Headlines

Benton Foundation provides free, daily summaries of articles concerning the quickly-changing telecommunications policy landscape.

FCC Nominee Points to His Lobbying Experience an Nomination Hearing

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:21pm
Last updated: June 18, 2013 - 8:58pm

Location:

Senate Commerce Committee, Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE Russell Senate Office Building - 253, Washington, DC, 20002, United States

Tom Wheeler, President Obama’s nominee to head the Federal Communications Commission, told the Senate Commerce Committee that his experience as the leader of lobbying groups for the cable television and cellphone industries had convinced him that the agency needs to promote competition over regulation. He said that the FCC's championing of competition was especially important given Americans’ heavy dependence on communications networks in education, public safety and consumer services.

Five Questions for the Next FCC Chief

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:18pm

Location:

Senate Commerce Committee, Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE Russell Senate Office Building - 253, Washington, DC, 20002, United States

Here are five questions the Senate Commerce Committee should ask of Tom Wheeler, the President’s nominee to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Mapping NTIA's Broadband Investments

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:16pm

Location:

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), 1401 Constitution Ave, Washington, DC, 20230, United States

To illustrate the impact of the $4 billion Recovery Act investment in the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and State Broadband Initiative (SBI), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has developed a user friendly online tool to visualize the high-speed broadband networks, public computer centers and Internet training programs funded across the country.

Venture Capital Needed for ‘Broken’ U.S. Education, Thrun Says

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:14pm

Location:

Udacity, Palo Alto, CA, United States

Venture-capital firms are showing greater interest in U.S. higher education because as a system, it’s no longer working, said Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of online learning company Udacity.

Dish to Sprint: Stop whining and get out of the way of our Clearwire deal

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:13pm
Last updated: June 18, 2013 - 8:13pm

Location:

Dish Network, 9601 South Meridian Boulevard, Englewood, CO, 80112, United States

Dish Network called the lawsuit Sprint filed against Dish a “transparent attempt” to distract shareholders from its own failed bid for Clearwire.

Google Glass: What Marketers Should Know

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:10pm
Last updated: June 18, 2013 - 8:10pm

Location:

Forrester Research, 400 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States

Imagine providing essential information to your customers, in the exact time and place they need it — and delivering that information right in front of their eyes, where they can’t miss it. That’s the vision of marketing on Google Glass. Marketers must think differently about Glass than they do about their Web or smartphone applications. And they should start thinking now about Glass, even though the device likely won’t be shipping to consumers before 2014.

This won’t be a great year for broadcast

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:09pm
Last updated: June 18, 2013 - 8:09pm

Location:

ZenithOptimedia, 24 Percy Street, London, W1T 2BS, United Kingdom

The upfront has moved at a snail’s pace this year, with two broadcast networks, ABC and NBC, still in negotiations three weeks after the selling season broke. That’s a reflection of two things.

Making the Case for Competition Ahead of the FCC’s 17th Mobile Competition Report

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:07pm

Location:

Verizon Wireless, Basking Ridge, NJ, United States

Verizon Wireless filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission ahead of its 17th annual mobile competition report. This post is excerpted from our executive summary.

Obama's Unplanned NSA Discussion

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:05pm

Location:

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20500, United States

You have to wonder if President Barack Obama ever thought, when he first ran for the White House, that he would need to defend himself from accusations his presidency would be a mere extension of his Republican predecessor.

Google challenges U.S. gag order, citing First Amendment

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:04pm

Location:

Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States

Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it’s forced to give the government.

Rep Schiff: Phone providers should retain metadata on phone calls, not NSA

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:03pm

Location:

House Committee on Intelligence, Washington, DC, 20515, United States

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) encouraged the intelligence community to restructure a National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program that gathers metadata on the phone records of Verizon and other phone providers' customers. Rep Schiff argued that Americans may feel "much more comfortable" if telecommunications companies retained the metadata on customers' phone calls rather funneling it to the secretive spy agency.

US, Europe May Share Intelligence, But Not Privacy Rules

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:01pm

Location:

Washington, DC, United States

The United States and Europe stepped up cooperation on security issues after Sept. 11, 2001. But that doesn't mean they agree on everything.

Dish Drops Out of the Bidding for Sprint

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 8:00pm

Location:

Sprint Nextel, 6550 Sprint Parkway, Overland Park, KS, 66251, United States

Dish Network declined to submit a new bid for Sprint Nextel by the carrier’s deadline tonight, leaving SoftBank as the wireless company’s lone suitor for the moment.

CTIA official leaves to head up venture capital group

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 7:58pm

Location:

National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), 1655 North Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA, 22209, United States

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) poached a tech lobby leader to become its new president and chief executive.

Bad Connection

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 3:31pm

Location:

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20500, United States

President Barack Obama launched a new initiative called ConnectED, which aims to bring similar next-generation connectivity to classrooms across America in the next five years. It’s a great idea. But Obama’s proposal leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The biggest unknown is perhaps the most important: funding.

When it comes to high-speed Internet, are cable companies all talk?

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 3:29pm

Location:

Comcast, 1500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102-2148, United States

Delivering ultra high-speed Internet to users around the country is a challenge, but it's one that cable providers say they are ready and able to tackle.

Google's not the only one with super-high-speed internet plans

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 3:28pm

Location:

USA, United States

Google has repeatedly grabbed headlines with its ambitious plan to wire more than a dozen cities with super-fast Internet service. But Google isn't the only game in town when it comes to superfast Internet connections.

Media Merger Mania and the Obama FCC

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 3:26pm

Location:

New America Foundation (NAF), 1899 L St NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC, 20036, United States

A recent wave of media consolidation during the Obama years does not get attention beyond the trade press. But it should.

Why Silicon Valley likes Obama’s patent troll offensive

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 3:24pm

Location:

Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, CA, United States

Technology companies may have backed the President’s executive actions to curb patent trolling.

A seat at the table

Submitted: June 18, 2013 - 3:22pm

Location:

The Internet Association, 1100 H St. NW 20005, Washington, DC, United States

The top lobbyist for the Internet industry says it’s his job to prevent a repeat of the 2012 Internet blackout protest over anti-piracy legislation.