**Remarks of**

**Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate**

**Rural Telecommunications Congress Conference (RTC)**

**October 24, 2006**

**(via videotape)**

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak with you all today. I want
to thank Harry Roesch and Hilda Legg for their long-lived support of
rural broadband issues at all levels of government. I understand that
this marks the third consecutive year in which the FCC has participated
at the RTC and I am delighted to be here -- even if by video. Your
efforts are so very important because pushing broadband deployment out
to schools, healthcare facilities, businesses, and homes is a critical
building block for our competitiveness, not just for you locally, but
for America globally.

Certainly, one of my top priorities is working toward the President's
policy goal of universal, affordable access to broadband for every
American by the end of 2007. Encouraging broadband deployment also
remains one of the foremost goals of the Commission and Chairman Martin
has done a commendable job of setting policies that encourage broadband
deployment. From leveling the playing field between broadband providers,
to targeting funds for priorities, like rural healthcare, the Commission
continues to play a critical role in the expansion and improvement of
our broadband infrastructure.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but having a broadband infrastructure
is critical to every sector of our economy. From e-commerce to
e-government -- from providing access to educational opportunities in
the classroom no matter where our children go to school to re-training
our workforce for the jobs of the 21st century -- from financial markets
to healthcare -- broadband is crucial for America and Americans.

As many of you know, I'm from Tennessee, a state that has its share of
challenges, including the educational challenges facing its poor and
rural areas. In Tennessee, I worked with then Governor Sundquist to
ensure that all of our schools were connected to the Internet. In fact,
Tennessee was the very first state to accomplish this and I'm very proud
of what we've been able to do in classrooms from the inner city to
Appalachia. Giving our students the tools and skills to compete in the
increasingly competitive global economy is essential if our country is
to remain a leader. I continue to hear wonderful success stories about
how connections improve our educational system, often for students in
the most isolated areas. The e-rate director in Alaska recently
recounted to me how high school students on a remote island invariably
drop out of school, rather than spend the winter away from home to
attend their "local" high school, miles away on a different island.
Recent broadband connections between the high school and the home
island, however, have allowed several students the remarkable ability to
graduate by participating in their high school from their home island
using the broadband connectivity. When these students graduated, you'll
be happy to know that the technology also enabled their parents and the
entire island to participate in the graduation ceremony via video
conference. By the way, the two students were valedictorian and
salutatorian of their class!

Just as those students in Alaska were able to participate from afar via
broadband, folks in rural America are able to participate in the global
economy. Broadband is becoming a vital element of our infrastructure for
business development keeping our nation on the leading edge of our
rapidly changing world. It allows people to connect with business
associates, colleagues, researchers, and clients around the globe.

By connecting people, broadband can also prove helpful to government.
Not only does it assist with the consumer services of e-government --
driver's licenses, taxes, individual school information, but even
knowing where child predators may live. The explosion of information at
our fingertips about what our government is doing is astounding. It also
enables a level of participation in government that didn't previously
exist. The FCC, for example, enables anyone with an interest in a
Commission proceeding to file comments, read others' comments, or watch
a Commission meeting via the Internet. While this is probably not at the
top of your 'must see' viewing list, I believe the openness encourages a
healthy participation in government by citizens across the country, not
just those in DC.

As both a state commissioner and now at the FCC, I have been fortunate
to work to promote programs that assist people with disabilities, like
telecommunications relay service. Broadband is also revolutionizing
communications for the deaf and hard of hearing. The FCC administers
support for IP relay and Video Relay Services, the latter allowing for
the first time communications to take place in a deaf person's native
language -- sign language -- with direct video connections between two
people signing, or including an interpreter in the middle. Services like
this ensure that all Americans have the tools to participate fully in
society.

I have also been excited to remain involved with health issues. The FCC
has a far broader role in health care than most Americans think. From
approving waivers for diabetes and cardiac monitoring devices to
promoting the advancement of broadband networks that support telehealth
services, spreading the reach of the latest health technology and
services. It has been exciting for me to see first-hand across the
country -- from Tennessee to Alaska -- how new technologies combined
with broadband enable everything from remote surgery to telepsychiatry,
and teledentistry. I have witnessed first-hand how the technology at
both a research hospital and one of the most remote communities in the
U.S. link up and work together not only to improve people's health and
lives, but also to narrow the miles between doctor and patient -- not to
mention reducing healthcare costs.

