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Each of perhaps several thousand such local loops will connect to a local ATM hub or node that will connect to the head-end ATM switch via SONET fiber optic facilities. The head-end ATM switch will provide connection to the PSTN for voice, facsimile, and video-conferencing. Connections also will be provided to various data networks, a video server for Video-On-Demand, an audio server for Music-On-Demand, a satellite network for broadcast TV and radio, a game server for network game-playing, and the Internet for a wide variety of other applications.
There are a number of significant issues which must be overcome if the Information Superhighway is to become a reality. These issues include standards, regulation, taxation, addressing, and interconnectivity.
Standards (read standards recommendations) allow manufacturers and service providers to build and deliver to a common set of specifications, with options they can exercise to maintain a reasonably high level of differentiation. Assuming that standards develop quickly, manufacturers will build to them while complaining about stifled creativity. If they develop slowly, manufacturers will develop their own ad hoc standards in order to get products and services to market and remain competitive.
Standards are in place for some aspects of the Information Superhighway. SDH/SONET, for instance is well-developed, although work remains to be done at the higher levels (above OC-48). Similarly, ATM needs some work, at least in terms of AALs for voice and video. B-ISDN clearly needs attention, and it relies on ATM. In the video realm, MPEG-2 and ATM suffer from some incompatibility/inefficiency issues. Wireless transmission systems are unproven, much less standardizedWLL, PCS and, certainly, B-PCS fall into this category. Standards for set-top boxes and user interfaces are in the distant future. Standards for modular CPE devices are even more distant.
In an attempt to set a standard, several alliances and joint ventures have been formed. By way of example AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Hybrid Networks announced in December 1995 a joint venture to develop CATV modems in support of voice, data, and video over an existing coax cable plant. The devices will be built to an open standard, which the partners hope would become the de facto standard for such applications [15-28].
Regulatory issues are not trivial in the context of the I-Way. Barring the abolishment of the FCC (which has been suggested), state PUCs and other local, state/province, national and international regulatory authorities, a number of issues loom large. Regulatory issues include franchise rights, right-of-way, universal service, provider of last resort, and censorship.
Franchise Rights
Franchise access rights are regulated at the local level. Local loops and local telecommunications services largely remain the domain of the Local Exchange Carriers (LECs). Such exclusive franchises originally were granted by municipal and county governments. Currently, a mix of state and federal oversight prevails, although the Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides for competition at that level. CATV franchises, generally speaking, are granted on a local (municipal or county) basis, with varying levels of rate regulation at both the local and federal levels. Local government are used to being rewarded by CATV providers for franchise rights, generally on the basis of gross receipts taxes. Telephone companies have balked at the suggestion of paying such local taxes for I-Way franchises. They claim to be heavily taxed at all levels, already. Additionally, it is their position that their rates and services are regulated at the national and state levels, not at the local level.
Right-of-Way
Right-of-Way is another local issue. Municipal and county governments tend to take an interest in the digging up of streets and walkways for the purposes of laying cables. Local governments (e.g., Milpitas, CA), on more than one occasion, have take strong exception to cabling projects to lay redundant I-Way grids. Local governments have also recently taken strong exception to the placement of cellular, WLL, and PCS antennae and enclosures. Wireless is not entirely without wires and boxes. Additionally, health concerns still arise relative to EMF emissions.
Universal Service
Universal Service is a concept that has influenced telecommunications policy in developed nations for many years. The best possible service, universally available at the lowest possible cost is a basic precept on which telecommunications networks developed. Currently, all telecommunications providers (LECs and IXCs, alike) contribute to a universal service fund. If CATV providers, power utilities, CAPs/AAVs, ISPs and others are allowed to skim the cream off of the I-Way without contributing to that fund, the concept of universal service risks degradation beyond all recognition [15-29].
Provider of Last Resort
Provider of Last Resort is a concept closely tied to both universal service and competition. In order to be truly universally available, some company must assume the responsibility for providing service under the worst possible circumstances. From the standpoint of pure profit motivation, there is no incentive for a carrier to provide products and services such as lifeline service or Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDDs). Nonetheless, there is a social obligation to provide them, and some service provider must be held accountable. The various regulators of the Highway have not fully addressed this issue, in a deregulated environment.
Censorship
Censorship, increasingly, is the focus of government attention and associated regulation is virtually inevitable. Recent instances of Internet cyberporn have led to government investigations and numerous arrests. Internet Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) and Chat Groups have been used for illegal activities such as child abductions, posting of illegally-obtained credit card numbers and cellular telephone ID numbers, and various other illegal activities. Law enforcement is making occasional arrests of violators, although the difficulty of tracking down and prosecuting the offenders is difficult given the anonymity of the medium.
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