[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12648-S12649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE NEXT GENERATION INTERNET
Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, the Internet is transforming every
aspect of how a university performs research, teaches its students and
reaches out to the public. In Hawaii and Alaska, the importance of the
Internet is multiplied even more by the vast distances that separates
us from the other 48 states, as well as the unique internal geography
of our states which separate our citizens from each other by water,
mountains or long distances.
In October 1996, the Clinton Administration unveiled its Next
Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, emphasizing that the Internet is
the biggest change in human communication since the printing press. The
initiative proposed a $100 million per year federal program to create
the foundation for the networks of the 21st century. Approximately $95
million is being appropriated this year for the NGI.
One of the initial NGI project goals is to connect at least 100
universities and national labs at speeds 100 to 1,000 times faster than
today's Internet. The University of Hawaii and University of Alaska,
along with many other institutions, have joined the Internet2
initiative which shares this objective.
Unfortunately, high-speed connectiv- ity comparable to what the NGI
project is bringing to research universities throughout the country is
not even available, much less affordable, for the universities of our
most remote states of Alaska and Hawaii. These are the states where
telecommunications is most needed to counteract the isolation that is
imposed by our remoteness.
It must be noted first and foremost that our public universities in
Alaska and Hawaii have already dug deep to pay their own fair share to
obtain Internet connectivity. These two institutions already allocate
more internal funding for Internet connections than any other
university, yet they receive far less capacity for their dollars
importance on the Internet, these universities are faced with urgent
needs that cannot be reasonably accommodated through the commercial
marketplace or federal grant mechanisms currently in place.
For example, as part of the Internet2 project, major research
universities are now planning increases in speed from 45 Mbps (million
bits per second) to 150 Mbps and even 600 Mbps. According to the
founding project director for Internet2, the expected cost for a 150
Mbps connection will average about $300,000 per year for mainland
research universities.
The University of Hawaii already pays much more than this--$448,000
per year--and this buys only a 6 Mbps connection from Hawaii to the
mainland. The University of Alaska now pays $324,000 per year for a 4.5
Mbps connection. In other words, compared to the average that other
universities are expected to pay for their NGI-capable connections,
Hawaii is already paying 50 percent more for \1/25\ of the capacity,
and Alaska is paying nearly 10 percent more for \1/33\ of the capacity.
The rural states on the mainland found that their connection costs
were higher than in urban areas and appealed for assistance. The
National Science Foundation (NSF) recognized that the maximum $350,000
3-year grant to assist in establishing connections to its Very High
Speed Backbone Network Service was not adequate to meet the costs in
these rural states. In response, the NSF agreed to make 18 rural
states, not including Alaska and Hawaii, eligible for special
supplements of up to $200,000 over and above the $350,000 maximum
grant.
These rural mainland universities can obtain 45 Mbps connections for
prices in the range of $150,000 to $360,000 per year. In comparison,
the quoted prices for these connections to Alaska and Hawaii are $2.8
million and $2.5 million respectively, escalating to $6 million or more
a year to meet future requirements. Further, even if funds were
available within the states to pay these costs on an ongoing basis, the
capacity is not readily available or even in place on an ongoing basis,
the capacity is not readily available or even in place on the existing
saturated fiber optic systems that connect Hawaii and Alaska to the
rest of the country.
Our research universities in Alaska and Hawaii need the same level of
connectivity as their counterparts in California, Massachusetts, North
Dakota and Colorado. Our remote universities are already paying much
more and getting much less for their limited internal funding.
This is not just a problem for our universities, but is fundamental
to the overall economic development of our states. Ensuring high-speed
Internet access to the only public institutions of higher education in
Hawaii and Alaska also supports K-12 education, state government, and
many other education, research and public sector organizations to which
our universities provide technological leadership, support and services
as the intellectual cornerstones of our communities.
It is imperative that the federal government ensure fair access
across the nation to the Internet and to our own federal initiatives
such as the NGI. Just as a 32-cent stamp provides the same service
anywhere in the country, so too must we consider ways to equalize
access to the information superhighway. Further, we must solve this
structural problem not just for the short term, but on a permanent
basis.
We urge the federal agencies which are receiving $95 million for the
NGI this year, and which are planning on additional funding in the
years to come, to take upon themselves the responsibility to ensure
that the NGI reaches not just to those places that can be reached
cheaply and easily, but to all fifty states. Technical staff at each
university have been working long and hard to identify any possible
means of achieving affordable high speed connectivity for their state.
We ask that, as a nation, we reach out to find a stable and lasting
solution to this urgent problem.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I concur with Senator Inouye that this is
a critical problem for Alaska and Hawaii. I would suggest that it is in
the interest of all States to ensure that no State is left behind as we
enter the digital age.
Researchers in Alaska and Hawaii must have the same access to
resources that their colleagues in other areas of the country have--
without compatible access our universities will be left behind in the
race to secure research funding and they will not be able to compete
when it comes to attracting top researchers and professors.
There is another side to the problem. Just as our universities will
be cut off from their colleagues--universities in the continental
United States will be cut off from the expertise and resources that are
housed in the universities of Alaska and Hawaii.
Senator Inouye laid out our concerns with respect to participation in
the next generation Internet project, I would like to take what he said
one step further.
The technology--the high speed access to the Internet that is the
goal of the next generation Internet project--is currently being slated
to be developed on top of the existing Internet infrastructure.
The existing Internet infrastructure can be visualized as a series of
pipes, of varying capacity. The main conduit of the pipe system
connects the West Coast to the East Coast--essentially through the
middle of the United States.
Those States that host the main conduit are fortunate--they have low
cost access to relatively high capacity. Those States that are not
close to the main conduit face increasing costs the further they are
from the main conduits.
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The NGI project has agreed to include some States--like Montana that
face challenges connecting to the main conduits. However, our States--
Alaska and Hawaii--have been essentially written off.
This isn't just a question of our universities being left behind. It
is a question of our entire states being left behind as we enter the
new millennium when high speed connectivity will be essential to every
aspect of life.
We are already witnessing mass scale technological convergence. From
my computer here in the Senate I can make telephone calls, I can listen
to the radio, I can watch television--all over the Internet. This is
not possible from most of Alaska and Hawaii--the connections are simply
too poor.
Currently data traffic is growing at a much faster pace than
telephone traffic--if this continues, early in the next century data
traffic will surpass telephone traffic. Where will that leave Alaska
and Hawaii if we don't have the infrastructure in place to send data?
Right now many villages in rural Alaska can only access the Internet
by dialing a 1-800 number which connects them to an Internet service
provider in Anchorage. They are connected to the Internet at speeds of
around 1200 BAUD. Not only is this access slow--considering that most
Americans now normally connect at at least 28,800 BAUD--but it is also
costly.
I join Senator Inouye in asking that those universities and agencies
who receive part of the $95 million that we have provided for the next
generation Internet project use the funds in a manner that will advance
the interests of our country as a whole.
I also ask for the assistance of private industry in helping us to
solve the technical problems that our States face in obtaining
connectivity levels that are comparable to the rest of the country. As
one of the witnesses said earlier this week at the NGI hearing before
the Science, Technology, and Transportation Subcommittee, it will take
an innovative solution to provide Alaska with good connectivity.
Conventional solutions, such as laying high capacity fiber to every
village are simply not feasible economically at this time.
I am committed to finding a solution to these problems--I know that
Senator Inouye is too--I hope that our colleagues will join us and that
this will be viewed as a national problem and not just as a competition
for Federal research funds.
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