Federal Communications Commission FCC 06-126 SEPARATE STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER JONATHAN S. ADELSTEIN CONCURRING Re: NextiraOne, LLC, File No. EB-06-IH-1392 Since its inception, the universal service support mechanism for schools and libraries (commonly referred to as the E-rate program) has opened up a new world of learning and opportunity for millions of school children and library patrons. To ensure the continued success of the E-Rate program, we must remain committed to monitoring, auditing, reviewing and reinforcing the program. A critical part of our Commission oversight is the use of debarment, which prohibits bad actors from participating in the program. Accordingly, I support our decision in this Order to debar NextiraOne from all involvement in the E-Rate program. I concur in, rather than approve, this Order because I would have supported a longer debarment period. The Commission’s rules provide for a debarment period of three years, which may be extended to protect the public interest or reduced upon a finding of extraordinary circumstances. I note that the Department of Justice has encouraged the Commission to exercise our debarment policy in a way that encourages early and complete cooperation from defendants, and I recognize that the Commission may take into account payment of fines and restitution, the length of time that a provider has not participated, and most importantly a high degree of cooperation with law enforcement. Even weighing these factors, the one-year debarment period adopted in this Order falls short, given the scope and seriousness of the fraud-related activities in this case. Schools do not have unlimited resources, and I am concerned about the effect that fraudulent activity like that perpetrated by NextiraOne can have for school systems like the Oglala Nation Education Coalition and their students. In this case, a longer debarment period would have sent a stronger and clearer message that fraud will not be tolerated.