Opening Remarks of Commissioner Susan Ness
Federal Communications Commission
before the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
United States Senate
March 22, 2000

I have been privileged to serve our country at a time of explosive growth and change in the telecommunications industry

We at the Commission are at the epicenter of a fundamental transition that is changing the way we live, work and play. We're transitioning from a monopoly-based to a competitive-based industry, from an analog to a digital world, from narrowband to broadband, from fixed applications to mobile applications, from circuit-switched to packet-switched and from a traditional economy to an Internet-based economy.

And lest we get complacent, the Commission is transitioning from the implementation stage to the enforcement stage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

All of this has been happening on my watch.

New technologies, new media, new business plans are emerging every day. Our challenge at the Commission is to facilitate innovation and encourage investment in this dynamic information age.

And our commitment is to ensure that all Americans have access to the telecommunications tools so vital in this new economy.

I am invigorated by the challenge and both inspired and humbled by this commitment to the American people.

For me, there could be no better place to serve the country than at the FCC at this time.

And with your consent, I look forward to continuing to serve. Thank you for this extraordinary opportunity.