It's the access, stupid!

Tick...tick...tick. The sound you're hearing is the continued countdown to the Year 2000. And the FCC wants to make sure you're listening.

But more than that, FCC commissioners want to make sure telephone companies start giving you more to listen to. They want real information and real test results to make their way to the millions of real users of the core communications infrastructure in this country.

And why not? Y2K-after all the money and time has been poured into making sure the nation's telco computers (and all those things connected to them) don't go kablewy on Jan. 1, 2000-will be the biggest public works project this country has seen since we built the first high-speed highway (for cars) more than 40 years ago.

The figures are impressive, for sure. On the whole, telcos say they're hitting 70%, 80%, even 90% of Y2K conformance levels. This comes after spending more than $2 billion over three years to find and fix rogue telco equipment. It would seem that telco execs have earned their reputation for due diligence and concerted effort surrounding Y2K compliance.

But other telco statistics suggest all this "fixing" has within it the seeds for errors. Figures from Bellcore, the consummate telco equipment provider, found that a new error can be introduced for every 4.5 fixes done to telco software systems.

So the FCC wants more than assurances and budgets of money spent from telcos. No, not more money-or even more regulations. Just more access. More access to the backbone for Y2K testing by those of us who use it. And more access to information about what telcos expect will work and where they expect problems.

Call it the Y2K version of "universal access." But as much as the idea seems to just make common sense (as the original universal access did), the FCC seems to be running into resistance. I believe that telcos could be stonewalling this request for better access.

But don't take my word for it. Here are some tidbits from the FCC's own summary of forums held this summer (available at the FCC's Y2K Web site, www.fcc.gov).

* Several telcos said that a request from the FCC for what the commission called "smart, practical" testing between telco backbones and end users would take too much time-and would confirm what is already known.

* Some telco execs said that answering questions-or filling out forms-for customers took time away from their ability to keep working on the Y2K problem.

* Some large commercial businesses such as banks even said-if you can believe this-that it was too late to conduct testing with telcos because they had run out of time for negotiating with telcos to get all the technical (and legal) assurances they might need.

Despite this pushback from telco experts, the FCC thus far continues to try to pry open the telcos. Commissioner Michael Powell, among others, has been politely insisting that telcos be more open regarding their progress and contingency plans. Powell is particularly concerned that there hasn't been enough testing of these Y2K-ready telco networks.

Sure, the biggest telcos and long-haul carriers are testing their equipment internally and starting late this year, will test interoperability with one another's networks. But Powell wants the RBOCs, the AT&Ts, the MCIs and others that make up the country's "virtual backbone" to open their networks up to real traffic-from real business and home users.

He's said more than once that he's concerned that a Y2K-ready telephone backbone doesn't assure a Y2K-ready telephone-or cell phone, or fax machine, or voice mail, or PBX, or even a wireline-connected burglar/fire alarm system.

That sounds reasonable to me. And the FCC should hold telcos' feet to the fire. Telcos may now be deregulated, but their heritage is as a "public utility." And for the public to ensure itself of that utility, the public needs more detailed information from telcos. And the public needs something approaching pre-arranged "at will" access to the backbone to test for end-to-end Y2K readiness.

So, help the FCC get that access for you. This month, the agency is slated to hold more hearings. Tell the FCC you support its 1990s efforts to institute universal access to detailed Y2K status and testing at the nation's telcos and Internet service providers. Do it today...while your e-mail or telephone is still working.