December 2008

Groups Differ on How to Pull Off Obama's Broadband Goal

President-elect Barack Obama's call to bring high-speed Internet to all Americans has set off a scramble among service providers for a piece of the action. Building out networks to rural and underserved urban areas -- with possible help from the economic stimulus plan being crafted by Congress -- could create hundreds of thousands of jobs and enrich telecom, wireless and cable companies whose businesses have suffered as households tighten spending. Within the well-funded world of telecom lobbying, even fierce opponents are in rare agreement that Obama's plans to expand networks would boost the economy with jobs digging trenches for fiber lines and designing complex networks. But the interest groups differ on how that ambition should be executed, and that has sparked a race that one lobbyist calls a "telecom takefest."

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, said there are no specific plans for broadband yet in an economic stimulus package that lawmakers want to vote on in January and have ready for Obama soon after he is sworn in as president. But Chairman Markey said any incentive should be distributed with conditions that prevent network operators from stalling or blocking traffic, a contentious issue known as net neutrality that the network firms argue would drive up costs as Web traffic increases.

For the Telecommunications Industry Association, tax breaks are a priority.

Corning, a supplier of ultra-fast fiber-optic technology, wants companies to offer higher speed standards to qualify for financial help.

Free Press, a public interest group, has urged lawmakers and Obama's tech advisers to give oversight of the plan to an agency familiar with technology policy such as the Federal Communications Commission or the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is the White House's telecom office. The group insists the service should be affordable and seeks subsidies for low-income families with school-age children so they can buy laptop computers and deduct the cost of home Internet access.

The Communications Workers of America wants Congress to approve tax breaks that would allow network operators to expense, through tax deductions, a larger portion of their broadband deployment costs right away, which the union says would encourage operators to build networks more quickly.

Wireless trade group CTIA met with Obama's tech advisers this month to suggest that wireless technology should be the focus for broadband expansion because people are increasingly using Internet data services over their cellphones and wireless laptops.

Telecom carriers are among a chorus of companies that have called for repurposing a fund that uses monthly charges from telephone bills to pay for expanding basic phone service in rural and underserved urban areas. The fund, they say, should be channeled to build broadband networks instead of land lines.

But Public Knowledge, a public interest group, cautioned that arguing over the $7 billion fund could hold up progress.

Obama taps Arne Duncan for secretary of ED

President-elect Barack Obama has picked fellow-Chicagoan Arne Duncan to be Secretary of Education. Duncan has served for the last seven years as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. In 2004 Duncan launched a program called Renaissance 2010, which aims to open 100 new schools by 2010. In the program's first four years, 55 schools have opened, including a public school known as the Virtual Opportunities Inside a School Environment (VOISE). The school opened in the fall and touts the latest in education technology. In October, the Chicago Board of Education approved the construction of two more technology-focused high schools. VOISE students are given wireless-enabled laptops in the classroom and students without home access to a computer are provided with one. The school started with 150 freshmen, and Chicago education officials plan to increase enrollment by 150 each year until there are 600 VOISE students. Attendance and graduation rate have proven higher at Renaissance 2010 schools compared to other Chicago public schools. The attendance rate at schools opened since 2004 is 95 percent 1 percent higher than the overall district average. Renaissance 2010 high schools have a 90 percent graduation rate, compared to a 73 percent rate overall. Students are also less likely to transfer out of the new, technology-focused Chicago schools, according to district statistics.

'Tis the Season for Transition Meetings

[Commentary] On Tuesday, individuals representing two dozen public interest organizations and foundations attended an intense and deeply substantive meeting with Federal Communications Commission Agency Review Team Co-Chairs Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach, who were joined by Larry Strickling of the Presidential Transition Team. The topics ranged from improving access to broadband to spectrum reform, to Network Neutrality, to text messaging to how to improve the FCC's processes. A second meeting with Alec Ross of the Technology, Innovation and Government Reform Policy Working Group focused on "Public Media 2.0," with presentations by independent media and technology producers and distributors such as the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Public Radio Exchange and the National Public Lightpath Initiative. The groups urged the transition to think of public media as more than PBS and NPR, and to provide opportunities for more grassroots oriented public media.

Will FCC lighten up under Obama?

