The Chargebacks Section (Members, Committees, Others) of the Net Telecommunications Budget The Net Telecommunications Budget chargebacks portion has been based upon FY95 actual expenditures, with a 1.75% increase for inflation. The Net Telecommunications Budget H.I.R. Communications Group portion when compared to FY 95 actual expenditures, indicates an 18.1% decrease. FY97 Major Projects and Programs contained in the Net Telecommunications Budget Flagship Data Developed as a result of a May 10, 1995 directive by the Committee on House Oversight and recommendations made in the PriceWaterhouse Audit Report, the Flagship Data Program provides each Member with one District-to-Washington data service at no charge. The program was initially approved by the Committee on House Oversight as part of the FY95 Reprogramming for Communications Infrastructure Upgrades and funded by the Committee on Appropriations. FY97 funding for this program includes $4,500,000 for wide area data transmission services from MCI and Sprint, and $500,000 for District Office equipment from Cisco Systems. Washington Local Services As part of the Switch Upgrade program, new state-of-the-art high capacity local access facilities delivered via fiber optic cabling will replace the existing single lines provided over copper wires. These new Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lines will have the ability to deliver Automatic Number Identification (ANI) services such as Caller-ID and intelligent call routing, as well as videoconferencing capabilities at a fraction of the cost of current technologies. FY97 funding for this project is $250,000. Cannon Rewire This project, in it's third year, is the in-suite wiring portion of the Architect of the Capitol's Cannon Building Renovation Project. The schedule for activity under this project is dictated by the AOC and the Members whose suites are being renovated. Therefore, the H.I.R. Communications Group has little direct influence over when money is spent on this project. It is hoped that this project will be completed by the end of Fiscal Year 1998. FY97 funding for this project is $400,000. Wiring Infrastructure As part of the FY95 Reprogramming, $3,118,000 was appropriated for the installation of additional fiber optic and category 5 cabling (the new standard for copper wiring that will allow high bandwidth data applications). As a continuation to this project, extensive wire closet reconfigurations will be required to activate the new cabling. FY97 funding for the wire closet portion of the Wiring Infrastructure Project is $500,000. Switch Upgrade In the FY95 Net Telecommunications Budget, the Committee on Appropriations approved $4,597,602 for the beginning of the Telephone System Switch Upgrade. Since the House Telephone System was originally installed in 1987, there had only been one minor upgrade. This has left the system lacking many current features and functions. In order to keep the House's system current, it was concluded that is was better to continually upgrade the $25-30 million system by spending $2 - 3 million each year over an extended period, rather than make one massive expenditure only to have the system slowly fall back into obsolescence. This Switch Upgrade plan is currently well underway. By May of 1996, the offering of services through the new state-of-the-art G3r telecommunications switch will begin. This project was further funded in the FY95 Reprogramming, with $3,481,383 approved for the required second new G3r switch, to be installed in late summer 1996 for the exclusive use of Member offices. With the installation of these new switches, the plant and equipment will be in-place to support the delivery of new services. The next phase of the project will be the replacement of the telephone instruments. With the existing telephones (originally installed in 1987) becoming 10 years old, they are reaching the end of their operational, as will as technical, life expectancy. Before telephones begin failing in huge numbers, it will be prudent to begin a controlled replacement program. FY97 funding of $3,000,000 is requested for the replacement of Member Office telephone instruments. It is anticipated that the FY98 funding request will be to replace all remaining telephones in the House. Campus Data Networking On November 15, 1995, the Committee on House Oversight adopted a resolution for the Information Systems Program Plan, as detailed in a report by the Computer and Information Services Working Group. The foundation of this plan is a network-centric approach, whereby applications are delivered from servers attached to networks. In order to provide the necessary bandwidth and network reliability demanded via this approach, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology and other bandwidth improvements must be widely deployed throughout the House. FY97 funding of $1,479,000 is requested for this purpose. Closing 501 1st Street The sale of the 501 1st Street building will require substantial movement, rehousing, new installations and removal of House owned telecommunications infrastructure. Presently, the Capitol Power Plant receives all its telephone services from switching equipment located in the basement of 501 1st Street. In addition, all inhabitants of the building will require new telephone and data services in their new location. The greatest challenge, however, may be the rerouting of Capnet and other local network facilities. Due to its proximity to underground cable routes and tunnels, 501 1st Street has been an excellent location through which to bring local telecommunications services. If this building is sold, new routes will have to be found for Capnet (the Legislative Branch network), as well as major high capacity fiber optic transmission services provided by Metropolitan Fiber Systems, which presently carry long distance telephone calling to and from the AT&T nationwide network. FY97 funding of $200,000 has been requested for this project. |