July 22, 2009 (Senate Panel Clears 2 FCC Nominees)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009
NEWS FROM THE FCC
Senate Panel Clears 2 FCC Nominees
Rockefeller: FCC Is Broken
McDowell, Genachowski Trade thoughts on FCC Reform
New FCC Chairman's Agenda Includes Broader Internet Access, More Transparency
As Media Grow, FCC Looks Ahead
FCC chairman has broad approach to Net access
Chairman Genachowski Announces Senior Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Appointments
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Media and Democracy Coalition Offers Recommendations to Improve Broadband Stimulus Funding
Broadband stimulus details separating likely winners, losers
Short Broadband Stimulus Deadline Worries CIOs
Broadband Infrastructure Application Guide for BTOP
Free Press Responds to "Sloppy" Incumbent Broadband Arguments
Free Press Offers "Big Ideas" for Broadband Workshop
China Set for DSL, FTTH Boom
Laptops, netbooks to drive exponential mobile broadband growth
FCC gives Broadband Over Power Line a second chance
Broadband Maps a Necessary Component of Stimulus Grants, Says Stearns
Universal Service Fund Should Focus on the Low-Income, Agree Broadband Experts
Americans using the Internet to cope with the recession and understand it
TELECOM/WIRELESS
Who Rules the Mobile Bands?
Verizon Limits Length of Exclusive Phone Deals
US Lawmakers Tell FCC To Collect Data On Phone Network Prices
US Court Upholds FCC Ruling To Lift Large Phone Co Price Caps
Experts clash over cell phone jamming at Senate hearing
Free Voice Mail in Ohio
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Clear Channel Donating Several AM Stations For Diversity Initiative
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Anticipated Web 3.0 jibes with open-government goals
Five technologies Iran is using to censor the Web
MORE, MORE, MOORE...
Moore's Law hits economic limits
Franken Out-Wonks His New Colleagues
Political ads are key to broadcasters' recovery
Can GPS make the Census better?
People the weak link in cybersecurity
Privacy Report: 'Facebook Does Not Have Adequate Safeguards'
Are the stars aligning for telemedicine's success?
Companies Chase the Promise of High-Tech Homes
School of One
Twitter Generates $48 Million of Media Coverage in a Month
New Technology to Make Digital Data Self-Destruct
Stimulus money could spur Pennsylvania broadband
Louisiana ups credits to 30%
NEWS FROM THE FCC
SENATE PANEL CLEARS 2 FCC NOMINEES
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
The Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday approved two Federal Communications Commission nominees, Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Attwell Baker, clearing the way for a full Senate vote on their confirmation. Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is hoping Clyburn and Baker will be confirmed before lawmakers go home for their August break.
http://benton.org/node/26527
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ROCKEFELLER: FCC IS BROKEN
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
(7/15) Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said that he believes the Federal Communications Commission is broken and wants its two newest members to help fix it, adding "the committee will be watching." According to text of his opening remarks at the July 15 confirmation hearings for FCC nominees Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Attwell Baker, Senator Rockefeller slammed the FCC under the former administration as "beholden" to the media industry it regulates, ideology-driven and insufficiently focused on consumers.
http://benton.org/node/26534
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MCDOWELL, GENACHOWSKI TRADE THOUGHTS ON FCC REFORM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
On July 20, Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell sent FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski a letter outlining his suggestions for reforming the agency. First he suggests a "operational, financial and ethics audit" of the FCC and related entities like the Universal Service Administrative Company. He calls for an update of the FCC's strategic plan and raises the issue of restructuring the agency. He asks for publication of Commission meeting dates through 2009 and into 2010 -- and improvements to the FCC's information technology and web systems. On July 21, Chairman Genachowski replied with actions he has already taken to reform the agency including -- appointing a Special Counsel for FCC reform, working with the FCC's General Counsel and Managing Director to review existing processes, and meeting with bureau and office heads to solicit ideas. The Commission will also soon launch an internal and -- later -- external website to solicit reform proposals.
