Remarks by

William E. Kennard, chairman

Federal Communications Commission

March 14, 2000

Lima, Peru

## "Connecting the Globe: The Latin America Initiative"

(As Prepared for Delivery)

Thank you Bill, for that kind introduction.

It is wonderful to be here. This glorious collection of colonial art
speaks of Peru's rich history; a history of mastering seemingly
insurmountable challenges. A century before the arrival of the
conquistadors, the Inca built a communications system of runners to link
the Andes from southern Colombia to northern Chile. The residents of
"the City of the Kings" set up one of the hemisphere´s first printing
presses, a communications revolution as significant to that age as the
Internet is to our own.

We in the Americas \-- North and South \-- have a tradition of seizing
communications challenges and solving them. That is why I am confident
that we will be able to implement the proven formula that will make the
information society a reality in all our countries.

That formula was first outlined in 1994 in Buenos Aires by Vice
President Al Gore in his famous speech to the first ITU Development
Conference.

In that speech, he explained how, together, we can create a Global
Information Infrastructure or GII; how we can create a worldwide network
of networks linking the earth's peoples. He said that the building
blocks for the GII are: (1) a privatized and liberalized
telecommunications sector; (2) open telecommunications networks; (3)
strong independent regulatory agencies with the power to break up
incumbent monopolies; and (4) government policies that embrace
competition. That is the framework we are pursuing in the United States.
It is the framework that is guiding most countries in the Americas. And
I believe it is working.

In 1996, there were only 27 million Internet users in the United States.
Today, there are roughly 80 million, a nearly 200 percent increase. Our
Internet traffic is doubling every 100 days, and over 40 percent of U.S.
households now have Internet access. Today, the Internet and
information-related technologies account for 15 percent of U.S. gross
domestic product and fully one-third of the nation's real economic
growth.

There is a fever in the air, a speculation about possibilities, even an
expectation as almost every arena of human thinking and ingenuity joins
the Internet.

But, for all the Internet's promise, a major challenge must be met if
the Internet is to continue as a vehicle for social and economic growth.
If we want everyone to truly benefit from the information revolution, we
must work hard to transition to the next stage of that revolution, and
invest in the infrastructure that will speed up the Internet and make it
ubiquitous.

The average Internet user in the U.S. spends 25 hours a year waiting for
websites to download. Our challenge is to make sure that as many people
as possible have access to high-speed Internet connections so that the
benefits of this technology can be realized throughout our society.

On this issue, you and I have a lot in common. Without high-speed and
widely available Internet access, the remarkable powers of this medium
will pass us by.

It is wonderful to see what is going on in Latin America to meet that
challenge. Latin America has made great progress in the last decade.
Today more people than at any time in its history have access to basic
phone service and the Internet. This is breaking down barriers to trade
and generating powerful economic growth throughout the region.

Together, we have made a great start. But we are not there yet. If we
are to have a truly Global Information Infrastructure, we must have an
African Information Infrastructure, an Asian Information Infrastructure,
a Central European Information Infrastructure, and, of course, a Latin
American Information Infrastructure. We have to make sure that all of
the world's economies, developed and developing, are connected. Despite
a decade of progress, regional teledensity still averages only ten lines
per hundred in the Americas.

We must do better than that. We must work hard to transition to the next
stage, when the development of broadband networks will speed up the
Internet and make it ubiquitous.

Ubiquitous access to broadband capacity is my vision for the next phase.
Ubiquitous access means that farmers in remote areas will be able to
improve their businesses by selling their goods and produce online.
Children will be able to sit at computers and take classes in different
languages and through different universities as part of distance
learning programs. Parents and grandparents who do not live near
hospitals will have access to better, more reliable, medical care.

We have all worked hard on the first stage of implementing the GII
agenda. But the hardest work is yet to come. To develop ubiquitous
broadband, we must create transparent, effective regulatory regimes that
ensure full competition. This inevitably means that regulators must curb
the power of powerful incumbent carriers to create a level playing field
for new entrants.

Regulators must continue to fight for cost-based interconnection,
targeted and explicit subsidies for universal service and dominant
carrier safeguards. We must aggressively use the tools at our disposal
to pry open markets to competition. In the United States we have a local
phone monopoly that is 100 years old. I know from personal experience
that it takes enormous will to break down that monopoly.

This is hard work. We regulators have to make tough decisions that will
be unpopular. I am reminded of John Rawls, the great political
philosopher and his theory of distributive justice. Rawls argues that
people in society advocate positions that advance their own economic
self-interest. This is summed up in the old adage "where you stand
depends on where you sit."

There is no reason to demonize this behavior. But in order to serve the
people of our respective countries we must consistently take the stand
that maximizes consumer welfare. And we must do so irrespective of the
narrow economic interests that are argued before us.

Therefore, as we link arms with our fellow regulators, there are certain
universal truths we must advocate. We know that competition is better
than monopoly; that universal service and competition are not mutually
exclusive; and that our communications goals require the intervention of
a strong, independent regulator empowered to pry open markets and keep
them open.

We face hard issues, but we do not face them alone. The Americas have a
long tradition of Inter-American collaboration. In my visit here this
week, I am gaining new insights into the challenges I face as I learn
about your challenges. We need to join forces to make sure no one is
left behind. So, I want to work with my colleagues in Latin America to
make the promise of the Information revolution a reality for all our
people. That is really what brought me here.

Last June, I announced a Development Initiative aimed at partnering with
telecommunications leaders in the developing world, who are working to
create an information infrastructure in their own countries. I made that
announcement with the hope that, by working together, we could develop
the strategies that will allow the Internet and broadband technologies
to link peoples and economies like never before. Since then, the FCC has
entered into work programs with several African countries that have
embraced competition as a method for expanding access to
telecommunications.

And now I am pleased to announce here in Lima the next phase of the
Development Initiative. Tonight we at the FCC commit to working on a
major effort to partner with our colleagues in Latin America. Under this
initiative, we will share more information, exchange more ideas,
cooperate in new ways, and draw more easily on our mutual experiences.
We will be able to discuss communications policies and procedures on a
regular basis in a more organized fashion.

The FCC does not have a lot of money to help nations struggling to
establish new networks. But we do have knowledge and experience. We look
forward to sharing it with you. We are eager to join together, to make
your historic market-opening efforts a success, and to expand the
opportunities of this great medium to all the peoples of Latin America.

We have already started with this effort. This past weekend I met in
Buenos Aires with Henoch Aguiar, Argentina's new and very impressive
Communications Secretary, and signed an agreement to expand
regulator-to-regulator cooperation. Earlier today, I spent a stimulating
and enjoyable five hours with Jorge Kunigami and his dedicated and
enthusiastic staff and signed a work plan for cooperation with OSIPTEL.
We are looking forward to establishing a similar partnership with
colleagues in Brazil and Jamaica. We are also looking to work with other
countries in the region through existing programs like the FCC's
International Visitors Program, and we are committed to building on the
joint efforts already underway with CITEL. Given our limited resources,
we hope that targeted cooperation will benefit the region as a whole.

What has made my visit to South America so rewarding has been to see
first hand your commitment to bringing the benefits of the Information
revolution to everyone.

Five hundred years ago, the Inca physically linked vast areas of this
continent with human runners. In this century, we can link our nations
together with information running on broadband networks. We can do this
together and the fruits of our collaboration will be shared across the
region.

We can do this. We can do this together. We must do this for all our
people.

Thank you.