Dec 5, 2008 (Broadband New Deal)

"We're sending out weak signals, so the public isn't getting a clear picture."
-- FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein on the DTV transition education effort

Can you digg Benton's new broadband action plan? http://digg.com/politics/An_Action_Plan_for_America_Using_Technology_and_Innovation

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY DECEMBER 5, 2008

Both BroadbandCensus and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation are hosting events next week.
Check them out at http://www.benton.org/calendar/2008-12

THE TRANSITION
   Obama's Manna
   Broadband New Deal To Rekindle Innovation
   Telecom's rattling tin cup
   Groups push for Network Neutrality in Obama administration
   Obama's Online Opportunities
   America Needs Modern Telecommunications to Improve Public Safety
   Five must-do cybersecurity steps for Obama
   DHS Cyber Chief Sings Swan Song, Reflects On Success
   Barack Obama's grass roots in search of new turf

BROADCASTING/CABLE
   Adelstein: Not Too Late to get DTV Transition Right

TELECOM
   Poorer Nations Go Online on Cellphones
   FCC To Revise Emergency Backup Power Rule For Cell Phones
   Landline Losses Spark New AT&T Layoffs
   AT&T Layoffs: The Tip of a Telecom Downturn
   'Payola Pundit' Picks Fight With Google

QUICKLY -- What a recent fight tells us about the economics of the global Internet; Media Predictions for 2009; Why My Teen can't Have a Computer in His Room; Mago Replacing MacBride At NAB; DVRs in 44% of TV Homes by 2014