Broadband networks also will enable the development of electronic
medical records. Centerstone, the largest behavioral health provider in
Tennessee, is leading efforts toward improved outcomes through
electronic medical records and sharing research-based "best practices"
with mental health centers across the country. They help to address a
myriad of health issues, from mental illness to obesity and its oft
associated disease, diabetes.

You may have heard that Chairman Martin and I, along with Senator
Brownback, recently launched a task force to review the relationship
between media and childhood obesity. As you know, childhood obesity is a
national epidemic affecting one in five children. Regional health
partnerships, like the Delta Telehealth Partnership, are collaborating
to bring quality diabetes care to some of the most critical locations in
the rural delta. I hope to have your input and support in stemming
childhood obesity in your state or community as we move forward.

The Commission has been busy lately encouraging broadband for
telehealth. For years, the FCC has administered a program to support
rural healthcare telecommunications connections costs. Unfortunately,
this program has been underutilized. In fact, only about 10% of the
\$400 million allocated limit is ever used. Recently, however, the FCC
unanimously adopted an Order establishing a pilot program to facilitate
regional health networks and connections to Internet2.

I felt strongly about the item because it acknowledges and encourages
the incredible benefits broadband can bring to our nation's public and
non-profit healthcare facilities. We drew on the strong support in the
Telecommunications Act recognizing the importance of rural health care
facilities to the deployment of broadband throughout our nation. It was
important that we explore an approach to encourage innovative health
practices, especially in the rural and remote areas of the country where
health care has often been more difficult and expensive to provide. To
me, what is most notable about the pilot program is that it shifts the
focus away from individual connections toward a focus on building
networks. The program seeks to connect numerous healthcare facilities in
a state or region by tying together rural and remote centers with the
urban hospitals. Isn't that a more appropriate way to look at this
issue? The existing rural health efforts I have seen are successful
exactly because of this focus on building a network, rather than a
simple one-sided connection.

I know that the pilot rural health program, even if it eventually takes
full wing, may address only some of the many issues you all deal with on
a daily basis and I know that challenges remain. Who will pay for the
equipment in the hospitals to make the broadband connections valuable?
Who will operate this equipment and how do we train them? How does a
healthcare facility justify these costs? Well, I'm not here to tell you
that I necessarily have these answers for you, or a pot of Uncle Sam's
gold to pass around. However, know that we are trying to seek solutions
that will advance the benefits of telehealth and we also seek your input
and applaud your efforts now and in the future.

Finally, I want to touch on something that impacts Americans throughout
our nation -- public safety and homeland security. The memories of 9/11
and the Gulf coast hurricanes last year remain powerful reminders of the
importance of our communications infrastructure to our ability to
respond to disasters -- whether man-made or delivered by mother nature.
It is essential that our broadband infrastructure helps to ensure that
our public safety networks are interoperable and redundant. There are
some things you can prepare for and some things you cannot. We would be
remiss if we failed to build on our experiences. At the same time, we
must also insure that our plans accommodate disasters of all types, such
as contamination of our food or water supplies or a pandemic flu.

Accordingly, the Commission last month announced the creation of a new
bureau dedicated specifically to address public safety and homeland
security issues. While the Commission has acted admirably in the face of
crises before -- the response to the hurricanes last year was tremendous
-- I am pleased that the Commission recognized the importance of putting
its subject matter experts in this area under a single roof to ensure
coordinated thinking about how best to focus our energies and improve
our policies for preparedness. In fact, the website for the new Bureau
has excellent materials which I recommend to you for your business and
your family -- we all must have an emergency plan.

I hope that we continue to maintain a dialogue on the rollout of
broadband networks throughout our country. I know that with you today
are experts from the FCC who will help you further understand the
Commission's broadband deployment efforts. Bob Sommers from the Consumer
and Governmental Affairs Bureau is our point person on outreach for
rural broadband deployment. Also with you are representatives from the
Wireline and Wireless Bureaus who can help explain our various efforts
to encourage broadband deployment, including the recent rural health
care pilot initiative I discussed. We value your participation in this
conference and hope to learn from you what is working on the ground
floor of broadband deployment at the local, state, and regional level.

In closing, I want to underscore and applaud your efforts and I look
forward to hearing about the exciting ideas and projects you all are
working on as you work to propel our nation forward using the power of
broadband.

Thank you, Harry, and have a terrific meeting!