TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

The Division of Communications, in cooperation with the Nebraska Information Technology Commission, is currently conducting a telecommunications infrastructure needs assessment of Nebraska. This project is called the TINA project. The goal of this project is to aggregate telecommunications demand from state government with the demand of K-12 education, higher education, healthcare, local government, and other political subdivisions. The anticipated outcome is greater deployment of advanced services to all of Nebraska and through collaboration, stabilized rates.

The TINA Advisory Group, comprised of various communities of interest to this project, has recommended that the State of Nebraska investigate the efficiencies and build a business case for the State to bid out telecommunications services to a prime contractor. The prime contractor concept is defined as the State of Nebraska contracting to lease services under a competitive procurement from a single statewide prime telecommunications service provider. This service provider would offer telecommunications services (i.e., voice, data, video distribution, video conferencing, distance learning, and Internet access) to all levels of state and local government as described above. Service level agreements (SLA) and performance parameters such as Quality of Service (QOS), circuit availability, and lead times for service implementation, among others, would be defined. The prime contractor would be expected to provide end-to-end services through sub-contracting or joint ventures with the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC), competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC), Inter-exchange carriers (IXC), and any other telecommunications service providers as allowed by law. These services will be offered at a uniform postalized rate, with the prime contractor having the responsibility for averaging costs among its sub-contractors/partners.

This scenario enables the local exchange carriers (LEC), Inter-exchange carriers (IXC) and Internet service providers (ISP) the opportunity to provide the full range of needed services and be capable of offering services locally to residents and business interests in each community.

If you have any questions, please contact Brenda Decker at (402) 471-3717.

FISCAL YEAR END REMINDER

Your June 2000 Division of Communications ITD's will have a FY01 document number on it. If your agency can process these ITD's before the FY00 DAS-Accounting deadline, please contact Janet at 402/471-2762 or Shelley at 402/471-3850 for a current year (FY00) number.

WHAT ARE THESE CHARGES ON MY BILLING?

Extended Area Service (EAS): A monthly charge that allows you to call specified nearby towns as a local call.

Federal Access Charge: A charge set by the FCC to cover part of a local telephone company's cost of operating and maintaining its local telephone network.

Telecommunications Dual Party Relay Service: A charge set by the Nebraska Public Service Commission to provide a statewide network to allow communication between hearing-and speech-impaired customers and individuals without such disabilities.

911 Surcharge: A charge assessed by the county to provide funding to operate emergency service centers.

NE Universal Service Fee: A charge set by the Nebraska Public Service Commission to provide funds to local exchange carriers (LECs) to assist in the provision of services to high-cost customers. This charge is 6.95% of the in-state portion of the bill.

Universal Connectivity Charge: Charges assessed by the long distance company to support low income consumers, consumers in high-cost areas, and support for schools, libraries, and rural health care providers.

 (Paraphrased from Q&A Section of NCTC Connections Newsletter, Spring 2000)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS INVENTORY

All agencies have received a listing of telecommunications equipment that is inventoried by the Division of Communications. Each agency is being asked to locate this equipment to help maintain the inventory. 

Any telecommunications equipment that you purchase from the Division of Communications is the property of the State of Nebraska. Statutorily, the Division of Communications retains title to all telecommunications equipment purchased on behalf of the State. If the equipment is over $300, we are required to adhere a pre-numbered inventory tag to the equipment and track it in the Statewide Inventory System. If the equipment is under $300, a gold State identification tag is adhered to the equipment. Because the Division of Communications inventories the equipment, your agency is not required to add this equipment to your inventory. Your only responsibility is to assist our Division in physically locating this equipment when necessary. When you have a piece of equipment that no longer works or you no longer need, please return it to us to surplus or replace for you. If you have any questions regarding this procedure, please contact Vicki at (402) 471-2761.

DIRECTORY LISTING CLOSING DATES:

The following commercial telephone directories close their listings in the near future. If you have any offices listed in the local directories for these towns, please review your listings and contact LaDonna at (402) 471-4701 if you have any changes.