Nov 17, 2009
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2009
A number of events today including a Hearing on the Universal Service Reform Act Of 2009 http://bit.ly/2ilLl5
THE STIMULUS AND THE NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
Concerns With Broadband Grant Program
After Headache and Heartburn, a Gentler Broadband Stimulus Program
Free Press Supports Berkman Center Broadband Study
Berkman Study Flawed, USTelecom argues
AT&T Gives Five Thumbs Down on Berkman Report
COMPTEL Supports Berkman Study
NATOA Backs Berkman's Conclusion on Open Access
Berkman Report "an advocacy piece" argue NCTA and Verizon
Berkman Report Criticized by New Zealand Academic
Free State: Berkman Study Flawed
U.S. Broadband Coalition Working Group Urges Federal Involvement to Stimulate Adoption
CTIA: Public's Interest Is In Getting Back Broadcast Channels
AT&T: Mobile broadband has potential to fundamentally restructure Americans' lives and work
Broadcasting Service Coalition to FCC: Hands Off Our Spectrum
Public Broadcasters Want To Hold On To Spectrum
State Broadcasters Want FCC To Reject Reallocation of Spectrum
Univision Vs. Spectrum Grab
University of Texas Working on Broadband Clearinghouse
SF Supports Broadband Clearinghouse with Web 2.0 Interactivity
NATOA Supports San Francisco model for Broadband Clearinghouse
Joint Center Supports Clearinghouse, Cautions Against Locking Some Out
MORE ON BROADBAND ...
When do network neutrality "anecdotes" become "data"?
UTOPIA Trailblazing New Opportunity For User-Owned Fiber
Measuring the broadband community return on investment
South Africa's Infrastructure Lesson
CONTENT
The Price of Free
Comcast's online video bet clearer, benefits for users unclear
About Half in U.S. Would Pay for Online News, Study Finds
Report Blasts Firms' Online Marketing Tactics
LABOR
Employment in the ICT sector continues dropping
MORE ONLINE ...
Copps Taps Journalist for Media Advisor
States boost access to online education
The Healthy Kids Act: Smackdown On Kids' TV Ads
A Work-Study Program for U.S. Tech Students
University-Based Reporting Could Keep Journalism Alive
Gov 2.0: Transparency without accessibility?
Teens still texting while driving, despite public education efforts
Poll: Concerns About U.S. Tech Leadership
Artists Urge Support For Copyright Policies
Fort Hood Fallout Leads the News Again
Census Turns to Kids for Help
Online Maps: Everyman Offers New Directions
Corporation for Public Broadcasting President Pushes Need For Quality Journalism, New Business Models
THE STIMULUS AND THE NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
CONCERNS WITH BROADBAND GRANT PROGRAM
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
The broadband stimulus programs, run by the Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service and Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, are flawed, say critics. Problems are considered most acute at the RUS. The RUS, which for the past nine years has overseen an annual portfolio of broadband loans averaging nearly $7 million, is now doling out broadband grants and loans totaling $2.5 billion, raising questions about whether it is overwhelmed. Among the harshest critics are Democrats, including Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, who are angry the Agriculture agency specified that only "remote" areas -- defined as beyond 50 miles from a city or town with a population of at least 20,000 -- are eligible for its most generous grants. While West Virginia, represented by Rockefeller, is mostly rural, with one-fifth of residents lacking broadband access, only a few small stretches qualify as remote under the definition. Ironically, the RUS has faced considerable criticism in the past for steering too many loans to nonrural areas.
benton.org/node/29763 | CongressDaily
Recommend this Headline
back to top
A KINDER, GENTLER BROADBAND STIMULUS PROGRAM
[SOURCE: 4GWirelessEvolution, AUTHOR: Craig Settles]
[Commentary] Many of you involved in the broadband stimulus process, and those sitting on the sidelines, have had moments where it seemed dealing with the rules of the game was like suffering the death of a thousand cuts. Today opens a 15-day window of opportunity for you to influence a kinder, gentler set of broadband stimulus rules. Last week, the National Telecommunications Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Services announced that there is only to be one more round of broadband funding. This probably doesn't surprise people since it's been hinted at a bunch over the past month that the agencies were considering consolidating the final two funding rounds. When you look at the degree of headache and heartburn both agencies have endured since February, this move should be no surprise. The level at which the first round was over-subscribed, with applicants collectively asking for seven times the $4 billion of funds available, assures us that there won't be a lack of people queuing up for the remaining $3 billion. The unrelenting pressure to get more stimulus money on the street faster was likely becoming unbearable and so another factor in the decision. NTIA/RUS also let it be known that the joint RFI to gather comments on changing/improving the broadband stimulus rules. As you may remember from one of my previous columns, others and myself have been clamoring for some changes. It's time for us step up since the RFI is officially open for business starting today once it is published in the Federal Register.
