ATIS-hosted CALEA Legal Summit Identifies Next Steps For CALEA Standards, in Aftermath of Court of Appeals Decision.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2000

Telecommunications industry technical experts and legal representatives convened in Washington, D.C. today to identify the next steps for meeting the technical standards requirements mandated under the Communications for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The summit was a critical follow-up to the Federal Court of Appeals' August 14 decision to strike down an FCC ruling to implement a "punch list" of FBI surveillance requirements, which were critically opposed by various industry companies and privacy protection organizations.

At issue is whether the industry's standards community should rescind existing industry Interim Standard J-STD-025A, developed by telecommunications experts from the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions' (ATIS') Standards Committee T1, and TR45, an engineering committee of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). J-STD-025A was created to accommodate the requirements of the full FBI "punch list," now no longer required.

"It is critical for the industry to fully examine the aftermath of the Court of Appeals' recent decision, and explore the next best steps for resuming implementation of its technical responsibilities under CALEA," said ATIS Vice President for Technology, Ed Hall. "The industry has heavily invested its time and resources to meet the FCC's rulings on this matter, and continues to practice due diligence on this issue."

"Further adjustments to the existing CALEA joint standard, or decisions to develop an entirely new standard, will be decided in coming months," remarks ATIS President & CEO Susan Miller. "ATIS held this summit to ensure a standards recommendation process that includes the widest industry representation possible, to include wireline and wireless service providers and manufacturers."

The summit was well attended with representatives from major manufacturers, to include Nokia, Ericsson, Lucent Technologies, QualComm, Nortel Networks, Siemens, and Alcatel, among others. Carrier and service provider participation included Verizon, GTE, BellSouth, Global Crossing, SBC, Sprint, AT&T, Nextel, Qwest, VoiceStream, and Cox Communications.

By the conclusion of the summit, the industry had explored possible FCC and industry actions in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals' decision and explored the effects of those various actions. In addition, several agreements were reached. Of significance was the industry's unanimous decision to support the CTIA petition for the extension of the September 2001 compliance date for the two punch list items and packet data.

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) is a member company organization that defines standards and operating procedures for the telecommunications industry. Nearly 2,500 experts from 500 telecommunications companies participate in ATIS committees, whose work focus includes network interconnection standards, number portability, improved data transmission, wireless communications, Internet telephony, toll-free access, and order and billing issues. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) frequently refers operations issues to ATIS committees for recommended solutions. Members of ATIS and committee participants include, but are not limited to, telecommunications service providers, manufacturers, software developers, resellers, enhanced service providers, and providers of operations support.

Information on ATIS is available on the World Wide Web at www.atis.org; by contacting the ATIS headquarters at 202-628-6380; or by writing to: ATIS, 1200 G Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20005.