1STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN Re: Utilizing Rapidly Deployable Aerial Communications Architecture in Response to an Emergency, PS Docket No. 11-15. I wish to commend the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau for presenting us with an item, which reinforces our mission essential function to ensure continuous operations of critical communications and other services. Each year, particularly during Hurricane season, our Nation is faced with large scale disasters, which routinely result in terrestrial communications networks being compromised. Therefore, in addition to examining ways to improve the reliability of legacy and broadband networks, we also must prepare for the reality that, despite best efforts, networks will go out of service. The experiences of federal agencies have shown that aerial platforms offer a rapid response solution to temporarily restore critical communications. Specifically, the U.S. Armed Forces have used these platforms successfully, to provide communications in the absence of available terrestrial infrastructure. In response to the Public Notice that the Commission released last year, several parties raised technical and coordination concerns. This NOI seeks comment on these issues and additionally asks important questions about the costs of deploying these platforms, frequency planning, and minimizing potential interference. I was pleased to see that a number of commercial mobile wireless carriers offered recommendations for how aerial platforms could be deployed to prevent interference with their commercial networks. The continued collaboration of all relevant stakeholders will be important to ensure that we have a thorough and productive discussion on the best way to take advantage of these technologies.