July 15, 2005 (FCC Confirmation Hearing today)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY JULY 15, 2009
Headlines is taking a break. ISP-willing, we'll be back on TUESDAY, JULY 21.
For upcoming telecom policy events -- including today's FCC confirmation hearing -- see http://www.benton.org/calendar/2009-07
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Broadband adoption, benefits on the rise
Harvard's Berkman Center to Conduct Independent Review of Broadband Studies to Assist FCC
Top Ten Ways The NTIA/RUS NOFA Fails America
'Bring Betty Broadband' campaign leads new OC, Inc. initiative
Sen Hutchison Introduces Broadband Bill to Spur Private Investment, Raise Public Adoption
ICANN considering cybersquatting block
POLICYMAKERS
Give Clyburn a Chance at the FCC
New Hires For Obama's SciTech Team
BROADCASTING
BBC Resists a Move to Give Part of Its License Fee to Other Broadcasters
Bankruptcy looms for Sinclair, Nation's 12th-Largest TV Station Owner
New York Times to sell NYC radio station
Rep. Mike Ross's Local TV Freedom Act Aimed At Resolving Issues Around DMAs That Cross State Lines
HEALTH AND MEDIA
Health Care Bill Won't End Tax Deductions For Prescription Drug Ads
Kaiser Permanente Survey Shows Seniors Embrace Internet to Manage Their Health
WIRELESS
Jamming Prison Cell Phones Threatens Public Safety, Groups Tell Senate
Developer: Apple blocking push on unlocked iPhones
Free Press Calls for More Competition in Wireless Market
MORE ONLINE
Iran Adds to Limits On Local Media
How AT&T gets stimulus funds
Senate Passes R&D Reauthorization
GE: Smart grid yields net-zero energy home
Ford Foundation Gives $100,000 to Aid Rural Papers with Digital
Intel's Results Give Hope to Industry
Will Asia become the center for innovation in the 21st century?
INTERNET/BROADBAND
BROADBAND ADOPTION, BENEFITS ON THE RISE
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Sarah Reedy]
Home broadband adoption increased more than six-fold between 2001 and 2008, and while gaps in adoption still exist, gaps in valuation no longer do, according to a study released today by the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA). The report found that with $32 billion gains in 2008, consumers received more than $30 billion in benefits annually from using broadband at home. According to the study, approximately 66.6 million households used broadband in 2008, up from 10.4 million in 2001. Of these, the number of dial-up users has decreased from 44.2 million households in 2001 to 10.5 million in 2008, and households with no access at all fell from 53.6 million in 2001 to 39.7 million last year.
http://benton.org/node/26484
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BERKMAN TO REVIEW BROADBAND STUDIES FOR FCC
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University will conduct an independent expert review of existing literature and studies about broadband deployment and usage throughout the world. This project will help inform the Federal Communications Commission's efforts in developing the National Broadband Plan. "As the Commission embarks on the important task of crafting a National Broadband Plan, better data will inform and animate the activities of the agency. The Berkman Center's independent review of existing information will help lay the foundation for enlightened, data-driven decisionmaking," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "A comprehensive assessment of these plans will be enormously helpful given our short timetable," said Blair Levin, who is coordinating the FCC's National Broadband Plan. "We don't want to reinvent the wheel. Knowing what has already been learned will improve our ability to deliver the best possible National Broadband Plan." Consistent with Chairman Genachowski's recent public statements regarding an open and transparent National Broadband Plan process, the results of the Berkman Center review will be made publicly available.
http://benton.org/node/26483
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TOP TEN WAYS THE NTIA/RUS NOFA FAILS AMERICA
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] Cue Paul Shaffer... here's the top ten things wrong with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's and the Rural Utilities Service's notice of broadband stimulus funding availability: 1) It's taken too long to get capital flowing so networks can start deploying. 2) Now things are moving too fast. 3) The workshops are disorganized and pointless. 4) Asking volunteers to vet applications invites fraud. 5) Basing the definitions of unserved and underserved on advertised speeds encourages lying. 6) Giving incumbents right-of-refusal provides opportunity to falsify information to derail projects. 7) Too much emphasis is placed on connecting rural unserved areas and not enough on supporting innovative testbeds. 8) The minimum threshold for the definition of broadband is woefully inadequate. 9) The requirements for projects don't reflect the realities of building networks. 10) In the end, this NOFA fails America in its lack of vision and aspiration.
