-~.---- --- tiiri._------- td St.;kt,w <kllc~r-al Accounl.ir~~ Office _-- I n f‘ou’rna~tionM anagernent, and GAO l__~ ‘l’tx.:hnol~bgy --~ I )ivision l U.S. Communicat;ions Policy: Issues for the 1990s H111111111I ll 144970 Preface This publication is the second volume of our report highlighting commu- nications policy challenges facing U.S. policymakers. In the first volume, entitled U.S. Communications Policy: Issues for the 1990s Results of a GAORoundtable (GAO/IMTEC-91-52A),we summarized the panel discussions of nationally acknowledged experts who attended our conference, “U.S. Communications Policy: Issues for the 1990s” held on February 11, 1991, in Washington, D.C. This publication presents the panel discus- sions in their entirety, as well as the luncheon speech delivered by Con- gressman Edward J. Markey, Chairman, Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Appendix I contains a brief biographical sketch of Congressman Markey. To elicit a wide range of perspectives, we invited government officials, academicians, and industry executives to explore and debate critical policy issues in a series of roundtable discussions. The conference included four panel discussions, each addressing a separate policy issue. The issues addressed are (1) how the communications infrastructure should develop to promote innovation and maximize the benefits of com- petition, (2) the role of communications policy in promoting economic growth and development at home and competitiveness abroad, (3) how the United States should allocate the spectrum to effectively support the growth of communications services as a major element of the nation’s communications infrastructure, and (4) whether the U.S. communica- tions regulatory structure is effective at promoting opportunities for technological growth and innovation, as well as providing benefits to users. The conference was moderated by Patricia Diaz Dennis and Harry M. “Chip” Shooshan III. Biographies of the moderators and panelists can be found in appendixes II and III, respectively. Should you require additional information on this publication, please call me at (202) 275-4892. Ralph V. Carlone Assistant Comptroller General Information Management and Technology Division Page 1 GAO/IMTECSl-52B Communications Policy: Panelists’ Remarks Contents Preface 1 Panel 1: 6 Communications Carl F. Car-gill, Digital Equipment Corporation Irwin Dorros, Bellcore Infrastructure Stanley S. Hubbard, Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. Vincent Mosco, Carleton University - Michael R. Nelson, Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space Kenneth L. Phillips, Committee of Corporate Telecommunications Users John J. Sie, Tele-Communications, Inc. Jan H. Suwinski, Corning, Inc. George Vradenburg III, formerly CBS, Inc. Panel 2: 48 Communications Kenneth W. Bleakley, State Department Diane J. Cornell, Federal Communications Commission Policy, Economic William H. Davidson, University of Southern California Development, and Kent B. Foster, GTE Henry Geller, Markle Foundation Global Competition Leland L. Johnson, RAND Corporation Charles M. Oliver, National Telecommunications and Information Administration Panel 3: 77 Spectrum Management Dale N. Hatfield, Hatfield Associates, Inc. Leonard S. Kolsky, Motorola, Inc. 6 Morgan O’Brien, Fleet Call, Inc. Richard D. Parlow, National Telecommunications and Information Administration Thomas P. Stanley, Federal Communications Commission Barry D. Umansky, National Association of Broadcasters Page 2 GAO/IMTJZG91-52B Communications Policy: Panelists’ Remarks Contents Panel 4: 106 Market Structure and Robert C. Atkinson, Teleport Communications Group Robert W. Crandall, Brookings Institution Competition Richard A. Fazzone, GE Information Services Marta Greytok, Texas Public Utilities Commission Thomas R. Herwitz, Fox Television Stations, Inc. John R. Hoffman, US Sprint Joel L. Lubin, AT&T Robert Pepper, Federal Communications Commission Ivan G. Seidenberg, NYNEX Speaker: 142 Representative Edward J. Markey Appendix I 148 Speaker’s Biography Appendix II Moderators’ Biographies Appendix III Panelists’ Biographies Page 3 GAO/IMTEGSl-52B Communications Policy: Panelists’ Remarks Contents Abbreviations AT&T American Telephone and Telegraph Company ANSI American National Standards Institute Lxx Bell Operating Company CAD/CAM computer-aided design/manufacturing CBS Columbia Broadcasting System CCTLJ Committee of Corporate Telecommunications Users CDMA code division multiple access CFX) chief executive officer CFR Code of Federal Regulation CNN Cable News Network WE customer premises equipment C-SPAN Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network CTIA Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association DAB digital audio broadcast DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DELS direct broadcast satellite DOS disk operating system EC European Community FCC Federal Communications Commission GAO General Accounting Office GTE General Telephone and Electric IIDTV high-definition television IBM International Business Machines ICA International Communications Association IMTEC Information Management and Technology Division IRS Internal Revenue Service ISDN integrated services digital network IT information technology ITT International Telephone and Telegraph LAN local area network IATA local access and transport area MFJ Modified Final Judgement MFS Metropolitan Fiber Systems MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology NAB National Association of Broadcasters NAM National Association of Manufacturers NARIJC National Association of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners NBC National Broadcasting Company NREN National Research and Education Network NSF National Science Foundation Page 4 GAO/IMTEGSl-52B Communications Policy: Panelists’ Remade Contents NTIA National Telecommunications and Information Administration NTSC National Television Standards Committee NTT Nippon Telegraph and Telephone ONA open network architecture PC personal computer PCN personal communications network PCS personal communications system Pcm plain old telephone service WC public service commission PTT postal, telegraph, and telephone authority PIJC public utility commission RROC regional Bell operating company SONET synchronous optical network SMR specialized mobile radio SW signaling system 7 TELCOS telephone companies TCI Tele-Communications, Inc. TDMA time division multiple access UHF ultra-high frequency IJSSB United States Satellite Broadcasting Co. Page 5 GAO/IMTEGSl-62B Communications Policy: Panelists’ Remarks Panel 1: Comunications Infrastructure Ms. Dennis: Welcome to all of you. To set the stage a little bit, I think that we need to decide and discuss the importance of telecommunications. Indeed, does it form part of the infrastructure of the nation? Irwin, I’m going to ask you to help us at this stage here. We’ve taken telecommunications for granted in this country for quite awhile, per- haps because we’ve had such a good system, and now it’s become chic to discuss the need to improve and enhance the quality of communications as part of an infrastructure. Is it appropriate to think of telecommunica- tions as an infrastructure, and why? Mr. Dorros: First, let me point out that I’m not going to follow the ground rules, because the ground rules say that you want us to fight with each other. Ms. Dennis: Not exactly. I think we said, “Take issue.” Mr. Dorros: Chip said to pick a theme that we wanted to get across and fight. That’s what he said in the advance material he sent us. One of my themes is that what we’re lacking is industry cooperation. It’s hard to portray industry cooperation in an atmosphere that Washington thrives on: a good fight. My major theme is that industries have not cooperated with each other in deciding on what we want this country to have for its infrastructure for the next 20 or 30 years. Your question is very broad, probably too broad to have a concise * answer, and I don’t have enough time to develop a question such as, Is telecommunications an infrastructure? Ms. Dennis: How important is it? Irwin Dorros Mr. Dorros: We still have the best voice network in the world, but the only reason we still have it is because of the momentum prior to divesti- ture, and the companies have been following virtually the same services that we’ve had for voice since before divestiture. They’ve developed them through the motivation of competition, we’ve become more effi- cient, and we still have a good network that still works. Page 6 GAO/IMTEG9ld2B Communications Policy: Panelists’ Remarks Panel 1: Cbnmunicatlons Infrastructure But since equal access, we haven’t introduced a single national new ser- vice that came and was developed and conceived since divestiture. Even services like caller I.D., as controversial as it is, are still limited because they are only local, and the local exchange carriers have not gotten together to offer national caller I.D. That’s just one example. So voice is still good, but the current structure doesn’t have the appro- priate cooperation to even develop voice better. What we don’t have, though, which I think keeps being talked about as the infrastructure for the information age, is a data or information-networking infrastructure. We don’t have that. The voice network is, at best, a substitute for car- rying data on dataphone datasets. There are more in use today than there ever were, but they provide a very limited capability compared with what we need. We need a high-speed broadband ubiquitous net- work for interconnecting the workstations of the