January 22, 1999

The Honorable William E. Kennard
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12^th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554

Dear Chairman Kennard:

I am writing to express my interest in the upcoming decision by the Commission with respect to its Notice of Inquiry under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

As you know, Section 706 has a long legislative history. It represents the culmination of years of bipartisan effort to create a de-regulatory and pro-competitive environment to accelerate deployment of broadband capability to all Americans. Indeed, Congress gave the Commission special authority under this section to ensure that these lofty goals would be achieved.

Given Congress’s desire for rapid deployment of advanced telecommunications capability to the public, I would appreciate a response to the following questions on or before the date the Commission releases its decision in this matter:

1. In your view, does Section 706 grant the Commission independent authority to take action to accelerate deployment of advanced telecommunications services? If not, please explain the statutory basis for your interpretation, as well as your view of Congress’s intent when it enacted this section.

2. What transmission speeds in terms of bit rate do you believe meet the definition of narrowband, wideband, and broadband capability?

3. The term "advanced telecommunications capability" is defined in Section 706(c)(1). It includes references to high-speed, broadband, and high-quality video. What real-time transmission speed in terms of bit rate do you believe meets this definition?

4. Do you agree that the reference in the definition to a capability that "enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications" was intended to cover the transmission of high-quality video both downstream (to the subscriber) and upstream (from the subscriber)? If not, please explain your interpretation of the statutory language.

5. Please identify the full range of high-quality video services covered by the definition and the bit rates necessary to transmit them in real-time. Can these services be transmitted in real-time at the bit rate described in your answer to question 3? If not, how do you reconcile this inconsistency?

6. What is the current level of deployment in terms of household penetration of ADSL service and cable modems? What is your forecast of the penetration of these services over each of the next three years? Please describe the source of these forecasts and identify any known weaknesses or contingencies that may be inherent in these projections.

7. Given your answer to each of the questions above, do you believe that the standard contained in Section 706, i.e., "whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion," has been met? If yes, please reconcile this conclusion with any potential inconsistencies in the answers given above. In addition, please explain your conclusion in light of any inherent weaknesses or contingencies identified in the forecasting models used to answer question 6.

8. Do you believe that the current regulatory environment is optimal for the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability? If not, what options are available to the Commission to address the problem? What statutory changes, if any, would you recommend?

Thank you for your prompt attention to these questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

JOHN D. DINGELL
RANKING MEMBER

cc:
Commissioner Susan Ness
Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth
Commissioner Michael Powell
Commissioner Gloria Tristani