April 5, 2010 (NSA Wiretaps Illegal)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2010 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AARON)

For new Headlines throughout the day, tune into http://bit.ly/2C0hLW

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Federal Judge Finds NSA Wiretaps Were Illegal
   Court Ruling on Wiretap Is a Challenge for Obama
   We Can't Tell You
   Senators ramp up cyberwar rhetoric

AGENDA
   Six Items on FCC's April Agenda to Implement National Broadband Plan
   FCC Schedules Workshop on Public and Other Noncommercial Media in the Digital Era

GRANTS
   Guam and Northern Mariana Islands Share BTOP Grant
   RUS Closes First Round of Broadband Stimulus Grants
   HHS Grants for Health IT Training and Research

TELECOM
   Universal Service Fund: now with less incompetence!
   How Google wants to change telecom

ED TECH
   New test measures students' digital literacy

CONTENT
   Apple's iPad: The End Of The Internet As We Know It?
   High-tech media, old-style issues
   Hot news: The next bad thing
   NBC: Americans had 'record' access to Olympics coverage
   NBC Blocks Free TV Episodes on iPad
   FCC's rules on product placement disclosure, in case you're wondering
   AT&T May Find Apple's IPad Adds to Strain on Wireless Network

OWNERSHIP
   Silicon Valley Gears Up for Acquisitions as Economy Improves
   AT&T's forgotten plot to hijack the US airwaves

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   UK Regulator Calls for Cut in Mobile-Phone Charge
   Smart meters to be rolled out to 2m homes
   Carlyle Plan to Sell Taiwan's Kbro Stake Said to Have Stalled
   Hope that local newspapers can turn the page
   European Phone Operators Keep to the Side as Bidding for Licenses Begins

