BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
This week’s events https://www.benton.org/calendar/2016-04-10--P1W
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Remarks of Chairman Wheeler at INCOMPAS Policy Summit - speech
Building a digital Lifeline for America's families - The Hill op-ed
GOP lawmakers try to limit FCC’s ability to help consumers - ars technica analysis [links to Benton summary]
National view: Minnesota will get it right on broadband - Jim Kohlenberger op-ed
Rural Utilities Service Accepting Applications for Broadband Program - public notice [links to Benton summary]
Santa Cruz (CA) Deploys Fiber-Like Wireless Gigabit Internet Through Public-Private Partnership [links to Benton summary]
What Chairman Wheeler thinks about the future of online video and the cycle of disruption [links to Benton summary]
Rep Loebsack (D-IA) Makes Correcting Broadband Access Gaps His Central Mission [links to Benton summary]
Is High-Speed Internet a Basic Right? Canada Is Debating That Now [links to Benton summary]
Google Fiber’s dropping its free Internet plan in Kansas City for this [links to Washington Post]
FCC Authorizes Frontier to Receive Phase II Support in California and Texas [links to Federal Communications Commission]
LABOR
Unions Threaten Verizon With Strike
With Strike Impending, Verizon Buildout Commitments Will Be a Key Focus
TELEVISION
GAO: FCC Should Take Action to Ensure Television Stations Publicly File Advertising Agreements - GAO report
FCC Pledges to Better Track JSA Reporting Compliance [links to Benton summary]
Future of TV Coalition Pitches Present of Navigation Device Competition [links to Benton summary]
A New Threat to Diversity on TV - Multichannel News op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Op-Ed: 6 Trends Driving the Future of TV [links to Multichannel News]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
America’s Wireless Industry Generated Almost $195 Billion of Domestic Economic Value and More Than $282 Billion in US GDP in 2014 - CTIA report
Santa Cruz (CA) Deploys Fiber-Like Wireless Gigabit Internet Through Public-Private Partnership [links to Benton summary]
First came the Breathalyzer, now meet the roadside police “textalyzer” [links to Ars Technica]
Reps McKinley and Thompson tell FCC to 'proceed with caution' before approving TLPS for Globalstar [links to Benton summary]
AT&T, EchoStar agree on potential framework for sharing 28 GHz band [links to Benton summary]
Amtrak on track with its own LTE-A network and Wi-Fi overhaul [links to Benton summary]
TELECOM
Sprint says ILEC control over special access cost US economy $150 billion over five years [links to Benton summary]
CONTENT
Mississippi notches initial win in fight with Google
Op-Ed: The Live Video Obsession [links to Revere Digital]
How Facebook is slowly eating the rest of the Internet [links to Washington Post]
Rep. Katherine Clark's crusade against online harassment [links to Christian Science Monitor]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte makes change to e-mail privacy bill [links to Benton summary]
A Phishy Plan to Protect Privacy: The FCC regulates private data use—except by Google or Amazon. - WSJ editorial [links to Benton summary]
Internet Association hits draft encryption bill [links to Benton summary]
DOD Tech Chief Talks Data Centers, Modernization, and Cyber Workforce [links to nextgov]
Universities aren’t doing enough to train the cyberdefenders America desperately needs [links to Benton summary]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
President Obama ‘neither sought nor received’ briefing on Clinton e-mail probe [links to Hill, The]
Past cases suggest Hillary won’t be indicted [links to Politico]
Barack Obama schools Hillary Clinton on how to talk about her email problem [links to Washington Post]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Inside Bernie Sanders's Social Media Machine [links to Benton summary]
President Obama told Fox News that Republicans have their ‘own TV network' [links to Benton summary]
A Complicit Media - Huffington Post op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Barrage of Attack Ads Threatens to Undermine Donald Trump [links to New York Times]
Donald Trump and New York Tabloids Resume Their Elaborate Dance [links to New York Times]
COMMUNITY MEDIA
How a unique community radio station serves listeners in Appalachia [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
OWNERSHIP
Charter CEO Tom Rutledge Meets With FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
DIVERSITY
Facebook donates $250K toward minority tech scholarships [links to USAToday]
A New Threat to Diversity on TV - Multichannel News op-ed [links to Benton summary]
HEALTH
Information Overload Is ‘Cognitive Diabetes,’ Says Slack CEO [links to Bloomberg]
Patients increasingly rely on mobile health apps, but their reliability is an issue [links to Los Angeles Times]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Is High-Speed Internet a Basic Right? Canada Is Debating That Now [links to Benton summary]
UK competition watchdog hits out at Three-O2 deal [links to Financial Times]
European Commission’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager Wants to Block O2-Three Deal [links to Wall Street Journal]
More than 50 health, religious and labor groups urge Congress to reject TPP trade deal [links to Washington Post]
Comedian’s Takedown of Turkish President Tests Free Speech in Germany [links to New York Times]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
REMARKS OF CHAIRMAN WHEELER AT INCOMPAS POLICY SUMMIT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
Today, I want to visit with you about three things in particular: competition for Business Data Services, competition in the video marketplace, and the competition for new services and innovation that flows from an Open Internet.