http://benton.org/node/26482
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BRING BETTY BROADBAND
[SOURCE: United Church of Christ, AUTHOR: Jeff Woodard]
Leading off its "Bring Betty Broadband" campaign to promote equal high-speed-Internet access for all, a diverse gathering of religious groups has launched So We Might See, a national interfaith coalition for media justice. "So We Might See is an ecumenical, interfaith coalition that has come together to educate and advocate for media justice, both within our faith communities and beyond," says the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, executive director of the United Church of Christ's Office of Communication, Inc. "We will work across religious lines to address the social, structural and economic barriers that prevent equal access to the media and telecommunications." So We Might See plans to develop a network of individuals and congregations that will focus greater public attention on media policy issues, says Guess. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/26481
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CONNECTING ACT OF 2009
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Press release]
Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced legislation to engage the private sector and encourage investment in the deployment of broadband. The Connecting Act of 2009 is designed to stimulate investment and economic development activity over the next five years by creating limited duration tax credits that will encourage companies to make investments that they might otherwise delay due to the economic downturn. Under the bill, targeted incentives would provide companies immediate access to capital and encourage broadband investment to maintain and improve infrastructure where it is needed most. The bill would also create a technology-neutral bond program that will allow communities, rather than federal bureaucrats, to raise funds for construction, assess their own infrastructure needs, and adopt the broadband technologies that are most appropriate. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/26480
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ICANN CONSIDERING CYBERSQUATTING BLOCK
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Anick Jesdanun]
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is considering a centralized database of trademark holders, to cut down on questionable registrations of new Internet addresses. Backers of the idea say it is needed so trademark holders won't have to spend thousands of dollars registering domain names defensively, to block someone from registering them and trying to profit -- a practice known as "cybersquatting." The proposed trademark database comes as ICANN is trying to widely expand the number of Internet domains, which include ".com," for the first time since the 1980s. New names could start appearing next year.
http://benton.org/node/26479
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POLICYMAKERS
GIVE CLYBURN A CHANCE AT THE FCC
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Timothy Karr, Ben Scott]
[Commentary] On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee holds a confirmation hearing for Mignon Clyburn to become a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission. As the third Democrat on the five-member commission, Clyburn would cast a deciding vote for President Obama's bold technology agenda. And yet, Clyburn's nomination has met with a mixed reaction from FCC-watchers. Some fear she may already have pitched her tent with the entrenched special interests that have controlled media policy for decades. It's been asked: What do we know about her position on key issues such as Net Neutrality? Can she be counted on to break open wireless markets for more innovation and consumer choice? Will she stand with Obama's reform agenda and help overhaul an agency that's long been in the thrall of corporate lobbyists?
http://benton.org/node/26476
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NEW HIRES FOR OBAMA'S SCITECH TEAM
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Former Google Head of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs Andrew McLaughlin and Congressional Research Service veteran Deborah Stine have joined the Obama administration. McLaughlin will serve as a deputy chief technology officer under Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Stine will be the executive director of the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Policy. PCAST is co-chaired by Obama's science adviser and OSTP Director John Holdren; Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; and Harold Varmus, president of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
http://benton.org/node/26475
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BROADCASTING
BBC RESISTS A MOVE TO GIVE PART OF ITS LICENSE FEE TO OTHER BROADCASTERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Pfanner]
The British Broadcasting Corp and the Labour government in Britain are disagreeing over a government plan to share some of the broadcaster's £3.6 billion in public financing with its commercial television rivals. The government proposed last month that 3.5 percent, or about £130 million ($212 million), be reallocated from the BBC to other broadcasters to help them pay for children's programming and local news. With advertising revenue shrinking, these companies say, they can no longer afford to broadcast such programming without subsidies. The BBC has mounted a vigorous defense of the current system, prompting the culture minister, Ben Bradshaw, to say Tuesday that the broadcaster's leaders were behaving in a "wrong-headed" and "self-defeating" manner.
http://benton.org/node/26463
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BANKRUPTCY LOOMS FOR SINCLAIR, NATION'S 12TH-LARGEST TV STATION OWNER
[SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: Paul Bond]
Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which owns or operates 58 television stations in 35 U.S. markets, said slow political advertising and a drop in auto advertising -- along with a recent downgrade of the company's debt -- will make it difficult to meet certain financial obligations. The company said that auto ads used to make up a quarter of its business, but that sector dipped to 18% last year and to 14% in the first quarter this year. Sinclair has $1.33 billion in debt and about $11 million in cash on hand. Last year, it lost $241 million on revenue of $756 million. Sinclair faces debt covenant violations, sagging revenues and cash flow that may make it impossible to service that debt, and what could be contentious negotiations with ABC over its affiliation agreement, which expires at year end. But the key and most immediate threat is the potential credit default of Cunningham Broadcasting Corp., with which Sinclair has local market agreements (LMAs) encompassing six stations. That could push Sinclair over the edge as soon as the end of July. Cunningham, which has at least two of the same lenders as Sinclair and which is controlled by members of the Smith family other than those who control Sinclair, has already defaulted on a $33 million term loan but obtained a reprieve from lenders until July 31.
