PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov 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, 2 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. - FCC - 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.