ovide a flat billing structure for every location in the state, a point-to-point or multi-point environment, and the ability of any site to talk to any other site. THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLES VIDEOCONFERENCE In the fall of 1991, the remote Aboriginal communities of the Tanami, consisting of Yuendumu, Lajamanu, Willowra and Kintore, made a decision to install a six-point videoconferencing network for links between villages, to Darwin and Alice Springs, and to other points. The Tanami Network consists of PictureTel codecs linked via Hughes earth stations to the AUSSAT 3 satellite that serves Australia. Dating back more than 50,000 years, the Aboriginal is the oldest surviving culture. In the early 1940s, the Australian government established Aboriginal communities in the desolate outback region known as the Tanami desert. Unfortunately, outside intervention began to disrupt the complex network of information and personal contacts that, for thousands of years, had existed between the area's people. Aboriginal law and traditions started to erode. Young people turned from their elders and family members to television. Alarmed, the Tanami community employed videoconferencing to resurrect tribal tradition in which culture and knowledge passed from the elders to the young. The Tanami Network now plays a role in preserving the age-old culture and heritage by remotely conducting ceremonial activities and other Aboriginal business. The development of the videoconferencing network began in 1990 with a successful trial of systems that connected Lajamanu, Yuendumu, and Sydney. Over the links, students received education and community spokespersons gained a voice in their government. Aboriginal artists discovered that they could use the system to negotiate art and craft sales directly with buyers all over the world. This eliminated a chain of go-betweens that had, for years, exploited the Aborigines' isolation. After a successful trial, videoconferencing was widely deployed. The philosophy behind the $200,000 project consists of thr