December 2008

As Buyout Fails, Bell Canada Seeks to Bolster a Struggling Business

With the record-setting $50 billion leveraged buyout of Bell Canada all over except for the potential litigation, the company, Canada's largest telecommunications company, once again faces a possibly bigger issue: reversing the seemingly relentless decline of its business. Bell is a humbled giant. It is now the No. 3 player in Canada's wireless market behind Rogers Communications, which also leads the cable television business, and Telus, the dominant telephone company in Alberta and British Columbia. Bell's satellite television service has always lagged well behind cable. And Rogers in Ontario, along with Vidéotron in Quebec, are now poaching about 10 percent of Bell's traditional local phone customers a year. Cable companies now provide about one-quarter of Canada's local telephone service after entering the business in 2004. Many of Bell's most pressing problems date back to the technology boom of the late 1990s. At that time, Bell focused on media company acquisitions rather than on network upgrades. It paid premium prices for, among other things, Canada's largest private television network, CTV, and control of The Globe and Mail newspaper. Bell never fulfilled plans to start selling television through an upgraded wired network about three years ago. That leaves it offering only a satellite television service. Because Canada is far north of the equator, where the system's satellites orbit, many potential customers are unable to receive it.

East-West divide in media habits: survey

A new online survey conducted by Nielsen finds that while Western countries tend to be heavy users of such media hardware as DVD players and gaming consoles, next-generation devices like video-enabled handsets are more popular in up-and-coming markets, particularly in Asia. The online population of the Philippines, for instance, emerged first among the 52 countries surveyed with the highest levels of usage across a range of devices, one of five Asia-Pacific countries that filled the top 10. The Philippines also topped a pair of rankings that tracked usage of digital media and video games. The findings emerged from the entertainment portion of the biannual Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, which reached 26,000 online users in September. Rankings were computed by measuring a range of scores in response to thematically similar survey questions.

Sacramento set to start taxing text message and broadband phone service

On Nov 4, Sacramentomatoes approved the "Utility User Tax Reduction and Fairness Measure," a new tax that goes into effect today. It includes a larger variety of communications services -- including text messages and broadband phone services. The tax update also includes lowering the user's tax for land-line and cell phones from 7.5 percent to 7 percent. Russ Fehr, Sacramento (CA) city treasurer, said the amount someone is taxed will vary depending on what types of communications services they have with their service provider. In other words, if you have a BlackBerry with unlimited texting and phone calls, your monthly bill is higher than someone with a cell phone plan of $29.99 per month. Traditional cell phone users, who use a land-line and a cell phone for only the occasional call, likely will see a tiny decrease in their bill because of the five-tenths of a percent the utility tax decreased, he said. "The vast majority of households will see a rate reduction," Fehr said. "A few households and businesses will see an increase." While the tax takes effect Friday, service providers have up to 60 days in which to include the tax on users' bills. City officials likely won't begin to see whether the tax is generating more revenue for at least a year and a half, Fehr said.

Tech Trends to Expect in 2009

Mark Anderson is chief executive of Strategic News Service, a newsletter circulated to C-level tech executives. Each year he makes prognostications concerning technology and the economy. Last year he predicted a breakout year for ultramobile PCs, and he said Apple (AAPL) would launch one. The computer maker's MacBook Air came close. In late 2006, Anderson predicted the launch of the first PC with solid-state hard drives, which happened in 2007. Here's some of his expectations for 2009: 1) People spend more time at home with bigger TVs and 2) New tools called Internet assistants will help wireless devices send demanding computing tasks via the wireless Web to other computers or to servers—off in what's known as "the cloud."

Roundtable discussion and press conference on U.S. innovation and research efforts

Princeton University
Monday, December 15 at 10 a.m

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12), and other Congressional leaders will join Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman and national leaders in the science and technology community for a roundtable discussion on how to strengthen the national commitment to physical sciences and energy research.

The roundtable continues the Democratic Innovation Agenda's commitment to U.S. competitiveness by providing an opportunity for members of Congress to discuss with industry leaders, university presidents, federal government officials, and research scientists the necessary steps for maintaining U.S. scientific leadership. These discussions are critical given increased international competition, and will help restore our obligation to build our nation's research infrastructure to nurture the new ideas necessary for innovation and economic growth.

