May 2007

For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org

BROADBAND/INTERNET
Coalition pushes for U.S. broadband plan
Inouye Introduces Broadband Data Bill
Bring On The Exaflood!
Philadelphia wireless Internet project advances
E-Mail Reply to All: 'Leave Me Alone'

SPECTRUM
Airwave Auction Should Aim to Foster New Broadband Choices
NCTA: Don't Ban Cable from FCC Auction

OWNERSHIP
Tribune Co.'s Climb To Going Private Gets Steeper
Growing the 'Private' Club

BROADCASTING/CABLE
Dingell, Markey Want to See FCC's DTV Plan
Cable giants tune in to small firms
Tennessee cable bill dead for the year
No Texas-Sized Rate Declines in Texas
EU Backs Rise In Advertising On Broadcast TV
Rejected by PBS, Film on Islam Revived by CPB
Indiana hopes weather radios save lives

QUICKLY -- May 31 FCC Open Meeting Agenda; Mexico to boost tapping of
phones and e-mail with U.S. aid; Senators Want To Fund Communications
R&D Lab; True fixed/cell phone convergence seen years off

BROADBAND/INTERNET

COALITION PUSHES FOR US BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Grant Gross]
Fifty-four organizations, including Amazon, Google, and TiVO, have
called on the U.S. government to create a national broadband policy,
saying there's no plan now in place focused on providing affordable
access for all residents. The Open Internet Coalition, in a letter to
Congress sent Thursday, said the U.S. government needs to adopt new
measures to ensure universal affordable access to broadband, net
neutrality and increased competition in the broadband market. The
letter is the first step in a concerted effort coalition members will
make to push broadband legislation in Congress, members said. Last
month, some of the coalition's members called for open access
requirements in upcoming spectrum auctions at the Federal
Communications Commission. Increased access to the Internet is vital
to U.S. economic growth, said the letter to Congress. "Now is the
time to give this goal the urgency it deserves," the letter said. "As
broadband networks become more and more integral to our economic and
social life, we are reaching a tipping point where legislation is no
longer simply welcome -- it is imperative." Not everyone agrees with
the coalition's goals, particularly its call for Network Neutrality
or open access on broadband networks. Large broadband providers like
Verizon and AT&T have opposed efforts to pass a net neutrality law
that would prohibit providers from blocking or slowing Web content
from competitors. Such a law, the companies say, would limit their
business plans and would discourage them from building fast new networks.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/05/24/Coalition-pushes-for-US-broadb...

INOUYE INTRODUCES BROADBAND DATA BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
introduced a bill that would require the FCC to collect better data
on the rollout of broadband. The bill -- the Broadband Data
Improvement Act (S. 1492) -- would require the FCC to reconsider its
current 200 kilobit broadband standard (many argue that is too slow a
speed to be counted), create a new "second generation broadband
figure for speeds capable of delivering HD video, require the FCC to
report broadband availability by nine-digit zip codes so that it
could more precisely pinpoint who was and wasn't getting the service,
and require an annual, rather than periodic, inquiry into deployment.
The bill would also provide $40 million in yearly grants to match
state investment in identifying barriers to broadband adoption. The
House last week held a hearing on a draft of a similar bill.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6446448.html?rssid=193
* Senate Democrats Want Better Broadband Data
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6446465.html?rssid=196
* Chairman Inouye's press release
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Det...

