Choosing a federal chief technology officer could go hand-in-hand with restructuring the Office of Science and Technology Policy under the new administration, suggested a recent Congressional Research Service report. The report doesn’t discuss the proposed CTO position that President- Elect Barack Obama envisions. But it does recommend that Congress keep a close eye on power given the director of the science and technology office and “increase the intensity” of its oversight “to reflect current Congressional priorities.”
With President-elect Barack Obama set to lead in 2009, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein hopes broadband deployment and other “long-neglected” issues “finally get the attention they deserve,” he said Thursday in a keynote at a University of Nebraska College of Law conference. Afterward, a panel of telecom officials said the FCC and Congress should focus on broadband deployment next year.
With President-elect Barack Obama set to lead in 2009, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein hopes broadband deployment and other “long-neglected” issues “finally get the attention they deserve,” he said Thursday in a keynote at a University of Nebraska College of Law conference. Afterward, a panel of telecom officials said the FCC and Congress should focus on broadband deployment next year.
A reply comments deadline could keep the FCC from voting to revamp intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund at its December meeting, FCC spokesman Robert Kenny said Wednesday. Wednesday’s Federal Register said comments on three competing revamp plans are due Nov. 26, with replies due Dec. 3. The FCC usually circulates agenda items three weeks before a meeting. This reply deadline is two weeks and a day before the Dec. 18 meeting. The final circulation period could be less than two weeks, because it likely will take the Wireline Bureau two days to write an order once replies arrive, said an FCC official.
The DTV transition is among 13 priorities the new White House must confront immediately, the Government Accountability Office said Thursday. Nearly a third of U.S. households are at “some risk” of losing TV service Feb. 17, GAO said, and many Americans are confused about what to do. NTIA likely will see coupon demand rise as the transition nears but “has no plan to address the increased demand,” the agency said.
Four members of the FCC pledged to work together on broad intercarrier compensation and Universal Service Fund reform, for a vote at the Dec. 18 FCC meeting. The four cited growing consensus on several issues teed up for decision, in a statement they all signed. But FCC Chairman Kevin Martin questioned whether his colleagues will really be ready to reach a decision in December. The letter was released just before midnight Wednesday, as the FCC responded to a writ of mandamus by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit addressing the so-called ISP remand (CD Nov 6 p1).
The Port of Long Beach has issued a news release stating that despite a requested injunction by the Federal Maritime Commission against the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to invalidate portions of the ports' Clean Trucks Programs, the Port of Long Beach is confident in its legal position and will continue to move ahead with its initiative to ban and replace dirty diesel trucks that pollute the region. (News release available at http://www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=475&targetid=1)
The DTV transition is among 13 priorities the new White House must confront immediately, the Government Accountability Office said Thursday. Nearly a third of U.S. households are at “some risk” of losing TV service Feb. 17, GAO said, and many Americans are confused about what to do. NTIA likely will see coupon demand rise as the transition nears but “has no plan to address the increased demand,” the agency said.
Voters unseated incumbent state commissioners in Oklahoma and Montana, decided Arizona, Georgia and Montana contests by margins so tiny recounts may be called and made Nebraska’s commission the nation’s first all-female elected utility commission. All told, Democrats won 10 races and Republicans seven contests Tuesday in the 10 states with commission seats up for grabs. And two of three telecom/Internet related state ballot questions failed.
The FCC likely will have busy months ahead, even with pending changes at the agency with the likely departure of Chairman Kevin Martin as early as January. Unless Martin stays on, the FCC will be left with only three commissioners at the end of January -- Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein and Republican Robert McDowell. Martin likely has only one more regular meeting over which to preside, scheduled for Dec. 18.