Robert H. Anderson, Tora K. Bikson, Sally Ann Law,
BridgerM. Mitchell

This report presents our considerations of the notion of universal ac-
cess to electronic mail from demographic, technical, economic, so-
cial, and international perspectives. Various conclusions and rec-
ommendations may be found throughout the previous six chapters
at points where they seemed salient and could be considered in
context.Here we consolidate what we feel to be our most important
conclusions and recommendations.

We find that use of electronic mail is valuable for individuals, for
communities, for the practice and spread of democracy, and for the
general development of a viable national information infrastructure.
Consequently, the nation should support universal access to e-mail
through appropriate public and private policies.

The goal of achieving universal access has two main subgoals: (1)
achieving interconnectivity among separate e-mail systems and (2)
widespread accessibility of individuals to some e-mail system.

Universal connectivity among systems appears to be occurring
through market forces, although the portability of e-mail addresses
and current regulations that distort the prices among potentially
competitive communication offerings are likely to remain an issue.

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