Publications

Pursuant to Section 6001(d)(4) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act or Act) (Public Law No. 111-5), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) provides this quarterly report on the status of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

NTIA's report on U.S. broadband Internet connectivity based on a survey of over 50,000 households commissioned by NTIA and conducted by the United States Census Bureau.

NTIA filed comments on behalf of the U.S. government in response to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) proposals on Domain Name System (DNS) security, stability and resiliency.

The TV Converter Box Coupon Program was a tremendous success and is one of the reasons the digital television transition in the United States went so smoothly. Over a two-year period, the Coupon Program educated millions of Americans about how to get ready for the transition and helped reduce the cost of purchasing a converter box for millions of households.

This report describes the challenges NTIA faced in administering the Coupon Program and the solutions we developed to address those issues.

This report is submitted pursuant to Section 207 of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act (CSEA), Title II of P.L. 108-494, which requires annual reporting on Federal agencies’ progress in vacating certain wireless communications systems from the 1710 megahertz (MHz) to 1755 MHz radio spectrum that has been reallocated to commercial use. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published the first annual report to Congress in March 2008. That report covered relocation activity during the period from March 2007 through December 2007. The second annual report documented the cumulative progress from March 2007 through December 2008. This third annual report documents the cumulative progress since the commencement of relocation activity in March 2007 through December 2009.

The Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG) reviewed and evaluated:
1. The status of industry efforts to promote online safety through educational efforts, parental control technology, blocking and filtering software, age-appropriate labels for content or other technologies or initiatives designed to promote a safe online environment for children;
2. The status of industry efforts to promote online safety among providers of electronic communications services and remote computing services by reporting apparent child pornography, including any obstacles to such reporting;
3. The practices of electronic communications service providers and remote computing service providers related to record retention in connection with crimes against children;
and
4. The development of technologies to help parents shield their children from
inappropriate material on the Internet.
The report contains recommendations in each of the above categories, as well some general recommendations.

In Exploring the Digital Nation: Home Broadband Internet Adoption in the United States, the Commerce Department fulfills its promise to provide authoritative, nationally-comprehensive data on access to the Internet throughout the United States. This new study follows the February 2010 NTIA research preview, Digital Nation: 21st Century America’s Progress Toward Universal Broadband Internet Access. Both studies draw on the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Internet Use Supplement, a survey of approximately 54,000 households conducted over one week in October 2009. This report presents the most accurate statistical profile of U.S. broadband Internet adoption
currently available.
 

This report includes statistical information about the BTOP program, including where to find information about all projects awarded. NTIA believes that BTOP projects, brought to their conclusion, will serve as models for future investments that will further accelerate and expand access to and adoption of broadband across America.

This report recommends consideration of a new framework for addressing online privacy issues in the United States.

This technical memorandum examines issues related to the potential interference impact of a specific Cellular Radiotelephone Service (Cellular) and Personal Communications Service (PCS) jammer transmitter on selected out-of-band and in-band receivers. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences performed laboratory and field measurements of a specific jammer transmitter and where appropriate these measurements were used in the interference assessment.