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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL JUDGE FINDS NSA WIRETAPS WERE ILLEGAL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage, James Risen]
A federal judge ruled March 31 that the National Security Agency's program of surveillance without warrants was illegal, rejecting the Obama administration's effort to keep shrouded in secrecy one of the most disputed counterterrorism policies of former President George W. Bush. Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that the government had violated a 1978 federal statute requiring court approval for domestic surveillance when it intercepted phone calls of Al Haramain, a now-defunct Islamic charity in Oregon, and of two lawyers representing it in 2004. Declaring that the plaintiffs had been "subjected to unlawful surveillance," the judge said the government was liable to pay them damages. The ruling delivered a blow to the Bush administration's claims that its surveillance program, which Mr. Bush secretly authorized shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was lawful. Under the program, the National Security Agency monitored Americans' international e-mail messages and phone calls without court approval, even though the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, required warrants. The Justice Department said it was reviewing the decision and had made no decision about whether to appeal.
benton.org/node/33829 | New York Times
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WIRETAP RULING CHALLENGES OBAMA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage, James Risen]
As a presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) declared that it was "unconstitutional and illegal" for the Bush administration to conduct warrantless surveillance of Americans. Many of his supporters said likewise. But since President Obama won the election, administration officials have avoided repeating that position. They have sidestepped questions about the legality of the program in Congressional testimony. And in lawsuits over the program, they followed a strategy intended to avoid ever answering the question by asking courts to dismiss the lawsuits because the litigation could reveal national security secrets. But the ruling on March 31 by a federal judge that one instance of such spying had been "unlawful electronic surveillance" may force onto the table a discussion of how aggressively the Obama administration should continue to defend from judicial review the contentious Bush-era counterterrorism policy. David Golove, a New York University law professor who specializes in executive power issues, said the ruling had highlighted the "awkwardness" of the Obama administration's ambivalent stance toward its predecessor's surveillance program. "They have a lot of discomfort with the legal arguments the Bush administration made, but they've tried to avoid having to acknowledge too publicly those differences or to air them in court," he said.
benton.org/node/33828 | New York Times
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WE CAN'T TELL YOU
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] For more than 20 years, it was settled law, born of bitter experience, that the government may not eavesdrop on people in the United States without a warrant. Until, that is, after the 9/11 attacks, when President George W. Bush ordered the National Security Agency to ignore the law. When The Times disclosed the spying in late 2005, Mr. Bush argued that the attacks changed everything: Due process and privacy were luxuries the country could no longer afford. Far too many members of Congress bought this argument. Others, afraid of being painted as soft on terror, refused to push back. In 2008, at the White House's insistence, they expanded the government's ability to eavesdrop without warrants. Even that was not enough for the Bush administration, which insisted that targets of the earlier, illegal spying could not sue the government because what happened was "too secret" even to be discussed in court. The Obama administration has embraced the secrecy argument and has used it to block several cases. Fortunately, it has not completely succeeded. Senator Obama promised repeatedly in the 2008 campaign to reverse Mr. Bush's many abuses of power. This was one of them. President Obama should read this court ruling with chagrin and eliminate warrantless spying. It is also far past time to stop hiding behind spurious, often ludicrous, claims of national security.
benton.org/node/33827 | New York Times
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SENATORS RAMP UP CYBERWAR RHETORIC
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Jaikumar Vijayan]
Warnings about cyberwar, especially in the wake of the China-based attacks against Google and more than 30 other high-tech companies, is unnecessary overhyping of what's going, some experts say. One of them is noted security researcher Marcus Ranum, chief security officer at Tenable Network Security Inc. In an opinion piece in U.S. News and World Report earlier this week, Ranum warned that the cyberwar rhetoric is scarier than actual war. "Suddenly, the steady drumbeat of computer/network security has been pushed to center stage, and now our government is talking about 'cyberwar' and pointing a finger at China," Ranum wrote. "Unless you've been asleep for a decade, you ought to be worried when our government starts using the rhetoric of warfare -- especially vocabulary like 'preemptive' and 'deterrence.'" Ranum said that concerns about catastrophic economic losses and social havoc stemming from a cyberwar are misplaced. "When some cyberwar pundit starts talking hellfire and damnation, you need to ask them whether their scenario is going to have the physical and psychological impact of a New Orleans flood or a 9/11," Ranum said in e-mailed comments to ComputerWorld. The types of disruptions that some people claim cyberwar will cause, such as large-scale power blackouts, are unlikely to result in the kind of mayhem that is being assumed, he said. Many "experience power failures sometimes lasting days -- because of winter weather -- and we don't dissolve into chaos," he said.
benton.org/node/33830 | ComputerWorld | WSJ Op-ed - Rockefeller and Snowe
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AGENDA

SIX ITEMS ON FCC'S APRIL AGENDA TO IMPLEMENT NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
Like you, we spent much of our Spring Break wondering what would be considered at the Federal Communications Commission's April 21 open meeting. Fret no more; the tentative agenda is:
USF Reform NPRM and NOI: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes common-sense reforms to the existing high-cost support mechanisms to identify funds that can be refocused toward broadband, and a Notice of Inquiry that seeks comment on the use of a model to determine efficient and targeted support levels for broadband deployment in high-cost areas.
Mobile Roaming Order and FNPRM: An Order implementing rules to ensure the availability of reasonable automatic roaming arrangements for voice service and a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on roaming arrangements for mobile broadband services.
Network Gateway NOI: A Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on best approaches to assure the commercial availability of smart video devices and other equipment used to access the services of multi-channel video programming distributors.
CableCARD NPRM: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes changes to the CableCARD rules for set-top boxes used with cable services, to improve the operation of that framework pending the development of a successor framework.
Survivability NOI: A Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on the present state of survivability in broadband networks and potential measures to reduce vulnerability to network failures.
Cybersecurity Certification NOI: A Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on whether the Commission should establish a voluntary program under which participating communications service providers would be certified by the FCC or a third party for adherence to cybersecurity objectives and/or practices.
benton.org/node/33826 | Federal Communications Commission | The Hill | USAToday
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FCC SCHEDULES PUBLIC MEDIA WORKSHOP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
As part of its project on the Future of Media and the Information Needs of Communities, the Federal Communications Commission will hold a workshop on April 30, 2010 on noncommercial media entitled "Public and Other Noncommercial Media in the Digital Era." The workshop will focus on:
The current structures and activities of public and other noncommercial media entities, as well as relevant government policies;
The ways in which public and other noncommercial media entities do and could contribute to the information needs of communities across multiple platforms, focusing in particular on journalism, cultural, and educational content;
The possibilities for greater collaboration among noncommercial media entities such as public broadcasters, PEG channels, noncommercial web-based outlets, and other new media entities;
The role of public and other noncommercial media in serving the information needs of the underserved, including language minorities, ethnic minorities, children, the disabled, and the economically disadvantaged;
The infrastructure needs and assets of public and other noncommercial media in delivering information to communities;
Innovative uses of social media, gaming, Internet applications, citizen journalism, mobile technologies, and other technological and organizational innovations; and
The possibilities for new kinds of noncommercial media networks and associated funding models.
benton.org/node/33825 | Federal Communications Commission
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GRANTS

