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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  DEBORAH  TAYLOR  TATE 
 APPROVING  IN  PART,  CONCURRING  IN  PART 
 Re:  Implementation  of  the  Commercial  Spectrum  Enhancement  Act  and  Modernization  of  the  Commission’s  Competitive  Bidding  Rules  and  Procedures,  Order  on  Reconsideration  of 
 the  Second  Report  and  Order  (WT  Docket  No.  05-  211) 
 Just  last  week,  I  was  able  to  observe  first-  hand  some  of  the  most  extraordinary  applications  of  digital  communications  services  in  our  country,  from  life-  saving  telemedicine  in 
 very  remote  villages,  to  the  participation  of  a  parent  via  satellite  in  a  child’s  graduation  hundreds  of  miles  away.  These  experiences  that  we  in  the  lower  48  states  take  for  granted  are  major  feats 
 of  coordination  in  Alaska.  I  also  heard  from  many  of  those  whose  participation  in  the  designated  entity  (“  DE”)  program  is  critical  to  those  same  remote  citizens.  I  am  sympathetic  to  the  concerns 
 of  DEs,  who  argue  that  requiring  repayment  of  license  discounts  prior  to  the  end  of  a  ten  year  “hold  period”  will  discourage  investment  and  potentially  limit  a  significant  portion  of  designated 
 entity  participation  in  future  spectrum  auctions. 
 However,  as  always,  our  decision  involves  a  balancing  of  interests.  I  therefore  concur  in  this  decision  knowing  that  our  efforts  were  to  strengthen,  not  weaken,  the  purposes  of  the  DE 
 program  to  ensure  against  the  potential  for  fraud,  waste,  and  abuse,  as  well  as  to  provide  adequate  notice  in  order  that  the  AWS  auction  can  occur  in  a  timely  and  fair  manner. 
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