BRING ON THE EXAFLOOD
[SOURCE: Washington Post 5/24, AUTHOR: Bruce Mehlman and Larry Irving]
[Commentary] Driven by a critical mass of fast connections and the
arrival of a "killer application" -- video -- broadband has arrived.
Broadband, or high-speed Internet connectivity, is the transformative
technology of our generation. Access to and effective use of
broadband affects the ability of individuals, industries and nations
to grow, compete and succeed. If we can match the explosion in
digital content with the smarter and more robust networks needed to
get information to homes, businesses and schools, America stands a
good chance of regaining its global leadership in broadband access,
innovation and adoption. Yet as new content proliferates, today's
high-speed connection could be tomorrow's traffic jam. The strain on
broadband capabilities and the looming data deluge is often called
the Internet exaflood. "Exaflood" stems from the term exabyte, or
1.074 billion gigabytes. Two exabytes equal the total volume of
information generated in 1999. The Internet currently handles one
exabyte of data every hour. This mushrooming amalgamation of data is
pushing the Internet to its limits. Preparing for the exaflood is
critical to the nation's success. The Internet infrastructure must be
robust enough to handle all of the new data; this is often a
challenge because the Internet is really thousands of privately
owned, individual networks stitched together. It requires constant
investment so that it will continue to grow and run smoothly. All
sides agree that we need ongoing investment in content, massive
upgrades of infrastructure and relentless innovation to handle the
phenomenal growth in data traffic. We need advancements in how we
build and operate networks, including new file compression
technologies, upgraded traffic management software, better spam and
virus filters, and new delivery platforms. And we need substantial
investments in short-haul bandwidth through fiber to homes, broadband
over power lines, satellites and fourth-generation wireless networks.
The formula for encouraging such extraordinary investments is clear:
minimize tax and regulatory constraints and maximize competition.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR200705...
(requires registration)

PHILADELPHIA WIRELESS INTERNET PROJECT ADVANCES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jon Hurdle]
Philadelphia has finished testing its wireless Internet project,
setting the stage for America's biggest citywide Wi-Fi network that
will also offer access to low-income households, officials said on
Thursday. The city government this week approved results from a
15-square-mile test zone where people can access the Internet for
$21.95 a month or $9.95 if they qualify for low-income assistance.
Access is free in parks and other outdoor spaces, and for people
participating in community programs such as employment training or
housing assistance. By the end of this year, Philadelphia will have
wireless Internet access throughout its 135 square miles.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2436904820070524

E-MAIL REPLY TO ALL: 'LEAVE ME ALONE'
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Mike Musgrove]
The supposed convenience of electronic mail, like so many other
innovations of technology, has become too much for some people.
Swamped by an unmanageable number of messages -- the volume of e-mail
traffic has nearly doubled in the past two years, according to
research firm DYS Analytics -- and plagued by annoying spam and
viruses, some users are saying "Enough!" Those declaring bankruptcy
are swearing off e-mail entirely or, more commonly, deleting all old
messages and starting fresh. E-mail overload gives many workers the
sense that their work is never done, said senior analyst David
Ferris, whose firm, Ferris Research, said there were 6 trillion
business e-mails sent in 2006. "A lot of people like the feeling that
they have everything done at the end of the day," he said. "They
can't have it anymore." So some say they're moving back to the
telephone as their preferred means of communication.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR200705...
(requires registration)

SPECTRUM

AIRWAVES AUCTION SHOULD AIM TO FOSTER NEW BROADBAND CHOICES
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy & Technology]
A substantial portion of soon-to-be-available public airwaves should
be allocated to promote new competitive alternatives for
general-purpose broadband Internet service, CDT said in comments
filed this week with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The
FCC is facing a momentous decision over what to do with valuable
wireless spectrum in the 700 MHz band that is being returned by
broadcasters as part of the switch from analog to digital television
signals. CDT believes that allocating substantial spectrum to
broadband with preconditions for neutrality and wholesale access will
be the best way to foster competition and innovation on the newly
available airwaves.
CDT Comments: FCC Spectrum Auction:
http://www.cdt.org/speech/net-neutrality/20070523fcc-spectrum.pdf
* Public Interest Groups Want FCC To Create Wireless Broadband Competition
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/119298414/962

NCTA: DON'T BAN CABLE FROM FCC AUCTION
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
The Federal Communications Commission should reject arguments that
cable operators need to be excluded for competitive reasons from an
upcoming auction of old broadcast-TV airwaves, the National Cable &
Telecommunications Association said in an FCC filing late Wednesday.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6446245.html?rssid=196

