*Pages 1--3 from  Microsoft Word - 58393.doc*
 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  DEBORAH  TAYLOR  TATE 
 Re:  Applications  for  Consent  to  the  Assignment  and/  or  Transfer  of  Control  of  Licenses:  Adelphia  Communications  Corporation,  (and  subsidiaries,  debtors-  in-  possession), 
 Assignors,  to  Time  Warner  Cable  Inc.  (subsidiaries),  Assignees;  Adelphia  Communications  Corporation,  (and  subsidiaries,  debtors-  in-  possession),  Assignors 
 and  Transferors,  to  Comcast  Corporation  (subsidiaries),  Assignees  and  Transferees;  Comcast  Corporation,  Transferor,  to  Time  Warner  Inc.,  Transferee;  Time  Warner 
 Inc.,  Transferor,  to  Comcast  Corporation,  Transferee,  MB  Docket  No.  05-  192. 


 The  Communications  Act  requires  the  parties  in  these  applications  to  demonstrate  that  allowing  this  transaction  to  go  forward  will  serve  the  public  interest,  convenience, 
 and  necessity.  I  have  carefully  reviewed  the  thoughtful  comments  provided  by  numerous  parties  –  from  the  America  Channel  to  the  Urban  League  of  Greater  Hartford  and 
 everyone  in  between.  Based  on  this  review,  I  have  concluded  that  the  applicants  have  met  the  standards  dictated  by  the  statute,  and  I  therefore  support  this  Order. 


 In  proceedings  such  as  this,  the  burden  is  on  the  Applicants  to  show  by  a  preponderance  of  the  evidence  that  the  proposed  transactions  would  benefit  the  public 
 interest  more  than  it  would  harm  it.  The  Commission’s  review  is  limited  to  the  transaction  presented,  and  it  should  not  attempt  to  use  this  Order  to  conduct  an  industry-wide 
 rulemaking.  Accordingly,  the  conditions  that  we  impose  today  are  limited  to  merger-  specific  issues  that  remedy  identified  harms  that  might  otherwise  occur.  That 
 said,  many  of  the  concerns  raised  in  the  comments  implicate  serious  questions  about  the  underlying  cable  ownership  rules  that  I  hope  we  can  address  on  an  industry-  wide  basis  in 
 other  proceedings  pending  at  the  Commission  in  the  near  future. 
 With  regard  to  this  item,  I  have  met  with  the  Applicants  and  received  numerous  assurances  about  how  they  will  behave  following  the  completion  of  the  proposed 
 transaction.  Let  me  respond  to  those  assurances  with  one  of  my  own:  I  intend  to  see  that  promises  made  are  promises  kept. 


 The  FCC  –  following  the  lead  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  –  has  made  deployment  of  broadband  to  all  Americans  a  top  priority.  This  deployment  is  critical  to 
 our  nation’s  competitiveness  in  the  global  economy  and  to  our  national  security.  It  implicates  every  aspect  of  our  lives  –  from  health  to  education  to  public  safety.  All 
 consumers  should  expect  to  benefit  from  this  technology.  I  have  been  repeatedly  assured  that  broadband  and  other  services  will  be  deployed  on  a  fair,  equitable,  and  expedited 
 basis  to  the  areas  served  by  these  companies.  Given  the  importance  of  this  deployment,  let  me  make  it  absolutely  clear  that  so-  called  redlining  –  the  distribution  of  services  based 
 solely  on  the  ethnicity  or  income  level  of  an  area  –  will  not  be  tolerated.  Period. 
 I  am  also  troubled  by  the  continued  reports  of  the  difficulty  that  smaller,  independent  channels  have  in  getting  carriage  on  cable  systems.  The  names  Comcast  and 
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