BTOP GRANT FOR GUAM
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
On April 1, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investment to help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs, and improve education and healthcare in the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The $8 million grant will increase broadband access and adoption by upgrading the existing telecommunications network serving these remote and underserved areas. The project is expected to directly connect more than 400 community institutions to the broadband network, including community colleges, K-12 schools, libraries, healthcare facilities, and public-safety organizations. With this grant, Island Telephone and Engineering (IT&E) plans to bring the first high-capacity broadband services to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. In addition to upgrading existing network infrastructure, IT&E plans to replace the existing inter-island transmission system using fiber, 3G wireless, and WiMax technology. The speed of the planned network will enable government agencies, schools, and businesses in these remote island locations to benefit from videoconferencing and other advanced broadband capabilities.
benton.org/node/33824 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration | read about the project
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RUS BIP GRANTS
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Press release]
Last week, the Department of Agriculture announced the selection of the Reservation Telephone Cooperative infrastructure broadband project to give rural residents of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and the surrounding area access to improved economic and educational opportunities. The service area includes parts of Montana and North Dakota. The award provides a $10.95 million loan and a $10.95 million grant to the Reservation Telephone Cooperative to provide service in the remote and rural areas in and around the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The project will bring broadband service to homes, businesses, schools and libraries. In addition, service will be provided to tribal government facilities which provide tribal child support, education assistance, employment assistance, health care and public safety services on the reservation. The area has experienced poverty rates as high as 28 percent and a 40 percent unemployment rate.
The announcement concluded the Department of Agriculture's first round of broadband funding announcements through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). Applications filed under the second and final round are under review and will be announced before the end of the 2010 fiscal year. To date, $1.067 billion has been invested by USDA through the Recovery Act for 68 broadband projects. Together, the projects will make high speed Internet available to an estimated 529,000 households and 96,000 rural business and public facilities across 31 states, one territory and 17 tribal lands and predominantly Alaska Native regions.
benton.org/node/33823 | Department of Agriculture
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HHS GRANTS FOR HEALTH IT
[SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services, AUTHOR: Press release]
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has enlisted the talent and resources of some of the nation's leading universities, community colleges, and major research centers to advance the widespread adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (health IT). Awards totaling $84 million to 16 universities and junior colleges will support training and development of more than 50,000 new health IT professionals. Additionally Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) awards totaling $60 million were provided to four advanced research institutions ($15 million each) to focus on solving current and future challenges that represent barriers to adoption and meaningful use of health IT. Both sets of awards are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Today's awards are part of the $2 billion effort to achieve widespread meaningful use of health IT and provide for the use of an electronic health record (EHR) for each person in the United States by 2014.
benton.org/node/33822 | Department of Health and Human Services
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TELECOM

