[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 15 (Monday, February 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     NCEITA TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORM DEBATE

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                           HON. RICHARD BURR

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 1, 1996

  Mr. BURR. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the fine efforts of 
the North Carolina Electronics and Information Technologies [NCEITA] to 
play a constructive role in the debate over telecommunications reform 
this year. NCEITA was formed in 1993 as the primary association 
representing North Carolina's high-technology companies. Rapid growth 
in our State's electronics and information industries has made it the 
second largest employer in North Carolina, accounting for more than 
145,000 jobs. North Carolina, with its Research Triangle Park, the 
Nation's oldest and largest research park, has become one of the 
Nation's premier locations for firms in electronics, 
telecommunications, computer systems, and other high-technology fields.
  As Congress considered the sweeping rewrite of our communications 
laws this year, NCEITA encouraged policymakers to take a close look at 
North Carolina's commitment to build a fully interactive fiber-optic 
network throughout the State and the advanced telecommunications 
capabilities available to its citizens. At the end of 1994, over 40,000 
sheath miles of fiber-optic cable had been deployed throughout our 
State, providing the backbone for date transmission. Currently, over 97 
percent of North Carolina businesses have access to digital switching. 
This interactive broadband network allows students to participate in 
classroom debates taking place on the other side of the State or browse 
through the library collections at distant universities. Cardiac 
specialists in Chapel Hill can now examine video images of the beating 
heart of an elderly woman in her doctor's office in the mountains of 
Hendersonville, NC.
  Using North Carolina as a model of the benefits of advanced 
telecommunications capabilities, NCEITA urged legislators to promote 
the deployment of advanced telecommunications networks nationwide to 
enable all Americans to originate and receive affordable, high-quality 
voice, data, image, graphic, and video telecommunications services. 
NCEITA emphasized deregulation and competition in the local telephone 
exchange as the means toward spurring investment in these advanced 
broadband networks. As a result of their efforts on the legislative 
front, Congress chose to include a provision authorizing the Federal 
Communications Commission to encourage the timely deployment of 
advanced telecommunications capabilities, if necessary, through 
policies of pricing regulation, regulatory forbearance and promoting 
competition in the local telephone exchange. Quite simply, this will 
enable Americans to communicate better tomorrow than they can today. 
For that, NCEITA member companies--particularly Broad Band 
Technologies, Siecor, Nortel, and General Instruments--deserve special 
recognition.

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