FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMI S SION 
WASHINGTON 
OFF I C E OF 
THE C H AIRMAN 
The Honorable Doug Collins 
U.S. House of Representatives 
1504 Longworth House Office Building 
Washington, D.C. 20515 
Dear Congressman Collins: 
February 23, 2017 
Thank you for your letter supporting the appointment of Mr. Paul Belk, President and 
CEO of North Georgia Network, to serve on the Commission's Broadband Deployment Advisory 
Committee (BDAC). We will certainly consider your recommendation and Mr. Belk's 
impressive resume as the Commission reviews the nominations for the BDAC. 
Last September, I proposed what I called a Digital Empowerment Agenda-a blueprint 
of policies that would accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet access, or broadband, in 
communities across the country, including rural America. The BDAC is intended to provide an 
effective means for stakeholders to exchange ideas and develop recommendations to the 
Commission on broadband deployment. Its mission will be to identify regulatory barriers to 
infrastructure investment and to make recommendations on reducing and/or removing them, 
which will in turn enhance the Commission's ability to carry out its statutory responsibility to 
encourage broadband deployment to all Americans. 
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Your views are very important and will be 
entered into the record of the proceeding and considered as part of the Commission's 
review. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. 
Sincerely, 
~~v-fevi ' 
Ajit V. Pai