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                                                                                                         August 5, 1999
                                                           
                   Separate Statement of
                Commissioner Gloria Tristani
                              
       Re:  Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service:  Promoting Deployment and
       Subscribership in Unserved and Underserved Areas, CC Docket No. 96-45;
       Extending Wireless Telecommunications Services, WT Docket No. 99-___.
  
       I write separately to underscore my support for these items.  Both Notices of
  Proposed Rulemaking are intended to address and remedy the dearth of
  telecommunications in Indian country and other unserved and underserved areas.  The
  facts are not in dispute.  While Americans on average enjoy a telephone subscribership
  rate of 94%, many communities and areas throughout the land are not so fortunate.  And
  Indians living on tribal lands are the least fortunate of all.  Telephone subscribership rates
  on tribal lands fall under 50% in many instances and even under 30%, as in the case of the
  Navajo reservation.
  
       These woeful statistics are not new, and this is not the first time that the federal
  government and others have taken notice.  What is new, is that the Federal
  Communications Commission has not only taken notice, but is now embarked in taking
  concrete action to change these statistics.  The items ask thoughtful, appropriate and
  insightful questions, including questions about the scope of the problem, the nature of the
  federal relationship with tribal sovereign governments, and the extent to which the FCC
  should act to remedy the problem. 
  
       But, more importantly, the items posit concrete suggestions   targeting universal
  service support, bolstering and/or tailoring the Lifeline and Linkup programs, using
  alternative technologies  - on how to provide telecommunication services to Indian
  country and other unserved and underserved communities.  These suggestions are good
  first steps but I hope commentors will not hesitate to suggest any other appropriate and
  innovative measures.
  
       Finally, while I am proud to support these items, I believe it is our statutory and
  moral obligation to bring telecommunications to Indian country.  Section 254 of the
  Telecommunications Act mandates that we assure that all Americans have access to
  telecommunications services.  The federal trust relationship between tribal sovereign
  governments and the federal government suggests that we have an obligation to do even
  more.  But history, notions of equality, and the principles on which this Nation was
  founded tell us that is unconscionable that Indians, the first Americans, remain the last
  Americans to enjoy the wonders and benefits of the Information Age.  I trust that the small
  steps we take today will go a long way in changing this picture.