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                            CONCURRING STATEMENT OF

                         COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS

   Re: In the Matter of Inter-Tel Technologies, Inc., File No. EB-05-IH-0012

   The E-Rate program continues to provide the essential digital tools our
   children need for success in the Digital Age by connecting our schools and
   libraries to the Internet. Indeed, E-Rate is a lifeline for the hardest to
   reach and poorest children who are eager to learn and at risk of being
   left behind as technology moves forward. Like any great program, E-Rate
   cannot meet its full potential without regular review and care. And in
   this regard, there are many who deserve credit for their vigilance in
   rooting out waste, fraud and abuse from the program. The FCC, Department
   of Justice and E-Rate's Schools and Libraries Division have all stepped up
   to the plate to provide greater oversight of the program to ensure that
   limited resources find their rightful homes and are used most effectively.

   The conviction of Inter-Tel Technologies, Inc. and today's debarment is
   further evidence of these efforts. Inter-Tel's activities were designed to
   bilk the E-Rate program of millions of dollars and it is certainly this
   type of case the FCC had in mind when three years ago it enacted its
   debarment requirements. I therefore concur in the decision to debar
   Inter-Tel from the E-Rate program for the period of one year. However, as
   I said when the Commission enacted the debarment rules, "we need to be
   dead serious about rooting out abuses." In point of fact, activities like
   those engaged in by Inter-Tel typically merit a lengthier debarment
   period. The Commission missed an opportunity here to send a sterner
   message to other corporations and individuals contemplating similar
   wrongdoings that such activities will not be tolerated by this Agency.

   Federal Communications Commission FCC 06-92