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THE TRANSITION

OBAMA'S MANNA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: E J Dionne Jr]
[Commentary] Universal broadband? It's about future growth. Already, there is grumbling that Obama shouldn't try to do anything special with the stimulus; only old-fashioned programs need apply. The critics are grousing: How dare Obama try to use the crisis to transform the country! But this view is shortsighted. If the government has to spend a lot of money, why not use it for programs that can lift the economy now and also deliver a long-term payoff? Insisting on the same old approach to a stimulus means demanding only backward-looking investments that leave us with the same old problems once the spending spree ends. What we should fear most is not that Obama will get to keep some of his campaign pledges but that the stimulus will fall victim to classic logrolling. With so much cash on the table, the temptation will be enormous to lard the package with a slew of unproductive projects and all manner of narrow tax breaks for interests you probably never knew existed. In light of this danger, it would be far better if the new president started the debate with an imaginative proposal. Without a vision, the stimulus will perish in a pile of pork, and half a trillion dollars would be a terrible thing to waste.
http://benton.org/node/19581
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BROADBAND NEW DEAL TO REKINDLE INNOVATION
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Diane Mermigas]
[Commentary] There will be nothing easy or certain about Obama Administration policies to advance and monetize broadband as an essential infrastructure, even as Silicon Valley's most formidable players are curtailing innovation in what economists are calling The Great Recession. Unlike the other monumental challenges confronting president-elect Barack Obama, broadband interactivity can be an immediate, universal catalyst for commerce, communications and wide-ranging productivity. It can generate new jobs, revenue streams and profits in a better economy while requiring minimal investment. The Internet and all things interactive comprise the 21st-century's Wild West of unregulated prospects. Certainly, encouraging companies to develop compelling, advanced services for an Internet recast as a national utility at a time of pervasive technology must involve tax credits for innovation and initiatives. There must be subsidies to support advanced interactive applications for public services, health and environment, and overall commerce. Tech, Internet, content and services companies must be motivated to create new reasons for commercial interactivity. Innovation and continued digital transformation must lead the economic recovery. About half of all IT capital spending traditionally has come from financial services and industrial companies under siege. Perhaps the best overriding incentives could come in a far-flung New Deal-inspired plan for broadband, bringing together private and public players and funds to build out an advanced broadband infrastructure that would serve commercial and civic interests. It would be a new deal for a new age that is barely rising.
http://benton.org/node/19564
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TELECOM'S RATTLING CUP
[SOURCE: FierceTelecom, AUTHOR: Doug Mohney]
[Commentary] Asking a corporate CEO if he'll take money from the government is like asking a five-year-old if he wants to eat ice cream. About 90 percent of the time, the answer will be "Sure." Congress may allocate some of the to-be-determined-but-maybe-$500 billion in economic stimulus money to universal broadband access. We don't know the details yet, but if you are discomforted by this coming on the heels of the bailout of the financial sector and a looming "or else" bailout for the U.S. automobile industry, I don't blame you. We're rushing to throw money at a problem without discussing the underlying cause of the problem - the fundamental change of the phone company from a (relatively) benevolent monopoly to profit-maximizing private entity. On top of that problem, we have a paradigm shift in universal access, which has broadened from affordable voice access to affordable broadband access. Let's set some reasonable goals and expectations along with proper accountability and financial penalties for underperformance - say, if you fail to complete a build-out on time or don't meet the promise of expanded coverage to an area.
http://benton.org/node/19580
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GROUPS PUSH FOR NET NEUTRALITY IN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
The Open Internet Coalition called on President-elect Barack Obama to act quickly to prevent broadband providers from blocking or impairing access to Internet content of customers' choice. The coalition asked Obama to follow through with his promises during the presidential campaign to establish Network Neutrality rules. Members of the coalition also called on President-elect Obama to appoint a new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who would enforce net neutrality rules and champion broadband competition. The groups also asked that Obama appoint leaders at the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice who will promote an open Internet through antitrust and consumer-protection laws, and he should put key staff in place at the new office of Chief Technology Officer and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to promote open Internet ideals both in the U.S. and overseas.
http://benton.org/node/19563
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OBAMA'S ONLINE OPPORTUNITIES
[SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: John Horrigan]
[Commentary] There is no shortage of suggestions to the incoming Obama administration about what to do about communications policy in the United States. Online Americans might have one more suggestion: Make sure the Internet remains a place where users define what it means to be digitally connected. The willingness of American consumers to try new things is a source of our innovative culture. In a broadband and increasingly wireless Internet, it is not just about trying new things,
but, for many users, also reworking and using them in new ways. Maintaining such an online environment will give users the wherewithal to continue to innovate and surprise.
http://benton.org/node/19562
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AMERICA NEEDS MODERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SAFETY
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Jonathan Rintels]
One of the highest duties of any nation's government is assuring the public's safety and security. One vital element in providing that safety and security is a strong and resilient communications system. The tragedies of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, however, starkly demonstrated that our nation relies on an uncoordinated, non-interoperable, and outdated emergency communications system that is highly vulnerable to catastrophic disruption and failure. In the 21st century, America's public safety and homeland security require 21st-century communications and information technology that are robust, ubiquitous, interoperable, resilient, and redundant. Today's communications and information technology (IT) services are too often based on outdated technologies that are too slow to respond to - and recover from - emergencies, disasters, and systemic failures. Public safety and recovery efforts are impeded. Citizens who suddenly lose their access to information and first responders are endangered. Universal, affordable, and robust broadband could bring many benefits in the event of a public safety or homeland security emergency.
http://www.benton.org/initiatives/broadband_benefits/action_plan/public_safety_and_homeland_security
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FIVE MUST-DO CYBERSECURITY STEPS FOR OBAMA
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Bill Brenner]
As President-Elect Barack Obama looks for ways to deal with a shattered economy and an ongoing war on terrorism, security experts are urging him to pay attention to something that has a big impact on both: The nation's growing -- and fragile -- cyberinfrastructure. Potential adversaries have increasingly turned to cyberespionage as a way to find weaknesses in networks run by the government and the nation's critical infrastructure providers. Realistically, most of the necessary improvements must be devised and deployed from within private companies and government agencies. But Obama is in a unique position to lead on this issue and inspire others to fix the security holes, experts say.
http://benton.org/node/19559
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DHS CYBER CHIEF SINGS SWAN SONG, REFLECTS SUCCESS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Greg Garcia, the Homeland Security Department's first assistant secretary for cyber security and communications, will leave his post Friday after more than two years. On his watch, DHS established the Office of Emergency Communications, which collaborated with stakeholders across the country to develop a national emergency communications plan and 56 state and territory plans for federal, state and local first responders. His team also "enhanced the availability, resiliency and priority service of communications for national security and emergency preparedness needs, and in disaster-stricken areas such as the aftermath of Hurricane Ike this year," Garcia said. Meanwhile, the agency continues to integrate its overall cyber security strategy "to align with the evolving architecture and risk profile of our national information infrastructure." Garcia previously worked for the Information Technology Association of America.
http://benton.org/node/19558
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BARACK OBAMA'S GRASS ROOTS IN SEARCH OF NEW TURF
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Peter Wallsten]
With 13 million e-mail addresses, hundreds of trained field organizers and tens of thousands of neighborhood coordinators and phone bank volunteers, the Obama volunteer network has become one of the most valuable assets in politics, and Obama's team may choose to deploy it to elect other Democratic officials, or to lobby Congress for his toughest legislative goals, or even to apply pressure on local and state policymakers across the country. This weekend, hundreds of field staffers and some key volunteers are planning a marathon closed-door summit at a Chicago hotel to begin negotiating details of what the network might look like when Obama takes office in January. A group of field organizers from battleground states has been enlisted to draw up a plan. But while aides sort out the details, the Obama team's early hints about how the network should be used -- as well as its tight-lipped planning process -- have struck some supporters as missteps.
http://benton.org/node/19578
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BROADCASTING/CABLE

