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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 RE:  Requests  for  Extension  of  the  October  5,  2001  Digital  Television  Construction  Deadline. 
 I  am  committed  to  aggressively  and  responsibly  promote  the  rollout  of  digital  television.  I  am  therefore  extremely  reluctant  to  grant  extensions  to  our  DTV 
 construction  deadlines.  I  do  so  here  both  because  the  nine  stations  before  us  have  presented  the  Commission  with  satisfactory  individual  explanations  for  their  failures  to 
 meet  construction  obligations,  and  because  we  simultaneously  set  in  motion  a  proceeding  to  establish  guidelines  on  how  to  deal  with  licensees  that  fail  to  meet  their  deadlines  in 
 the  future. 
 I  am  pleased  that  the  NPRM  not  only  sets  forth  a  proposed  set  of  remedial  measures,  but  also  asks  whether  this  set  of  remedies  is  aggressive  enough.  Commenters 
 should  be  sure  to  advise  the  Commission  on  other  steps  that  might  move  us  closer  to  full  DTV  rollout,  as  I  am  troubled  by  the  possibility  that  a  series  of  waivers,  or  a  series  of  six-month 
 delays,  could  significantly  undermine  our  efforts.  I  hope  that  we  will  gather  comments  and  produce  an  order  examining  new  guidelines  as  soon  as  possible. 


 We  have  made  some  progress  in  the  past  few  weeks  on  the  DTV  rollout  and  I  commend  our  Chairman  for  the  new  energy  he  has  imported  to  this  important  initiative, 
 and  for  his  commitment  to  get  the  job  done  on  time..  I  hope  that,  increasingly,  the  Commission  will  be  able  to  focus  its  energies  on  positive  news  rather  than  on  more 
 delays. 
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