http://benton.org/node/26532
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NEW FCC CHAIRMAN'S AGENDA INCLUDES BROADER INTERNET ACCESS, MORE TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Julius Genachowski has laid out a major mission for the Federal Communications Commission: making affordable high-speed Internet available to all Americans. But how the agency's new chairman goes about achieving that goal has Internet providers watching nervously. Chairman Genachowski confirmed his commitment to widespread Internet access, saying the Web has been perhaps "the most successful driver of economic growth" in the country. The new FCC head also faces internal challenges. Under previous Chairman Kevin Martin, who preferred a top-down management style that discouraged information leaks, many agency staff got out of the habit of communicating with each other and to the public, critics say. Chairman Genachowski said he is working to encourage more communication and transparency. His efforts include an overhaul of the FCC's Web site to make it easier for consumers to find information.
http://benton.org/node/26544
See also:
As Media Grow, FCC Looks Ahead
FCC chairman has broad approach to Net access
FCC STAFF APPOINTMENTS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) and two deputies, who will join the other senior staff in the bureau. The announcements include: Bureau Chief Rear Admiral (ret.) Jamie Barnett, Deputy Chief David Furth and Deputy Chief Jennifer Manner. Admiral Barnett served 32 years in the United States Navy and Navy Reserve, retiring in 2008. His last active duty assignments were Deputy Commander, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and Director, Naval Education and Training in the Pentagon. For the last two years, Admiral Barnett has been a Senior Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a policy think tank focusing on science and technology issues of importance to the nation, including cyber conflict and cyber security. David Furth has served at the FCC since 1992 and in the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau since the Bureau's formation in 2006. Since January 2009, Mr. Furth has served as Acting Chief of the Bureau. Previously, Mr. Furth was an Associate Bureau Chief in PSHSB, focusing on public safety spectrum policy issues, particularly 800 MHz rebanding and the 700 MHz rulemaking proceeding. Manner was a principal at ZComm Strategies, LLC, where she advised telecommunications companies on regulatory policy issues. Prior to that, Ms. Manner was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at SkyTerra Communications, L.P. Ms. Manner served as Senior Counsel to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, with responsibility for wireless, technology and international issues.
http://benton.org/node/26533
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY COALITION OFFERS RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE BROADBAND STIMULUS FUNDING
[SOURCE: Media and Democracy Coalition, AUTHOR: Beth McConnell]
(7/16) In a letter to National telecommunications and Information Administration head Larry Strickling, members of the Media and Democracy Coalition (including the Benton Foundation) raised concerns about the recently released rules for broadband stimulus funds. They write that the adopted definition of "underserved areas" will exclude many worthwhile projects. They also believe the rules give incumbents opportunities to eliminate potential awardees. Finally, the are concerned the rules raise insurmountable barriers for anchor institutions and municipal projects.
http://benton.org/node/26526
See also:
Broadband stimulus details separating likely winners, losers
Short Broadband Stimulus Deadline Worries CIOs
Broadband Infrastructure Application Guide for BTOP
FREE PRESS RESPONDS TO "SLOPPY" INCUMBENT BROADBAND ARGUMENTS
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Derek Turner]
Free Press filed reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission regarding the national broadband plan. The filing offers evidence that refutes many incumbents' calls for continued deregulation and efforts to deter public interest action by the FCC. This filing follows Free Press' June comments to the FCC, which included an extensive analysis of the agency's past broadband policy failures and offered detailed proposals on how to bring universal, affordable broadband to all Americans. Derek Turner, research director at Free Press, said, "The FCC should not be duped by the incumbents' self-serving claims. The national broadband plan must be built on a record of meaningful data and analysis -- not on flimsy evidence and discredited arguments. Incumbents have the largest pool of resources and broadband data at their fingertips, but their comments offer nothing more than the same old tired pro-deregulation arguments. It is clear from their recommendations that the phone and cable companies want the national broadband plan to simply be a 'do-nothing' plan -- a strategy that has already proven to be an epic failure for consumers. The national broadband plan is the opportunity Americans have been waiting for. The FCC can atone for past agency mistakes and chart a path forward that brings the open and competitive broadband market that consumers were promised so long ago."
http://benton.org/node/26511
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FREE PRESS OFFERS "BIG IDEAS" FOR BROADBAND WORKSHOP
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Derek Turner]
Free Press spoke with Tamara Lipper-Smith of the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis on July 13, 2009 to discuss the national broadband plan. Free Press said the FCC contacted Free Press to solicit input on which issues consumer advocates would like addressed in the National Broadband Plan Staff Workshop No. 17, listed as "Best Practices/Big Ideas." Free Press indicated issues consumer advocates would like addressed in these workshops, including middle mile, spectrum sharing, Internet architecture and innovation, and overhauling USF for the broadband era.
