Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER MICHAEL O’RIELLY

Re: 	Use of Common Antenna Site – Sections 73.239 and 73.635, MB Docket No. 19-282; Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative, MB Docket No. 17-105.

Suffice it to say that we are truly cleaning out the underbrush here, proposing elimination of rules that have almost never been invoked.  The item does, however, demonstrate the arcane regime that undergirds the broadcast industry, with rules still on the books from the time when the Greatest Generation came home from Europe to launch the American Century.  At that time, the nascent infrastructure needed to build out television and radio networks was vastly underdeveloped, but 75 years later the industry has matured and now faces new, powerful competitors who are not bound by such ancient regulations.  We must keep up the effort to free traditional, regulated industries from regulatory burdens where appropriate; otherwise, they will continue to fight with one, or both, of their proverbial hands tied behind their backs.


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