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PUBLIC NOTICE

Federal Communications Commission

News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

445 12th St., S.W.

Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

Washington, D.C. 20554

TTY: 1-888-835-5322

DA 11-172

Release Date: January 28, 2011

REQUESTS FOR EXTENSION OF THE JUNE 30, 2011 DEADLINE FOR FUNDING

COMMITMENTS UNDER THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE RURAL HEALTH CARE PILOT

PROGRAM

WC Docket No. 02-60

On December 6, 2010, the Wireline Competition Bureau issued a public notice seeking comment
on a filing by the Indiana Telehealth Network (ITN) requesting an extension of the June 30, 2011
deadline for participants to select a vendor and request funding commitment letters under the universal
service Rural Health Care Pilot Program (Pilot Program).1 Per the public notice, comments on the request
were due January 5, 2011, and reply comments were due January 17, 2011.
Extension requests similar to the one filed by NCTN have been filed by the Western New York
Rural Area Health Education Center (R-AHEC), the Alaska eHealth Network (AeHN), the New England
Telehealth Consortium (NETC), the Oregon Health Network (OHN), the Iowa Rural Health Telecom
Program (IRHTP), Palmetto State Providers Network (PSPN), Health Information Exchange of Montana
(HIEM), Southwest Telehealth Access Grid (SWTAG), the Adirondack-Champlain Telemedicine
Information Network (ACTION), the Arkansas Telehealth Network (ATN), the Kentucky Behavioral
Telehealth Network (KBTN), Arizona Rural Community Health Information Exchange (ARCHIE),
Greater Minnesota Telehealth Broadband Initiative (GMTBI), Texas Health Information Network
Collaborative (THINC), the Virginia Telehealth Network (VTN), the California Telehealth Network
(CTN), and the Pacific Broadband Telehealth Demonstration Project (PBTDP).2 These projects request
an extension of time ranging from six months to three years in duration.


1 See Comment Sought on Indiana Telehealth Network Request for Extension of the June 30, 2011 Deadline for
Funding Commitment Requests Under the Rural Health Care Pilot Program, WC Docket No. 02-60, Public Notice,
DA 10-2297 (Wireline Comp. Bur. Dec. 6, 2010) (ITN Public Notice); Letter from Don Kelso, Executive Director,
Indiana Rural Health Association, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications
Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Nov. 17, 2010).
2 Letter from Kenneth L. Oakley, PhD, FACHE, Project Coordinator, R-AHEC, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline
Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Dec. 8, 2010); Letter
from Rebecca Madison, Executive Director, AeHN, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal
Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Dec. 9, 2010); Letter from Brian Thibeau, President,
NETC, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket
No. 02-60 (dated Dec. 9, 2010); Letter from Kim Lamb, Executive Director, OHN, to Sharon Gillett, Chief,
Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Dec. 14, 2010);
Letter from Art Spies, Project Coordinator, IRHTP, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal
Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Dec. 21, 2010); Letter from W. Roger Poston, II,

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ITN's filing will be treated as a request for an extension for all participants in the Pilot Program.
The extension requests filed by R-AHEC, AeHN, NETC, OHN, IRHTP, PSPN, HIEM, SWTAG,
ACTION, ATN, KBTN, ARCHIE, GMTBI, THINC, VTN, CTN, and PBTDP will be treated as ex parte
comments in the open proceeding initiated by the ITN filing.3 Any similar filings will also be treated as
ex parte comments on the pending extension request proceeding.
For further information, please contact Jamie Susskind, Telecommunications Access Policy
Division, Wireline Competition Bureau at (202) 418-7400 or TTY (202) 418-0484.
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Ed.D., Associate Project Coordinator, PSPN, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal
Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Dec. 20, 2010); Letter from Kipman Smith, Executive
Director, HIEM, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC
Docket No. 02-60 (dated Dec. 22, 2010); Letter from Dale Alverson, MD, Project Coordinator, SWTAG, to Sharon
Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated
Dec. 21, 2010); Letter from Michael Simpson, Project Coordinator, ACTION, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Jan. 4,
2011); Letter from Suzanne Leslie, Project Coordinator, ATN, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition
Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Jan. 4, 2011); Letter from David
Mathews, PhD, Project Coordinator, KBTN, to Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (filed
Jan. 4, 2011); Letter from Julie Schourup, MD, MPH, Project Coordinator, ARCHIE, to Federal Communications
Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Jan. 5, 2011); Maureen Ideker, Steering Committee Chair, GMTBI, to
Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60
(dated Jan. 3, 2011); Letter from Hank Fanberg, Associate Project Coordinator, THINC, to Sharon Gillett, Chief,
Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (filed Jan. 7, 2011);
Comments of June E. Collmer, RN, NP, JD, Interim Executive Director, VTN, and Karen S. Rheuban, MD, Board
Chair, VTN, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Jan. 5, 2011); Letter from Eric P. Brown, President & CEO, CTN, to
Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60
(dated Jan. 5, 2011); Letter from Norman H. Okamura, Project Coordinator, Pacific Broadband Telehealth
Demonstration Project, to Sharon Gillett, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications
Commission, WC Docket No. 02-60 (dated Jan. 21, 2011).
3 See ITN Public Notice; 47 C.F.R. 1.1206.
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