http://benton.org/node/26512
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CHINA SET FOR DSL, FTTH
[SOURCE: LightReading, AUTHOR: Catherine Haslam]
Broadband penetration in China is to double in the next five years, according to a report from Pyramid Research. The report predicts that broadband penetration levels will reach 14.5 percent in 2014, up from 7.6 percent at the end of 2008, on the back of aggressive xDSL and FTTx (fiber-to-the-something/anything) rollouts by the country's three giant carriers. DSL is currently the technology of choice, accounting for 80 percent of all fixed broadband subscribers at the end of 2008. Pyramid's analysts predict that DSL connections will rise from 67 million at the end of 2008, to more than 126 million by the end of 2014. However, during the same period, the number of FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) subscribers will grow from about 500,000 at the end of 2008 to more than 50 million in 2014.
http://benton.org/node/26522
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LAPTOPS, NETBOOKS TO DRIVE EXPONENTIAL MOBILE BROADBAND GROWTH
[SOURCE: FierceBroadband, AUTHOR: Lynnette Luna]
The impact of netbooks and laptops on the growth of mobile data traffic has been significant, but a new study from Coda Research Consultancy claims that by 2017, some 418 million users worldwide will be using these devices and generating 1.8 exabytes of traffic per month, representing a 40-fold increase over 2009. The consultancy forecasts that mobile broadband revenues of more than $50 billion will come from netbook/laptop users by 2017, with the Asia-Pacific region leading with 162 million users. Europe will see 94 million users while North America is expected to reach 58 million. Coda Research said half of all mobile broadband users via laptops and netbooks worldwide will be using LTE connections. LTE users will hit 38 million in 2013 after a ramp up in LTE production in 2012, and will rise to 209 million by 2017, a 1,100 percent increase over 2012, the firm further forecasts.
http://benton.org/node/26518
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FCC GIVES BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE A SECOND CHANCE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
(7/19) It's once more into the breach for the Federal Communications Commission's efforts to authorize Broadband Over Power Line technology. On Friday, the agency issued a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, asking for feedback on the power levels Access BPL systems should operate at so that they don't interfere with other services. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) stopped this process dead in its tracks last year, having raised concerns about the transparency of the proceeding and BPL's potential for messing with ham radio signals and other bands. But the Commission is sticking to its guns, arguing that the technical standards it has already set may still be sufficient—at least, with a modification or two. BPL's critics "do not provide convincing information" that the FCC should change course, the NPRM says.
http://benton.org/node/26539
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BROADBAND MAPS A NECESSARY COMPONENT OF STIMULUS GRANTS, SAYS STEARNS
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Tina Nguyen]
(7/17) The House Subcommittee on Communications will hold a hearing "in the near future" on making broadband maps a necessary component of awarding Broadband Initiatives Program and Broadband Technological Opportunities Program grants, subcommittee ranking member Cliff Stearns (R-FL) said. Rep Stearns was the luncheon speaker at an Alcatel-Lucent workshop on rural broadband public-private partnerships. At the event, French telecommunications representatives spoke on their experiences in bringing broadband to rural territories throughout France. Rep Stearns said he was concerned that the stimulus was rushed, and called for more congressional oversight of the broadband stimulus programs.
http://benton.org/node/26538
See also:
State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program Online Workshop
UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND SHOULD FOCUS ON THE LOW-INCOME, AGREE BROADBAND EXPERTS
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Douglas Streeks]
A panel of broadband experts agreed Monday that the Universal Service Fund should direct more of its funding to low-income areas and away from exclusively focusing on rural high-cost areas, where funds are not being spent efficiently. The experts spoke during a panel discussion sponsored by the Technology Policy Institute, a market-oriented think tank on technology issues. The term universal service, said Jonathan Nuechterlein, a partner at Wilmer Hale law firm, has two different meanings. One meaning has to do with funding for broadband in high-cost areas where deployment is expensive, regardless of the residents' income, and the other has to do with funding for low-income areas. "Funding broadband," said Nuechterlein, "is expensive" and is going to "increase the burden on the companies that end up subsidizing it." One way to ensure that this money is spent efficiently is to "narrow the scope" by only funding broadband in "genuinely unserved areas," he said.