ADELSTEIN: NOT TOO LATE TO GET DTV TRANSITION RIGHT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein]
Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein spoke at the Government Video Technology Expo, warning that the FCC has sent weak signals about the digital television transition "so the public isn't getting a clear picture." He offered six steps the FCC could take to get the transition right: 1) Assemble and train teams of DTV assistance workers to go into every market, city and town in the U.S. to ensure that every community get a baseline level of organizational and resource support. 2) Facilitate a viral campaign in coordination with congressional and governmental offices and community organizations to encourage tech savvy individuals to assist family members, friends, and neighbors with converter box installation. 3) Encourage elected officials, from Governors to Mayors and beyond, to get involved in making this happen on the ground. 4) Increase the FCC's phone bank capacity to handle 2 million phone calls in the days immediately following February 17. 5) Finalize grants to community organizations and event planners to assist with the transition effort. 6) Ask telco, cable and satellite operators to get involved on a local level.
http://benton.org/node/19556
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TELECOM

POORER NATIONS GO ONLINE ON CELLPHONES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Tom Wright]
Using cellphones to surf the Internet is booming in emerging markets, showing how countries with poor fixed-line telecommunications have become important drivers of growth for mobile-technology companies. Opera Software ASA, a Norwegian maker of Internet browsers for mobile devices, says its strongest customer growth is in places like Indonesia, Egypt and Russia. AdMob Inc., a San Francisco company that sends five billion ads to Internet-enabled mobile handsets each month, says Asia overtook North America in October as its largest regional market. Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, is the company's second-biggest market after the U.S., accounting for a quarter of its global ad traffic.
http://benton.org/node/19579
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FCC TO REVISE EMERGENCY BACKUP POWER RULE FOR CELL PHONES
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
The Federal Communications Commission said it will revise a rule requiring wireless companies to maintain enough generators or batteries to sustain cell phone and pager service in the event of a major power failure. In a notice to a federal appeals court that has been reviewing the rule, the FCC said it wouldn't override a recent White House decision to reject the backup power requirement, even though the commission has the authority to do so as an independent agency. The FCC instead will issue a new proposal "with the goal of adopting revised backup power rules that will ensure that reliable communications are available to public safety during, and in the aftermath of, natural disasters and other catastrophic events," the notice said. The earlier FCC proposal stemmed from discussions among public safety experts and government officials in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when communication networks were disrupted for long periods in certain areas because of power failures.
http://benton.org/node/19557
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LANDLINE LOSSES SPARK NET AT&T LAYOFFS
[SOURCE: TelecomWeb, AUTHOR: ]
AT&T plans to layoff 12,000 workers (about 4 percent of its total staff), perhaps spurred by continuing landline defections. The layoffs will begin almost immediately and will continue throughout 2009. AT&T says it will take a charge of approximately $600 million in the fourth quarter to pay severance to affected employees. It also notes that some of its employees "have a guaranteed job offer under union contracts," but it didn't detail the implications of that contract provision. The nation's largest telco didn't say exactly from where the new cuts will come. As to why, it cited "economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure," adding "while AT&T is reducing jobs in some areas, it continues to add jobs in other parts of the business — such as wireless, video and broadband — to meet customer demand." In addition to cutting jobs, AT&T plans to reduce 2009 capital expenditures from 2008 levels.
http://benton.org/node/19555
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AT&T LAYOFFS: THE TIP OF A TELECOM DOWNTURN
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Olga Kharif]
A move by AT&T to eliminate 4% of its workforce may only be the beginning of a torrent of staff reductions and spending cutbacks in the $1 trillion telecom industry. As customers rein in spending on communications services, more staff reductions and capital spending cuts are probably on the way for telecommunications providers, moves that would probably hurt telecom equipment makers. "Telecom will be one of those sectors of the economy that gets hurt more than other parts [of technology]," says Susan Eustis, CEO of consultancy WinterGreen Research. As Americans lose jobs and struggle to make mortgage payments, more people are disconnecting their landlines, TV channels, and even Internet connections.
http://benton.org/node/19576
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'PAYOLA PUNDIT' PICKS FIGHT WITH ALLEGED BANDWIDTH HOG
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Consulting firm Precursor, which is run by analyst Scott Cleland and bankrolled by major telecom companies, released a study Thursday alleging that Google "is by far the largest user of Internet bandwidth," the company's share of bandwidth usage is rising rapidly, and it's bandwidth use "is orders of magnitude greater than its payment for its cost." Google's Washington telecom counsel Richard Whitt responded to the attack pointing out that Cleland is paid by AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner and his report is "the latest in what one blogger called his 'payola punditry.'" "In his zeal to score points in the net neutrality debate, he made significant methodological and factual errors that undermine his report's conclusions," Whitt said. He explained that there is a difference between a home broadband connection and the Internet as a whole and it's the consumers voluntarily choosing to use Google's applications who are actually using their own bandwidth -- not Google. To say that Google "uses" consumers' home broadband connections shows "a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Internet actually works," Whitt said. He added that Google already pays billions of dollars for the bandwidth and server capacity necessary to connect data centers and carry traffic to the Internet backbone.
http://benton.org/node/19577
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QUICKLY

