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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  News  Media  Contact: 
 September  15,  2000  Meribeth  McCarrick  at  (202)  418-  0654 
 e-  mail:  mmccarri@  fcc.  gov 


 FCC  ANNOUNCES  PARTICIPATING  SPEAKERS  AND  SCHOLARSHIP  AVAILABILITY  FOR  THE  INDIAN  TELECOM  TRAINING  INITIATIVE  2000  SEMINAR 


 Washington,  D.  C.  -  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  today  announced  speakers 
 that  will  be  participating  in  the  FCC's  Indian  Telecom  Training  Initiative  2000  (ITTI  2000).  The 
 Commission  also  announced  the  creation  of  a  scholarship  program  to  assist  the  participation  by 
 tribal  community  leaders  in  ITTI  2000.  The  FCC  in  cooperation  with  the  National  Exchange  Carrier 
 Association  is  hosting  this  event  September  25-  28  at  the  Radisson  Hotel  in  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 
 This  historic  event  will  bring  together  government  representatives  as  well  as  representatives  from 
 over  100  tribes,  over  40  private  sector  groups,  and  over  50  telecommunications  experts  to  focus  on 
 the  issue  of  bringing  telecommunication  services  to  tribal  lands. 


 The  preliminary  list  of  speakers  for  ITTI  2000  includes:  FCC  Chairman  William  E. 
 Kennard;  FCC  Commissioner  Harold  Furchtgott-  Roth;  Aida  Alvarez,  Administrator,  U.  S.  Small 
 Business  Administration;  Lynn  Cutler,  Deputy  Assistant  to  the  President  and  Senior  Advisor  to  the 
 Vice  President  and  Chief  of  Staff;  Robert  Anderson,  President,  National  Exchange  Carrier 
 Association;  George  Gover,  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs,  Director,  Office  of  Economic  Development; 
 Chris  McLean,  Administrator,  Rural  Utility  Services;  Karen  Buller,  President,  National  Indian 
 Telecommunications  Institute;  Bob  Rowe,  President,  National  Association  of  Regulatory  Utility 
 Commissioners;  and  April  Whitemore,  Miss  Indian  World  1999. 


 ITTI  2000  was  created  as  a  first-  time  effort  to  train  the  tribal  leaders  of  federally  recognized 
 tribes  and  native  communities  about  telecommunications  policies,  technologies,  regulatory 
 framework  and  service  options  available  to  tribal  communities.  This  conference  was  the  outgrowth 
 of  a  Commission  effort  begun  almost  three  years  ago  to  address  the  digital  divide  between  Native 
 American  communities  and  the  services  and  access  available  to  the  rest  of  America.  After  several 
 field  hearings  held  by  the  Commission,  three  tribal  regulatory  items  were  approved  by  the 
 Commission  on  June  8,  2000,  to  improve  telecom  services  available  for  tribal  communities. 


 The  ITTI  2000  scholarship  program  was  established  by  sponsors,  to  ensure  the  participation 
 of  tribal  communities  with  limited  resources.  The  scholarships  will  be  administered  through  the 
 U.  S.  General  Services  Administration's  Employee  Association  and  targeted  at  tribal  leaders  with 
 limited  funding  to  participate  in  this  important  seminar.  ITTI  2000  scholarships  are  available  for 
 two  representatives  from  each  applying  tribal  government  on  a  first-  come,  first-  serve  basis. 
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 ITTI  2000  is  being  sponsored  by  a  broad  consortium  of  partners,  to  date  including: 
 ALLTEL,  American  Indian  Higher  Education  Consortium,  AT&  T,  BellSouth,  CHR  Solutions, 
 CIRI,  DAKOTA  2000,  Ericsson  Inc.,  Globalstar  LP,  Hughes  Network  Systems,  Lucent 
 Technologies,  Lukas,  Nace,  Gutierrez  &  Sachs,  Motient  Corporation,  Minnesota  American  Indian 
 Chamber  of  Commerce,  National  Indian  Telecommunications  Institute,  National  Science 
 Foundation,  National  Telephone  Cooperative  Association,  Northcoast  Communications  LLC, 
 OPASCO,  Public  Service  Telephone  Company,  QWEST,  Rural  Telephone  Finance  Cooperative, 
 SBC  Corporation,  TACHYON,  TAMSCO,  TCA,  Inc.,  Telecordia  Technologies,  Inc.,  U.  S. 
 Department  of  Agriculture's  Rural  Utilities  Service,  U.  S.  Department  of  Interior’s  Bureau  of  Indian 
 Affairs,  U.  S.  General  Services  Employee  Association,  U.  S.  Small  Business  Administration, 
 Verizon,  Verizon  Foundation,  Western  New  Mexico  Telephone,  and  Western  Wireless  Corporation. 


 For  more  information  on  the  seminar  and  on  the  availability  of  scholarships  for  tribal 
 governments  please  call  (888)  CALL  FCC  (888)  225-  5322;  (717)  338-  2888;  or  email  the  FCC  at 
 ITTI2000@  fcc.  gov.  Additional  information  is  available  at  the  FCC  Indian  Initiatives  website  at: 
 www.  fcc.  gov/  Indians. 


 FCC  ITTI  ‘2000  Contact:  Nancy  Plon  at  (202)  418-  2899;  nplon@  fcc.  gov;  TTY  at  (202)  418-  8233 
 NECA  Contact:  Dustin  Logan  at  (402)  592-  2111  or  dlogan@  neca.  org 


 -  FCC  - 
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