Remarks of FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly
Initial Meeting of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee
April 21, 2017
My sincere thanks to Chairman Pai for inviting me to join you all today to address the inaugural meeting
of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee.  The Chairman deserves credit for bringing his 
proposal to fruition by creating this panel.  A heartfelt welcome to all the appointees, their staff and 
guests for not only being here today but also for your willingness to participate, knowing that this work 
may take time away from your fulltime jobs and/or your families.    
The issues before this new advisory committee are significant.  The Commission is asking for your 
expertise to help us identify remaining barriers preventing the deployment of broadband services 
nationwide and to propose discrete solutions.  Having worked on these issues for quite a long time, let 
me share with you that there is no one answer to either of these tasks.  From weather and terrain to 
remoteness to jurisdictional fights and local power grabs, our nation’s broadband providers face a litany 
of obstacles that prevent all Americans from having access to sufficient broadband services. The good 
news is that the Commission has already taken a number of steps in this area and more are in the 
pipeline.  
At the same time, we must not ignore the great progress that has already been made in broadband 
buildout.  While not everyone has access to broadband today, we have seen tremendous advances in 
bringing service to previously unserved areas.  Some of this has been the result of the Commission’s 
universal service program and decisions made over the last many years.  The vast amount of recent 
successful deployments, however, have been made by private sector companies willing to put capital at 
risk, purchasing equipment and hiring employees to physically expand or upgrade the necessary 
network, in order to initiate services.  That is the American way and we shouldn’t lose sight of it in our 
desire to pursue expedited buildout.  In other words, we would never support nationalizing the 
broadband industry or creating new monopolies in exchange for faster and greater buildout to unserved 
areas.  
In addition, I hope this committee will take a holistic approach when reviewing possible technology 
solutions.  The Commission has tried to maintain a principle near and dear to me of technology 
neutrality.  Clearly, it is not economically feasible to drag fiber to every unserved location.  Instead, it 
will take multiple technologies.  While that may make your review that much more challenging, 
accepting and honoring this reality will best serve everyone in the long run.  
A word of warning as you prepare to examine these issues and possible solutions.  At some point I am 
sure, someone will argue that one solution is just to throw money at the problem.  In this case, the 
money they talk about comes from consumers in the form of higher service fees than are necessary.  I 
will be extremely reluctant to consider any recommendation that proposes to increase costs on 
everyday Americans trying to survive in today’s economy.  
In establishing this new panel, I appreciate the Chairman’s direction to return to the past practices of 
how advisory committees are run.  This means the Commission assigns issues for the committee to 
examine but then steps back and awaits your views and recommendations.  Our role is not to be overly 
involved and certainly not prescribe what you should find or recommend.  The members of the 
committee should be given wide latitude to make the best recommendations based on the information 
available and their personal experiences.  
Let me end where I began, by thanking you so very much in advance for all of your good work to come.  I 
look forward to interacting with each of you in the near future and reading your recommendations.