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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  04-  81 
 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 


 Re:  Local  Telephone  Competition  and  Broadband  Reporting;  Local  Competition  and  Broadband  Reporting,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  and  Order  on  Reconsideration 
 I  am  pleased  to  support  this  Notice  which  proposes  to  improve  and  extend  the  Commission’s  data  gathering  efforts  into  the  status  of  broadband  deployment  and  local 
 competition.  Congress  directed  this  Commission  to  ensure  that  all  Americans  have  reasonable  and  timely  access  to  advanced  telecommunications  capability,  such  as  broadband  services,  and 
 this  effort  is  of  critical  importance  to  the  health  of  our  economy  and  our  quality  of  life.  As  a  member  of  the  Federal-  State  Joint  Board  on  Universal  Service,  I  have  seen  first  hand  how  access 
 to  advanced  services  can  benefit  our  schools  and  rural  health  care  centers.  And,  as  the  first  person  from  South  Dakota  to  serve  as  a  Commissioner  at  the  FCC,  I  know  firsthand  how 
 important  broadband  services  are  to  rural  communities. 
 The  Commission’s  data  collection  program  has  provided  useful  data  on  broadband  and  local  telephone  subscribership  for  the  past  four  years.  Extending  this  program  is  extremely 
 important.  What  I  and  others  have  called  for  is  access  to  more  granular  data  that  would  give  policymakers  a  better  understanding  of  the  types  of  services  and  locations  of  services  being 
 deployed.  It  is  critical  that  we  understand  with  greater  nuance  whether  consumers  in  rural  areas  are  receiving  access  to  broadband  services  comparable  to  those  deployed  in  urban  areas  and 
 whether  those  services  are  available  at  comparable  prices.  With  respect  to  urban  areas,  we  should  know  whether  residential  consumers  have  access  to  broadband  services  or  whether  it  is 
 only  available  to  larger  business  users.  We  should  also  explore  whether  information  about  pricing  for  broadband  services  would  help  us  to  determine  whether  access  to  broadband  services 
 is  affordable  to  all  Americans.  With  this  Notice,  we  have  the  opportunity  to  explore  these  questions  and  to  appreciably  improve  our  data  collection  efforts. 


 I  am  disappointed,  however,  that  any  additional  data  that  we  collect  through  this  program  will  not  be  available  in  time  for  our  current  Section  706  inquiry  and  the  report  on  broadband 
 deployment  that  we  must  issue  this  fall.  With  this  timing,  we  miss  a  golden  opportunity  to  contribute  to  the  public  dialogue  over  how  best  to  speed  broadband  deployment.  In  the  absence 
 of  a  more  granular  data  collection,  I  hope  that  parties  and  this  Commission  will  cast  our  nets  broadly  as  we  investigate  where  companies  have  deployed  broadband  and  the  choices  available 
 to  consumers.  Having  a  comprehensive,  reliable,  and  accurate  understanding  about  the  state  of  broadband  deployment  is  a  critical  step  in  our  efforts  to  promote  the  availability  of  broadband 
 services  to  all  Americans. 
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