Association of America's Public Television Stations

Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of		)
				)
Federal-State Joint Board	)	 CC Docket No. 96-45
on Universal Service		)

To: The Commission

Comments of
Association of America's Public Television Stations

Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis
Vice President, Policy & Legal Affairs

Lonna M. Thompson
Director, Legal Affairs

Association of America's
Public Television Stations
1350 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20036

Date: April 12, 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary of Argument...............................................................i

I. Introduction...................................................................1

II. Educational Television Stations And State Networks Provide A Wealth Of Instructional Programming Services To Schools Across The Country..........2

II. Broadband Video And Interactive Services Designed For Classroom Use Should Be Among The Educational Services That Qualify For The Federal Universal Support Mechanisms..............................................8

Conclusion....................................................... ...............11

Summary of Argument

The Association of America's Public Television Stations ("APTS") submits these comments in response to the Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order Establishing Joint Board released March S. 1996 In CC Docket No. 96-45. APTS is participating in this proceeding on behalf of its member educational television stations and state networks across the Country, to express its views concerning the advanced telecommunications services provided to elementary and secondary schools. libraries. and rural health care facilities that should qualify for discounted rates pursuant to Sections 254(c)(3) and 254(h) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Noncommercial educational television stations provide a wealth of educational video and on-line services to their communities that fulfill a multitude of needs and reach into millions of classrooms, workplaces and homes. Telecommunications carriers should be required to make available at discounted rates the broadband telecommunications facilities necessary to provide these kinds of services to elementary and secondary classrooms and libraries so that they can be made more widely available throughout the countrv. High speed data links used for educational purposes should also qualify for discounted rates because thev are necessary to provide the interactivity component that is so important to effective educational programming.

The Commission should not put educational services in a technological straitjacket by prescribing the technical facilities eligible for discounted rates under the statute. Rather. the Commission should allow eligible educational institutions to determine what services and facilities they need to accomplish their educational goals. An institution requesting discounted rates should provide a written certification to the telecommunications carrier that the requested facilities will be used for educational purposes.

In implementation Section 254. the Commission should make it clear that consortiums Of educational television station. Such as those that Currently provide distance learning and other educational services to elementary and secondary school. qualify for the discounted rates mandated by Section 254(h)(I)(B).

Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington. D.C. 20554

In the Matter of

Federal-State Joint Board on
Universal Service

CC Docket No. 96-45

Comments of Association of America's Public Television Stations

APTS is a nonprofit membership association whose members include nearly all of the nation's 179 public television station licensees. APTS represents its membership on a national level by presenting the stations' views to the Commission. Congress. the Executive Branch and to other federal agencies and policy makers.

I. Introduction

The Commission has initiated this proceeding in order to implement the Congressional directives set forth in Section 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the " 1996 Act").[1] The Commission intends to define the services that will be supported by Federal universal service support mechanisms, formulate those support mechanisms, and recommend changes to its regulations necessary to implement the 1996 Act.[2] APTS is participating in

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1 Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-104, 1996 U.S.C.C.A.N. ( 110 Stat. 56).

2 Notice at para 1.

this proceeding, on behalf of its member educational television stations and state networks across the country. to express Its views concerning the advanced telecommunications services provided to elementary and secondary schools, libraries, and rural health care providers that Should qualify for discounted rates Pursuant to Sections 254(c)(3) and 254(h) of the Act.

APTS urges the Commission to Include within the scope of service that qualify for discounted rates the kinds Of educational video and on-line services that public television stations now provide to school classrooms, libraries, and health care facilities. Further, APTS requests that the Commission include as entities eligible to receive discounted rates consortiums of public television stations that provide distance learning and other educational services to elementary and secondary schools.

In order to provide a context for Its views on implementation of these provisions of the Act, APTS will first provide a brief overview of the kinds of distance learning courses and other educational services that educational television stations are currently providing to elementarv and secondary schools and other facilities.

II. Educational Television Stations And State Networks Provide A Wealth Of Instructional Programming Services To Schools Across The Country.