A NEW LOOK AT USF
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund is cleaning up its act. And not only that, it looks like we've been a tad unkind to the benighted program in the past. Turns out that what seemed like a pretty devastating audit of one of the USF's main programs was way off in its calculations. Here's the short version of that story. The USF, paid for by small tithes on your phone bill, runs four programs: a fund that subsidizes the phone bills of the poor; a program that subsidizes the computer/network needs of schools and libraries; another that underwrites broadband for rural health care facilities; and a division that offers financial support to rural carriers. That last program is called the "high cost" fund. It helps with the challenges that rural carriers face in trying to provide service to relatively few consumers in spread out areas. Unfortunately, past audits of the fund have concluded that its high cost title has a second, less desirable meaning -- a scarily huge error rate in payouts to carrier recipients: 16.6 percent, according to a review that the FCC's Inspector General released three years ago. A subsequent assessment warned that the program overpaid carriers by almost a billion dollars from July 2006 through June 2007. But the Universal Service Administrative Company's new Annual Report includes a re-check of those numbers that calls them way too high. Not 16.6 percent for that first assessment, USAC says, just 2.7 percent. "USAC anticipates similar results in the final reports on the second and third rounds of the FCC OIG USF audit program," the Annual Report also notes.
benton.org/node/33821 | Ars Technica
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HOW GOOGLE WANTS TO CHANGE TELECOM
[SOURCE: NetworkWorld, AUTHOR: Brad Reed]
Google says it doesn't want to be your Internet service provider; rather, it wants to make your ISP behave in a more Google-friendly manner. This is why, over the past several years, the Internet search giant has used its financial clout and the strength of its brand to make regular forays into the telecommunications industry. From lobbying for network neutrality legislation to developing its own mobile phone and operating system to creating an experimental high-speed broadband network, Google hasn't been shy about throwing its weight around on the carriers' turf. And what does Google want from all this? Essentially it wants to give carriers less control over what they can and cannot do with their networks. This article takes a look at Google's major telecom initiatives -- Network Neutrality, Android and the Google nexus One, experimental broadband network(s) -- while breaking down their overarching goals and the level of success they have achieved.
benton.org/node/33820 | NetworkWorld
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ED TECH

NEW TEST MEASURES DIGITAL LITERACY
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Maya Prabhu]
Employers are looking for candidates who can navigate, critically evaluate, and make sense of the wealth of information available through digital media—and now educators have a new way to determine a student's baseline digital literacy with a certification exam that measures the test-taker's ability to assess information, think critically, and perform a range of real-world tasks. The test, iCritical Thinking Certification, created by the Educational Testing Service and Certiport, reveals whether or not a person is able to combine technical skills with experiences and knowledge. Today's students need to be able to think critically and effectively solve problems while using technology, Certiport explains -- going beyond simply searching for information. They also must evaluate the legitimacy of the information, put it in context, and then apply problem-solving and decision-making skills.
benton.org/node/33819 | eSchool News
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CONTENT

