Adam Bender

The NTIA and the FCC would work together on a plan to make more spectrum available, under President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal 2011. A big surprise in the budget, released Monday, was its call for the elimination of the Telecommunications Development Fund (TDF), a program that has traditionally had the strong support of important Democratic constituencies including the Congressional Black Caucus. The proposed budget also would cut two programs that helped support public broadcasters’ transition to digital.

Senators from both parties said NTIA is too slowly dispersing broadband stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, during an Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee hearing Thursday. Chair Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said she’s concerned NTIA has only awarded $300 million in grants, even though it was given $4.7 billion to dole out by Sept. 30, 2010. Ranking Member Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said the administration seems to be “negligently … and wastefully sitting on a grand total of $6.5 billion in taxpayer’s money.”

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., believes concerns about the Comcast-NBC Universal merger can be overcome, he told us after a Democratic policy lunch Tuesday in the Senate. “There are some questions to be asked,” said the Senate Communications Subcommittee chairman. “Probably they can be resolved, so I'm not exercised about it at this point in time. … It’s just a question about access to information and how the picture’s going to look like afterwards.” He joked that “NBC has enough challenges that I don’t think that [presents] the problem.” A Senate Commerce hearing hasn’t been announced, but some say it may happen a month after the House Commerce and Senate Judiciary hearings on the merger (CD Jan 26 p1).

Congress should ensure that broadband efforts maintain support for rural telcos, executives of four major rural telco associations told congressional staff at a closed meeting Monday of the Rural Telecommunications Task Force, a subcommittee of the House Rural Caucus. Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and Lee Terry, R-Neb., are the co-chairmen of the task force, but didn’t attend the briefing. The Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, Western Telecommunications Alliance and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies asked Congress to ensure that rural broadband providers continue to receive support from the Universal Service Fund, intercarrier compensation “or some combination,” ITTA President Curt Stamp said in an interview after the meeting. It’s hard for rural carriers to justify investing in very remote areas without “something to fill in the gap,” such as stimulus money, USF “or some other mechanism,” he said. The rural carriers had approached the task force about holding a briefing last year, but today’s meeting didn’t come together until a few weeks ago, said ITTA Vice President Paul Raak. The task force is expected to invite the cable and wireless industries in for later briefings, Stamp said. Meanwhile, the rural telcos hope to hold more briefings with other congressional groups and plan to meet separately with every rural member, Raak said. He expects broadband to be a big issue for Congress this year. “Once you get past energy and healthcare … broadband is next.” But the Hill seems to be waiting for the National Broadband Plan before moving, Stamp said. “I don’t get the sense that there are a lot of members who are trying to influence the content of the plan.” But they'll likely have questions and suggestions when it’s delivered, he said.

Congress is watching the planned merger of Comcast and NBC Universal closely, and members are expected to weigh what it means to consumers and competitors, said Hill and industry figures. “This is one of the larger consolidations in the telecom/media space in history, and it is a matter of public interest, [and] it’s a matter of interest to those of us involved in telecommunications policy,” said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., in an interview. Boucher also outlined his legislative priorities for the new term, including work on a spectrum inventory, Internet privacy and the Universal Service Fund.

The NTIA and the FCC would be required to do an inventory of spectrum between 225 MHz and 3.7 GHz under an amended bill (HR-3125) approved Thursday by the House Communications Subcommittee in a unanimous vote. The panel also unanimously approved a bill (HR-3019) by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., that would streamline moving federal users off bands to be reviewed by a three-member technical panel reporting to the agencies.

To more efficiently respond to technology convergence, the FCC needs written policies on inter-bureau coordination, GAO said in a report released Tuesday. GAO also urged improvements to the commission’s public notice and ex parte processes, and said the FCC must polish its strategy for recruiting experts to the agency. The FCC mostly concurred with GAO’s recommendations, saying it “had begun action in each of these areas even before the GAO prepared its draft report.” In statements, House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Joe Barton of Texas renewed his call for legislation, while Democratic members praised initial reform efforts by Chairman Julius Genachowski.

The Senate Antitrust Subcommittee may hold a hearing in late January or early February on the Comcast-NBC Universal merger, said Hill sources. Hearings likely will wait until after the companies submit their application to the FCC, which could be in the next week, one Hill source said. The House Commerce Committee is considering a Feb. 4 hearing (CD Jan 15 p9).

The House Commerce Committee is considering a hearing Feb. 4 on the Comcast-NBC Universal merger, Hill and industry sources said. The House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees also have jurisdiction over the merger.

The FCC proposed amending emergency alert system rules to require national testing and data collection. In its latest rulemaking notice, issued Thursday, the commission sought comment on whether the proposed change would “effectively ensure accurate EAS testing at the national level.” Currently, FCC Part 11 rules provide for periodic national EAS testing, but mandates only state and local testing. No U.S. president has ever issued a national alert, and it’s never been tested, the agency said. EAS testing was one issue raised last year in the Public Safety Bureau’s 30- day review.