OWNERSHIP

TRIBUNE CO'S CLIMB TO GOING PRIVATE GETS STEEPER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Serena Ng serena.ng( at )wsj.com]
Tribune Co.'s prolonged and tortuous undertaking to sell itself isn't
getting any easier. The newspaper and television concern cleared a
hurdle yesterday by completing a tender offer for half of its shares,
but to do so it had to commit to borrowing terms that could make its
life more difficult in the months ahead. On April 2, Tribune said it
would take itself private in a two-stage $8.2 billion deal backed by
real-estate magnate Sam Zell. The deal, financed almost entirely by
debt, isn't expected to close until late this year. To fund the
tender offer that is the first stage of the buyout, and to refinance
some existing debt, Tribune last week sold more than $7 billion in
loans to debt investors. Even in today's easy- money atmosphere, the
company's bankers had a tough time pushing the deal through. The
bankers ended up forgoing roughly a third of about $120 million in
fees to get the deal done. Tribune ended up agreeing to pay higher
interest rates than planned on most of the debt. It also agreed to
pay down a chunk of the loans within two years, rather than the
seven-year term it sought. The moves raise questions about the
company's ability to service its debt load while navigating the
deteriorating newspaper business.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118001663047013412.html?mod=todays_us_mo...
(requires subscription)
* Foundation to tender all of its Tribune Co. shares
Tribune Co.'s second-biggest shareholder, the Robert R. McCormick
Tribune Foundation, disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday that
the non-profit foundation intends to tender all of its 28 million
Tribune Co. shares -- representing an 11.6 percent stake in the media
company -- in Tribune's current $34-a-share tender offer.
http://feeds.chicagotribune.com/~r/chicagotribune/business/~3/119417149/...
* Judge Won't Stop Sam Zell Deal For Tribune Co.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...

GROWING THE 'PRIVATE' CLUB
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Orit Gadiesh & Hugh MacArthur]
Private equity is becoming a benchmark of performance for CEOs and
boards of directors. Boards are asking themselves, "What would we do
differently if we were privately held?" The answer is a lot.
Public-company shareholders are often passive or cast votes by
dumping shares. And public companies are constrained by
Sarbanes-Oxley, which can slow down or hamper fixes needed for the
mid-to-long haul. Private-equity shareholders -- particularly those
from top firms, like Blackstone -- behave like active owners. They
understand the companies they own and drive them to address problems
more rapidly while investing more deeply in attractive longer-term
initiatives. What does this mean? For one, private-equity firms
invest with a thesis for improving performance in a realistic, but
aggressive time frame -- three-to-five years. Compare that with
public companies' quarterly earnings scramble and a sense within
public companies that each business they own will be a permanent part
of the corporate portfolio. For another, the best private-equity
firms test their investment thesis hard after the deal closes with a
detailed plan of where and how to build value. Their plans often
include a few simple metrics -- e.g., cash, market and operating
measures -- and top fund professionals frequently review and revise
these plans with management. They swiftly move unproductive assets
off the balance sheet. And finally, they compensate managers strictly
on results.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118005241817814142.html?mod=todays_us_op...
(requires subscription)

BROADCASTING/CABLE

DINGELL, MARKEY WANT TO SEE FCC'S DTV PLAN
[SOURCE: tvnewsday]
House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Telecom
Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to the FCC
urging it to submit to Congress -- by June 11 -- its plan for
educating the public about the upcoming digital television transition
that will take effect on Feb. 17, 2009. said that without adequate
consumer education, millions of consumers may see their analog TV
sets go dark. The chairmen noted that the FCC is the lead agency for
educating consumers about the digital television transition and
instructed the agency to immediately implement a national consumer
education campaign using its extensive resources and expertise. In
doing so, the chairmen expressed additional concerns over the FCC's
lack of progress in educating consumers about the transition.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/05/24/daily.10/
* Text of letter
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/FCC.052407.Martin.ltr.DTV.pdf

CABLE GIANTS TUNE IN TO SMALL FIRMS
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune 5/23, AUTHOR: Jon Van]
Big cable operators are targeting the small and medium-size business
market in a fight for turf that phone companies have had to
themselves until now. Companies such as Cox Communications Inc., Time
Warner Inc. and now Comcast Corp. have recently announced that they
will provide small businesses with voice and data services, a
potentially lucrative market that can bring three to four times as
much revenue per customer as residential services. A recent study by
The Insight Research Corp. noted that among an estimated 7 million
small businesses located in the United States, about 6.4 million are
located in areas served by cable TV. "Serving this market is a
no-brainer for the cable industry," said Robert Rosenberg, president
of Insight. "For the same effort it takes to win a residential
customer that you may send monthly bills of $40 you can win a
business customer whose monthly bill might be $200." For
small-business customers the increased competition will likely lead
to more choices and better prices, Rosenberg said. But the fierce
competition could translate into lost revenues for phone companies.
According to Insight, phone companies are expected to lose more than
1.5 million small-business phone lines to cable competitors by the
close of this year and nearly 10 million small-business phone lines
over the next five years. Cable companies already have had success in
luring away residential customers from phone companies. Time Warner
claims to have 2.1 million residential phone customers in its first
three years and began selling phone services last month to small and
medium-size customers in five cities.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-wed_comcastmay23,1,914515,p...