APPLE'S IPAD: THE END OF THE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT?
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Laura Sydell]
Although Apple is marketing the iPad as a replacement for a netbook or a laptop, GigaOM's Paul Sweeting says Apple's control over the iPad makes it very different, because on most computers, you can choose any software or application you like. "This is not an open platform where you can create a lot of content, or other people can create a lot of applications and content that you can then access and use and incorporate into what you're doing," he says. Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor at Harvard, says Apple even rejected an application that took a position that was critical of the former Bush administration. The app was called Freedom Time, and Zittrain says "it actually simply counted down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until President Bush would be out of office, regardless of who his successor would be." Zittrain and Sweeting worry that if the iPad becomes popular, both entertainment and computing companies will imitate its closed system.
benton.org/node/33837 | National Public Radio
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HIGH-TECH MEDIA, OLD-STYLE ISSUES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Victor Navasky, Evan Lerner]
[Commentary] Magazines, like the rest of the media, are thought to be in trouble. This is especially bad news for the conversation on which democracy depends. For magazines are the place where news is put in perspective, analyzed, considered in context and in depth. But we write at a moment of technological hope, as some of the more affluent magazine publishers have prepared their inaugural issues for Apple's iPad, which went on sale this weekend. They are betting that it will do for digital content what the iPod and iTunes did for digital music: replace messy free content gotten on the sly with easily accessible, paid editorial content in full-color electronic magazine format. But even if the iPad turns out to be magazines' hoped-for savior, if it brings along the values (or lack of values) currently characteristic of much of the new media, a question looms: At what cost? This raises the question: Is online content held to the same standards as its print equivalents? Given the prevailing business model, in which advertising is the principal revenue source for the vast majority of magazine websites, our answer is no. If the future of the information highway is digital, then it behooves us to be concerned with the rules of the road. And if there is a trade-off between speed and standards, then we must come to terms with the question of whether there ought to be any speed limits and, if so, how are they to be determined? Whatever the future of print, the main future of the media will be digital. Anyone who cares about the future of our democratic society, let alone the future of print in general and magazines and/or iPads in particular, should take up the challenge of debating and discussing -- and, we would add, codifying -- the values, standards and practices that ought to prevail online.
benton.org/node/33836 | Los Angeles Times
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HOT NEWS: THE NEXT BAD THING
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: James Boyle]
[Commentary] What will be the latest empirically ungrounded expansion of rights, conferring monopoly rents on market incumbents with scant regard to unintended consequences? Recent hearings on the future of the news industry at the Federal Trade Commission signalled the arrival of a new candidate. Newspapers are lobbying for a new federal intellectual property right over "hot news." European equivalents have also been proposed. In some ways it shares many characteristics with other recent expansions of intellectual property law. It is unsupported by data and it has unintended and anti-competitive consequences. The sad difference is that newspapers truly do face a wrenching future and the debate over how to pay for high quality investigative journalism is an important one. Unfortunately, the hot news right would do nothing to help solve the real problems newspapers face. Instead, it would do much to impede the benign effects that the Internet has on news gathering, and distribution and to chill the social media that will surely be part of the marketplace of ideas in the future. The negative effects of a new legal monopoly without even the benefits to the current market incumbents! Which is what makes the proposal all the more poignant.
benton.org/node/33835 | Financial Times
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NBC: AMERICANS HAD 'RECORD' ACCESS TO OLYMPICS COVERAGE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
Even though some online coverage of the Winter Olympics required subscriptions, NBC chief executive officer Jeffrey Zucker said viewers had access to more coverage than in any prior Winter Olympics. Zucker's letter, sent to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) office March 31, was in response to a pointed letter sent by the senator back in February. Sen Kohl said he was "concerned" NBC had appeared to restrict online access to Olympics content to only those viewers who subscribe to cable, satellite or other pay TV service with whom NBC has partnered. Zucker said NBC spent close to $1 billion covering the Vancouver Games. In an attempt to recoup those costs, NBC had three ways to offer coverage. More than 190 hours of programming were available on NBC's free, over-the-air network stations, with additional coverage on NBC's national cable networks (USA, CNBC, MSNBC). NBC supplemented its coverage on NBCOlympics.com, where ad-supported video content was available as well as long-form content available only to subscribers who had paid to receive additional Olympics coverage via the NBC Universal cable networks. After a certain time period, that subscription-required content was made available to everyone, Zucker said.
benton.org/node/33816 | Hill, The | B&C
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NBC BLOCKS FREE TV EPISODES ON IPAD
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
The NBC broadcast network has, for now, ditched its plans to stream full television episodes onto the Apple iPad. There are business reasons for the decision. Some media companies want to encourage people to pay for television episodes and films through Apple's iTunes store rather than streaming them free through the Web browser.
benton.org/node/33818 | New York Times
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MODERN FAMILY TESTS PRODUCT PLACEMENT RULES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joe Flint]
The March 31 episode of ABC's "Modern Family" with its plot about Apple's new iPad might have you wondering if there are rules regarding product placement and whether networks are required to disclose placement deals to viewers. The answer to both those questions is "yes". The Federal Communication Commission's sponsorship identification rules say, "when money or other consideration for the airing of program material has been received by or promised to a station, its employees or others, the station must broadcast full disclosure of that fact at the time of the airing of the material, and identify who provided or promised to provide the consideration." The rule goes on to say that the public should know "who is trying to persuade them with the programming being aired."
benton.org/node/33817 | Los Angeles Times
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AT&T MAY HAVE IPAD PROBLEMS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Olga Kharif, Amy Thomson]
AT&T, facing criticism for jams in its network in cities like New York, may find the Apple iPad adds more strain than officials anticipated. The biggest U.S. phone carrier has played down the expected impact of Apple's iPad tablet computer, which goes on sale this weekend in the U.S., saying many consumers will choose to run it on Wi-Fi hot spots rather than on AT&T's wireless network. "AT&T seems to be convinced that most of the time users will be connected to Wi-Fi," said Craig Moffett, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst who rates the shares "market perform." "That's a pretty big stretch, given it's a new device nobody's used before."
benton.org/node/33815 | Bloomberg
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OWNERSHIP

