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 NEWS  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSONER  KATHLEEN  Q.  ABERNATHY 
 Re:  Remedial  Steps  for  Failure  to  Comply  with  Digital  Television  Construction  Schedule,  Requests  for  Extension  of  the  October  5,  2001  Digital  Television  Construction  Deadline,  Order 
 and  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (adopted  May  16,  2002). 
 I  support  today’s  decision  to  grant  an  additional  six  months  to  these  nine  licensees  to  fully  construct  their  digital  television  facilities.  Each  has  demonstrated  that  it  has  made  reasonable 
 and  diligent  efforts  to  construct  its  authorized  facility  and  encountered  delays  that  were  unforseeable  or  beyond  its  control. 


 I  also  support  the  NPRM  that  we  are  issuing  today.  While  I  am  not  unsympathetic  to  the  challenges  broadcasters  are  facing,  we  must  continue  to  work  toward  moving  the  digital 
 transition  forward.  To  take  into  account  the  difficulties  associated  with  construction  in  smaller  markets  in  particular,  last  November,  the  Commission  allowed  broadcasters  to  initially 
 commence  digital  operations  with  lower  power  and  spread  the  cost  of  DTV  transition  over  a  longer  period  of  time.  Yet,  despite  this  order,  the  Commission  still  received  hundreds  and 
 hundreds  of  requests  for  waiver  of  the  May  1,  2002  deadline.  I  recognize  that  in  order  to  move  the  digital  transition  forward,  we  need  cooperation  and  commitment  from  all  parts  of  the 
 industry,  but  broadcasters  are  a  pivotal  piece  to  that  equation.  Thus,  I  feel  strongly  that  broadcasters  must  comply  with  the  established  transition  schedule  and  we  must  strictly  enforce 
 our  rules.  Accordingly,  I  support  the  proposed  measures  we  have  set  forth  in  the  NPRM  for  those  stations  that  fail  to  comply  with  our  DTV  construction  schedule. 
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