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 Remarks  of  FCC  Chairman  Michael  Powell 
 At  the  FCC  Rural  Satellite  Forum 
 January  27,  2004  Washington,  D.  C. 


 Thank  you  for  attending  today’s  Rural  Satellite  Forum. 
 Broadband  deployment  is  a  major  communications  policy  objective  in  America  today.  The  Commission  is  committed  to  bringing  the  benefits  of  21  st  Century  communications  to  all 
 Americans.  In  November,  the  Commission  held  a  forum  on  rural  “Wireless  Internet  Service  Providers”  (WISPs).  Today’s  Rural  Satellite  Forum  elaborates  on  the  message  from  the 
 November  forum:  that  affordable  satellite  technology  is  now  available  to  deliver  enhanced  broadband  services  in  rural  areas. 


 The  ubiquity  of  satellite  signals  has  long  held  the  potential  to  deliver  advanced  communications  anywhere  and  everywhere  in  America.  Today’s  Rural  Satellite  Forum  is 
 intended  to  showcase  the  technology  and  significant  progress  that  has  been  made  to  realize  its  full  potential. 


 I  place  a  high  priority  on  ensuring  that  Americans  living  and  working  in  rural  and  remote  parts  of  our  Nation  have  access  to  the  same  kind  of  high  quality,  advanced  communications 
 services  as  do  Americans  living  in  cities  and  suburbs. 
 At  the  same  time,  I  recognize  that  this  great  country  of  ours  covers  vast  geographic  distances. 


 But  there  is  one  communications  technology  –  satellite  –  that  is  capable  of  reaching  each  and  every  single  American,  in  every  spot  of  the  country,  no  matter  how  rural  or  remotely  located 
 they  might  be. 
 Satellite  entrepreneurs  are  developing  strategies  to  package  and  resell  satellite  capacity  to  create  communications  services  that  are  economically  and  technologically  within  the  reach  of 
 rural  Americans  and  their  farms  and  businesses. 
 You  will  hear  a  number  of  success  stories  today;  examples  of  how  satellite  technology  has  been  used  to  enhance  the  lives  of  rural  Americans  in  the  areas  of:  distance  learning; 
 telemedicine;  public  safety;  farming;  broadband  Internet  service,  and  mass  media  entertainment. 
 Today,  we  salute  the  progress  of  the  satellite  industry  in  helping  to  reach  that  goal.  I  hope  that  the  stories  told  today  will  raise  awareness  of  these  developing  services  throughout  rural 
 America. 
 I  expect  that  the  unequaled  reach  of  satellite  technology  will  continue  to  make  satellites  a  natural  medium  for  delivering  communications  services  to  rural  America. 


 I  want  to  especially  thank  our  colleagues  at  the  Rural  Utility  Service  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  their  participation  and  cooperation  in  today’s  Forum.  We  share  with  the 
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 Department  of  Agriculture  a  joint  responsibility  to  bring  the  best  possible  communications  to  rural  America.  I  thank  Ed  Cameron  of  the  RUS  for  joining  us  today  to  explain  USDA’s  grant 
 and  loan  programs. 
 I  also  would  like  to  thank  my  fellow  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps,  Martin  and  Adelstein  for  their  participation  in  today’s  Forum. 
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