SILICON VALLEY ACQUISITIONS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Ryan Flinn, Serena Saitto, Tim Mullaney]
Silicon Valley companies looking to put their cash to work may drive a wave of mergers this year, bankers and venture capitalists say. Companies are eager to make acquisitions because many of them have cut research budgets, says Robert Ackerman, founder and managing director of Allegis Capital. That means they're not as able to fall back on their own ingenuity to fuel growth. More businesses are relying on acquisitions to find their next new product or service, he says. "The product cabinet is bare, but the market continues to move forward," Ackerman said. "Wherever you see innovation sprint ahead, companies will have a product deficit, and will look to fill it." In Northern California, there were 45 deals involving venture-backed startups during the first three months of 2010, according to the National Venture Capital Association. That was the highest number in any quarter in at least five years. More than 50 companies in California have at least $1 billion in cash and equivalents, which they could use for acquisitions. They're led by a Bay area trio: San Francisco's Wells Fargo & Co., with $68 billion; Cisco Systems Inc. in San Jose, with $39.6 billion; and Cupertino-based Apple Inc., with $24.8 billion.
benton.org/node/33832 | Bloomberg
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AT&T'S FORGOTTEN PLOT TO HIJACK THE US AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Right now the Federal Communications Commission is proposing a massive transfer of broadcast spectrum to the wireless industry, whose principals, AT&T included, are providing all of the services offered by television and radio broadcasters -- with voice and Internet too. This is all new to us because we take for granted the old over-the-air broadcast licensing system that we've lived with for almost a century. But nothing was old at the dawn of broadcast radio in the early 1920s. Let's go back to those days and explore an alternate history that never happened -- until now.
benton.org/node/33831 | Ars Technica
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

