Re: universal service vs. public sector service -Reply

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On 8/28 Sally Hawkes said:

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Now with the FCC hearings there is a possibility that education and
library tariff discounts might be separated from state govt. tariff
discounts that already are in place in Arkansas.  This could have a
disastrous effect on the cooperative infrastructure that was build by the
education, library and state government funds and personnel.  Would this
have an impact on what is already in place in other states?
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I share your concern about possible adverse effects on cooperative
public sector networking efforts.  Perhaps the FCC ought to take the
Hippocratic oath on this one (the oath all physicians are sworn to): "first,
do no harm".

I think if a school system or statewide network of K12 schools (and
libraries) opts to obtain service through a (obviously) non-profit public
sector network, that network as the legitimate procurement agent for
those schools ought to be able to obtain the services necessary to
connect those schools at the discounted rate.  If the network has
already secured reduced rates through a bulk purchase contract that
meets or beats the discounted K12 rate, then no harm done.

Tennessee has some education-specific tariffs in place, and the
possibility that K12 could have a strong $ incentive to build a separate
public sector network, reducing the ability of the rest of the local
community or state to aggregate sufficient traffic for an efficient
network, has been a concern of mine.

  -Jack McFadden

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