FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: News Media contacts:

August 31, 2001

> Atif Harden (FCC) at (202) 418-7931

E-mail: gharden@fcc.gov

> Dustin Logan (NECA) at (402) 592-2111
>
> E-mail: dlogan@neca.org

SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED FOR INDIAN TELECOM TRAINING INITIATIVE 2001 SEMINAR

Washington, DC \-- The list of speakers for the Indian Telecom Training
Initiative 2001 (ITTI 2001) to be held September 23-26 in Las Vegas
includes leaders from tribal governments, the telecommunications
industry and the federal government.

ITTI 2001 is a program jointly sponsored by the FCC and the National
Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) to bring together government, tribal
and private sector groups to focus on the issue of bringing
telecommunications service to tribal lands. This is the second year this
event has been held. Last year's event attendance was nearly 600 people
including representatives from 135 tribes.

Speakers at this year's general sessions include:

-   **Robert Anderson, President, National Exchange Carrier
    Association**. NECA administers the FCC's access charge plan and has
    been a co-sponsor of the ITTI conference for both years it has been
    held. NECA is dedicated to ensuring that telephone service is
    available and affordable in all parts of the country, including on
    tribal lands.

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-   **FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy.** The FCC is the other
    co-sponsor of the ITTI conferences. The FCC is the federal agency
    charged with ensuring that telephone service is available and
    affordable everyone throughout the United States.

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-   **Thomas Sugrue, Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications
    Bureau.** The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau handles the FCC's
    domestic wireless telecommunications programs and policies including
    the licensing, enforcement and regulatory functions. This office
    also administers Tribal Land Bidding Credits available to bidders in
    spectrum auctions.

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-   **K. Dane Snowden, Chief of the FCC's Consumer Information Bureau.**
    The Consumer Information Bureau handles all the FCC's outreach to
    consumers. It is the bureau charged with outreach to American Indian
    tribes and native Alaskan villages and is the home of the FCC's
    Liaison to Tribal Governments.

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-   **Kelsey Begaye, President, Navajo Nation.** President Begaye has
    been active in Navajo tribal government since 1976. As President of
    the Navajo Nation, he follows the two guiding principles established
    by the joint Navajo Branch Chiefs in 1999. These are the
    preservation of Navajo culture, tradition, and language, and the
    preservation, protection, and enhancement of Navajo sovereignty.

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-   **John Blackhawk, Chairman, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.** Chairman
    Blackhawk has served the Winnebago Tribe since 1985 and has been
    chairman since 1991. He was active in the creation of Ho-Chunk Inc.,
    the business development arm created to increase economic
    development for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

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-   **Tex G. Hall, Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North
    Dakota; President, Native American National Bank Committee**.
    Chairman Hall is an active advocate for many Indian issues on both
    the tribal and federal levels. In addition to his tribal government
    work, he currently serves as the Chairman of the Economic
    Development work group subcommittee of the Tribal/BIA Budget
    Advisory Council.

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-   **Susan Masten, Chairwoman of the Yurok Tribe and President the
    National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)**. The National
    Congress of American Indians was founded in 1944 and is the oldest
    and largest tribal government organization in the United States.
    NCAI\'s mission is to inform the public and the federal government
    on tribal self-government, treaty rights, and a broad range of
    federal policy issues affecting tribal governments.

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-   **Lance Morgan, President, Ho-Chunk, Inc**. Ho-Chunk is the business
    development arm of the Winnebago Tribe. It started in 1995 with one
    employee and now has 230 employees and annual revenues of \$50
    million. It has been honored by Harvard University as one of the
    best companies in America.

The following tribal leaders will also be participating at ITTI 2001:
Governor Bill Anoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation; Chairman A. Brian
Wallace of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California; Chairman Alan
Mandell of the Pyrimid Lake Paiute Tribe; and, Chairman Wayne Taylor of
the Hopi Tribe.

The ITTI scholarship program is assisted by the participation of the
NCAI and General Services Employee Association (GSEA). Under NCAI's
501(c)(3) non-profit subsidiary interested parties can make
tax-deductible contributions which are used for scholarships for
American Indian participants.

At ITTI 2001, the FCC and NECA will bring together their own experts,
along with representatives from other federal government agencies,
telecommunication companies and emerging technology firms, to inform
tribal governments about various facets of telecommunications services
and discuss with them how different technologies, regulatory rules, and
government programs can be used to benefit tribal communities. The
seminar will also identify programs and resources available to tribal
residents and governments to assist their efforts and to secure access
to, and improve the affordability of, telecommunications services on
tribal reservations. Similar to ITTI 2000, this conference will address
major telecommunications issues but it will have an added emphasis on
networking and establishing concrete goals and objectives.

Once again, the conference will offer an Internet Café which will
provide hands-on training for first time and novice Internet users. The
Internet Café, with its wireless LAN, will be hosted by TAMSCO with
support from Tachyon. In addition, the conference will host an exhibit
hall with over 50 exhibitors with representatives from the
telecommunications industry and federal government agencies.

For ITTI conference information please call Nancy Plon at (202) 418-2899
or call

888-225-5322, and **select option 2** after the recorded message;
717-338-2888; or, e-mail the FCC at ITTI2001@fcc.gov or visit the FCC
Indian Initiatives website at: www.fcc.gov/indians/ITTI.

For more information regarding the Indian Initiatives at the FCC, please
contact Geoffrey

Blackwell, FCC Liaison to Tribal Governments at 202-418-8192.

To register for this event contact NECA-ITTI 2001: at 1-800-351-9033.

\- FCC -