March 2007

Why Advertising's Cavemen Are Going Totally Hollyrock

WHY ADVERTISING'S CAVEMEN ARE GOING TOTALLY HOLLYROCK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brooks Barnes brooks.barnes@wsj.com and Suzanne Vranica]

BBC plans commercial push

BBC PLANS COMMERCIAL PUSH
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Emiko Terazono]

A Scuffle Over Pay Television in Britain Spills Into the Living Room

A SCUFFLE OVER PAY TELEVISION IN BRITAIN SPILLS INTO LIVING ROOM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Pfanner]

Alltel Is Calling Potential Buyers

ALLTEL IS CALLING POTENTIAL BUYERS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dennis K. Berman dennis.berman@wsj.com, Dionne Searcey and Amol Sharma]

California OKs Statewide-Franchise Rules

CALIFORNIA OKs STATEWIDE-FRANCHISE RULES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]

Study Finds Congressional Web Sites "Disappointing"

STUDY FINDS CONGRESSIONAL WEB SITES "DISAPPOINTING"
[SOURCE: Government Technology 2/26]

In the US, broadband access is most limited in the poorest regions

.

Seven of the ten states with the fewest high speed lines per capita are also among the ten poorest states in the country (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, and West Virginia). Six of these same states are among the ten with the fewest Internet users per 100 residents

(Measured in Gross State Product per capita. {New Mexico, also in the bottom 10 in high speed lines per capita, is the 11th poorest state measured by GSP per capita.} Source: FCC, as of June 30, 2005, and US Census Bureau, October 2005. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Source: “Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2003”, US Census Bureau, October 2005.)

Broadband costs in the U.S. remain high

.

American consumers pay 10 to 25 times more per megabit than users in Japan. Also, average speed of broadband in the U.S. has not increased in the past five years; consumers in France and South Korea have residential broadband connections 10 to 20 times higher than in the U.S. Further, the official FCC definition of broadband (at least 200 kbps in one direction) is considered outdated and inadequate by many experts.
(Heather E. Hudson. The Future of Universal Service Fund Support for Organizations:
Schools, Libraries and Rural Health Care Providers
. Benton Foundation. January 2007.)

Due to the E-Rate, more than 90% of classrooms in rural, high-minority and low-income school districts now have Internet conne

ctions
After 10 years of E‐Rate support, more than 90% of classrooms in rural, high‐minority and low-income school districts now have Internet connections, allowing them to leverage
modern communication tools to support student achievement. An additional 2,800
private schools have also received support from the E‐Rate to support educational
goals.
(E-Rate: 10 Years of Connecting Kids and Community by Education and Library Networks Coalition and the national Coalition for Technology in Education and Training. February 2007.)