Business Data Services: Let me conclude this topic by emphasizing...the need to start a dialogue now and reach a decision quickly. Our principles may be firm, but our policy proposals are not set in stone. We are asking a lot of questions in our proposal. We want to listen, and learn, and, ultimately, act. With an open, collaborative process, we can and will bring this home. We need your help. You have already done much to find common ground. But there is more to do and I am counting on you to double-down your efforts. We can get this done and I am determined to do so.
Competition in the the video marketplace: [Video watching is in a golden age of competition, but] It can be artificially blunted by incumbent pay-TV providers, who can play both ends against the consumer in the middle – by supplying broadband connectivity to online video providers while at the same time competing with these emerging video providers for viewers. Clearly, it’s in the public interest to introduce competition in the set-top box marketplace. But it’s beyond that, it’s the black letter of the law. Thank you to INCOMPAS for your advocacy on this issue.
Net neutrality: For too long we’ve played a regulatory lawyer’s game dancing back and forth among legacy regulatory categories. That’s the wrong question. The right question is posed from the perspective of the consumer: Is his or her choice being unfairly constrained? If it is, then that consumer would see higher prices, lower quality and less innovation. If it is not, then incumbents and challengers alike will have to compete on the consumer-benefitting merits – with new features, new packages and with access to new programming.
benton.org/headlines/remarks-chairman-wheeler-incompas-policy-summit | Federal Communications Commission | Broadcasting & Cable | Broadcasting & Cable
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BUILDING A DIGITAL LIFELINE FOR AMERICA'S FAMILIES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sarah Morris, Vikki Katz]
[Commentary] In March, the Federal Communications Commission voted to modernize the Lifeline program in the most wide-ranging national effort ever enacted to remove cost barriers to broadband. By doing so, the FCC formally recognized that in the digital age, broadband access is a fundamental tool, rather than a luxury. While significant, the FCC decision is only one step toward achieving robust broadband adoption for millions of low-income American families. Equitable access to quality Internet is becoming more and more fundamental to reducing social inequality in the US. However, the most recent data available clearly show that connectivity is still anything but equal. More must be done to address other barriers to digital equity. The next phase of digital equity work will involve prioritizing low-income families' educational and workforce development needs. The challenges to doing so will require innovative partnerships and new commitments aligning government, industry, education and community leaders and members. The FCC's bold moves last week make it clear: The next phase of work must start immediately.