While most Americans are familiar with the public broadcast programming offered by noncommercial educational television stations. few are aware of the wealth of educational services that those stations provide to their communities. The instructional services provided serve a multitude of needs and reach into millions of classrooms, workplaces and homes. They are used in 72,300 elementary and secondary schools nationwide and are accessed by 29 million elementary and secondary students and 1.8 million elementary and secondary teachers across the country. Eighty-three percent of public television stations provide programming to K-12 schools, averaging five hours of instructional video programming per day. Rural high school students take distance learning Courses in advanced math and foreign languages that would never be available at their local schools: middle school Students hone their writing skills in interactive creative writing programs: high school drop-outs earn their GEDs and then go on to earn college degrees through broadcast telecourses: and workers upgrade their skills and expand their horizons through Continuing education Courses and live. interactive videoconferences.

PBS owns seven transponders on AT&T's Telstar 401, which it uses to deliver a varietv of educational services to local stations. These Include Mathline, a video and data service devoted to providing quality resources and services to math teachers and others who seek to improve students' math skills: Ready-to-Learn. an early childhood development service designed to help parents and childcare providers prepare children to start school: Interactive seminars on early childhood education delivered to Head Start teaching, teams serving rural, migrant. Native American and Alaskan village populations in 26 states, and PBS ONLINE. which makes available to schools and other facilities lesson plans. course materials, program transcripts and video segments that complement PBS programming services.

But educational television is not a monolith. It is comprised of state, regional, and local organizations with their roots in communities across the country that have launched services designed to meet local educational needs. Examples of these services are discussed below.

South Carolina

The South Carolina Educational Television Network (SC ETV) launched a digital satellite network in 1993 which, using digital compression, provides up to 32 channels of programming simultaneously. The satellite transmissions are linked with an extensive terrestrial network of broadcast transmitters. ITFS stations, cable television distribution facilities. and microwave links. These facilities have enabled SC ETV to provide video and audio programming and live interactive teleconferences to locations throughout the State of South Carolina -- and users in other states as well -- on an extremely cost-effective basis.

Among other services, SC ETV provides instructional programming to over 98% of South Carolina's elementary and secondary school Students, allowing an expanded curriculum and more equitable educational opportunities throughout the state. The network offers invaluable educational resources to all of South Carolina's students, enabling them to take advanced courses in math. science. and languages produced by other educational television facilities around the country as well as a wide variety of courses originating in South Carolina. In addition, SC ETV provides more than 1,700 hours a year of medically oriented programming to 89 locations, including hospitals, mental health offices, health education centers. rural clinics, technical schools and even correctional institutions.

Kentucky

Kentucky started its KET Star Channels in 1989 to address a critical shortage of Courses in math, science and foreign language courses in Kentucky public schools. Every public school, vocational school, state park. community college and university in Kentucky has been equipped with a satellite dish. The Star Channel system utilizes a variety of technologies including computers, telephone lines and interactive keypad technology to provide interactivity between instructors and students

Nebraska

A broad consortium of educational organizations throughout Nebraska established NEB*SAT in 1990 to distribute educational programming by satellite broadcast and microwave facilities The network has since been expanded by use of fiber optic and Coaxial cable facilities. The fiber optic service. developed in cooperation with local telephone companies. has permitted NEB*SAT to establish a regional network of elementary, secondary and post secondary schools throughout the state of Nebraska to provide interactive instructional services in math, science. foreign languages. and other subject areas to K- 1 2 classrooms.

Iowa

The Iowa Communications Network (ICN), a state-wide fiber optic network capable of transporting interactive, two-way audio. video, voice and data signals, reaches at least one educational facility in each of Iowa's 99 counties. The ICN has 209 video classrooms, including 73 for K-12 schools and several for hospitals and public libraries, and the number of facilities served is growing. The ICN provides interactive connections that permit the served facilities to share educational resources, analog and digital transport capabilities. and affordable access to the Internet. Medical institutions use the ICN for diagnostic and consultative services and to provide education and training. School classrooms use the ICN to share Instructional material and to connect with state agencies, universities, and other facilities that offer rich information resources for elementary and secondary school projects.

