Kim Hart

What the government is doing on internet access

The federal government's efforts to provide ubiquitous internet access have had varying levels of success. The Federal Communications Commission says  that more than 24 million Americans still lack fixed service that meets the FCC's broadband speed benchmark (25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload). About 14 million rural Americans lack mobile LTE broadband.

President Trump's Big Tech Contradictions

President Donald Trump said his administration is looking seriously at antitrust investigations of Google, Facebook and Amazon. In the next breath, he argued they are great companies that he wants to help. "I leave it to others, but I do have a lot of people talking about monopoly when they mention those three in particular." "We are looking at [antitrust] very seriously ... Look, that doesn't mean we're doing it, but we're certainly looking and I think most people surmise that, I would imagine," he said.

New satellite technology may lead to faster internet

Cheaper rocket launches and better technology may make satellites a more viable option for delivering fast, affordable consumer broadband services around the world. A handful of companies from SpaceX to ViaSat are launching satellites that orbit closer to the earth, which is expected to reduce the lag time — or latency — because the signal will not have to travel as far. Lower-Earth constellations have the potential to compete more directly with cable or fiber networks on speed and price than the older satellite systems.

The 5G lessons from Google Fiber's failure

5G technologies are expected to put mobile broadband on par with fiber networks — and they're rolling out on a city-by-city basis similar to how Google Fiber deployed networks between 2010 and 2016. Google has stopped expanding its expensive fiber build-outs and, as a result, is seen as a failed experiment.

How to get from our 4G reality to the 5G future

Speedy 5G networks may be on the horizon, but consumer demand for wireless broadband is so intense that mobile companies like AT&T and Verizon need alternatives now — even if it means sharing airwaves with each other and with rival tech firms like Google. 5G networks are far from being fully deployed.

The race to become "smart cities"

Cities are increasingly marketing themselves as "smart cities" — hyper-connected, sensor-equipped communities — in their latest economic development pitch to attract workers and businesses. Metropolitan areas across the country are trying to take advantage of new technologies to become more efficient and sustainable — two qualities that appeal to younger generations of workers, as well as the startups and big corporations who want to employ them.

The wild west of children's entertainment

An explosion of new digital options for kids' entertainment has pulled children's attention away from live TV to instant, on-demand programming, bringing with it new challenges for producers, policymakers and parents. TV networks are trying to modernize in order to keep up with kids' viewing habits. And a recent Federal Communications Commission proposal would relax kids' TV rules to let traditional broadcasters compete with digital channels, like Netflix, Amazon or YouTube, that do not have to follow those rules.

FCC wants to relax kids' TV rules for the Netflix era

The Federal Communications Commission has begun the process of loosening requirements for children's TV programming, arguing that the old rules aren't needed in the era of kids-focused apps and streaming services.  When it comes to kids' content, tech companies like Netflix, Amazon and Google have stolen huge market share from traditional media companies. Still, children's advocates say relaxing the rules for broadcasters may make it harder for families without reliable broadband access to find age-appropriate content. 

The White House looks to coordinate online privacy plan

The White House is in the early stages of determining what a federal approach to online data privacy should look like. The preliminary conversations show that the White House wants a voice in the contentious domestic and global debate about how to protect consumer privacy online. Gail Slater, special assistant to President Donald Trump for tech, telecom and cyber policy at the White House National Economic Council, has met with industry groups to discuss possible ways to put in place guardrails for the use of personal data, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

AT&T's merger will change how we watch TV

AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner will create a media conglomerate that combines premium content with a vast distribution network to deliver it to consumers. One of its first experiments in marrying the two will be a "skinny bundle" called AT&T Watch, providing Time Warner content (minus sports) to mobile customers.

FCC Chairman Pai: Regulators must weigh Big Tech and market

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said that competition regulators should weigh the increased dominance of Google and Facebook over the digital ad market. “We do want to make sure that there is a competitive marketplace, so that involves taking a holistic view of what the market structure is,” Chairman Pai said, noting his comments were not about a specific transaction.

The telecom industry's identity crisis

The internet age has become an identity crisis as they face increasing competition from Silicon Valley, an uncertain merger landscape and global pressures in the race to 5G networks. It's no longer enough to power the pipes and cell towers that send internet traffic coursing around the world. The services that ride on top of that traffic, -- Google, Facebook and Amazon -- now dominate the internet ecosystem.

