Media Contact: 
Travis Litman, (202) 418-2400
travis.litman@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL STATEMENT ON
SIXTH CIRCUIT MUNICIPAL BROADBAND DECISION
WASHINGTON, August 10, 2016 — “American enterprise and self-sufficiency are the 
stuff of legend.  For our forebears, this included everything from holding barn raisings to 
building bridges to setting up cooperatives to bring electricity to our nation’s farms.  But 
infrastructure challenges like these are not limited to the past.  We have communities that 
face them today—with broadband.  
“After all, broadband is not just infrastructure—it’s a platform for opportunity.  It’s clear 
that without it no community has a fair shot in the digital age.  That’s why today’s 
decision from the Sixth Circuit is a set-back.  It makes it harder for communities 
struggling when existing providers fail to meet their needs because it makes it more 
difficult for them to come together and build it themselves.  I fully respect this decision, 
but regret that it is at odds with our history of self-reliance—and constrains our options 
for new infrastructure in the future.” 
The full text of the court decision is available here: 
http://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0189p-06.pdf
###
Office of Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: (202) 418-2400
Twitter: @JRosenworcel
www.fcc.gov/leadership/jessica-rosenworcel
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. Cir. 1974).