benton.org/node/29762 | 4GWirelessEvolution
Recommend this Headline
back to top
US BROADBAND COALITION AND BROADBAND ADOPTION
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Eli Evans]
A working group of the U.S. Broadband Coalition on Friday released a report in which the group called for the federal government to "play an active role in stimulating adoption and use of advanced broadband connections." The group, one of six committees of the U.S. Broadband Coalition which had gathered more than 160 organizations to push for a national broadband strategy presented its finding at the Federal Communications Commission, after introductory remarks by Blair Levin, director of the FCC's national broadband plan. The coalition's leadership spoke very positively about the prospects of inter-industry cooperation and identifying points for possible improvement. But the group generally avoided specifics about what should be done to fix these problems. The FCC's Levin pointed out, "Our work is about gathering data...we're not talking about solution sets right now, we're putting that off until December."
benton.org/node/29774 | BroadbandCensus.com
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MORE ON BROADBAND ...
WHEN DO NET NEUTRALITY ANECDOTES BECOME DATA?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Critics argue that US incidents where Internet service providers engaged in questionable network behavior have been so few that setting up tougher standards amounts to "regulation by anecdote." So which alleged "anecdotes" are we talking about here? Two stand out in the United States. The first would (famously) be Federal Communications Commission sanctions in August of 2008 against Comcast for slowing down BitTorrent file sharing. The second was the 2005 Madison River Communications case, in which the North Carolina phone company/ISP was accused of blocking Vonnage VoIP traffic, and eventually settled with the FCC over the matter. The question is whether these incidents are sufficient to merit further action. It's a tough problem, for which ars technica has summoned some unconventional help.
benton.org/node/29789 | Ars Technica
Recommend this Headline
back to top
UTOPIA AND USER-OWNED FIBER
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
In Brigham City (Utah) you can buy your own fiber. And in fact more than 1,600 local residents have already bought in to this new opportunity. With that fiber they'll get access to UTOPIA's competitive and growing ecosystem of service providers, where they get to choose what services from what providers they want running on their pipe. While this may sound radically different from how fiber has been traditionally deployed in the US to date, user-owned open fiber networks have already been a big success in Sweden, helping them wire remote mountainous communities with world-class broadband infrastructure.
benton.org/node/29761 | App-Rising.com
Recommend this Headline
back to top
COMMUNITY ROI
[SOURCE: Strategic Networks Group, AUTHOR: Gary Dunmore]
The economic effects of broadband are much more far-reaching, although not as obvious as the typically narrow "direct impacts" (technology sectors, e.g. "IT jobs") and e-commerce activities related to B2C and B2B transactions. To understand the full impact of investing in broadband infrastructure and broadband adoption initiatives one needs to look deeper. Business users understand quickly the broadband-enabled benefit of doing the same things faster: whatever the organization was doing before (online research, Internet communications or online document transfers) can be done more efficiently and reliably. However, the most significant benefits are generated from opportunities whereby businesses and organizations transform their business operations by using broadband-enabled applications to be creative and do things in new ways that were previously not possible, such as adopting new business models, or reaching-out to new markets. Where investments in broadband are made with the goal of stimulating economic activity it is both essential and possible to measure the outcomes from those investments. It is equally essential to invest not only in broadband infrastructure, but also in providing a support and learning infrastructure to assist organizations in effectively adopting and utilizing e-solutions. This creates the direct impacts for their business and the spin-off effects for their communities. It is only through broad and effective utilization of broadband that economic benefits can be realized.
benton.org/node/29760 | Strategic Networks Group
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SOUTH AFRICA'S INFRASTRUCTURE LESSON
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Dan Lohrmann]
[Commentary] Beginning in June 2010, South Africa will host the World Cup, and the country's preparation and infrastructure transformation tell a remarkable story. Five new stadiums were built and five others are undergoing major renovations. This started with a $56 billion allocation in 2007 for infrastructure improvements for roads, airports, railway, city cleanup, hotels, telecommunications and much more. What does any of this have to do with technology? Quite a bit. Similar to the United States, expanding high-speed Internet access to rural and underserved areas is a major initiative in South Africa. New fiber and wireless capacity is being deployed across the country. Communications support to the World Cup stadiums will include a network backbone to support at least 40 Gbps to provide voice, data and high-definition TV. New high-capacity bandwidth connecting Africa to the world also is being added via undersea projects, such as SEACOM, which will provide African retail carriers with equal and open access to inexpensive bandwidth.
