February 2009

For Millions, DTV Deadline is Now

Although the government delayed the mandatory shutdown of analog TV signals by four months to give people with older TVs more time to prepare, that's small comfort to people who live in cities where some broadcasters are switching to all-digital broadcasts Tuesday, as they had originally planned. Because it is costly to keep broadcasting analog signals, nearly 500 stations said they would make the transition on Tuesday or one of the nearby days, rather than June 12. After last-minute prodding by the Federal Communications Commission, 43 of them backed off. But still there will be an odd patchwork of programming for millions of Americans who rely on analog TV signals. To deal with the change, they need a digital converter box or a new TV with a digital tuner, or cable or satellite service.

FCC Says 53 Analog 'At Risk' Stations Can Go Digital Feb. 17

According to the Federal Communications Commission, exactly half of the 106 stations that had to comply with various FCC conditions to pull the plug on analog Feb. 17 will actually be doing so. Initially, the FCC had identified 123 stations that would need to self-certify that they would comply with the conditions, but the number was actually 106, it said Friday (some stations had been misclassified). Of those 53 that agreed to the conditions, 10 said they had extenuating circumstances for why they wanted to pull the plug but couldn't comply, and 43 decided to stay on the air in analog past Feb. 17.

Stimulus 1st step in Obama's broadband goals

The $7.2 billion in funding to promote high-speed Internet in the stimulus package is just the first step in the Obama administration's effort to fuel expansion of telecommunications services, says Blair Levin, an adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama on telecom matters during the transition and now an informal adviser. "Despite new federal money, the amount is but a fraction of what is needed" to establish the United States in terms of broadband versus other developed countries. "You've got to take a long view," said Blair, who recently returned to his position as an investment adviser at investment banking firm Stifel Nicolaus and spoke to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Gerald Granovsky, a senior analyst at Moody's, said a key area to watch is reform of the universal service fund, which provides nationwide telephone service. There is an effort to use some of the money collected from that fund for broadband, which is currently not technically allowed in the law.

Do We Need a New Internet?

[Commentary] There is a growing belief among engineers and security experts that Internet security and privacy have become so maddeningly elusive that the only way to fix the problem is to start over. What a new Internet might look like is still widely debated, but one alternative would, in effect, create a "gated community" where users would give up their anonymity and certain freedoms in return for safety. Today that is already the case for many corporate and government Internet users. As a new and more secure network becomes widely adopted, the current Internet might end up as the bad neighborhood of cyberspace. You would enter at your own risk and keep an eye over your shoulder while you were there. "Unless we're willing to rethink today's Internet," says Nick McKeown, a Stanford engineer involved in building a new Internet, "we're just waiting for a series of public catastrophes."

Online Health Data in Remission

The $19 billion prescribed in Congress's economic stimulus package to bring America's health-care records into the electronic age is a welcome opportunity for information technology firms seeking to build market share in a still-young industry. Although the federal government set a goal five years ago of creating an electronic health record for every American by 2014, the effort has lagged for several reasons. Roadblocks include concerns over lack of universal protocols for collecting data as well as rules that establish how, with whom and under what circumstances the data can be shared. Many health-care providers -- physician practices, testing facilities, hospitals and clinics -- fear liability if private information gets into the wrong hands. Embedded in all these issues is the cost, an estimated $150 billion, which has proven to be a significant barrier to that 2014 target.

Web-based program improves diabetics' self care

Giving people with type 2 diabetes the opportunity to help manage their care online can substantially improve their long-term blood sugar control, new research suggests. Clinic visits alone aren't enough for many people with diabetes, Dr. James D. Ralston of the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle and colleagues note in the journal Diabetes Care. The researchers tested whether an Internet-based program might help patients to manage their care more effectively. The intervention gave patients access to the same medical records used by their primary care doctor, as well as the ability to e-mail health care providers. The program also provided feedback on blood sugar readings, a website with educational information on diabetes, and an interactive diary that allowed users to record information on diet, exercise and medications.

Resolution on FCC Reform Divides NARUC Committee

State regulatory commissioners are split on how strongly to express longstanding grievances with Federal Communications Commission processes. A resolution on reform of FCC management and practices dominated the agenda as the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners continued its winter meeting Sunday. The original draft resolution was a straightforward, one-page document which welcomed changes at the commission by the new Obama administration, while calling attention to often-cited criticisms of the lack of transparency in operations, the slow pace of action on dockets and delay in open opening new ones, as well as barriers to intra-agency cooperation. A revised draft included language praising FCC Chairman Copps for his reform effort, with the caveat that many of the changes had been employed by previous chairmen and suggested by the other two sitting commissioners. The subcommittee draft went on to specify in detail other NARUC concerns, including problems in the operation of Federal-State Joint Boards and a "lack of definitive action by the Commission on important issues both at a federal and state level" that results in many orders being "deemed granted" through "excessive" use of the forbearance process. Recent rulemakings and orders made it "apparent that the Commission needs to enhance its capabilities in...economics, engineering, and administrative law," read one clause.

State Regulators Could Ask FCC to Fund Broadband for Low Income Households

State utility commissioners are considering a resolution to "strongly encourage" Federal Communications Commission implementation of a pilot program to make broadband Internet access service eligible for subsidies drawn from the Universal Service Fund. The measure is entitled "Resolution on Lifeline and Link-Up Program Support for Broadband Internet Access Services and Devices." Sponsored by District of Columbia Public Service Commissioner Betty Ann Kane, it was introduced at the winter meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners here on Friday afternoon. The Lifeline Assistance program has provided discounted rates on local phone service to low income consumers since 1985. The Link-Up America program began in 1987, and covers the cost of initial connection charges for phone service. Both programs are administered jointly by federal and state regulators and funded by assessments on all telecommunications services, as part of the Universal Service Fund.

Convergence Will Complicate Regulation, Definition of '4G,' State Regulators Told

With $7.2 billion in stimulus funds soon to be available for broadband service - and with the transition to digital television freeing huge swaths of spectrum - wireless communication could be poised for some technological advances. Wireless providers are engaged in a rush to deploy next-generation mobile networks as more Americans "cut the cord" from their wired phone and Internet services, posing unique challenges for state regulators. For state regulatory commissioners gathered for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissions winter meeting, defining and regulating the so-called "4G" networks will pose unique challenges. The convergence of mobile devices and the Internet has made the definition of 4G services "nebulous at best," Fierce Markets strategic advisor Carl Ford told the group during a presentation on Saturday morning. Showing a slide of a Wikipedia definition of 4G, Ford took issue with the common assumption that the term is simply an extension of current wireless technology. Internet protocol-based applications and services will dominate the next generation of wireless, regardless of the frequencies or underlying technology used, Ford said.

Stimulus Stirs Debate Over Rural Broadband Access

Michael Katz bashed rural life last week when he addressed an American Enterprise Institute panel discussion on the broadband elements of President Obama's economic stimulus bill. "The notion that we should be helping people who live in rural areas avoid the costs that they impose on society ... is misguided," Katz said, "from an efficiency point of view and an equity one." Katz listed ways that the $7.2 billion could be put to better use, including an effort to combat infant deaths. But he also spoke of rural places as environmentally hostile, energy inefficient and even weak in innovation, simply because rural people are spread out across the landscape.

Benton

Search