Media Contact: 
Nirali Patel (202) 418-7830
nirali.patel@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR
On His First Official Trip
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, August 24, 2017—During my confirmation hearing last 
month, I spoke about the important role that tech and telecom policies can play in creating jobs, spurring 
investment, and growing the economy for the benefit of all Americans.  It is one of the reasons that I am 
focused on policies that will promote broadband deployment.  Whether it is the workers that manufacture 
and deploy broadband infrastructure, the app economy that runs over high-speed networks, or the 
businesses that use these connections to reach customers around the world, I testified about the ability of 
broadband to harness the talents of all Americans, to create good-paying jobs, and to help drive our 
nation’s economic growth.
I saw this first hand when I visited North Carolina this week during my first official trip as a 
Commissioner.  The Tar Heel state has a rich history of manufacturing and high-tech jobs, and this legacy 
is continuing to thrive in the broadband era. 
My visit started in Claremont, North Carolina—population 1,382.  Claremont is home to a 
588,000 square foot plant owned by CommScope that manufactures fiber optic cables and other high-
speed connections and network infrastructure.  I had the chance to walk the plant floor and talk with some 
of the highly-skilled men and women that operate the machines that braid, sheath, and assemble the 
cables used for everything from data centers to wireless and wireline deployments.
I also had the chance to visit two different sites where ISPs and their construction crews are 
working hard to deploy broadband across the state.  In Charlotte, I visited with Charter’s field operations 
team while it wired an apartment complex with high-speed broadband.  As part of that visit, I toured a call 
center where the company is expanding its workforce and helping to bring new jobs to the area.  Later, I 
spent time outside of Durham at a site where Frontier employees are splicing fiber and pulling cable to 
deploy gigabit speed broadband to new homes.  These high-speed connections are helping to attract 
residents and businesses alike to the community.
In addition to these wireline deployments, I visited Cary, North Carolina to see the infrastructure 
that is helping the United States maintain its leadership in wireless.  There, I spoke with the employees of
American Tower and toured its Network Operations Center.  I also talked with the engineers working on 
their distributed antenna systems and drove to one of their 195-foot monopole towers, which hosts an 
antenna array that is providing wireless broadband.  
The work that goes into deploying this broadband infrastructure is enabling innovators and 
entrepreneurs in the app economy to set up shop and create additional jobs right here in the Research 
Triangle.  I saw this when I visited American Underground (AU), which is a thriving tech hub and startup 
incubator in downtown Durham.  Nearly 50 percent of these startups are led by women or minorities, 
which is helping to promote diversity in the tech sector, and AU-based startups have already created over 
1,500 jobs.
As a state, North Carolina is also focused on ways to create jobs in the tech sector.  I learned 
about those efforts when I met with the staff of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, which is 
helping high school and community college students find registered apprenticeships through the 
NCWorks program, including those in the tech and telecom sectors.
Broadband is also helping to enhance public safety.  I saw this when I toured the state-of-the-art 
Raleigh-Wake Emergency Communications Center.  The highly-trained public servants at this 911 call 
center serve over 1 million people across 860 square miles by providing dispatch and centralized 
communications for four EMS agencies, eight law enforcement agencies, and twenty fire departments.  
Across the state, emergency communications providers in North Carolina are leveraging broadband and 
IP capabilities as they transition to Next Generation 911.
Over the past three days, I saw the hard work that goes into building, upgrading, and maintaining 
our nation’s broadband infrastructure.  But, if we adopt the right policies at the FCC, I am confident that 
broadband will fuel additional job creation and growth in our economy.  I look forward to working with 
my colleagues to do just that.
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Office of Commissioner Brendan Carr: (202) 418-2200
ASL Videophone: (844) 432-2275
TTY: (888) 835-5322
Twitter: @BrendanCarrFCC
www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/brendan-carr
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. Cir. 1974).