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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 Re:  Annual  Assessment  of  the  Status  of  Competition  in  the  Market  for  the  Delivery  of  Video  Programming 
 The  Report  we  initiate  today,  required  by  Congress,  serves  as  the  factual  foundation  for  Commission  decisions  and  provides  the  Legislative  branch  with  information  to  inform  the  national  policy 
 debate.  It  is  therefore  extremely  important  that  the  Commission  has  the  best  possible  data  available  to  it  when  drafting  this  Report. 


 I  expressed  concerns  last  year  that  our  Report  suffered  from  both  limited  data  and  inadequate  analysis.  At  a  time  of  significant  increases  in  cable  rates  year  after  year,  I  felt  that  Congress  and 
 American  consumers  deserved  a  better  effort.  Cable  rates  have  soared  by  more  than  50  percent  since  passage  of  the  1996  Act,  with  substantially  higher  increases  for  customers  in  some  areas. 


 Today,  the  Commission  commits  to  undertake  a  more  pro-  active  and  comprehensive  information-gathering  effort  for  this  year’s  Report.  In  addition,  the  Commission  indicates  that,  if  necessary  to  carry 
 out  its  statutory  duties,  it  will  consider  an  NPRM  to  obtain  better  data.  Our  analysis  can  be  only  as  good  as  the  data  going  into  it.  So  we  first  need  fuller  data,  both  from  within  and  from  our  stakeholders.  Absent 
 detailed  comments  from  a  wide  range  of  sources,  the  Report  will  again  fall  short  of  its  potential.  So  I’m  asking  here  for  more  and  better  input  from  outside  the  Commission  and  then  an  intensified  effort  from 
 within.  Down  that  road  we  fulfill  our  mission  to  be  the  government’s  expert  agency. 
 Thanks  to  the  Bureau  for  working  to  enhance  this  item. 
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