FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                 CONTACT:  Stephanie Schoumacher        
November 17, 1994                                  Paige Darden
                                                   (202) 482-1551       

	

       CLINTON ADMINISTRATION EXTENDS SUCCESSFUL VIRTUAL CONFERENCE TO 
CONTINUE VALUABLE DIALOGUE ON INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

WASHINGTON, DC -- Due to strong interest, the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is
extending its virtual conference on universal service and open
access to our nation's telecommunications networks until 12:00
midnight EST, Wednesday, November 23, 1994.
      
      As of 2:00 p.m. today, there had been nearly 6000 accesses to
the world wide web server for the virtual conference.  The
conference listservs, which are on topics related to bringing the
benefits of the information superhighway to all Americans, are
averaging 400 subscribers per list.  The conference had originally
been scheduled to conclude tomorrow.

      "We are thrilled with the volume of traffic and quality of the
dialogue on the listservs, and hope that the extension will give as
many people as possible the opportunity to contribute to the
electronic discussion," said Larry Irving, Assistant Secretary for
Communications and Information and Administrator of NTIA.  

      "Through the virtual conference, the Clinton Administration is
demonstrating how our information infrastructure can be used to
deliver social services and allow greater citizen participation in
the development of government policies," said Irving. 
      
      To view the conference or to get information on subscribing to
a listserv, send an e-mail message to info@virtconf.ntia.doc.gov.
If you would like to read the position papers of experts on the
issue of universal service that were posted at the start of the
conference and the responses that have been generated thus far,
there are electronic archive files for each listserv available via
gopher, www, or telnet access to iitf.doc.gov.  The entire archive
will be available electronically after the conference through the
Clinton Administration's Information Infrastructure Task Force
(IITF) at the same site.  For more information on the conference,
contact Paige Darden at 202-482-1551 (voice) or
pdarden@ntia.doc.gov (e-mail).
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