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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  05-  202 
 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 APPROVING  IN  PART,  CONCURRING  IN  PART 
 In  the  Matter  of  Amendment  of  Part  22  of  the  Commission’s  Rules  To  Benefit  the  Consumers  of  Air-Ground  Telecommunications  Services;  Biennial  Regulatory  Review—  Amendment  of  Parts  1,  22,  and 
 90  of  the  Commission’s  Rules,  WT  Docket  No.  03-  103 
 Amendment  of  Parts  1  and  22  of  the  Commission's  Rules  To  Adopt  Competitive  Bidding  Rules  for  Commercial  and  General  Aviation  Air-  Ground  Radiotelephone  Service,  WT  Docket  No.  05-  42 


 Application  of  Verizon  Airfone  Inc.  for  Renewal  of  800  MHz  Air-  Ground  Radiotelephone  License,  Call  Sign  KNKG804,  File  No.  0001716212 
 Order  on  Reconsideration  and  Report  and  Order,  adopted  December  8,  2005. 
 Today’s  action  brings  airline  passengers  one  step  closer  to  realizing  the  benefits  of  new  air-  to-  ground  broadband  services.  The  current  narrowband  air-  to-  ground  service  –  which  is  expensive  and  limited  to  voice  –  has  not  lived 
 up  to  expectations.  New  air-  to-  ground  broadband  will  afford  passengers  a  wider  and  more  cost-  effective  array  of  services,  and  I  encourage  the  auction  winner  to  roll  these  services  out  to  passengers  as  quickly  as  possible. 


 Notwithstanding  my  enthusiasm  for  new  consumer  broadband  options  in  the  skies,  I  concur  in  part  due  to  my  concerns  that  our  original  decision  created  the  strong  possibility  of  a  monopoly  licensee  in  air-  to-  ground 
 broadband  services.  Although  that  issue  is  no  longer  before  us,  I  remain  concerned  that  America’s  aviation  industry  and  its  passengers  will  not  have  the  full  range  of  choices  in  air-  to-  ground  broadband  that  they  might 
 otherwise  have  enjoyed.  We  must  nevertheless  proceed  forward  based  on  the  decisions  already  taken  to  ensure  the  timely  deployment  of  broadband  for  the  benefit  of  the  flying  public. 
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