Tim Warren

Despite an increase in subscribers and a boost from the DTV transition, Dish Network saw profits drop substantially, the company said Monday. It reported a Q2 profit of $63 million, down some 81 percent from the same period last year.

The RUS’s definition of “remote” in the notice of funds availability has stirred complaints from potential applicants and oversight committees. But this isn’t the first time that the agency has had problems defining the most rural areas.

Engineering requirements could slow or exclude major broadband-stimulus projects, a group of potential applicants, consultants and a broadband trade association told the NTIA and the RUS in a letter sent Friday.

SEATTLE -- State commissioners and broadband providers raised concerns Monday at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners summer conference about the gathering of broadband data that NTIA, RUS, and the FCC say is necessary for distributing $7.2 billion in federal broadband funds and devising a national broadband plan.

SEATTLE -- High-quality information from the states will be important in deciding how effective and efficient the distribution of federal broadband money is, NTIA head Larry Strickling said Monday at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ summer session.

Broadband equipment makers stand to be among the largest beneficiaries of the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus, providing everything from fiber lines to wireless towers and giving the companies a much-needed boost in what was a slow last few months, say analysts.

NTIA will begin on July 14 reviewing and evaluating grant applications for the $350 million set aside for broadband mapping, the agency said in a notice of funds availability released Wednesday. The mapping requirements, known as the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA), are to help develop a national broadband map by 2011 and were outlined in a NOFA separate from that detailing the $7.2 billion broadband program application.

ERIE, Pa. - An initial $4 billion will be available in broadband grants and loans administered by NTIA and RUS, with applications to be reviewed beginning July 14, Vice President Biden told a crowd in a rural Pennsylvania high school gym Wednesday. The agencies released the long-awaited rules in a joint notice of funding availability (NOFA). Biden said he hoped the money would increase broadband Internet in rural America and encourage adoption in urban areas, to help lift the U.S. from the depths of one of its most severe recessions.

The NTIA and the RUS to share an application form for the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus, Mark Seifert, a senior advisor to the assistant secretary at the NTIA said Friday at a Pike & Fischer conference. Seifert, who didn’t elaborate or take questions after his speech, said only that the agencies are trying to “simplify” the process and “make it easier on consumers.” A “one-stop application process would be a major achievement,” he said. Seifert has played a major role in developing the rules for the Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program while the NTIA, part of the Commerce Department, waits for Larry Strickling to become its head. His nomination is in the Senate for confirmation.

Public libraries, schools, and health care providers are joining forces to promote their role in bridging the broadband divide, members of the newly formed Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition announced Thursday. The coalition itself won’t apply for any of the $7.2 billion in broadband funds, but it will advise anchor institutions on how best to apply for the money, it said. Coalition Coordinator John Windhausen said there’s no best way for anchor institutions to apply for stimulus funds, but many will likely apply as consortia or with state and local governments. Mainly, the coalition hopes to “raise visibility” of the anchor institutions, he said.