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 NEWS  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).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  February  9,  2006  Heather  Dixon  at  (202)  418-  1000 
 STATEMENT  OF  FCC  CHAIRMAN  KEVIN  J.  MARTIN 
 In  2004,  the  FCC  issued  a  report  concluding  that  a  la  carte  and  tiered  models  (such  as  family  tiers)  were  not  economically  feasible  and  were  not  in  consumers’  interests.  I  had  many 
 concerns  with  this  report,  including  many  of  the  assumptions  used.  I  asked  the  Media  Bureau  as  well  as  our  Chief  Economist  to  take  a  more  thorough  look  at  the  issue. 


 Today,  the  Commission  issued  a  further  report,  which  concludes  the  earlier  report  contained  mistaken  calculations,  relied  on  unsupported  and  problematic  assumptions,  and 
 presented  an  incomplete  analysis.  According  to  today's  report,  a  careful  analysis  reveals  that  a  la  carte  and  increased  tiering  could  offer  consumers  greater  choice  and  the  opportunity  to  lower 
 their  bills.  Indeed,  in  recent  months  more  consumer  choice  has  proven  to  be  technically  possible  and  many  companies  have  begun  offering  the  kinds  of  tiers  the  previous  report  found  to  be 
 infeasible. 
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