The National Research Council's Computer Science and
Telecommunications Board has published a study of broadband
deployment issues in the United States, titled "Broadband:
Bringing Home the Bits." In Conjunction with a briefing on
this publication given to Commission staff, the NRC has made the book
available at it's website.
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TSP Information
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Network Interoperability
Section 256 of the Communications Act, enacted in February of 1996, states two key
purposes: (1) "to promote nondiscriminatory accessibility by the broadest number of
users and vendors of communications products and services to public telecommunications
networks used to provide telecommunications service" and (2) "to ensure the
ability of users and information providers to seamlessly and transparently transmit and
receive information between and across telecommunications networks." To accomplish
these purposes, the Commission is required to establish procedures to oversee coordinated
network planning by providers of telecommunications services. It also is authorized to
participate in the development by appropriate industry standards-setting organizations of
public telecommunications network interconnectivity standards that promote access.
The Federal Communications Commission asked its Network
Reliability and Interoperability Council for recommendations on what should be done to
implement Section 256, and on July 15, 1997, the Council provided the Commission with its
report. The purpose of this homepage is to implement certain recommendations made by the
Council to the Commission.
In its report, the Council states that the objectives of Section 256 -- accessibility,
transparency, and seamless interoperability -- need to be pursued in context with other
important objectives of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, in particular, fostering
innovation, competition and deregulation in telecommunications. The Council believes
competitive market forces, voluntary standards processes and agreements among service
providers, equipment suppliers and other participants, should be relied on as the primary
vehicles by which to balance the various objectives.
Many of the Council's recommendations relate to the voluntary standards processes that
are used today to accomplish key interoperability and reliability objectives in
telecommunications. These recommendations include the following:
- To oversee coordinated network planning, the Council recommends that the FCC monitor
ANSI accredited and other open, consensus-based telecommunications standards developers,
to ensure that they support interoperability of national services or products. Click here to access the key telecommunications standards related
groups identified by the Council.
- To improve the efficiency of the standards process in meeting the requirements of
Section 256, the Council recommends that the FCC:
- respond to requests by industry fora for issue resolution of Section 256 matters using
the most expeditious mechanism available;
- identify a single point-of-contact for the informal exchange of information between the
FCC and standards developers on activities related to the interconnection requirements of
Section 256;
- respond to complaints by parties who do not believe the standards process is adequately
meeting their access or interoperability needs.
Requests by industry fora for expedited Commission resolution of Section 256 standards
issues, requests for information, and complaints about the standards process in meeting
access or interoperability needs should be sent to Kent
Nilsson.
- To promote access to public telecommunications networks used to provide
telecommunications service, the Council recommends that parties needing a formal technical
specification to establish a telecommunications interconnection arrangement take the
following steps: (1) Conduct a search to determine if an existing standard will satisfy
the technical need and apply it; (2) if the technical need can not be met by an existing
standard, develop a high-level description and submit it to the standards developer
charged to develop the type of interconnection standard needed; (3) if insufficient
information is available to conduct either of these steps, contact the American National Standard Institute Information Infrastructure
Standards Panel.
- To facilitate market entry, the Council encourages new network providers to participate
in existing telecommunications industry standards processes, particularly those of Committee T1 and TIA.
- To promote access to network capabilities and services by individuals with disabilities,
the Council believes procedures in place at ANSI, TIA, EIA, Committee T1, and other standards developers are adequate to
capture standards needs and provide input to the standards process when these procedures
are utilized by groups representing persons with disabilities. It recommends these groups
become active in ANSI's Consumer Interest Council.
It recommends the FCC provide public notice of developments that facilitate access to
telecommunications services by this community. The FCC's
Disabilities Task Force maintains a home page of information on FCC activities that
are of particular interest to people with disabilities.
- To promote access to information services by subscribers of rural telephone companies,
the Council believes membership by rural telephone companies in the Organization
for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO) is
an effective way to become informed about relevant standards issues. The Council also
recommends membership in the United
States Telephone Association (USTA) , or direct participation in any ATIS sponsored forum.
This page will be updated periodically to provide additional information on
standards-related interoperability matters. Corrections and contributions should be
provided to Kent Nilsson.
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