[Sarah Morris is senior counsel and director of open Internet policy for New America's Open Technology Institute. Dr Vikki Katz is an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information and a senior research scientist at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.]
benton.org/headlines/building-digital-lifeline-americas-families | Hill, The
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MINNESOTA WILL GET IT RIGHT ON BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Duluth News Tribune, AUTHOR: Jim Kohlenberger]
[Commentary] With all of Minnesota’s 201 legislators up for re-election November 2016, the debate is intensifying over how to best promote economic growth and expanded opportunity across the state, particularly in Minnesota’s rural communities. A cornerstone of this debate is the important role broadband plays in fueling future economic growth and connecting Minnesotans to vital opportunities in health care, education and the global economy. I’m glad to see Minnesota doesn’t want to be left behind and is considering legislation to codify current policy to avoid a patchwork of potentially duplicative and conflicting rules for VoIP services. But economic growth and opportunity do not come from wired broadband alone. I am proud to have helped craft President Barack Obama’s wireless strategy, and in his 2011 State of the Union he set a goal of extending next generation wireless LTE to 98 percent of the country within five years. Amazingly, as a nation, we blew past that goal a year ahead of schedule. It took massive investments, a vibrant and competitive marketplace, access to increasingly scarce spectrum and pragmatic policies to create the right regulatory incentives. So as this smart revolution moves from the palm of our hands to smart cars, smart homes and a smarter connected world all around us, we need smart policies to go with it — at the state and national levels. This is an exciting time to be talking about our broadband future. I know Minnesota’s going to get it right, and I look forward to seeing a bright mobile future play out here in “the star of the north.”
[Jim Kohlenberger is a former White House policy adviser to two US presidents and is president of JK Strategies, a public policy consulting practice. He currently serves on the advisory board for Mobile Future. Kohlenberger also serves on the Benton Foundation Board of Directors.]
benton.org/headlines/national-view-minnesota-will-get-it-right-broadband | Duluth News Tribune
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LABOR
UNIONS THREATEN VERIZON WITH STRIKE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Two unions representing Verizon Communications workers along the East Coast have set an April 13 deadline to strike against the company. Among the 39,000 Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-represented employees from Massachusetts to Virginia affected would be workers on the telecommunication company’s Fios TV video service, as well as telephone and broadband services. “Even though Verizon made $39 billion in profits over the last three years — and $1.8 billion a month in profits over the first three months of 2016 — the company wants to gut job security protections, contract out more work, offshore jobs to Mexico, the Philippines and other locations and require technicians to work away from home for as long as two months without seeing their families,” the unions said in announcing the deadline. “Verizon is also refusing to negotiate any improvements in wages, benefits or working conditions for Verizon Wireless retail workers, who formed a union in 2014.” The unions’ contracts expired in August 2015, and they said it is now time to take a stand after offering “hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings” and still not getting the basic job security they are seeking.
benton.org/headlines/unions-threaten-verizon-strike | Multichannel News
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WITH STRIKE IMPENDING, VERIZON BUILDOUT COMMITMENTS WILL BE A KEY FOCUS
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Verizon buildout commitments will be one of several key focus areas as the company’s union members get set to strike beginning April 13. Although Verizon has been negotiating with unions representing between 36,000 and 39,000 workers in the eastern US for months, the parties have been unable to reach an agreement on a new labor contract. And according to union representatives, Verizon’s reluctance to deploy high-speed broadband FiOS service more broadly is a key point of contention. “Consumers and communities are being ignored,” said Dennis Trainor, vice president for the Communications Workers of America (CWA) — one of two unions that plan to strike against Verizon. “Millions of customers are stuck with crumbling copper networks.” According to union officials, Verizon committed to deploying high-speed broadband in several states in exchange for deregulation but has not met those commitments. If the company were to deploy FiOS more broadly, that could mean greater job security for Verizon union technicians. The impending strike is unlikely to be averted unless Verizon “reconsiders its shameful demands,” said Chris Shelton, president of the CWA. The other union poised to strike against Verizon is the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents approximately 10,000 Verizon workers.