benton.org/node/29759 | Government Technology
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CONTENT
THE PRICE OF FREE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nicholas Carr]
[Commentary] With broadband becoming the norm and connection speeds continuing to quicken, what has happened to music companies and newspapers is beginning to happen to broadcast networks and cable companies. People are using the Net to bypass the customary providers of television programming, along with the ads they show and the fees they collect. Blu-ray players are just the tip of the iceberg that the TV business is about to hit. Today you can watch snippets of shows on YouTube or entire episodes on sites like Hulu or Yahoo TV. You can view news reports at CNN.com, sports events at ESPN360.com and documentaries at PBS.org. You can download shows, sometimes without charge, from Apple's iTunes store and watch them on your iPod, iPhone or PC. Or you can stream them through your Xbox or Wii. Television is escaping the TV set and the cable box. We no longer watch the tube. We watch, to borrow ex-Senator Ted Stevens's memorable conceit, a series of tubes. As the technology of television changes, so, too, does the experience of watching it. In the past, TVs often served as the focal points of communal gatherings. Families or groups of friends would collect around the set to watch the prime-time shows or the weekend games. They would laugh at the sitcom slapstick, cheer for their local teams, chat through commercials and, during the duller stretches, keep one another from nodding off. TV may have been a vast wasteland, as Newton Minow, the F.C.C. chairman in the Kennedy administration, said in a speech in 1961, but at least it was a wasteland we shared. The communal mode of TV viewing isn't gone, but it's becoming less common. As screens proliferate and shrink, and as the Web allows us to view whatever we want whenever we want, we spend more time watching video alone. That's one funny thing about the Internet: it's an extraordinarily rich communications system, but as an information and entertainment medium, it encourages private consumption. The pictures and sounds served up through our PCs, iPods and smart phones absorb us deeply but in isolation. Even when we're together today, we're often apart, peering into our own screens.
benton.org/node/29758 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
COMCAST'S ONLINE VIDEO BET
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Here's what we now know about Comcast's bet on the future: Its online video program On Demand Online (also known as TV Everywhere) has been tested in 5,000 homes and will launch for real in December. It will offer free online videos to existing cable subscribers. And through an authentication process, subscribers will be able to access online videos through multiple devices even outside their homes. So if you want to watch Mad Men, you will get access to episodes on your laptop as well as through your cable box. These details were revealed by Comcast's Amy Banse, head of interactive media, during GigaOm's NewTeeVee conference yesterday in San Francisco. "Online consumption will grow there is no question of that," said Banse. "What we see as our long-term vision, our goal, is to offer content no matter where it sits for our customer," Banse said. Here's what else we may find out soon about Comcast's bet on the future: Comcast could be the owner of one of the biggest content companies around. It is reportedly getting closer to a deal to buy NBC Universal, which owns broadcast programming, stations and a movie business. These are the data points that are quickly creating a clearer sketch of Comcast's plans to grow beyond their cable pipe roots into an entertainment giant that would have stronger control over a large portion of all online content (some analysts say 20 percent) and how consumers access it. It would bring more advertising revenue to Comcast's bottom line and could allow for things like same day releases of Universal movies to Comcast cable subscribers.
benton.org/node/29757 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top
ABOUT HALF IN US WOULD PAY FOR ONLINE NEWS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Perez-Pena]
Americans, it turns out, are less willing than people in many other Western countries to pay for their online news, according to a new study by the Boston Consulting Group. Among regular Internet users in the United States, 48 percent said in the survey, conducted in October, that they would pay to read news online, including on mobile devices. That result tied with Britain for the lowest figure among nine countries where Boston Consulting commissioned surveys. In several Western European countries, more than 60 percent said they would pay. When asked how much they would pay, Americans averaged just $3 a month, tied with Australia for the lowest figure — and less than half the $7 average for Italians. The other countries included in the study were Germany, France, Spain, Norway and Finland.
benton.org/node/29756 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
REPORT BLASTS FIRMS' ONLINE MARKETING TACTICS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
A Senate Commerce Committee report released Monday on the eve of a Senate hearing on aggressive online marketing tactics claimed three firms knowingly charged millions of consumers for services they did not use or did not realize they had signed up for. The report is the result of a probe into the marketing tactics of three firms: Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty. The probe was launched after thousands of consumers complained to state attorneys general, the Better Business Bureau and consumer advocates about an enrollment process viewed as "misleading and deceptive," the committee said.
benton.org/node/29787 | CongressDaily | Senate Commerce Committee staff
Recommend this Headline
back to top
LABOR
ICT SECTOR EMPLOYMENT SLIPPING
[SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, AUTHOR: ]
Employment is continuing to drop in the information and communications technology (ICT) goods sector and remaining flat in most ICT services, according to a new OECD report. Employment in ICT manufacturing dropped by around 6-7% year-on-year in most countries in the second quarter of 2009. Sweden is the only exception with a smaller decline (3%), but Swedish job losses were accelerating. The United States has fared worst and the year-on-year downturn in ICT manufacturing employment reached 10% in September 2009. Since 2004 Chinese employment in the ICT manufacturing sector has been growing strongly, dropping dramatically in the beginning of 2009, with a negative growth rate of 5% in the second quarter compared to second quarter 2008.
benton.org/node/29785 | Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development | OECD report
Recommend this Headline
back to top