AT&T faces a Trumpworld reality check

The ouster of AT&T's top lobbyist caught DC telecom insiders by surprise and underscored that even the most well-oiled Washington machine isn't immune to inadvertent entanglement with Trumpworld scandal. 

How AT&T's antitrust battle looms over the Sprint/T-Mobile deal

The outcome of AT&T's fight with the Justice Department over its bid for Time Warner could shape the regulatory review of the long-anticipated union of Sprint and T-Mobile. 

Facebook's deserted island

Facebook is used to being the cool kid. But now it’s eating lunch alone: Companies are trying to figure out how to be as un-Facebook-like as possible.  Several tech companies, including Apple, IBM and Salesforce, have publicly differentiated themselves from Facebook. Now that lawmakers are getting more interested in regulating tech, other companies are considering launching their own campaigns to stay as far away as possible from Facebook's privacy drama. 

Democrats plan to push privacy rules after Facebook hearings

House Democrats plan to use the Facebook hearings as the starting point for an aggressive push for privacy legislation, which sets them up to move a bill forward if the House flips in November 2018. Democrats on the House Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over tech issues, will introduce proposals in the near term. That gives Democrats the opportunity to point to their efforts even if Republicans fail to make good on their regulatory threats.

Facebook hearings didn't move the needle on regulation

After more than 10 hours of grilling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Congress is no closer to regulating the platform's privacy practices than it was when the hearings started. It's clear that lawmakers haven't coalesced around a regulatory end-goal, even though the threat remains.

How to regulate Facebook

No federal law spells out what companies trading in personal information can do with user data. No federal agency has clear jurisdiction over writing rules for internet companies. And public concern about personal data falling into the wrong hands has only recently swelled. Now lawmakers are feeling the heat.

The new tech divide: social media vs. everyone else

The tech industry is splintering in the wake of the controversies surrounding social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube. A wide range of companies — from legacy Silicon Valley firms like IBM and Oracle to business-focused firms like Salesforce and Cisco — want to be seen as responsible players who can be trusted to make wise decisions when faced with tough calls. Companies of all stripes are trying to explain more clearly what they do, why they're different, and how they benefit society, one senior level official at a non-internet company said.

Axios Poll: Public wants Big Tech regulated

A majority of Americans are now concerned that the government won't do enough to regulate how US technology companies operate, according to an Axios-SurveyMonkey poll. Across the board, concern about government inaction is up significantly — 15 percentage points — in the past three months. In a previous Axios-SurveyMonkey poll in November, just after Facebook, Google and Twitter testified before Congress, only about four in 10 Americans were concerned that the government wouldn't do enough to regulate the tech companies. Now that number has jumped to 55 percent.

Comcast-NBC merger conditions expire, raising anti-competitive fears

Major conditions imposed by regulators as part of Comcast's merger with NBCUniversal expired Jan 20, renewing debate over AT&T's takeover of Time Warner that the Justice Department is trying to block. When approving the merger in 2011, the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission required Comcast-NBCUniversal to abide by more than 150 conditions.

Net neutrality complaints rise amid FCC repeal

Internet users are complaining more about net neutrality-related issues since the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the existing net neutrality rules earlier this month, according to the FCC's consumer complaint data. As of Dec 23, consumers filed 2,388 in December, a sharp increase over the 157 complaints filed in October. The FCC voted to reverse the net neutrality rules on Dec. 14.

Congress passes bill to make government websites mobile-phone friendly

Both chambers of Congress have passed a bill, the Connected Government Act, that will mandate federal websites to be mobile friendly, an effort to ensure people will be able to access the websites and the services made available through them on mobile phones. “As mobile devices continue to surpass desktop use for accessing the internet, it is important that the federal government is up to speed with the latest technology that allows our people and economy to thrive,” said Sen Maggie Hassan (D-NH). 

The coming trade war over data

Technology companies are facing growing international obstacles affecting how their most valuable asset — data — flows across borders. New trade agreements and laws are affecting how companies share and store their troves of data around the world. For decades, trade talks centered around tangible goods such as oil, agriculture and cars.