Speaker Pelosi, Rep. Holt, the members of Congress, President Tilghman, and other participants will hold a press conference at the conclusion of the roundtable. There will also be a brief photo spray at the end of the roundtable.

Read more about US Innovation and Research Efforts

Dec 18 FCC Meeting Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, December 18, 2008 tentatively at 10:00 a.m. but definitely in Room TW-C305, at 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington (DC). The FCC will consider: 1) spectrum auction rules/free broadband proposal, 2) wireless license renewal, 3) DTV translator service, 4) cable carriage rules, 5) violations of the Commission's DTV consumer education requirements, 6) wireless, enhanced 911 location requirements, and 7) Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service. Admission is free; you pay at the door. There are plenty of seats; you sit on the floor. Can't make it in person? 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.

In Defense of Kevin Martin

[Commentary] Worst. Week. Ever. For Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin. On Tuesday, House Commerce Committee Democrats release a scathing report on his management of the agency and House Republicans do little to defend him. On Wednesday, the Bush Administration objects to Martin's free wireless broadband plan (via new spectrum auction rules). Finally, on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, normally the Administration's in-house editorial page, piled on with an editorial attacking Martin for granting "Political Favors at the FCC" on the same issue. Heaven forbid there should be a free service that could benefit minorities or rural residents who are the most disadvantaged when it comes to receiving broadband service. Could there be a case in which markets don't work as they should? Perhaps by reading the newspaper we could find one. The Journal's editorial was about chasing evil villains out to corrupt the system. In this case, said evil-doer is the venture capitalist John Doerr who, if you think about it, is the type of person the Journal should admire. He made a lot of money the old-fashioned way, through capitalism. In this instance, the Journal sees Doerr as trying again for a "sweetheart deal" that Martin is willing to give him.

Bush, Martin at war over AWS-3 spectrum auction

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and the Bush administration are on a collision course over a possible Dec. 18 vote on a free, family-friendly wireless auction plan, uncharacteristically bringing into public view a high-stakes policy dispute between the Republican White House and one of its top appointees. In a letter to Martin on the eve of the public release of the official agenda for next week's FCC meeting, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez urged the nation's top telecom regulator not to move forward with the advanced wireless services-3 initiative. "The administration believes that the AWS-3 spectrum should be auctioned without price or product mandates," stated Gutierrez in the two-page letter. "The FCC should rely on market forces to determine the best use of the spectrum, subject to appropriate government rules to prevent harmful interference." There has been speculation for months that Gutierrez might weigh in on the FCC's AWS-3 controversy. The commerce secretary's letter closely tracks one sent by Meredith Attwell-Baker, acting head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, last month. Congress in 1993 said anticipated revenue alone should not drive the formation of auction rules. FCC spokesperson Robert Kenny said, "We agree that free market forces should drive competition, but we believe that providing free basic broadband to consumers is a good thing. It's not just about raising the most money as you can, but about advancing policies that bring benefits to consumers and ensure the most efficient use of the spectrum."

Consumer Groups Can't Support Free Broadband Proposal

Free Press, Media Access Project, Consumers Union, and Public Knowledge have told the Federal Communications Commission that they cannot support FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's free broadband proposal if it includes content filtering as part of the requirement. The consumer groups favor free broadband service, but not if content filtering that must be opted out of is part of the plan. "To the extent that mandatory or "opt-out" filtering remains part of the proposal," they said, "commenters must oppose the proposal as a whole."

Telcos: Use USF, Not Free Broadband Plan, to Address Digital Divide

AT&T leads a list of group of eighteen telecommunications companies and organizations that wrote the Federal Communications Commission in support of using existing Lifeline and Link Up universal service programs to make broadband access more affordable for low income households. They contrast this proposal with the FCC Chairman Martin's proposal to auction of some spectrum will a requirement to provide nationwide, free, wireless broadband. That proposal, they write, "would not be means-tested or in any way limited to low-income users, and in fact would impose substantial up-front equipment costs on end-users."

Benton

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