A four-person contingent from NTIA came to the NTA Convention in Denver last week to talk about their grant program for digital transmitters for Class A, LPTV, and TV Translator stations. They cleared up a couple of points and left at least one major question still unresolved.… Continue Reading
NTIA has finally issued a "Notice of Availability of Funds" for grants for upgrading Class A, Low Power TV (LPTV), TV Translator and TV Booster transmitters to digital operation. Bypassing any rulmaking proceeding, NTIA has simply declared that it has cash up for grabs. The Notice is NTIA's way of saying "come and get it." The fun starts July 13, 2009.… Continue Reading
A cautionary note with respect to an obscure, but potentially important, quirk in U.S. law that could mess up some plans to access Stimulus Package funds. Dillon's Rule could effectively bar, or at least seriously complicate, efforts by private entities to successfully dip into the deep pool of stimulus funds through the device of public/private partnerships.… Continue Reading
The FCC is accepting written comments on issues relating to distribution of Stimulus Package funds relating to broadband deployment. The deadline is April 13. The Commission is also scheduling ex parte meetings with the staff limited to 20 minutes from March 30 to April 3.… Continue Reading
The deadline for comments in response to the NTIA/RUS request for information on setting up programs to disburse Stimulus Package funds for broadband projects has been established: April 13, 2009.… Continue Reading
The newly-enacted-but-still-to-be-implemented Stimulus Package leaves a lot of questions unanswered. On March 10, the the agencies in charge met with the public to identify at least some of those questions and to begin the search for answers -- a search which must be completed under very tight time constraints.… Continue Reading
The ink had not even dried on the Stimulus Package before troubled industries began feverishly scanning the hundreds of pages of legislation to see if there were any goodies in there for them. The funding is supposed to begin by mid-June, so hitch up the wagons and get ready to giddy-up. There's gold in them thar hills!… Continue Reading
