerships, which can build upon the long and successful collaboration between industry, academia and government, can leverage the government's limited resources to maximize social return.
Production Networks should consist of present and future commercially available communication networks. Production Networks would:
a) Be built, managed and operated by multiple providers from the private sector;
b) Provide a vehicle for technology transfer from their experimental counterparts;
c) Offer commercial networking capabilities to the business and residential population; and
d) Serve all users, including the Research and Education Community, for those applications that can be supported by commercially available network services.
The government, private sector and key user communities should jointly implement transition steps to achieve this target structure.
3.The government should encourage maximum interconnectivity and interoperability among Production Networks as an important goal of public policy.
4.The following four activities should be supported by the government and given the highest priority for achieving broad societal benefits:
a) Research into applications and services that will provide for the urgent needs of the broad range of users including K-16 education, healthcare and industries critical for U.S. competitiveness.
b) Research into user-friendly access and use of the networks to promote broad utilization by all members of society.
c) Direct subsidies to the Research and Education communities to support their access to and use of Production Networks.
d) Technical development of the Experimental Networks, including continued support of the Research and Education community's contributions in developing these networks.
5.Full consideration should be given to the present and future developments of the computer, telecommunications, information and related industries when planning, designing, and implementing the technology and standards for the Experimental Networks. Giving full consideration to the developments in all these industries will help ensure the maximum transfer of the best and most cost effective technology from the Experimental to the Production Networks.
6.Decision making processes relative to government programs and associated funding should be open to the target user community, including K-16 educational institutions, libraries, the healthcare industry, and industries critical to U.S. competitiveness. The decision-making process should also include representation from the computer, telecommunications, information and related industries.
7.The government and industry should strive for a framework that promotes fair and open competition, encourages innovation, and allows for effective participation among all participants and industries. This would allow all participants in the Production Networks to contribute effectively towards the evolution of the national information infrastructure to satisfy future needs.
======================================================== Sprint Position Paper
National Information Infrastructure Policy
US industrial & commercial competitiveness and advancements in the quality and efficiencies of our educational and health care systems are increasingly dependent upon the availability of advanced communications capabilities and efficient access to information. The US today enjoys the benefits of the world's finest telecommunications infrastructure and services industry, but as a nation we must continue to develop our technologies at a rapid pace to maintain our leadership position. Sprint shares with the Clinton/Gore Administration concern for vigilant focus on the continual advancement and improvement of our nation's telecommunications and information infrastructure in a way to assure the efficient deployment of state-of-the- art capabilities in support of our national priorities.
Sprint, therefore, endorses the Clinton/Gore administration's policies to advance our national telecommunications capabilities through a partnership among the private sector, the government and the research and academic communities. Together, we can advance fundamental telecommunications technologies and applications. We can deliver these applications via advanced telecommunications services that contribute to improvements in: industrial productivity and competitiveness, access to education and training, health care delivery, and efficient access to the information resources of our government, our libraries and the private sector.
Sprint strongly believes that the government, in cooperation with the private sector, can make a profound and lasting contribution by focusing its activities and resources in four areas, all of which are evident in the Administration's policy:
- -Basic and applied research to develop advanced technologies and networking capabilities and applications, including interoperability and network security technologies and standards;
- -Demonstration and pilot projects aimed at evidencing the technical and commercial viability of new technologies and applications as well as the contribution such applications can make in the areas of health care, education, and industrial competitiveness;
- -Demand stimulation by providing support to states, school districts, libraries and other institutions so that they can demonstrate the benefits of networking to the educational, library, health care and other communities and;
- -Expansion of access to the Internet and NREN to interconnect all levels of the nation's future. The policy will evolve as will its specific implementation programs. Sprint is eager to work with the Administration and the Congress in shaping the final set of policies and programs, with four basic principles in mind.
