*Pages 1--3 from  Microsoft Word - 58751.doc*
 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  DEBORAH  TAYLOR  TATE 
 Re:  Applications  for  Consent  to  the  Assignment  and/  or  Transfer  of  Control  of  Licenses;  Adelphia  Communications  Corporation  (and  subsidiaries,  debtors-  in-  possession),  Assignors,  to  Time  Warner 
 Cable  Inc.  (subsidiaries),  Assignees;  Adelphia  Communications  Corporation  (and  subsidiaries,  debtors-in-  possession),  Assignors  and  Transferors,  to  Comcast  Corporation  (subsidiaries),  Assignees  and 
 Transferees;  Comcast  Corporation,  Transferor,  to  Time  Warner  Inc.,  Transferee;  Time  Warner  Inc.,  Transferor  to  Comcast  Corporation,  Transferee,  Memorandum  Opinion  and  Order  (MB  Docket  No.  05- 
 192). 
 The  Communications  Act  requires  the  parties  in  these  applications  to  demonstrate  that  allowing  this  transaction  to  go  forward  will  serve  the  public  interest,  convenience,  and  necessity.  I  have  carefully 
 reviewed  the  thoughtful  comments  provided  by  numerous  parties  –  from  the  America  Channel  to  the  Urban  League  of  Greater  Hartford  and  everyone  in  between.  Based  on  this  review,  I  have  concluded  that 
 the  applicants  have  met  the  standards  dictated  by  the  statute,  and  I  therefore  support  this  Order. 
 In  proceedings  such  as  this,  the  burden  is  on  the  Applicants  to  show  by  a  preponderance  of  the  evidence  that  the  proposed  transactions  would  benefit  the  public  interest  more  than  it  would  harm  it.  The 
 Commission’s  review  is  limited  to  the  transaction  presented,  and  it  should  not  attempt  to  use  this  Order  to  conduct  an  industry-  wide  rulemaking.  Accordingly,  the  conditions  that  we  impose  today  are  limited  to 
 merger-  specific  issues  that  remedy  identified  harms  that  might  otherwise  occur.  That  said,  many  of  the  concerns  raised  in  the  comments  implicate  serious  questions  about  the  underlying  cable  ownership  rules 
 that  I  hope  we  can  address  on  an  industry-  wide  basis  in  other  proceedings  pending  at  the  Commission  in  the  near  future. 


 With  regard  to  this  item,  I  have  met  with  the  Applicants  and  received  numerous  assurances  about  how  they  will  behave  following  the  completion  of  the  proposed  transaction.  Let  me  respond  to  those 
 assurances  with  one  of  my  own:  I  intend  to  see  that  promises  made  are  promises  kept. 
 The  FCC  –  following  the  lead  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  –  has  made  deployment  of  broadband  to  all  Americans  a  top  priority.  This  deployment  is  critical  to  our  nation’s  competitiveness  in 
 the  global  economy  and  to  our  national  security.  It  implicates  every  aspect  of  our  lives  –  from  health  to  education  to  public  safety.  All  consumers  should  expect  to  benefit  from  this  technology.  I  have  been 
 repeatedly  assured  that  broadband  and  other  services  will  be  deployed  on  a  fair,  equitable,  and  expedited  basis  to  the  areas  served  by  these  companies.  Given  the  importance  of  this  deployment,  let  me  make  it 
 absolutely  clear  that  so-  called  redlining  –  the  distribution  of  services  based  solely  on  the  ethnicity  or  income  level  of  an  area  –  will  not  be  tolerated.  Period. 


 I  am  also  troubled  by  the  continued  reports  of  the  difficulty  that  smaller,  independent  channels  have  in  getting  carriage  on  cable  systems.  The  names  Comcast  and  Time  Warner  frequently  are  invoked 
 by  these  smaller  programmers  as  –  and  I’ll  put  it  diplomatically  here  –  being  difficult  to  work  with  on  this  issue.  It  is  in  the  public  interest  to  have  a  diversity  of  voices  on  the  air.  When  the  America  Channel  is 
 seen  by  more  people  outside  the  United  States  than  in  it,  when  Hispanic-  focused  channels  have  trouble  getting  carriage  in  Los  Angeles  and  other  large  Hispanic  markets  –  when  I  hear  these  and  other  similar 
 reports  I  am  far  from  convinced  that  cable  providers  are  doing  an  adequate  job  in  promoting  a  diversity  of  voices  on  television. 


 Nonetheless,  I  am  not  willing  to  combat  allegations  of  unfairness  with  an  unfair  act  of  our  own.  Addressing  industry-  wide  problems  on  a  case-  by-  case  basis  only  undermines  the  development  of  a  truly 
 competitive  marketplace,  and  such  onerous  conditions  have  no  place  in  an  Order  by  a  Commission  committed  to  helping  American  businesses  stay  ahead  in  an  increasingly  competitive  world.  The 
 Commission  once  again  takes  steps  in  line  with  my  own  philosophy  of  regulatory  humility  and  resists  the  temptation  to  burden  the  market  with  rules  and  regulations  that  would  stifle  innovation  and  growth. 
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 they  do  not  deserve  credit  for  all  that  they  have  already  accomplished. 
 I  thank  the  Chairman,  my  fellow  Commissioners,  and  the  dedicated  FCC  staff  for  their  hard  work  on  this  item.  I  particularly  want  to  thank  all  those  who  filed  thoughtful  comments  and  excellent  legal 
 analysis  which  contributed  to  this  important  debate.  I  look  forward  to  a  continuing  dialog  with  all  parties  in  the  coming  months. 
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