Funner Fact

Spectrum Issues before the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, the president’s chief spectrum policy advisory arm, won’t be handled by the acting NTIA chief.

Diane Rinaldo

Diane Rinaldo

That would be Diane Rinaldo, formerly deputy assistant secretary, who was named to the post after the departure last month of assistant secretary and NTIA Administrator David Redl.

That is because her husband works for T-Mobile (likely soon to be a combination of T-Mobile and Sprint) and she has recused herself from dealing with spectrum-related issues, according to a source.

But those spectrum issues — including finding more of it for 5G — are in good hands, the source assured The Wire, including those of acting deputy assistant secretary Doug Kinkoph, who oversaw the $4 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and State Broadband Initiatives created by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus program.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.