http://benton.org/node/26537
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AMERICANS USING INTERNET TO COPE WITH THE RECESSION AND UNDERSTAND IT
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: ]
(7/15) Some 69% of all American adults -- fully 88% of Internet users -- have gone online to get help with personal economic issues that have arisen in the recession and to gather information about the origins and solutions to national economic problems. The Internet ranks high among sources of information and advice that people are seeking during hard times, especially when it comes to their personal finances and jobs. Among broadband users, the Internet is the top source for material on personal coping strategies during the recession. At the same time, broadcast media outpace the Internet as sources of news about national economic affairs. Those hard hit by the recession are among the most avid and wide-ranging Internet users for advice and understanding. Some 52% of American adults have either lost their jobs, seen their investments fall by more than half their value, suffered a pay cut, watched their house lose half its value, or lost their job outright during the downturn in the past year. Much of the report deals with a subpopulation the Project calls "online economic users." They are the 88% of online Americans who have used the Internet for financial or recession-related purposes. Overall, 34% of online economic users have created content and commentary about the recession in places like blogs, social network sites and Twitter.
http://benton.org/node/26516
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TELECOM/WIRELESS
WHO RULES THE MOBILE BANDS?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Exclusivity contracts, with which the Big Four cellphone companies lock in the hottest new phones, are a good place for regulators and Congress to turn their attention. But the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice also should look broadly at whether competition is being stifled among mobile providers. With the pattern of exclusive deals extending to new netbooks, smaller companies warn that mobile Web access could be tied up entirely. Regulators' attention may already be prompting some changes in behavior. Verizon announced it would shorten the exclusivity contracts for some handsets to six months so that rural providers can have them. More is needed, however. The FCC is directed to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, which is an important gateway to the Internet. It warrants close examination.
http://benton.org/node/26549
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VERIZON LIMITS LENGTH OF EXCLUSIVE PHONE DEALS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
(7/18) Verizon Wireless said it will shorten the time it holds exclusive arrangements to offer popular cellphone models, allowing small wireless carriers to offer the devices as well. The largest US wireless provider by subscribers announced the change in a letter Friday to key lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have been pressuring the wireless industry to end exclusive handset arrangements such as AT&T's multi-year deal to carry Apple's iPhone in the US. Verizon said it will modify its exclusivity arrangements with handset manufacturers so that smaller wireless carriers -- those with 500,000 customers or less -- can offer the same handsets six months after Verizon. "Any new exclusively arrangement we enter with handset makers will last no longer than six months -- for all manufacturers and all devices," Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam wrote in the letter. However, McAdam defended the practice of locking up phones with exclusive deals, and said the new policy wouldn't apply to existing arrangements, such as Verizon's exclusive deal to carry the BlackBerry Storm. The Rural Cellular Association, whose members include about 100 small and medium-sized carriers, said it was encouraged by Verizon Wireless's offer to limit new exclusive handset deals but the offer was inadequate
http://benton.org/node/26543
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US LAWMAKERS TELL FCC TO COLLECT DATA ON PHONE NETWORK PRICES
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
(7/15) Former House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski asking the agency to collect data, before passing new rules, on how some phone companies pay to connect to central voice and Internet arteries. The request is a signal to the FCC to act carefully if it further regulates the complex pricing regime. Public interest groups and companies such as Sprint, T-Mobile USA, and U.S. Cellular are rallying for more regulation, saying phone giants including AT&T and Verizon Communications dominate the market and drive prices up.
http://benton.org/node/26525
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US COURT UPHOLDS FCC RULING TO LIFT LARGE PHONE CO PRICE CAPS
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
(7/17) The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday upheld a Federal Communications Commission decision to lift some regulations on prices that large phone companies charge other businesses for connections to the Internet. The ruling puts the debate about fairness of the "special access" market squarely in the lap of the FCC. It is a loss for large companies that are members of an ad hoc telecom-users coalition that pay for those access lines when they wire up their buildings. The decision also comes as competitor phone companies like Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA and U.S. Cellular are clamoring for more regulation in the business-to-business access market.