WHAT A RECENT FIGHT TELLS US ABOUT ECONOMICS OF THE GLOBAL INTERNET
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Scott Woolley]
Approximately 45,000 autonomous networks make up the Internet and are free to directly connect to each other if both sides so choose. Those interconnections are done either for free or for a fixed payment from one network to the other. But why do some networks -- and not others -- pay? It seems different backbones are free to apply whatever standards they choose when picking peers. Notions of "fairness" matter little. Peering is based on power, not morality.
http://benton.org/node/19554
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MEDIA PREDICTIONS FOR 2009
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Jon Fine]
[Commentary] Ten predictions about media for 2009: 1) It gets much worse before it gets better. 2) Online advertising demonstrates it isn't immune to gravity. 3) Media ownership consolidates. 4) After pocketing billions from its cable spin-off, Time Warner announces one of two major deals: merging some assets with NBC Universal, or purchasing Scripps Networks Interactive, which owns HGTV and the Food Network. 5) Ad pullback whacks big broadcast TV networks. 6) News Corp makes a major acquisition. 7) The Audit Bureau of Circulations OKs a new way to count magazine circulation. 8) Radio rolls out a sort of hipster-lite format aimed at urban thirty- and forty-somethings consumed by jobs and parenting. [As if I could be targeted, ha!] 9) The NYTimes sells About.com 10) Laid-off media workers create a "shadow" media industry.
http://benton.org/node/19575
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WHY MY TEEN CAN'T HAVE A COMPUTER IN HIS ROOM
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Janine Wood]
[Commentary] The Internet landscape offers children some grim realities better left for later years. If he's in his room, I can't help him navigate that landscape. And in a world where it seems as if children are being forced to grow up faster and faster, what is wrong with helping to guide them along until they are out of the house?
http://benton.org/node/19574
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MAGO REPLACING MACBRIDE AT NAB
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Marsha MacBride, executive vice president of legal and regulatory affairs at the National Association of Broadcasters, is leaving the trade organization and is being replaced by her deputy, Jane Mago, NAB president David Rehr announced. Rehr didn't provide an reason for MacBride's departure.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6620039.html?nid=4262
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DVRs IN 44% OF TV HOMES BY 2014
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Jon Lafayette]
Magna, a leading ad buyer, predicts that digital video recorders will be in 52.3 million U.S. households -- or 44% of TV households -- by the end of 2014. Magna also expects that by 2014, 68.8 million households will get video-on-demand (up from 40.4 million in the third quarter of 2008) and 86.2 million homes with have broadband access (up from 68.3 million this year).
http://benton.org/node/19552
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