TENNESSEE CABLE BILL DEAD FOR THE YEAR
[SOURCE: Memphis Commercial-Appeal, AUTHOR: Richard Locker]
Telecommunications giant AT&T's months-long efforts to win
legislative approval of a bill to streamline its entry into
Tennessee's cable television market is dead for the
year. Legislative sponsors of the bill, Reps. Steve McDaniel and
Charles Curtiss, said late Wednesday they will take the bill "off
notice" until the 2008 legislative session -- effectively killing it
for the year. The move came after continued fighting over the issue
and the belief that the bill did not have enough votes to pass. The
cable industry -- primarily Comcast, Charter and the Tennessee Cable
Telecommunications Association -- plus the Tennessee Municipal
League, which represents city governments across the state,
vigorously opposed the bill, which has passed in at least a dozen
other states served by AT&T.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/midsouth_news/article/0,1426,MCA_149...
* Franchise-Reform Bill Withdrawn in Tennessee
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6446252.html

NO TEXAS-SIZED RATE DECLINES IN TEXAS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
Basic-cable rates have not declined in any of the Texas communities
where there are competitive providers, according to a survey done by
the Texas chapter of the National Association of Telecommunications
Officers and Advisors. Rates for the tier including off-air signals
and public, educational and government channels have actually
increased over the past two years, according to the study posted May
22 on the group's Web site. The greatest hike, according to the
group, was in Denton. There, Charter Communications raised basic
rates from $12.78 per month in 2005 to $19.05 today despite
competition from Grande Communications and Verizon Communications.
However, the arrival of Verizon as a video competitor provided a
lower-cost alternative for consumers of basic and expanded-basic services.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6446439.html?rssid=196

EU BACKS RISE IN ADVERTISING ON BROADCAST TV
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Anne Jolis anne.jolis( at )dowjones.com]
The European Union's national governments approved sweeping changes
to the bloc's television-broadcasting rules, extending the amount of
advertising allowed and allowing product placement in TV shows. Until
now, such product placement has been illegal in many EU countries,
and that angered producers who saw their U.S. counterparts cash in on
the practice. The new regulations also help broadcasters by allowing
them to show advertisements more frequently. The legislation
sidesteps the issue of how much content produced in the EU is
required on TV. EU film and TV companies have lobbied for tough
limits on Hollywood imports, but yesterday's overhaul leaves
unchanged a 1989 mandate encouraging local-language production.
Another area left largely unregulated is the Internet. Web sites,
such as Google Inc.'s YouTube, will remain exempt from EU rules,
though video-on-demand services will now come under the same
regulations as regular television. The omission of Internet
regulation is a loss for television broadcasters, who lobbied hard to
include the emerging Internet-based audiovisual industry in the new
rules. They said that they face increased competition from services
such as YouTube and mobile-multimedia companies and that exempting
these players from regulation would put broadcasters at a competitive
disadvantage.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118004402666113909.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)

REJECTED BY PBS, FILM ON ISLAM REVIVED BY CPB
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Paul Farhi]
In an unprecedented move, the agency that oversees public
broadcasting has stepped in to arrange distribution for a TV
documentary on Islam that PBS had rejected as unworthy. The federally
funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting helped find a new
distributor for "Islam vs. Islamists: Voices From the Muslim Center"
after seven Republican members of Congress and one Democrat demanded
that CPB ask PBS to air it or release it elsewhere. The 52-minute
film contends that moderate Muslims are being intimidated by radical
Islamists in several Western democracies, including the United
States. The dispute over the film thrust CPB into the middle of a
politically charged affair. The film's producers claim that PBS and
its producing station, WETA, both of Arlington, are kowtowing to
conservative Muslims in "suppressing" the film. In an interview
yesterday, Frank Gaffney Jr., one of the film's executive producers,
said PBS and WETA were predisposed against it on personal and
ideological grounds. "I am a person they regard as a conservative,
and they regard the airwaves as a liberal domain," said Gaffney, a
former Reagan administration defense official who now runs the Center
for Security Policy. WETA and PBS officials denied this yesterday.
"We had no problem with the concept or ideology," said WETA
spokeswoman Mary Stewart. "It was about filmmaking and documentary
standards. We had no problem with the argument laid out in the film."
To break the logjam over the documentary, CPB this week released the
film to Oregon Public Broadcasting, which will distribute it to
stations around the country. The Oregon broadcaster also will stage a
panel discussion about issues raised in the film that will run
immediately afterward.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR200705...
(requires registration)

