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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 Re:  Petition  of  Mid-  Rivers  Telephone  Cooperative,  Inc.  for  Order  Declaring  it  to  be  an  Incumbent  Local  Exchange  Carrier  in  Terry,  Montana  Pursuant  to 
 Section  251(  h)(  2),  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (WC  Docket  No.  02-  78) 
 In  the  Telecommunications  Act,  Congress  set  out  a  path  for  designating  a  new  carrier  as  the  incumbent  local  exchange  carrier  in  a  particular  market.  Today’s  Notice  of  Proposed 
 Rulemaking  takes  an  appropriate  step  down  this  road.  It  asks  about  standardizing  the  process  for  determining  when  a  carrier  has  “substantially  replaced”  an  incumbent.  It  also  poses  vital 
 questions  about  the  impact  of  reclassification  on  universal  service.  I  support  this  approach  because  Congress  was  clear  in  Section  251(  h)(  2)  that  any  effort  to  reclassify  carriers  as 
 incumbents  must  take  place  “by  rule[.]”  But  I  also  believe  we  have  a  special  duty  to  resolve  this  issue  expeditiously.  The  petition  that  is  at  the  heart  of  this  proceeding  has  been  pending  for  more 
 than  two  years.  With  time,  the  issues  it  poses  will  only  grow  more  prominent.  Carriers  like  Mid-Rivers  that  are  providing  service  in  a  shifting  marketplace  deserve  clarity  about  their  regulatory 
 status.  I  look  forward  to  working  with  my  colleagues  to  provide  this  certainty  as  soon  as  possible. 
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