NEWS
	Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554	News media information 202 / 418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 202/418-2555
	This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 11, 2001   NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Contact: William J. Friedman (202) 418-2300
	PRESS STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER GLORIA TRISTANI ON THE APPROVAL OF THE AOL-TW MERGER
	American consumers are best served by an open and vibrant Internet. Ensuring the Internet’s openness is fundamental to the public interest. To achieve this end, AOL’s dominant instant messaging platform should be interoperable. Instant messaging is far more than a narrowband text messaging service; it’s an essential platform for the development of future high-speed Internet-based services that rely on real time delivery and interaction. Though I advocated for even more forceful conditions aimed at achieving interoperability, the strengthened conditions ultimately adopted go a long way to protect consumers. In addition, we adopted conditions to further local and regional ISP access to the AOL Time Warner cable system. In the end, voting in favor of the decision serves consumers better than lodging a dissent. Today’s decision is an important step in the long process of defining and protecting the public interest in the broadband world. I hope this agency will maintain this commitment as the communications revolution further transforms how we live. # # #