March 2009

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on how it should implement the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA). The law imposes new broadband data collection and reporting obligations on the Commission by requiring the Commission to include an international comparison in its annual broadband report and to conduct a consumer survey of broadband service capability. The FCC invites parties to comment on:

1) how it can effectively implement the international comparison of broadband service capability, including speeds and prices;

2) the criteria for the identification and selection of the communities to be included in the survey;

3) the enumerated indicators in the Act for the identification of "relevant similarities and differences in each community" as well as any additional indicators that commenters seek to propose;

4) all possible sources of data that the Commission should examine; and

5) any other factors or issues the Commission should consider.

The FCC asks that commenters file comments on or before April 10; reply comments are due April 17, 2009.

Global information technology spending will fare worse in 2009 than during the dotcom bubble collapse of 2001, industry research firm Gartner said on Tuesday in cutting earlier projections. Gartner expects spending on hardware, software, services and telecommunications to fall 3.8 percent to $3.2 trillion this year, compared with forecasts of an increase just three months ago and reversing a solid pace of growth for 2008. The anticipated decline would also be worse than the 2.1 percent drop in 2001. A worsening global recession is discouraging corporations and consumers from spending to get the latest in technology, eroding revenue for companies from chip maker Intel Corp to computer vendor Dell. Many analysts say they do not expect a turnaround until late 2009 or 2010. The US stimulus package is unlikely to affect growth or employment before 2010, Gartner said. Hence, it expects IT spending to rebound modestly in 2010, rising more than 2 percent, but to accelerate to 5 percent growth in 2011.

Speaking at the National Association of Broadcasters State Leadership Conference, Senate Commerce Committee senior legal counsel Jessica Rosenworcel said the Committee is not looking to make retransmission consent reform part of the review of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reathorization Act (SHVERA). "If you are in the course of retransmission consent negotiations and a significant number of broadcasters decide to pull their signals," she told a crowd of broadcasters Tuesday. "it will heighten the level of attention this issue gets on Capitol Hill if viewers are caught in the crossfire of [disagreements] that may be very legitimate that broadcasters are having with video programming providers."

Verizon and AT&T may not apply to broadband stimulus funds. Unlike the businesses that welcomed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act approved by Congress last month, the two biggest US phone companies have reservations. They're urging the government not to help other companies compete with them through broadband grants or to set new conditions on how Internet access should be provided. The companies have remained noncommittal as they lobby to shape rules for the grants. "I don't think there's much for them to gain financially from going after this money," especially if the government attaches strings to it, said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. The government will receive a "massive" number of applications, mostly from small companies, said former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell. "If you're an entrepreneur or a businessperson, you're sitting in a room right now, figuring out every way to Sunday how to get this money -- and they're all coming," Powell, a Republican who headed the FCC from 2001 through 2005, said. Officials say more than 2,000 companies, local governments, community groups and consumer advocates have contacted them about the agency's rules for disbursing its stimulus money.