DISCLAIMER; This is for the private reading of the members of the Cypherpunks list, and may not be redistributed without permission. The opinions expressed are strictly my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ameritech or it's alliance partners. My two bits on the data highway; - on universal access Ameritech, the consortium of the five regional midwest RBOC's filed a plan for complete deregulation and access to the local loop the first week in March under the title of "Advanced Universal Access" The gist of it? If you remove the regulations against us competeing in everyone elses markets, we will allow and provide complete unbundled access to the local loop. Number plan the whole bit, right to the copper pair if you want. My two bits? we don't have any problem with any and all forms of competition. Do you want "Universal Access"? Then all participants have to share the costs involved. In Illinois alone there are more than 30 companies providing local loop service, each functions as a "Monopoly" within it's geographic area. Sprint the long distance company owns and is a "Local Loop Monopoly" in about 8 areas that I recall,(This was the result of there purchase of Centel) GTE, all the big boys are here. Large corporate customers are directly connected with long distance carriers without touching the local loop. - Bell Atlantic and TCI merger? couldn't care less, bring them on! I am involved with a number of projects that pertain to the "Data Highway" concept. - The Extended classroom, part of the "Superschools" project. This will provide E-mail services and basic info services to K-12 students. The next stage calls for Internet/Usenet Access and interactive MultiMedia (Hyperlearning) access. - Health services network, this is already providing shared info between various medical agencies and hospitals, it is limited right now by regulatory restrictions. - Announced just this morning....Ameritech has announced an alliance with Citibank to provide for "Display Telephone" access to Citibank financial services, this will also provide access to directory services and advanced telephone services. This is basically a variation of the French "Minitel" system from the look of it. I intend on pushing for Internet/Usenet access as well. Of course this is only the start, got an idea for a service? give us a call. All are welcome, I expect to see numerous "Garage" startups providing content of all sorts. - Video Dialtone, basically a piece of cake if you have the bandwidth, currently works well down to T-1 speeds (1.54 MPS) The Battle to build the "Superhighway" has been called the battle of 250 million trenches. This refers to the notion that 250 million sections of local loop will have to be replaced with fiber eventually. It's true that ISDN can play a part and ADSL (Asymetrical digital subscriber loop) which has been successfully tested at 3MPS over UTP and should clear 6MPS in the next 6 months will help fill the gaps. Some Cable companies will have their own offerings, as will various "Telecosm" pioneers we've yet to see. The cost of building the initial "Fibersphere" has been estimated at 250 billion dollars. Who's going to foot the bill? The existing cable plant is more than sufficient for the services the telco's are currently permitted to offer. We've made our point clear ( see the FCC filing "Advanced Universal Access") Turn us loose, and we'll build it, or at least contribute to it, ;) and equal access will be provided to all competitors. We're going to build it anyway, " Are you with me men!" Brian Williams Cypherpatriot Extropian * Telecosm and Fibersphere are from the works of futurist George Gilder, his work is highly recommended. * Hyperlearning is from the work of Lewis J. Perelman particularly "Schools Out, Hyperlearning, the new technology, and the end of education." Also highly recommended.