Baker to leave NTIA

The Bush administration official responsible for implementing key spectrum, public-safety and digital TV transition initiatives is leaving her post, prompting concern from lawmakers.
Meredith Baker, acting head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, oversees the Bush spectrum policy initiative, a $1 billion public-safety interoperability grant program, and a $1.5 billion coupon program to help to consumers defray the cost of converting to digital TV technology by February 2009.
NTIA, a unit of the Commerce Department, advises the president on telecom policy and manages federal government spectrum.
“She’s been talking for awhile with Commerce officials about her desire to depart,” said Todd Sedmak, an NTIA spokesman. “She intends to ensure a smooth transition for her future replacement and for the success of all of our programs.”
Baker, a former head of congressional affairs at cellular industry association CTIA, temporarily filled the void left by the resignation of former NTIA chief John Kneuer last November.
“The DTV transition will free desperately needed radio spectrum for first responders. A botched transition is not an option,” said Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence and a Commerce Committee member.
Harman added: “I am dismayed that the NTIA, a key agency to the transition, is again plagued by leadership changes at so critical a time. The NTIA will soon have its third administrator since Congress charged the agency with the analog-to-digital converter box program. The NTIA needs a steady hand and consistent leadership to complete this critical task. Our first responders and millions of TV-depending Americans are counting on a smooth transition to digital television on Feb. 17, 2009.”
On a related front, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said she will leave the agency in late March.
“The FTC is well-positioned to continue its strong record of acting on behalf of American consumers,” Majoras said. “As technological and other marketplace advancements provide new antitrust questions and threaten consumers’ confidence in our economy, the men and women of the FTC are already working to develop the best course for future enforcement, policy, and consumer outreach.”