[9611] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Telecommunications Competition Act of Washington State
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (adam fast)
Fri Jan 14 03:35:26 1994
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 1994 00:34:45 -0800 (PST)
From: adam fast <adamfast@u.washington.edu>
To: com-priv@psi.com, communet@uvmvm.BITNET, nii_agenda@civicnet.org
In-Reply-To: <9312231223.AA46193@schoff230.herndon.psi.com>
folks,
enclosed is a draft of a bill that i am co-writing that will soon go
before the legislature of Washington State. the bill is designed to
encourage community access to the "information highway" and also keep
costs down by encouraging competition, thereby stimulating economic
development.
it seems that this bill has a pretty fair chance at passing. i welcome
your comments, both personally or to the list.
what follows is in plain language, it is what went into the code
revisors at the Capitol in Olympia this afternoon. i will post the bill's
final draft here (the legalese, in other words) as soon as i get it,
probably monday. there is still time to act on suggestions and criticisms
before the bill is voted on...
cheers,
adam
adamfast@u.washington.edu
Telecommunications Competition Act of Washington State
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What is the intent of the Act?
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* To stimulate competition in the information industry by separating
information transport from information content, while simultaneously
coordinating and facilitating interconnection of competing networks to
increase overall internetwork effieciency.
* To ensure economic development opportunities through competively priced
access to the Information Highway in communities throughout the state.
What does the Act cover?
------------------------
* All business and residential customer access to information provided
over a communications network.
* Any entity that provides voice, video, or data information transport
service to the public, or to a public agency, or a group of agencies.
* Any information tranport provider, even if the provider is within a
company or other entity that provides service other than transport.
Specifies that information transport providers are those entities or
parts of entities that provide information transport, regardless of
whethere they lease, rent, or own their own infrastructure. Specifies
that this includes land-based or wireless providers.
Definitions specific to the Act
-------------------------------
"CPOP" or "Commercial Point Of Presence" means a place where
interconnections between local and interlocal networks are made.
"local network" means communications infrastructure designed to link
businesses and residents of a community to a CPOP.
"interlocal network" means communications infrastructure designed to link
CPOPs together and to other networks.
"information transport provider" means an entity that owns, rents, or leases
network infrastructure and provides a service to the public or to a
public agency or group of agencies, including but not limited to
telephone companies, cable television companies, and Internet providers.
"information content provider" means and entity that creates, owns, or
distributes intellectual property and provides service to the public or
to a public agency or a group of agencies, including but not limited to
newspapers, television stations, multimedia companies, and book or database
publishers.
What does the Act do?
---------------------
* Requires information transport providers to interconnect their networks
for seamless transmission of voice, video, or data, at compensatory rates.
* Requires open access at Commercial Points Of Presence (CPOPs) where
interconnections between local and interlocal networks are made.
* Requires network interconnection specifications to be published by the
Commission in cooperation with information transport providers.
* Specifies the process for the location of CPOPs in accordance with the
Growth Management Act (GMA).
* Specifies co-location of voice, video, and data network interconnections
in a single community CPOP.
* Specifies that the community served by each CPOP be 10,000 users or less.
How does the Act do it?
-----------------------
The Act creates a revenue-neutral process that the directs the
Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to:
* locate the CPOPs in accordance with the GMA at neutral sites (sites
not owned or occupied by information transport providers).
* develop an application process whereby information transport users or
providers may create new CPOPs.
* develop the pricing mechanism to recover the cost of designing and
operating the CPOPs.
* facilitate the operation and implementation of CPOPs.
-----
for more information regarding this bill, contact:
--------------------------------------------------
Adam Feuer
adamfast@u.washington.edu
voice: (206) 996-0794
fax: (206) 782-5776
Jeffrey Sterling
jsterling@netcom.com
voice: (206) 368-7679
fax: (206) 365-7970
