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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  03-  89 
 CONCURRING  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 Re:  Implementation  of  Section  304  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996,  Commercial  Availability  of  Navigation  Devices,  CS  Docket  No.  97-  80 
 Starting  from  the  premise  that  consumers  are  better  served  by  having  more  choices  and  options,  I  am  concerned  about  any  extension  that  delays  the  commercial 
 availability  of  set-  top  boxes.  Nevertheless,  I  concur  in  the  decision  to  extend  the  January  1,  2005  deadline  for  MVPDs  to  stop  deploying  integrated  set-  top  boxes,  rather  than  to 
 eliminate  the  requirement  altogether.  Given  recent  and  ongoing  industry  developments,  not  extending  the  deadline  at  this  time  would  have  forced  consumers  in  the  short-  term  to 
 lease  costlier  devices  or  purchase  technology  that  will  likely  become  obsolete  once  the  industry  works  out  the  remaining  details  on  bi-  directional  cable  compatibility. 


 I  would  have  preferred  a  shorter  extension  period  that  would  have  kept  more  pressure  on  the  Commission  and  the  industry  to  ensure  that  competitive  navigational 
 devices  are  made  commercially  available  as  soon  as  possible,  as  the  statute  requires.  The  Commission  must  continue  to  do  all  it  can  to  keep  the  DTV  transition  moving  forward 
 expeditiously. 
 It  is  important  to  note  that  the  Commission  will  revisit  this  issue  again  in  18  months.  While  I  would  have  liked  to  do  so  before  then,  I  do  believe  the  Commission,  as 
 well  as  the  Congress,  will  be  expecting  great  further  progress  on  the  road  toward  the  exciting  new  world  of  digital  television  for  which  we  have  been  waiting  too  long. 
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