benton.org/headlines/strike-impending-verizon-buildout-commitments-will-be-key-focus | telecompetitor
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TELEVISION
GAO: FCC SHOULD TAKE ACTION TO ENSURE TELEVISION STATIONS PUBLICLY FILE ADVERTISING AGREEMENTS
[SOURCE:US Government Accountability Office, AUTHOR: Mark Goldstein]
Television stations, which provide free, over-the-air programming, and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), which provide subscription television services, compete with other local media for advertising revenue. Federal Communications Commission rules limit the number of local stations an entity can own in one market to promote competition and other public interests. Some station owners created joint sales agreements to potentially cut costs. In 2014, finding that such agreements confer influence akin to ownership, FCC adopted rules that require that where such agreements encompass more than 15 percent of the weekly advertising time of another station, they will count toward FCC's ownership limits. MVPDs also have arrangements (“interconnects”) for jointly selling advertising in a local market. GAO was asked to examine the role of advertising agreements in local media markets. This report examines (1) the prevalence and characteristics of such agreements, and (2) stakeholders' perspectives on these agreements. GAO examined publicly available joint sales agreements and interviewed FCC officials and media, public interest, academic, and financial stakeholders about their views. Stakeholders were selected to represent a range of companies and from those who submitted comments on FCC's rules, among other reasons. GAO Recommends the FCC should review joint sales agreements filed in stations' public files to identify missing agreements and take action to ensure the files are complete. FCC said it would take action to ensure compliance with its public file requirement.
benton.org/headlines/gao-fcc-should-take-action-ensure-television-stations-publicly-file-advertising-agreements | US Government Accountability Office | Broadcasting&Cable
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
CTIA WIRELESS REPORT
[SOURCE: CTIA, AUTHOR: Roger Entner]
CTIA - The Wireless Association released a report it commissioned by Recon Analytics that found the US wireless industry serves as an integral driver of America’s economy by annually generating more than $194.8 billion of domestic economic value and more than $282.1 billion in US GDP. “The Wireless Industry: Revisiting Spectrum, The Essential Engine of US Economic Growth” report looks at how the industry grew between 2011 and 2014, and how licensed spectrum is the foundation to leading the world with the best products and services. Among the findings:
Jobs -- More than 4.6 million Americans are directly or indirectly employed by the wireless industry. Direct jobs increased 64 percent from 2011 to more than 642,000 across America. The “app economy,” which was emerging ten years ago, grew from $10 billion in 2011 to become a $36 billion juggernaut in 2014.
Global impact -- America’s wireless industry has a significant global economic impact, reaching almost $333 billion, which is up 71 percent from 2011.
Consumer surplus -- Annual US wireless consumer surplus – the extent of how users value wireless services in excess of what they currently pay – using voice minutes, SMS and broadband is $640.9 billion.
The report also includes the previously released findings that for every 10 MHz of spectrum made available, the US economy grows by $3.1 billion and over 100,000 new jobs are supported. There are also more than $1.6 billion in additional annual economic benefits from mobile apps and content that rely on mobile broadband services.
benton.org/headlines/americas-wireless-industry-generated-almost-195-billion-domestic-economic-value-and-more | CTIA | Read the report
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CONTENT
MISSISSIPPI NOTCHES INITIAL WIN IN FIGHT WITH GOOGLE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
An appeals court has ruled that the Mississippi attorney general can continue with his investigation of Google’s policies to police elicit or infringing content. A three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on April 8 overruled a lower court judge who had blocked the state from requiring Google to turn over documents or from bringing charges against the tech company on the issue. The decision is an initial win for Mississippi Attorney General James Hood (R). But the court noted the decision is based on timing and not the merits of the case. If Hood ever follows through by bringing charges against Google or enforcing a subpoena for documents, both sides could find themselves back in the same place. “This injunction covers a fuzzily defined range of enforcement actions that do not appear imminent,” the court wrote in its 23-page opinion. “We cannot on the present record predict what conduct Hood might one day try to prosecute under Mississippi law.” The decision stems from a long-running dispute between the Mississippi attorney general and Google. For years, Hood has been pressing Google to bolster its policies on how it removes illegal content — including copyright-protected works, cyber leaks and prescription drug sales. In 2014, he issued a subpoena requesting mountains of Google documents related to the company’s policies to police that content. Google says federal law grants it immunity from third-party content on its site as long as it removes illegal content when asked. It claims that Hood’s inquiry is a fishing expedition that is being pushed by the movie industry to try and establish online piracy policies that Congress previously rejected after a massive backlash from the public.
benton.org/headlines/mississippi-notches-initial-win-fight-google | Hill, The
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