http://benton.org/node/26524
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EXPERTS CLASH OVER CELL PHONE JAMMING AT SENATE HEARING
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
(7/15) In the debate over cell phone jamming in prisons, the skeptics have caution and reason on their side, but the advocates bring impressive horror stories. Take Texas State Senator John Whitmire, who testified at Wednesdays' Senate Commerce and Science hearing on a bill to let prisons use jamming technology to block mobile phone use within their walls. At the event, he described how he received a phone call last year from Texas death row inmate Richard Tabler. Tabler's mother was eventually arrested for smuggling cell phones into the prison. The incident convinced Whitmire that Congress should pass Senator Kay Hutchison's (R-TX) Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009. The bill would allow the director of the Federal prison system or the governor of a state to petition the Federal Communications Commission for permission to use cell phone jamming devices in a specific prison, a practice that is currently illegal.
http://benton.org/node/26540
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FREE VOICE MAIL IN OHIO
[SOURCE: Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, AUTHOR: Press release]
Access to free voice mail is now available to individuals in the 419 area code of northwest Ohio who do not have a telephone because they are without a permanent residence or cannot afford one. This new service is being made available through the combined efforts of the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC), the state residential utility consumer advocate, Leader Technologies Incorporated and the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks (OASHF). Leader Voice Mail will enable people without phone service to retrieve messages from a personal telephone number which can be accessed from any touch-tone telephone, including wireless, or by using the Internet. Regional community service organizations in northwest Ohio, such as the Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission (NOCAC) and others, will make the service available to their clients on an as-needed basis.
http://benton.org/node/26514
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
CLEAR CHANNEL DONATING SEVERAL AM STATIONS FOR DIVERSITY INITIATIVE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A day after Obama administration official Susan Crawford said the administration recognized the importance of broadcasting, and in particular radio, to minority audiences, Clear Channel announced that it was donating several AM radio stations to a project that will train future minority and women owners. In an announcement at the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council (MMTC) access to capital conference in Washington Tuesday, the company said it was donating the stations to MMTC and partnering with it on the MMTC-Clear Channel Ownership Diversity Initiative. Clear Channel will donate KYHN Fort Smith (AR); WTFX Winchester (VA); KMFX Rochester (MN); and WHJA Laurel (MS), to the project. The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation's Broadcast Leadership Training Program will then team up with MMTC to use the stations as a training facility for future station operators.
http://benton.org/node/26536
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
ANTICIPATED WEB 3.0 JIBES WITH OPEN-GOVERNMENT GOALS
[SOURCE: FederalComputerWeek, AUTHOR: John Moore]
Transparency and accountability have become the watchwords of the Obama administration, and part of that promise is making all sorts of government data available to citizens and public interest groups via the Web. But go past the slick home pages of public access Web sites such as Data.gov and Recovery.gov, and one finds frustrating inconsistencies in the volume and presentation of available information. Critics look at these shortcomings and gripe about the oxymoron of "government accountability." But it's also certainly true that the Web tools the Obama team is using are not cut out for the job. Almost every morsel of government data exists in electronic form somewhere, and with the exception of classified data, it is perfectly acceptable for public consumption. However, making it easy for people to find, analyze, share and ultimately understand the information is another story. Many tech experts say the solution lies in the Semantic Web, a slowly emerging set of technologies that aim to improve access to and the usability of information and software services on the Internet, ushering in a new era of Internet applications that some are already calling Web 3.0. Whereas Web 2.0 is about connecting people through social-networking applications such as Facebook, wikis and Twitter, the next generation will be about connecting information in new ways that people will find more useful, relevant and enjoyable.
http://benton.org/node/26517
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FIVE TECHNOLOGIES IRAN IS USING TO CENSOR THE WEB
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Brad Reed]
One month after a disputed presidential election sparked widespread unrest in Iran, the country's government has initiated a cyber-crackdown that is challenging hackers across the globe to find new ways to help keep Iranian dissidents connected to the Web. While the government's initial efforts to censor the Internet were blunt and often ineffective, it has started employing more sophisticated tools to thwart dissidents' attempts to communicate with each other and the outside world. Iranian dissidents are not alone in their struggle, however, as several sympathetic hacker groups have been working to keep them online. One such group is NedaNet, whose mission is to "help the Iranian people by setting up networks of proxy severs, anonymizers, and any other appropriate technologies that can enable them to communicate and organize." NedaNet project coordinator Morgan Sennhauser, who has just written a paper detailing the Iranian government's latest efforts to thwart hackers, says that the government's actions have been surprisingly robust and have challenged hackers in ways that the Chinese government's efforts at censorship have not.
http://benton.org/node/26515
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