For better or worse, the Federal Communications Commission has become best known during the eight years of the Bush Administration for a one-second glimpse of Janet Jackson's right breast. It represented an effort by the federal government to draw a clear line in the sand when it came to any type of obscenity over the public airwaves. But in January a Democratic administration under President-elect Barack Obama will take over, and many eyes will be on the FCC to see which direction it goes. Will it pursue strict or even stricter enforcement than the previous administration, or will it loosen the reins?

FCC Reform Expected On Obama's Agenda

Key industry players and public interest groups will discuss proposed Federal Communications Commission reforms in managing spectrum, Network Neutrality, and media ownership at a January conference. The event, to be held at the National Press Building in Washington, is sponsored by the public interest organization Public Knowledge and Silicon Flatirons, the University of Colorado's Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Silicon Flatirons asked rhetorically, "Is the Federal Communications Commission truly equipped to deal with immediate challenges that it will face? That question is being asked today by policymakers from Capitol Hill and around the country." Participants and speakers will include former FCC Chairmen Reed Hundt and William Kennard, Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge president, and Professor Phil Weiser, executive director of the Silicon Flatirons Center. Other former FCC commissioners scheduled to participate include Kathleen Abernathy and Nick Johnson.

Privacy groups ask Obama for stronger FTC

About a dozen leading privacy and consumer groups met with members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Tuesday to discuss the Federal Trade Commission's role in protecting consumer privacy. While participating organizations addressed a range of problems and potential solutions, the underlying message was clear: the FTC has for too long allowed industries to self-regulate their online privacy practices--to the detriment of consumers. "The FTC keeps moving the goal post on what privacy advocates need to prove" before it provides substantive regulation, said Chris Jay Hoofnagle, director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology's Information Privacy Programs. "The commission has taken this posture that allowed business interests to win by just showing up. Self-regulation in online privacy has gotten more than a fair shake." Hoofnagle took part in Tuesday's meeting, along with representatives from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the Consumer Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Digital Democracy, the World Privacy Forum, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Privacy Times, the Privacy Journal, the Consumers Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. The groups met with Susan Ness and Phil Weiser, the FTC review team leaders for the Obama transition team.

E-Government Ball Already Rolling At Commerce

The US Department of Commerce has long been viewed as a sprawling, almost ungovernable bureaucracy, but over the last few years it has seen significant advances in areas both small (online video) and large (the 2010 census). Sec Bill Richardson's challenge won't be starting from scratch, but maintaining the brisk pace of Web innovation already under way at the department. On his watch as governor, New Mexico has "done a reasonable job" of establishing a presence online, said Jane Hill, director of the New Mexico Internet Professionals Association, though she added that the state's telecommunications infrastructure is "lousy." Access to broadband service in the Land of Enchantment still lags behind the national average.

Wireless companies warn of US inauguration delays

In case you are planning to use your phone to videostream the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the wireless industry is warning customers to expect delays and advising users to help keep the lines clear by texting instead of calling and snapping videos but not sending them right away. Mobile phone companies are bracing for a surge in capacity in wireless calls, texting and video sharing, with up to 4 million people expected in DC next month.

Broadband: Not for Kids Only

[Commentary] President-elect Obama has singled out children as particularly in need of broadband access, but what about adults? It's parents who are being laid off and who need all the information they can get about job alternatives and emergency assistance. And it's parents and grandparents who need the Internet to participate in political movements, to pry information out of governments and hold officials accountable, to give voice to community concerns and give reach to minority views. Like it or not, broadband has become the spine of our economy and the glue of our society, and every American adult who can't easily get online is as disenfranchised as every kid who doesn't have access to broadband is disadvantaged.

Telstra gets the boot out of multi-billion Australia broadband project

Australia's newspapers are aflame over Telstra's disqualification for participation in the country's $6.7 to $10 billion (US) national broadband network project. Australia's broadband minister said Telstra has "excluded itself" from the RFP process for failing to respond to one of five mandatory requirements in the process, whereas other participating bidders managed to meet all the requirements and conditions for participation. Telstra reportedly submitted a light-on-details eight page document at the last minute that neglected to include a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) build-out plan. In comparison, other bidders have produced thousand page documents in response to the RFP. The multi-billion dollar project involves replacing copper with fiber for 98 percent of Australia's network; Telstra was believed to have an overwhelming advantage over its rivals, since it owns the central coffers where all the current copper comes from.

Benton

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