- Maximum reliance upon the private sector must be emphasized. The private sector should be uniquely responsible for building, owning, operating, and upgrading the nation's telecommunications infrastructure. - Care must be taken so the government does not subsidize the provision of commercial service. Such subsidy would upset the competitive dynamic of the industry and contribute to its long term degradation. - Experimental and other associated network requirements should use existing capacity where available so as not to undermine the supply and demand forces within the industry and depreciate rather than contribute to the value of existing infrastructure. The funding of excess capacity should be avoided. - The National Information Infrastructure is not just a high speed, "Data Superhighway," equivalent to the nation's interstate highway network. The infrastructure is not complete if end users are unable to access it. sprint believes local access is today's weak link in the evolving National Information Infrastructure, and that continued attention to the need for economical, high bandwidth, cost effective access at the local level is essential.
The following will assure that the private sector deploy the advanced infrastructure upon which our nation's competitiveness and the quality of life for us all will depend:
Advancement of basic knowledge in the areas of communications technologies; demonstration of the technical and commercial viability of new technologies and applications; stimulation of demand through the effective use of government procurements, the development and support of new applications, the conduct of pilot programs and the provision of support to assure efficient access by all to these advanced capabilities.
Both the opportunity and the national interest now exist to use creatively our existing infrastructure, and to scale up to tomorrow's demand. The National Information Infrastructure policy and derivative programs will be critical to achieving our desirable domestic and global policy objectives. Sprint looks forward to continuing to work cooperatively with the government, with business and industry, and with the educational, research and other non-profit communities in the development and expansion of these initiatives.
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======================================================== For Immediate Release
SPRINT SUPPORTS NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 23, 1993 -- Sprint today joined other telecommunications industry leaders in signing a public policy statement outlined in the Clinton-Gore Administration Technology Initiative. Sprint also issued its own policy statement in support of the National Information Infrastructure Initiative. Sprint supports the initiative because of its critical role in improving our industrial productivity and competitiveness, and our access to education, training, health care delivery and information resources. Sprint endorses the concept of a partnership of the private sector, the government and the research community, with the government focusing its activities and resources in four areas: o Basic and applied research aimed at developing advanced technologies o Demonstrations and pilot projects to underscore the technical and commercial viability of new technologies and applications o Demand stimulation by providing support to schools and institutions for networking, with corresponding elimination of the government subsidy to the Internet backbone o Expansion of access to the Internet (about 8,000 serving government, research and academic communities) and the National Research and Education Network (NREN), to interconnect all levels of the nation's diverse educational community to a high performance network In endorsing this policy, Sprint underscored the need for adhering to four basic principles: o Maximum reliance upon the private sector o Assurance that the government does not subsidize commercial services o Use of existing commercial capacity to the degree it is available o Economical, high bandwidth, cost-effective access at the local level "We applaud the ambitious goals of the Administration," said William T. Esrey, chairman and CEO of Sprint. "Both the opportunity and the national interest now exist to creatively use our current infrastructure, and to scale up to tomorrow's demand." Sprint presently participates with the government, as well as the scientific, research and educational communities, on three projects involving advanced technologies: o Sprint was selected last year by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to provide next-generation broadband network services for the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), and the NASA's Science Internet, which both link more than two dozen national scientific laboratories with each other and with leading research facilities worldwide. In implementing ESnet, Sprint will be the first carrier to offer a commercial Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) service later this year. o Supercomputer highway research with the Department of Defense, involving the transmission of computer data at record speeds, to allow more people to use long distance viewing/"virtual reality" technology o SprintLink(sm), the first Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) service offered by a long distance company to government and commercial customers, connecting scientific and research networks nationwide and globally In addition to these partnership projects, Sprint has a history of leadership in technological innovation and development. Key accomplishments include: o The first and only nationwide 100 percent digital, fiber optic network o SprintNet(R), the first and one of the world's largest public data networks o International connections manager for the National Science Foundation's NSFNet next-generation transmission capabilities network using Sprint is a diversified international telecommunications company with more than $10 billion in annual revenues and the United States' only nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network. Its divisions provide global long distance voice, data and video products and services, local telephone services to nearly 5.9 million subscriber lines in 19 states, and cellular operations that serve 42 metropolitan markets and more than 50 rural service areas. - 30 - JL/BG 032393