INDIANA HOPES WEATHER RADIOS SAVE LIVES
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Theodore Kim and Rebecca Neal]
first-of-its-kind law requiring mobile homes to come equipped with
emergency weather radios will take effect next month in Indiana. The
law is one of several initiatives among tornado-stricken states to
bolster weather warnings. The statute, which applies to mobile homes
installed at mobile home parks after June 30, is a response to a
tornado that killed 25 people in southwestern Indiana in November
2005. Twenty of the victims lived in the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park
in Evansville. The tornado struck in the middle of the night. Weather
radios could have given residents enough time to seek shelter,
National Weather Service spokesman Rick Shanklin said at the time.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070525/a_weatherradios25.art...

QUICKLY

MAY 31 FCC OPEN MEETING AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on
Thursday, May 31, 2007, which is scheduled to commence at 9:30 a.m.
in Room TW-C305, at 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. The
Commission will consider recommendations submitted by the Independent
Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications
Networks; a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning wireless
Enhanced 911 location accuracy and automatic location identification
for interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services; the
Emergency Alert System; Telecommunications Relay Services; cable
wiring; and carriage of broadcast signals on cable and satellite TV
systems. Audio/Video coverage of the meeting will be broadcast live
with open captioning over the Internet from the FCC's Audio/Video
Events web page at www.fcc.gov/realaudio.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-273285A1.doc

MEXICO TO BOOST TAPPING OF PHONES AND E-MAIL WITH US AID
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Sam Enriquez]
Mexico is expanding its ability to tap telephone calls and e-mail
using money from the U.S. government, a move that underlines how the
country's conservative government is increasingly willing to
cooperate with the United States on law enforcement. The expansion
comes as President Felipe Calderon is pushing to amend the Mexican
Constitution to allow officials to tap phones without a judge's
approval in some cases. President Calderon argues that the government
needs the authority to combat drug gangs, which have killed hundreds
of people this year. Mexican authorities for years have been able to
wiretap most telephone conversations and tap into e-mail, but the new
$3-million Communications Intercept System being installed by
Mexico's Federal Investigative Agency will expand their reach. The
system will allow authorities to track cellphone users as they
travel, according to contract specifications. It includes extensive
storage capacity and will allow authorities to identify callers by
voice. The system, scheduled to begin operation this month, was paid
for by the U.S. State Department and sold by Verint Systems Inc., a
politically well-connected firm that specializes in electronic
surveillance. Although information about the system is publicly
available, the matter has drawn little attention so far in the United
States or Mexico.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-mexico25may25,1,776...
(requires registration)

SENATORS WANT TO FUND COMMUNICATIONS R&D LAB
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sens Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the ranking
members of the Senate Commerce Committee, have introduced a bill that
would fund a communications lab to "restore America's competitive
edge in communications research and development." The Advanced
Information and Communications Technology Research Act would
authorize $40 million for FY 2008, with that figure upped by $5
million per year through 2012.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6446476.html?rssid=193
* Sens Inouye and Stevens' press release
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Det...

TRUE FIXED/CELL PHONE CONVERGENCE SEEN YEARS OFF
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Niclas Mika]
It will be years before the much-hyped blending of services that run
seamlessly over both fixed and cell phone networks will allow
consumers to communicate freely on any device.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL2258248020070523
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...and we're outta here. Have a great weekend.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary
service provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted
Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important
industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events.
While the summaries are factually accurate, their often informal tone
does not always represent the tone of the original articles.
Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang headlines( at )benton.org -- we
welcome your comments.
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