The NTIA, still in the middle of the DTV transition, is faced with another huge challenge in managing the $4.7 billion grant program it’s assigned under the economic stimulus law, said several former government officials and lawyers who follow the program. As an idea of the size of the job relative to the capacity of the NTIA, the agency is budgeted to get $19.2 million to cover salaries and expenses in fiscal 2009. The stimulus law allocated $141 million, or 3 percent of funds, to cover the costs of administration of the program.

All broadband companies should be eligible for NTIA and Rural Utilities Service money, USTelecom President Walter McCormick said in a letter late Monday to the agencies. The letter was sent to Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, the associate administrator of NTIA’s telecom office, and David Grahn, the associate general counsel of the Agriculture Department’s rural development office. McCormick called it “essential to include, at a minimum, any private entity that is currently operating a broadband network as eligible to receive funding,” because those companies are best qualified to find and serve areas where broadband investment is needed, and quickly create jobs. He asked the agencies to develop a rule on eligibility “as soon as possible,” so businesses can get started on applying. The definitions of “unserved” and “underserved” shouldn’t relate to the extent of competition in an area, McCormick said. “Funding focused on adding networks rather than on adding new consumer connections is likely to result in program expenditures that do little or nothing to increase the number of consumers on the network,” he said. The USTelecom president also asked agencies to “minimize red tape.” Agencies should adopt the FCC’s Internet policy statement in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s nondiscrimination and interconnection provisions, McCormick said. “The agencies must not lose sight of the first and foremost goal of the ARRA -- job creation and near-term economic stimulus,” he said. Allowing policy debates risks “creating significant delay and injecting substantial uncertainty” in reaching the economic goals, he said.

State and industry officials debated possible limits to NTIA broadband grant eligibility in a Monday public hearing at the Commerce Department. In a morning roundtable, representatives of broadband providers and equipment makers urged a widely inclusive approach, while an official for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners suggested the NTIA mandate state involvement. Later in the day, officials discussed coordination between the NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service, and how to spur broadband adoption and public computer center capacity.

The FCC is mulling an extension to the filing deadline for the revised FCC Form 477, an FCC official told us Friday. The completed form, which will collect broadband availability data by census tract, is due from companies March 2 but isn’t yet accessible on the FCC Web site. Requests for delay were submitted by most major wireline and wireless industry groups this month, but the FCC has so far kept mum on the issue.

Broadband proponents are fearful further cuts to proposed funding could come during conference negotiations over the stimulus bill the Senate passed Wednesday 61-37. Republicans are fighting to rein in overall spending, and the broadband provisions were trimmed back to $7 billion from the Senate’s original call for $9 billion. The House proposes about $6 billion in a bill that sets slightly different rules and would divide the funding between two government agencies -- Commerce and Agriculture.

Congress should adopt a mix of targeted tax credits and grants to help small businesses in rural areas, TIA and USTelecom told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday. The groups outlined ideas to extend broadband services in hard-to-reach areas, emphasizing programs that would create new jobs right away. Both recommended that Congress approve funding for the broadband mapping law passed last year, so policymakers can identify the parts of the country most in need.

A universal-service revamp and broadband are priorities for the House Commerce Communications Subcommittee, Chairman Rick Boucher of Virginia said in an interview. His official agenda awaits suggestions from Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Boucher said. The committee plans an organizational meeting Wednesday afternoon. Boucher said he also wants to gather the views of subcommittee members before creating a hearing schedule and legislative wish list.

As a Feature Group IP forbearance petition on VoIP access charges heads into its final week, the company is seeing little support and much opposition from the rest of the industry. Feature Group IP, a competitive local exchange carrier serving VoIP companies, wants the FCC to rule that VoIP providers need not pay access charges to interconnect with traditional public switched telephone network carriers. Chairman Kevin Martin has circulated two orders, one granting and one refusing relief. The FCC must issue a decision by Jan. 21.

USTelecom, CompTel and NCTA said the FCC shouldn’t decide if access charges apply to IP-PSTN traffic in the context of a forbearance petition. The commission looks set to do just that on Jan. 21, the agency’s statutory deadline to decide a forbearance petition on the subject by Feature Group IP. Feature Group, a competitive local exchange carrier serving VoIP companies, asked the commission to declare that switched-IP traffic isn’t subject to access charges applying to switched traffic. Chairman Kevin Martin has circulated two orders, one granting and one refusing relief (CD Jan 7 p9). In a joint letter to the FCC last week, USTelecom, CompTel and NCTA urged the FCC to deny the Feature Group petition, and tackle the issue in the intercarrier compensation rulemaking. “There are limits” to using forbearance for adjusting regulation, they said, citing a recent decision by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. “Forbearance petitions may be an appropriate vehicle for seeking the elimination of unnecessary regulatory obligations, but they are not the right mechanism for replacing one set of rules with another or creating new rules altogether.”

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., will take over as chairman of the renamed House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, Hill officials announced Thursday. He’s trading places with Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who takes the chairmanship of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, they said. The switch is happening as Congress comes under increasing pressure to delay the Feb. 17 DTV switchover. (See the separate report in this issue.) With Boucher in the lead on communications legislation, rural communications interests could get a boost, industry officials said. Boucher is known for his open-door policy and ability to reach compromises, they said.