November 20, 1998
Los Angeles — SBC Communications Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre today delivered the first $10 million for an historic $50 million initiative to help speed evolving telecommunications technologies to all Californians.
Whitacre presented the money to the Community Technology Foundation of California, a new statewide collating of community groups that has been given broad authority to pursue grant-making projects it believes can best help technologically disadvantaged communities merge onto the information superhighway.
The first-of-its-kind initiative is central to the Community Partnership Agreement, which was made possible by the 1997 merger between SBC Communications and Pacific Telesis. Consumers can obtain information about the agreement and file grant applications to the Foundation online by accessing the CPA web site at www.partnership.pacbell.net.
Gwen Moore, a former California assemblywoman who will chair the Foundation, lauded the agreement and the $50 million Technology Fund because the 134 diverse community groups represented will guide how money in the 10-year program is spent. Pacific Bell will provide financing and technical expertise to the foundation.
"This fund can make a real difference and set a model for the nation," Moore said. "I am excited that the program will have the broad-based and collaborative involvement of community-based organizations across California that are committed and dedicated to reaching the underserved."
"This is a great way to help deliver telecommunications technology to these communities," she said.
SBC's Whitacre said the grant-making focus will ensure that all Californians have access to the benefits of existing and new telecommunications technologies. He also issued a challenge to other telecommunications companies competing in California to match SBC's resolve in community leadership —a challenge that could mean millions of dollars more toward the initiative.
"Working together, we can make sure that low-income and often underserved communities have access to the technologies that are driving the future," Whitacre told a luncheon crowd at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Whitacre noted that the new foundation has already contracted with an East Palo Alto organization called Plugged In to develop the Community Partnership Agreement web site. Plugged In helps underprivileged youth acquire computer programming skills. Pacific Bell also provided the organization with ADSL technology to expand its Internet technology and high-speed data communications.
"This is terrific evidence of what can happen when you give people the tools to enrich their lives and expand their opportunities," Whitacre said.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the Community Partnership Agreement as part of the merger and then gave the green light to a detailed implementation plan this past July.
The nine statewide coalitions working with Pacific Bell are African Americans for Telecommunications Equity; the Asian Pacific American Community Partnership; the Asian Pacific Islanders California Action Network; the Greenlining Coalition; the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility; the Los Angeles Urban League; the Universal Service Alliance; the World Institute on Disability; and Public Advocates.
Public Advocates' clients involved in the coalition include the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Council of La Raza, Korean Youth and Community Center, Association of Mexican-American Educators, California Association for Asian-Pacific Bilingual Education, California Association for Bilingual Education, Filipino Civil Rights Advocates, Filipinos for Affirmative Action, Korean Community Center of the East Bay.
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