Maryland

Maryland Public Television (MPT) utilizes fiber optic and other technologies to provide a variety of on-line. distance learning and two-way interactive services to schools. libraries, and other facilities throughout the State, including educational courseware and teacher training programs to K-12 schools. By combining on-line information resources with video broadcasts. its facilities also allow Students to take "electronic field trips" and explore a broad range of subject areas.

Learning Link

Learning Link, operated by a of more than 20 public television stations throughout the country, provides computer-based educational forums and program services to educators. librarians and students. Among other service. it provides Curriculum material for teachers associated with public broadcasts as well as many forums for teachers, librarians and other educators to discuss topics of mutual professional interest. Local public television stations have customized Learning Link services to meet the educational needs of their communities:

KMOS, Sedalia, Missouri, uses Learning Link to allow students to interact with students in other classrooms locally. nationally and internationally. Amon- the teaching tools it provides is Creative Writing Online. a middle school language arts project designed to improve students' writing skills.

Idaho Public Television provides extensive news aroups, lesson plans, teacher training schedules and CNN Newsroom, a daily classroom guide for use by students in conjunction with CNN News.

Wisconsin Learning Link provides online service free to K-12 educators. In addition to national Learning Link services. it offers local programmings services and serveral forums for special interest groups or educators. such as Wisconsin Science Teachers Forum. Wisconsin Math Council Forum. and a forum for library media specialists.

Satellite Educational Resources Consortium

A consortium of state educational organizations and public broadcast stations in more than 20 states known as the Satellite Educational Resources Consortium (SERC) provides distance learning, courses through direct broadcast satellite facilities. In the fall of 1995. SERC delivered 20 courses to approximately 5,000 students in more than 500 schools in 32 states and provided 53 hours of staff development offerings as well.[3]

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3 In addition to Learning Link and SERC, a number of other consortiums have been formed to facilitate use of public broadcasting educational services by schools and other facilities. For example, the Thirteen/WNET National Teacher Training Institute (NTTI) trains teachers to use educational television and other technologies in science and math courses. Over 30 public television stations participate in NTTI which. since its launch in 1990, has trained approximately 75,000 teachers and improved the quality, of math and science instruction for over ten million students nationwide. Another consortium. the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium (NAPBC), involving Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission and several Native American tribes, is using computer networks and other technologies to assist Native American tribes by interlinking, schools and other facilities. providing educational and social services, and increasing access to educational, governmental. and other resources.

II. Broadband Video And Interactive Services Designed For Classroom Use Should Be Among The Educational Services That Quialify For The Federal Universal Support Mechanisms.

The educational program services discussed above give some idea of the contribution that educational television stations can make to the education of our nation's children when they have the facilities to bring their services into their communities' classrooms. These services have generally been made possible in a few states by state-supported satellite systems and wire-based technologies. These kinds of services could be made much more widely available to schools and libraries across the country if telecommunications facilities were available to carry them at discounted rates. Congress enacted section 254(h) of the 1996 Act to ensure that modern technologies are used to make these and other advanced telecommunications services universally available to the nation's children through public schools and libraries:

The ability of K-12 classrooms, libraries and rural health care providers to obtain access to advanced telecommunications services is critical to ensuring that these available on a universal basis. The provisions of subsection (h) will help open new worlds of knowledge. learning and education to all Americans -- rich and poor, rural and urban. They are intended. for example, to provide the ability to browse library collections, review the collections of museums, or find new information on the treatment of an illness, to Americans everywhere via schools and libraries. This universal access will assure that no one is barred from benefiting from the power of the Information Age.[4]

The Commission seeks comment. inter alia, on what kinds of services to schools. libraries, and rural health care facilities should be supported by the federal universal support mechanisms.[5] As the Commission recognizes in the Notice, [6] the statute specifically

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4 H.R. Rep. No. 458, 104th Cong., 2d Sess. 1 13 (1996) ("Conference Report") at 132.

