Congress Sends Questions to NTIA

House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) have written National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Meredith Atwell Baker about the supply of DTV-to-analog converter box coupons and how they would be handed out, including whether she was okay with public broadcast stations or community groups applying for coupons they don't need and giving them to people whose coupons were lost in the mail or expired before they could redeem them. They also asked whether, if there was money left over at the end of the program, it could be used for coupons for homes that have cable or satellite but still want a box. Currently, there is $990 million for coupons for anyone who requests them, with the rest reserved for houses with only analog, over-the-air reception, but NTIA's Baker has said there could be over $300 million to return to the treasury after the program concludes in March 2009.