UK REGULATOR CALLS FOR CUT IN MOBILE-PHONE CHARGE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Adrian Kerr, Lilly Vitorovich]
UK communications regulator Ofcom on Thursday proposed new caps on the price mobile operators can charge to transfer calls from other networks, meaning lower revenue for the major mobile firms but potentially improved deals for customers. Ofcom called for mobile termination rates -- the wholesale charges that operators make to connect calls to each others' networks -- to fall from around 4.3 pence (6.5 U.S. cents) a minute to 0.5 pence a minute by March 2015. Cuts will be staggered from 2011 to 2015. As a result, rates will fall by "a whopping 88%" on average, said Matthew Howett, senior telecommunications analyst at Ovum. The ruling will benefit fixed-line operators such as BT Group PLC, their customers and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.'s 3 UK, said Collins Stewart analyst Morten Singleton, who described the cuts as "aggressive." Large operators Vodafone Group PLC, Telefonica SA's O2, France Telecom's Orange and Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile are the "key losers from this move," he added. Ofcom said the changes "will enable cheaper calls to mobiles for the 32.7 million U.K. homes and businesses with a landline. The proposals will also mean that both landline and mobile operators have more flexibility in designing competitive call packages, promoting competition for the benefit of consumers."
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benton.org/node/33814 | Wall Street Journal
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SMART METERS TO BE ROLLED OUT TO 2M HOMES
[SOURCE: ZDNet UK, AUTHOR: Richard Thurston]
Two million UK homes will be wired for smart energy meters within two years, telling customers in real-time how much they are spending on gas and electricity.
The smart energy meters will include an in-home display with live readings of the bill in pounds and pence. Information will also be sent as it's gathered to the energy supplier, making estimated energy readings a thing of the past. The announcement of the roll-out of the meters to two million homes was made on Monday by British Gas. The energy supplier has been trialling the technology since early 2009 in 50,000 homes and businesses, but says it lacked the technology suitable for nationwide uptake.
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benton.org/node/33813 | ZDNet UK
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CARLYLE PLAN STALLED
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Cathy Chan, Tim Culpan]
Carlyle Group's planned sale of a $1 billion stake in Kbro Co. to Taiwan Mobile Co. may be delayed until the government eases restrictions on state ownership of media companies, two people involved with the discussions said. Taiwan Mobile, which the government partially owns through Fubon Financial Holding Co., may extend the June 30 deadline to buy control of the cable-television operator, the people said, asking not to be identified because of confidentiality agreements. Neither side expected the restrictions to obstruct the deal when negotiations began last year, the people said. The rules hamper Taiwan Mobile's plans to pass China Network Systems Inc. and Taiwan Broadband Communications to become the largest operator in a market where more than 80 percent of homes tune in to cable TV. The National Communications Commission is in talks with the Cabinet to allow government-related entities to indirectly own as much as 10 percent of media companies, Commissioner Lee Ta-sung said.
benton.org/node/33812 | Bloomberg
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HOPE THAT LOCAL NEWSPAPERS CAN TURN THE PAGE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Esther Bintliff]
Over the course of 2009, about 60 regional newspapers closed in the UK, according to Newspaper Society research. A number of factors were to blame. Circulation has been in steady decline since the 1970s. More significant, however, is the fact the regional press is far more dependent on advertising than national publications. It traditionally generates the bulk of its revenue from classified advertisements for property, recruitment and cars - the volume of which fell sharply in the recession. As a result, advertising revenues at three of the largest regional publishers - Johnston Press; Northcliffe Media, the regional arm of the Daily Mail & General Trust; and Trinity Mirror's regionals division - tumbled 26-30 per cent year on year in 2009, while total revenues fell between 19.5 and 23.5 per cent. With the economic clouds beginning to lift, proprietors hope that advertising budgets will be unlocked and regional revenues will rebound. Yet some analysts question that logic.
benton.org/node/33834 | Financial Times
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EUROPEAN SPECTRUM AUCTION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O'Brien]
A decade ago, mobile phone network operators in Europe rushed to spend billions for the chance to provide high-speed wireless connections for clients. Ten years later, as auctions for government licenses to upgrade those networks are set to begin, operators are considerably less excited. Instead of the €50 billion, or $68 billion, spent in 2000, they are expected to bid about €5 billion at an auction that is to start April 12 in Germany. The restraint reflects the general economic downturn, but also the recognition that quantum leaps in wireless speed alone no longer guarantee success for operators, which are confronting saturated and static markets in Europe.
benton.org/node/33833 | New York Times
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