For pt.II see ibid., vol.23, no.5, Oct. 1988, p.817-23. After a short presentation of the various ice phases and of the oxygen sublattices for ice I, the proton array of ice I is considered, simple approximate derivation of the zero-point entropy for random distribution given, and evidence examined from some proton ordering along the hexagonal axis of ice I/sub h/. Next, the experimental facts are summarized on orientation polarization and conduction, and N. Bjerrum's ideas (1951) are given about defect-pair and ion-pair formation. The double-well model for polarization and conduction in ice, is used to describe the behavior of the individual defects and ions, after the pairs have formed, drifted apart, and settled down. The author argues that this model seems in conflict with the observed dielectric relaxation time when the proper activation energy is used. Therefore, another model is presented, linking the formation and separation of defects to the dielectric relaxation spectrum and to infrared spectroscopy.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>