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 Remarks  by  Commissioner  Kevin  J.  Martin  To  the  Kickoff  of  the  Federal  Rural  Wireless  Outreach  Initiative 
 July  2,  2003  Washington,  DC 
 As  Prepared 
 Thank  you  for  this  invitation  to  be  here  with  you  this  morning.  The  issues  confronting  rural  America  are  extremely  important  and  timely  for  us 


 to  address,  and  these  issues  are  especially  important  to  me.  I  grew  up  in  a  rural  area  outside  of  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  so  I  understand  how 
 important  telecommunications  and  broadband  services  are  to  folks  living  in  rural  and  remote  areas. 


 Telecommunications  has  been  responsible  for  much  of  this  nation’s  economic  growth  in  recent  years,  and  I  am  hopeful  that  continued 
 deployment  will  lead  to  a  new  period  of  growth.  In  order  to  fully  recognize  and  take  advantage  of  this  growth,  however,  we  must  make  certain  that  all 
 Americans  are  given  the  opportunity  to  participate.  And  specifically,  we  must  continue  to  encourage  deployment  of  telecommunications  and 
 broadband  services  to  rural  areas.  Deployment  of  wireless  services  to  rural  America  is  particularly  critical  since  wireless  technologies  provide  the 
 potential  to  reach  people  in  more  efficient  ways.  That’s  why  I  am  so  pleased  to  be  here  this  morning  in  support  of  this  new  outreach  initiative. 


 This  event  marks  the  beginning  of  a  focus  on  rural  America,  which  is  long  overdue.  And  it  also  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  relationship  between 
 two  agencies. 
 On  behalf  of  the  Federal  Communications  Commission,  we  are  pleased  to  be  a  partner  in  the  kickoff  of  this  outreach  initiative.  We  at  the 
 FCC  look  forward  to  developing  our  activities  with  not  only  the  RUS,  but  also  with  other  agencies,  industry,  and  rural  communities.  We  are 
 particularly  looking  forward  to  working  with  those  communities  who  recently  received  RUS’s  broadband  awards. 


 As  you  have  heard  already  this  morning,  this  program’s  mission  is  to  exchange  information  between  agencies,  governments,  rural  communities, 
 and  potential  wireless  industry  entities  regarding  development  and  telecommunications  access  programs.  As  Chairman  Powell  indicated 
 earlier,  the  project  has  4  specific  goals: 
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 1.  Exchange  information  about  products  and  services  each  agency  offers  to  promote  the  expansion  of  telecommunications  services  in  rural 
 America.  2.  Harmonize  our  rules,  regulations  and  processes  whenever  possible  to 
 maximize  the  benefits  for  rural  America.  3.  Educate  our  partners  and  other  agencies  about  our  offerings. 
 4.  Expand  our  partnership  to  the  extent  that  it  is  mutually  beneficial  to  other  agencies. 


 This  event  is  the  first  in  a  series  of  events  to  come.  We  look  forward  to  your  participation  and  input.  Please  give  us  any  feedback  you  may  have 
 along  the  way.  We  will  be  launching  a  joint  website,  and  we  encourage  your  correspondence. 


 Finally,  on  behalf  of  the  Commission,  I  would  like  to  thank  John  Muletta  and  Nancy  Plon  of  the  FCC  for  their  hard  work  on  this  project.  I 
 would  also  like  to  recognize  the  important  work  of  both  RUS  Administrator  Legg  for  her  dedication  and  leadership,  and  Assistant  Administrator  Purcell 
 for  her  enthusiasm. 
 If  Administrator  Legg  and  Assistant  Administrator  Purcell  would  please  come  forward,  we  would  like  to  present  each  of  you  with  a  clock  to 
 mark  the  synchronization  of  our  two  agencies  as  we  work  together  in  support  of  rural  America. 


 We  look  forward  to  developing  our  partnership  with  USDA,  expanding  the  partnership  with  other  agencies,  interacting  with  industry,  and 
 addressing  the  needs  of  rural  communities.  Together  I  am  hopeful  we  can  make  a  difference  in  the  development  of  wireless  communications  in  rural 
 America. 
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