NTIA didn’t favor certain congressional districts or parties in distributing broadband money, Chief of Staff Tom Power said. In an interview Thursday, Power disputed a Communications Daily report (CD Oct 28 p1) that 40 percent of NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant money went to the districts of Commerce Committee members who make up 14 percent of the House. “NTIA awarded BTOP grants based on merit and in strict accordance with the comprehensive review process detailed in our grant rules,” said Power. “As described in those rules, we considered factors such as sustainability projects and how they would meet the needs of the community. This resulted in a proportional distribution of grant funds, without regard to congressional districts or political affiliations, and any assertion to the contrary is just plain wrong.” Power said “the appearance of a disproportionate distribution” in the House “is created by ignoring the full scope of the grants,” many of which went to projects covering multiple districts. NTIA has been crunching numbers this week and so far has found that other committees also received a proportionate amount of funds, he said. For example, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee represents 38 percent of states and got 40 percent of the money, Power said. He conceded that it’s “very hard” to break down grants for multiple districts among them. There are a number of ways to “slice it and dice it,” he said. “Do you look at where more of the fiber was laid or do you look where the headquarters was? I don’t even know how we'd begin to do that.” NTIA is working to get winning applications posted, Power said. “The delay is that the applicants can claim FOIA exemptions and require that certain things be redacted.” Some are easier to work with than others, he said.
AT&T added and retained more wireless customers in the third quarter than it had in any previous Q3, the carrier said Thursday. And it sold a record number of Apple iPhone handsets, though many were to subscribers it already had. AT&T mobile broadband “is approaching a $20 billion a year business, and the business is growing at 25-30 percent,” Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner said on the carrier’s earnings call. Wireline isn’t achieving the same success, but Lindner said the carrier isn’t thinking about ditching the business.
The Republican who may lead the House Commerce Committee next year said FCC regulations “are only further smothering the economy.” In a Washington Times op-ed piece Tuesday, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., urged congressional oversight of the FCC and other federal agencies next year. Upton has expressed interest in becoming the next Commerce Committee chairman, and some telecom industry officials say he’s the favorite. Current Committee Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, must step down under GOP term-limit rules unless he gets a waiver from the Republican leadership.
Congress could move on spectrum legislation next year no matter which political party is in control, a telecom aide to Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, told a Law Seminars International conference Monday. A package of noncontroversial spectrum items could be attached to a reauthorization of the FCC’s auction authority, said the aide, Matthew Hussey. FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman urged Congress to quickly authorize incentive auctions to free up broadcaster spectrum.
Capitol Hill aides urged patience from those seeking a Telecom Act revamp by Congress. A rewrite will happen, but Congress doesn’t want to rush it, said Danny Sepulveda, senior adviser to Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass. Other priorities next year include wireless spectrum and oversight of the broadband stimulus program, aides told a panel discussion Tuesday by the Free State Foundation.
The FCC has made “a lot of progress” but still has “a lot of work to do” implementing the National Broadband Plan, Chairman Julius Genachowski told One Economy’s 10th anniversary gala Thursday night. One Economy gave Genachowski its Metcalfe Digital Opportunity Award, but Genachowski invited the commission’s broadband team up to the stage to accept the honor. FCC priorities include revamping the Universal Service Fund, setting up incentive auctions and recovering underused spectrum, “empowering” broadband consumers and promoting competition, and increasing broadband adoption, Genachowski said. “Broadband benefits our society more every day, while the cost of digital exclusion for those left behind skyrocket.” Government should focus on modernizing USF to support broadband, One Economy Chairman Rey Ramsey told reporters. “That money is going to help more than replace what NTIA” had been providing under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he said. It’s “doubtful” the next Congress will fund another broadband grant program, he said. Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen told the event the cable company plans to add 50 Digital Connector sites by year-end. The program, created with One Economy, teaches digital literacy to teens and young adults. Comcast expects the new sites to impart Internet skills to 1,500 young adults by December 2011, Cohen said.
NTIA could be faced with no money for oversight of its broadband stimulus program unless Congress acts in the lame-duck session starting in November. The agency, which administers the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), wants Congress to sort out the issue in the lame duck, an NTIA official said. One option under consideration is an appropriations process called “reprogramming,” wherein NTIA would repurpose existing funding from other programs that it runs, the official said.
Politics shouldn’t hold up creation of a Digital Literacy Corps similar to AmeriCorps to teach digital literacy skills, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in a Broadband US TV webcast Thursday. The proposed program would require funding from Congress, but Clyburn expects bipartisan support, she said. Meanwhile, the FCC is eager to implement provisions of an accessibility bill to be signed into law Friday afternoon, said Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Deputy Chief Karen Strauss.
The CALM Act “certainly is a candidate for consideration during the lame duck session,” a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told us Wednesday. “The CALM Act enjoys broad support both in Congress and among the public.” The bill would turn down the volume on TV ads to the level of regular programming. Last week, the Senate passed its version of the bill, S-2847, with an amendment (CD Oct 1 p10). The House passed its own version, HR-1084, last December, but now must pass the amended Senate bill. Among other pending telecom and media bills, the CALM Act may have the best shot of passage in the lame duck because it’s so far along in the process, said an industry official.
Tea Party gains in the November election would mean more opposition to the FCC from Congress on net neutrality and other regulations for industry, Tea Party supporters said. “Any change in the composition of the House and Senate is only going to exacerbate that friction between [FCC Chairman Julius] Genachowski and Congress,” said Wayne Brough, chief economist of FreedomWorks, a Tea-Party organizer in Washington. CompTel CEO Jerry James said competitive local exchange carriers are watching the Tea Party movement, “as well as other changes potentially resulting from the mid-term elections that may impact telecom policy going forwards.”