5 Notice, para 73.

6 Notice, para 71.

authorizes the Commission to designate, in addition to those core telecommunications services that ore to b supported by universal support mechanisms, additional, advanced telecommunications services provided for educational purposes to schools, libraries and health care providers.[7] These advanced telecommunications services are eligible for discounted rates under Section 254(h)(1)

The Commission should included within the scope of services that qualify for discounted rates the kinds of educational video and on-line services described above that are now being provided to elementary and secondary classrooms and libraries by public television stations.[8] These are precisely the kinds of enriching educational services that can "open new worlds of knowledge, learning and education to all Americans -- rich and poor, rural and urban."[9] Indeed. Chairman Hundt specifically recognized in a recent speech that "high- quality educational courseware, video programs, and on-line services" are essential components of the educational services that Congress intended to make more widely available to classrooms across the country.[10]

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7 See 1996 Act, Section 254(c)(3).

8 Some public television licensees also provide valuable educational services to health care facilities, such as these provided by SC ETV and ICN discussed above. These kinds of services should be eligible for preferential rates under Section 254(h)(1)(A) of the 1996 Act when provided rural health are providers.

9 Conference Report at 132.

10 See Speech by Chairman Reed Hundt to Consortium for School Networking, March 18. 1996, at 5.

Thus, telecommunications carriers should make available at discounted rates the broadband telecommunications facilities necessary to provide video services to elementary and secondary classrooms and libraries. High speed data links are also necessary to provide the interactivity component that is so important in engaging students' interest in distance learning programs, allowing them to participate actively in those programs, and providing feedback to teachers. Further, as the Commission recognized in the Notice, interactive facilities enable students and teachers to access information and communicate with others beyond their schools:

Modern two-way, Interactive Capabilities will not only enable users at schools, libraries and rural health care facilities to access information, but also give students the ability, to participate in educational activities at other schools, including universities; allow students, teachers, librarians', and rural health care providers to consult with colleagues or experts at other institutions; may allow parents to participate more easily in their children's education by communicating with the school's telecommunications system; and may facilitate the transmission of data for the practice of telemedicine.[11]

Thus, high speed data links used for educational purposes at schools and libraries should also qualify for discounted rates under Section 254(h).

The Commission should not attempt to prescribe the specific technical facilities that will qualify for discounted rates under Section 254(h)( I )(B). It is not possible for anyone to anticipate at this point in time what kinds of valuable educational services may be provided in the future or the kinds of facilities that may be required to make those services available to classrooms nationwide. The Commission should not put educational services in a technological straitjacket by prescribing the facilities eligible for discounted rates under the statute. Rather, the Commission should allow eligible educational institutions to determine

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11 Notice at para 72.

what services and facilities they need to accomplish their educational goals. An institution requesting discounted rates should be required to provide a written certification to the telecommunications carrier that the requested facilities will be used for educational purposes.

The Conference Report specifically states that the "conferees intend that consortiums of educational institutions providing distance learning to elementary and secondary institutions be considered an educational provider" for purposes of Section 254(h)(5). Thus, in implementing Section 254, the Commission should make it clear that consortiums of educational television stations, such as SERC and those that currently provide Learning Link, and other services to elementary and secondary schools, qualify for the discounted rates mandated by Section 254(h)(I)(B) of the 1996 Act. This will enable educational stations to make these services more widely available to schools and libraries, consistent with the intent of the statute.

CONCLUSION

For the reasons set forth above, the Commission should adopt rules making it clear that educational video services provided to elementary and secondary schools and libraries. including interactive capabilities afforded by high-speed data links, qualify for discounted rates under Section 254(h) of the 1996 Act. In addition. those rules should make clear that consortiums of educational television stations that provide distance learning services to those facilities are eligible for discounted rates under the statute.

Respectfully Submitted.

Marilyn Mohraman-Gillis
Vice President, Policy & Legal Affairs
Lonna M Thompson
Director, Legal Affairs

Association of America's
Public television Stations
1350 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20036

Washington, D.C. 20036