*Pages 1--1 from  Microsoft Word - 37570*
 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  04-  81 
 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 


 Re:  Local  Telephone  Competition  and  Broadband  Reporting;  Local  Competition  and  Broadband  Reporting,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  and  Order  on  Reconsideration 
 One  month  ago,  the  Commission  embarked  on  its  fourth  Section  706  inquiry  into  the  reasonable  and  timely  availability  of  advanced  services,  or  broadband,  for  all  Americans. 
 Today,  we  release  a  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  seeking  comment  about  how  to  improve  our  broadband  data  gathering  program.  I  fully  support  both  of  these  efforts.  But  our  approach  here 
 is  backwards.  Our  statutory  inquiry  under  Section  706  will  be  complete  before  we  improve  our  data  collection.  This  is  putting  the  cart  before  the  horse  at  a  time  when  we  cannot  afford  to  be 
 waylaid  by  broadband  data  that  tells  less  than  the  full  deployment  story. 
 Broadband  is  the  great  infrastructure  challenge  facing  this  generation.  Statistics  show  we  rank  11  th  in  the  world  in  broadband  penetration.  This  is  simply  unacceptable.  We  must  do 
 better.  To  develop  better  broadband  policy,  we  need  better  broadband  data.  Today’s  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  represents  a  positive  step  towards  more  and  better  information  about  the 
 real  rate  of  deployment  of  advanced  services  in  this  country.  I  especially  am  pleased  that  we  seek  comment  on  requiring  filers  to  specify  the  number  of  connections,  by  technology  and 
 service  speed,  in  reporting  zip  codes.  This  will  make  it  possible  for  the  Commission  to  have  access  to  data  that  will  improve  our  analysis  and  enhance  our  decision-  making. 
1