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 STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL 
 Re:  Review  of  the  Section  251  Unbundling  Obligations  for  Incumbent  Local  Exchange  Carriers;  Implementation  of  the  Local  Competition 
 Provisions  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996  (CC  Docket  Nos.  01-  338,  96-  98);  Deployment  of  Wireline  Services  Offering  Advanced 
 Telecommunications  Capability  (CC  Docket  No.  98-  147),  Order  on  Reconsideration 


 Eight  years  ago,  Congress  charged  the  Commission  with  deregulating  local  telephone  monopolies  in  favor  of  competitive  markets.  In  USTA  II,  the  D.  C.  Circuit 
 endorsed  the  Commission’s  approach  to  the  broadband  marketplace  and  for  the  first  time  since  the  Act  was  passed  validated  a  Commission  unbundling  decision.  Today  we  take 
 another  step  toward  ensuring  that  all  Americans,  not  just  those  residing  in  single  family  homes,  will  reap  the  benefits  of  the  information  age.  As  many  as  one  in  three  Americans 
 live  in  high-  rise  structures,  known  in  Commission  parlance  as  “multiple  dwelling  units.”  Today’s  decision  clarifies  unbundling  rules  as  they  apply  to  broadband  services  provided 
 to  these  structures.  It  draws  an  administratively  workable  distinction  between  primarily  residential  multi-  unit  dwellings,  and  other,  more  commercial  locations.  By  clarifying  our 
 unbundling  rules  as  they  apply  to  these  situations,  we  restore  the  incentives  of  incumbent  LECs  to  deploy  broadband  technology,  particularly  in  our  nation’s  cities.  After  the  D.  C. 
 Circuit’s  most  recent  vacatur  in  USTA  II,  we  hear  the  message  loud  and  clear:  only  sustainable,  genuine  competition  fulfills  our  Congressional  mandate.  Today’s  decision 
 goes  lengths  to  support  meaningful,  facilities-  based  competition. 
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