WASHINGTON—President Bush’s 2003 budget eliminates a major telecom infrastructure grant program, while including legislative proposals to reschedule broadcast spectrum auctions and to charge television licensees US$500 million a year starting in 2007 until analog spectrum is returned
The proposed legislation, designed to increase revenue by US$6.7 billion by bringing more certainty to the auctions, promotes the clearing of broadcasters off television channels 60-69 (747-762 MHz and 777-792 MHz). The now-eclipsed 2000 auction date for that auction would be reset to 2004. In addition, the administration’s legislation would shift the 2002 date for auctioning television channels 52-59 (698-746 MHz) to 2006.
The Bush budget proposes US$278 million for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and US$61.4 million for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a branch of the Commerce Department. NTIA would lose its telecom grant program, which is popular with some lawmakers in Congress.
The budget plan, which in dollar terms strongly favors national defense and homeland security, increases by US$3.2 billion spending for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in part to improve local and state emergency communications.
