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 STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL 
 Re:  Amendment  of  Parts  73  and  74  of  the  Commission’s  Rules  to  Establish  Rules  for  Digital  Low  Power  Television,  Television  Translators,  and  Television  Booster 
 Stations  and  to  Amend  Rules  for  Digital  Class  A  Television  Stations 
 A  hallmark  of  the  Commission’s  digital  migration  agenda  has  been  ushering  in  the  era  of  digital  television  and  its  many  benefits  for  our  citizens.  In  so  doing,  we  have 
 sought  to  bring  the  DTV  transition  to  a  successful  conclusion  so  that  we  can  reclaim  spectrum  for  vital  public  safety  and  new,  broadband  wireless  services.  At  the  same  time, 
 one  of  the  central  goals  of  the  entirety  of  the  Commission’s  agenda  is  to  bring  universal  availability  of  new,  digital  services  to  each  and  every  American. 


 Today,  we  take  a  substantial  step  on  all  of  these  fronts  as  we  set  a  course  for  translator  services  and  low-  power  broadcasters  to  bring  the  benefits  of  the  DTV  transition 
 to  all  corners  of  our  country,  including  the  most  rural  areas  of  the  United  States.  By  allowing  these  broadcasters—  many  of  whom  are  public,  municipally  owned,  minority  or 
 religious  stations—  to  engage  in  a  mini-  digital  broadcast  television  transition  of  their  own,  we  signal  our  desire  to  prevent  disruption  of  broadcast  service  to  our  nation’s  citizens 
 during  the  DTV  transition,  while  bringing  them  the  benefits  of  the  digital  television  enjoyed  in  the  vast  majority  of  markets  today. 


 As  we  provide  these  broadcasters  with  the  capability  to  receive  a  second  channel  so  that  they  can  fully  participate  in  the  DTV  transition,  it  should  be  clear  that  use  of  this 
 second  channel  will  be  short-  lived.  To  my  mind,  bringing  an  end  to  this  transition  at  the  same  time  as  the  end  of  the  full-  power  DTV  broadcast  transition  is  of  utmost  importance. 


 Through  these  steps  and  by  embracing  a  hard  date  for  both  this  and  the  end  of  the  full-  power  DTV  transition,  we  can  bring  our  citizens  the  benefits  of  digital  television, 
 bring  more  “saving  lives”  spectrum  to  the  public  safety  community  and  drive  the  development  of  innovative  wireless  broadband  services  to  all  Americans. 


 Our  commitment  to  moving  along  the  DTV  transition  has  been  unwavering  as  we  begin  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  visualize  and  then  realize  the  end  of  the  DTV 
 transition  and  the  vast  benefits  of  that  end  to  our  citizens  and  homeland  and  economic  security.  At  the  same  time,  we  remain  committed  to  opening  up  this  spectrum  for  new 
 wireless  services,  as  demonstrated  by  our  pursuit  of  the  use  of  broadcast  white  spaces  for  new  wireless  broadband  use.  On  both  fronts,  we  continue  to  plan  to  move  forward 
 aggressively. 
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