FC: Commerce Dept's NTIA responds to cable TV 'digital divide'

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

> Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 10:22:08 -0500
> From: Art Brodsky <arb () well com>
> To: declan () well com, apowell () freedomforum org
> Subject: Re: FC: US redefines 'digital divide' to include... no cable TV!
>
> Declan,
>  While I hate to contradict Adam Powell, he didn't hear correctly what
> Greg Rohde said during the Media Institute speech.  He did not say that
> the government will fund analog TV service to rural area.  (Note the
> report in this morning's Broadcasting & Cable fax.)
>
>  What he did say is that as a facet of his general concerns over a
> digital divide -- that is, a significant part of the population being
> left behind by technological advances available to others -- the NTIA is
> looking into the question of how rural TV viewers could be able to
> receive the same types of service that will be increasingly available to
> urban viewers in a package provided by satellite operators.  As you
> know, Congress at the end of last session passed a copyright overhaul
> bill that included authority for the so-called "local into local"
> authority that lets satellite carriers for the first time rebroadcast
> local signals into those markets.  But the Hill couldn't reach agreement
> on the question, raised by Senators Burns and Baucus, and Congressmen
> Goodlatte and Boucher, about what to do with rural areas.
>
> As a result, Baucus has already introduced a bill, and the House members
> are due to at some point, on that topic.  The discussion at the end of
> the last session centered on a loan guarantee program, Baucus' bill has
> that element in it as well.  Two senate committees (Banking and
> Agriculture) and one House Committee (Ag.) have already had hearings on
> the matter.  Greg said he is willing to work with congress on the loan
> guarantee approach, which as I said, is generated by the Hill.
>
> At NTIA, the agency is conducting an inquiry to help provide some other
> information on what types of technology, perhaps other than satellite,
> can be used to make certain that rural populations aren't left behind.
> NTIA will issue a federal register notice shortly and hold a roundtable
> early next month on the topic.
>
> If you or other readers have questions, they can email me here or to
> abrodsky () ntia doc gov.
>
> Art Brodsky
> NTIA




> From: Adam Powell <apowell () freedomforum org>
> To: "'Art Brodsky'" <arb () well com>, declan () well com,
>         Adam Powell
>         <apowell () freedomforum org>
> Subject: RE: FC: US redefines 'digital divide' to include... no cable TV!
> Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 10:33:51 -0500
> X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21)
>
> Actually, I not only wrote down all of Rohde's quotes on this, I also went
> up and talked to him afterward. He *did* say the government would "pursue a
> loan guarantee approach" to extend television service via whatever carrier
> might be available. This includes satellites but he also mentioned extending
> cable to areas not now served, supported by federal loan guarantees. That's
> pretty clear.
>
> Perhaps most notable: At no time in his "digital divide" remarks did he
> mention either race or the Internet, and that's a MAJOR change from his
> predecessor.
>
> FYI I also asked him whether his remarks would be posted in their entirety
> on the NTIA web site, where everyone could read them and reach their own
> conclusions; he said no.


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