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 NIA's 2001 Annual Conference

Presentations

ITFS and Education on the Broadband Frontier

Jan 8-10, 2001

Wyndham Orlando Resort

Orlando, Florida

 

Welcome!

 

The FCC has spoken. The private sector has responded  by investing more than $1 billion in ITFS excess capacity leases. Construction of two-way systems has begun in several markets. New firms with new technologies are seeking access to ITFS – and creative ITFS managers are working to extend their institution’s distance learning services using the Internet, video-on-demand, video conferencing and two-way interaction.

 

Those are only some of the questions facing ITFS man-  agers - but where will they find the answers?

From January 8 - 10, more than a hundred educators, commercial operators, FCC attorneys and engineers will meet in Orlando to share their answers to those and other critical questions.

 ITFS educators will describe the most useful educational applications of ITFS. Experts in their fields will focus on the most critical engineering, regulatory, financial, and contractual matters affecting ITFS. 

Subjects covered in the

NIA 2001 Annual Conference Sessions

Spectrum 101

Channels are out Spectrum is In

Building Broadband ITFS/MMDS Systems

ITFS Showcase - Part I

Luncheon

Special Guest - Charles Dziedzic, FCC

The Third Generation and ITFS

Alternative Technologies,

Applications and Ancillary Activities

Maximizing Value from ITFS Spectrum

What ought to be in Two-Way Excess Capacity Leases in 2001

Annual Meeting/Membership Luncheon

ITFS Showcase - Part II

The Final "Q & A"

More information about each of the above subjects is provided below.

Spectrum 101

Channels Are Out & Spectrum Is In

For many years ITFS managers perceived the ITFS spectrum as an isolated band of twenty 6-megahertz video channels dedicated primarily to education. Now, in the broadband environment characterized by surging demand for access to wireless spectrum, managers need to broaden their perspective. Where does the ITFS spectrum fit in the new broadband environment – and how can the plans and actions of  commercial providers and governmental agencies affect the future of ITFS?

Building Broadband ITFS/MMDS Systems

In the era of broadband, ITFS/MMDS systems will have opportunities to create new and more effective educational services.  ITFS licensee institutions need to be prepared to seize that opportunity.  Hear and see what the companies involved in wireless broadband systems are planning and what progress they re making in building two way interactive systems

 

Presenter:

Roger Carter

Engineering Manager,

Distance Learning,

Arizona State University

 

ITFS Showcase - Part I

 

The goal of ITFS managers is to provide and support the educational services of their school districts, colleges or universities.  But, few beyond their own institutions ever learn how well those ITFS systems are serving their institutional missions.  Share in the experiences of ITFS managers who are successfully delivering a variety of educational services.  Learn how they are planning for the future of their systems in broadband and two-way area.

 

Luncheon

 

Guest Speaker

Charles Dziedzic - Assistant Chief,

Video Services Division, MMB, FCC

 

The Video Services Division is on the cutting edge of the Telecommunications Marketplace.  The Division's duties range from the institution of digital technology in broadcast and wireless cable to the responsibility for monitoring broadcaster's service to the nation's children.

 

All transactions involving the sale of television stations are approved here.  The Division is the home of the first auction of a Mass Media Service and it authorizes facilities to educational institutions ranging from your local high school or community college to the nation's foremost universities.  Even grass roots local service is licensed in the form of low power television.  Video Services is the work place for attorneys, engineers, and a variety of paraprofessionals.

 

The Third Generation and ITFS

 

Proposals to move ITFS to another segment of the electronic spectrum pose a serious threat to the continued usefulness of ITFS.  A move also threatens the loss of the revenues that the federal government had long promised ITFS licensees as the means to support its services to education. 

 

How serious is this threat, how does it deepen and widen the digital divide, and how should ITFS licensees respond?

 

Presenter:

Todd Gray

NIA FCC Counsel

Dow, Lohnes & Albertson

FCC NPRM on 3G

 

Alternative Technologies,

Applications and Ancillary Activities

 

ITFS Licensees and commercial wireless operators are continuing to seek new and better ways to use the ITFS Spectrum.  As much of ITFS changes from a video to a streaming data technology there will be ways for ITFS to relate to other delivery systems, to the desktop, video conferencing, to streaming video and web.  Educators and industry planners describe the new opportunities to provide services within the licensee institution and beyond.

 

Maximizing Value from ITFS Spectrum

 

ITFS license holders receive offers for their excess spectrum ranging from cash to equity.  BIA Financial Network presents a case study on how to analyze the different options presented to ITFS license holders and determine the factors that should be considered to optimize value.  Case studies will be presented that are witness to the substantial value that institutions are holding in their license, oft times unaware.

 

What ought to be in

Two-Way Excess Capacity Agreements in 2001

 

Two-Way ITFS/MMDS systems are being licensed and built, and yet, reports indicate that only a few comprehensive contracts have been written.  In this session, FCC Counsels, Licensee and MMDS Representatives will give their answers to such questions as:

 

Annual Meeting/Membership Luncheon

Join the Members of NIA for the Annual Membership Meeting and a discussion of a plan for optimizing both educational and commercial uses of ITFS.

 

ITFS Showcase - Part II

 

A second opportunity to learn how educational institutions are using ITFS in pursuit of their institutional goals and how the role of their ITFS systems may change in the era of two-way broadband communications.

 

The Final "Q & A"

 

A resource panel of ITFS managers, industry representatives, engineers, and lawyers, plus representatives from the NIA Board and the FCC will be on hand to answer the questions left unanswered by the preceding days' sessions, ---- and to to hear your comments for the good of ITFS and NIA.  Make sure you take advantage of this opportunity to complete your NIA 2001 Conference experience.