Before the 
                    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                         Washington, D.C.  20544
                                     
  In the Matter of                        )
        )
  Implementation of Section 302 of        )      
  the Telecommunications Act of 1996      )       CS Docket No. 96-46
        )
  Open Video Systems                      )
  
  
  REPLY COMMENTS OF THE CITY OF RICHARDSON, TEXAS
                    
  
        THE CITY OF RICHARDSON, TX, respectfully submits these reply
  comments to the Federal Communications Commission ( Commission  or
   FCC ) in the above captioned proceeding.
  
    INTRODUCTION
  
         On March 11, 1996, the Commission released a Notice of Proposed
  Rulemaking (FCC 96-99) ( Notice ), requesting comments on how it should
  implement the regulatory framework for open video systems ( OVS ).  In
  response, The National League of Cities, The National Association of
  Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, The National Association of
  Counties, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Montgomery County, and several
  cities (hereinafter  NLC ), filed joint comments containing specific proposals for
  implementing that framework.
         In their comments, NLC identified four key principles that must guide the
  Commission in formulating its rules.  First, the Commission s rules regarding
  public, educational, and governmental access ( PEG ) and other Title VI
  requirements mandated by Congress for OVS must ensure that OVS operators
  will meet local community needs and interests.  Second, the Commission must
  adopt nondiscrimination provisions that ensure that all programmers will have
  truly open and affordable access to OVS and that prevent an OVS from
  becoming a cable system in disguise.  Third, the 1996 Telecommunications Act
  does not permit cable operators to become OVS operators.  Fourth, the
  Commission s rules must acknowledge the property interests that local
  governments hold in the public rights-of-way.
         THE CITY OF RICHARDSON strongly supports NLC s comments and
  urges the Commission to follow these four principles in formulating OVS rules. 
  THE CITY OF RICHARDSON discusses below its experience in creating and
  implementing PEG obligations that meet critical local needs.
  
    DISCUSSION
  
         The Commission s statutory mandate in adopting PEG requirements for 
  OVS is clear.  As NLC notes, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the
  Commission to establish PEG obligations for OVS that are consistent with local
  needs and interests, and to impose on an OVS operator obligations equivalent 
  to those obligations imposed on cable operators.  To fulfill these mandates, the
  Commission should, as proposed by NLC, require OVS operators  to match or 
  negotiate,  that is, to match each incumbent cable operator s PEG obligations,
  or to negotiate agreements acceptable to the affected communities.
         The record in this proceeding demonstrates that local governments as
  franchising authorities and PEG programmers   play a critical role in ensuring
  that local communities  needs and interests are met.   Moreover, local
  governments, as the National Cable Television Association states,  are in the best
  position to deliver on the Act s intent to accomplish PEG access over open video
  systems. 
  In THE CITY OF RICHARDSON, PEG channels serve a variety of
  important community interests.  
  The City s public access channels provide local citizens the opportunity to
  produce and disseminate programming serving local interests and needs.  Such
  programming touches interests and subjects which are often too localized in nature to
  be carried by the larger regional broadcast stations.  The City also produces a public
  information channel which provides notices to Richardson citizens.
  The CITY OF RICHARDSON also makes heavy use of its institutional
  network (INET) to provide high-speed data connections to other municipal buildings
  throughout the City and to the Internet, provides monitoring and remotely programs its
  traffic signal system, and to provide remote surveillance of traffic signals, congested
  freeways and arterial streets, and construction areas through an innovative system of
  video cameras. 
  The RICHARDSON INDEPENDANT SCHOOL DISTRICT also makes
  heavy use of PEG services, both to provide relevant information to local students and
  parents, and to facilitate educational opportunities through the use of video classrooms,
  remote broadcast of educational materials and classes, and inter-office training of its
  teaching staff.  The School district also uses access provided under PEG provisions to
  establish data hookups between each of its many campuses in the area, and to connect
  to other institutions, libraries, and the Internet.
  The provision of these resources represents a valuable community asset to the
  citizens of Richardson.  By adopting the NLC s proposal, the Commission will ensure
  that PEG access continues to serve the local needs and interests of The CITY OF
  RICHARDSON, and will satisfy the Commission s mandate to impose equivalent
  obligations on OVS and cable operators.
  
  CONCLUSION
  
    THE CITY OF RICHARDSON respectfully requests the Commission to
  adopt a framework for OVS consistent with the proposals and principles recommended
  by NLC et al. In their comments.
  
  
    Respectfully submitted,
  
    The City of Richardson, Texas
  
  
    By:  
    Brian Davis, Telecommunications Coordinator
    411 W. Arapaho Rd.
    Richardson, TX   75080
    (214) 238-4262
  
  
  Dated:  April 10, 1996