FCC commissioners and members of a commission advisory committee are upset about being largely left out of decision- making on how to spend the $20 million Congress gave the regulator for digital TV education. Commissioners first learned of $8.4 million in contracts awarded to 12 groups around 7 p.m. Tuesday, when the FCC issued a news release, agency officials said. Members of the Consumer Advisory Committee, recently reappointed by Chairman Kevin Martin with the goal of concentrating on DTV (CD Jan 2 p8), said their advice on how the commission can smooth the transition has been largely ignored and they had little involvement in the contracting process.

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - The federal government should ensure that children and lower income families aren’t left behind in the DTV conversion, PBS President Paula Kerger said on the TV Critics Association’s winter press tour. “I am very disheartened to hear that a month before the deadline that the government has run out of money” for DTV coupons, she said. “To put citizens on a waiting list is inexcusable.” Kerger asked Congress to fix the situation. “We need to make sure every household that can be connected to a box should be connected to a box.

UNIVERSAL CITY - The federal government should ensure that children and lower income families aren’t left behind in the DTV conversion, PBS President Paula Kerger said on the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. “I am very disheartened to hear that a month before the deadline that the government has run out of money,” she said. “To put citizens on a waiting list is inexcusable.” Kerger asked Congress to fix the situation. “We need to make sure every household that can be connected to a box should be connected to a box.

Broadband incentives in the stimulus bill should include tax credits, bonds and funding of the mapping law (S-1492) that Congress passed last year, telecom groups told Congress Tuesday.

Broadband incentives in the stimulus bill should include tax credits, bonds and funding of the mapping law (S-1492) that Congress passed last year, telecom groups told Congress Tuesday. Nearly 200,000 jobs could be created, adding $100 billion to the economy if Congress approves issuing private tax-credit bonds for broadband buildout, the Fiber-to-the- Home Council said. The council analyzed four tax credit and expensing proposals, concluding that each would “create substantial net benefits to the U.S. economy,” a consultant’s study said. It estimated a gain of just over 254,000 jobs if all proposals were adopted.

Broadband incentives in the stimulus bill should include tax credits, bonds and funding of the mapping law (S-1492) that Congress passed last year, telecom groups told Congress Tuesday. Nearly 200,000 jobs could be created, adding $100 billion to the economy if Congress approves issuing private tax-credit bonds for broadband buildout, the Fiber-to-the- Home Council said. The council analyzed four tax credit and expensing proposals, concluding that each would “create substantial net benefits to the U.S. economy,” a consultant’s study said. It estimated a gain of just over 254,000 jobs if all proposals were adopted.

Universal Service Fund support amounted to $7 billion in 2007, said a monitoring report by the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. The report, available on the FCC Web site, reflects data on the telephone industry filed with the commission through June 2008, on 2007 and prior years, the agency said. In 2007, 61.6 percent of support went to the high-cost fund, 26 percent to the E-Rate fund for schools and libraries, 11.8 percent to the Lifeline/Link-Up program for low-income households and 0.5 percent to rural healthcare. Total high-cost support in 2007 was $4.3 billion, up from $4.1 billion in 2006. The increase was due to support from competitive carriers increasing $200 million to $1.2 billion, the FCC said. E-Rate increased $100 million year-over-year to $1.8 billion. Low-income support increased $16 million to $824 million. Only rural healthcare saw a drop in support, decreasing $4 million to $37 million. Total industry revenue for telecom services provided to end users in 2007 was about $238 billion in 2007, $1 billion more than 2006. The portion of households subscribing to telephone service increased to an average 94.8 percent in 2007, up from 93.6 percent in 2006. Interstate toll usage for customers of incumbent local exchange carriers dropped 30 billion minutes year-over-year to 349 billion. The total number of access lines in service for mandatory price-cap carriers Qwest, AT&T and Verizon declined to about 109 million in 2007, from 118 million the year before.

The FCC sought comment on a Dec. 12 Madison River Telephone petition challenging a Universal Service Administrative Company determination it owes universal service fund and Telecommunications Relay Service fund contribution payments on Internet access service and intrastate T-1 revenue received from customers during in 2005. Madison River, of Mebane, N.C., also challenged a USAC determination that it should have reported the transmission portion of its Internet access services separately as assessable telecommunications service revenue. Comments are due Jan. 29, replies Feb. 13.

The FCC shouldn’t discriminate against satellite broadband as it decides how to reform the universal service system, members of the satellite industry told the commission in reply comments last week. “There is simply no justification for uniquely classifying satellite technology differently from other technologies for purposes of satisfying a carrier’s obligation to provide broadband services throughout its territory in order to qualify for universal service support,” said Virtual Geosatellite and AtContact Communications in a joint submission. The commission doesn’t need to worry about satellite broadband being “somewhat less desirable” because of latency and rain fade, SkyTerra said. “Both latency and rain fade problems have been greatly alleviated by improvements in technology and have virtually no impact on customers’ most common uses for the Internet, including online searches, instant messaging, watching a video, sharing files and creating a blog,” SkyTerra said. Consumers qualifying for Lifeline and Link Up services should be able to obtain this funding by purchasing dual mode handsets “that are capable of communicating with both terrestrial wireless and mobile satellite services,” SkyTerra said.

The FCC shouldn’t discriminate against satellite broadband as it decides how to reform the universal service system, members of the satellite industry told the commission in reply comments last week. “There is simply no justification for uniquely classifying satellite technology differently from other technologies for purposes of satisfying a carrier’s obligation to provide broadband services throughout its territory in order to qualify for universal service support,” said Virtual Geosatellite and AtContact Communications in a joint submission. The commission doesn’t need to worry about satellite broadband being “somewhat less desirable” because of latency and rain fade, SkyTerra said. “Both latency and rain fade problems have been greatly alleviated by improvements in technology and have virtually no impact on customers’ most common uses for the Internet, including online searches, instant messaging, watching a video, sharing files and creating a blog,” SkyTerra said. Consumers qualifying for Lifeline and Link Up services should be able to obtain this funding by purchasing dual mode handsets “that are capable of communicating with both terrestrial wireless and mobile satellite services,” SkyTerra said.