http://benton.org/node/26478
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NEW YORK TIMES TO SELL NYC RADIO STATION
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
The New York Times Co said it will sell its New York City classical music radio station WQXR for $45 million, in a two-part sale that will help the struggling newspaper publisher pay off debt. The station will continue to broadcast classical music, something it has done for 73 years, but at 105.9 on the FM radio dial instead of 96.3 FM. Under the terms of the deal, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Radio will pay $33.5 million for the 96.3 slot on the FM radio dial that the Times uses to broadcast WQXR. The Times in turn will get the broadcast license for 105.9 FM, the slot that Univision currently owns. It plans to sell the license, its transmitting equipment and the WQXR call letters to WNYC Radio for $11.5 million. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year. The Federal Communications Commission, which supervises broadcast licenses, must approve the sales.
http://benton.org/node/26477
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LOCAL TV FREEDOM ACT
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Rep. Mike Ross (D-Arkansas) and 10 co-sponsors have introduced the Local TV Freedom Act, which would attempt to fix the so-called split TV markets issue which has been costing you sleep. Split markets are Nielsen DMAs that cross state lines and in which some viewers to cable and satellite services are getting the local station from the adjacent state rather than their own. Broadcasters say the bill changes in policy could cost them hundreds of million of dollars [collectively, of course... individually -- that would be some sort of record]. Rep Ross and satellite operators argue that it is simply giving local viewers access to their local stations denied by a gerrymandered DMA system. They also counter that the exclusivity argument is weakened by the availability of most TV shows worldwide at the click of a mouse.
http://benton.org/node/26473
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HEALTH AND MEDIA
HEALTH CARE BILL WON'T END TAX DEDUCTIONS FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Broadcasters, cable operators and the ad community were breathing a little easier Monday when the health care bill was introduced without a proposal to end the tax deduction for prescription drug ads, though the battle may not be over. The major networks, ad associations, and others including the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, joined in a full-court press in the past few weeks against the provision, sending Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) in particular, and his colleagues, a number of letters detailing the impact on their business of eliminating the deduction on the multi-billion ad category. The plan had been to eliminate the deduction to help foot the bill for broader healthcare reform. The industry countered that doing so by removing the deduction on what they said was a legitimate business expense, and a short-term revenue raiser, is a long-term adverse precedent for equal treatment and an economic hit at a time when the ad dollars in TV are already getting fewer and farther between.
http://benton.org/node/26474
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SENIORS EMBRACE ONLINE HEALTH
[SOURCE: Kaiser Permanente, AUTHOR: Press release]
New data show that Medicare beneficiaries registered to use My Health Manager, Kaiser Permanente's personal health record, are overwhelmingly satisfied with using the Internet to manage their health care online. According to the survey, online appointment requests, the ability to e-mail your doctor and review test results online all contribute to overall satisfaction with My Health Manager, but respondents were most happy with the prescription refill feature. The survey also showed that most respondents reported being in good or better health (70 percent), and that members who reported being in excellent health are significantly more engaged in their health care than those who said they are in poor health.
http://benton.org/node/26465
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WIRELESS
JAMMING PRISON CELL PHONES THREATENS PUBLIC SAFETY, GROUP TELLS SENATE
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Press release]
A day in advance of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on legislation (S. 251) to allow interference with cellular phones in prisons, nine public interest groups and consumer organizations told the Committee in a July 14 letter that the legislation would cause more serious problems than it would solve. "Jamming prison cell phones would jeopardize public safety because there is no way to jam only phones used by prisoners. All wireless communications could be shut down within a prison," said Harold Feld, legal director for Public Knowledge, adding, "Jamming won't work. You can beat jammers with a few pieces of tin foil. We have better ways of dealing with the problem. Feld also warned: "Once such a jamming device is built, it will inevitably become available on a wider basis. Who knows what chaos that will cause?" According to the letter, "Only a complete prohibition on cell phone jammers has successfully limited the sale and deployment of them in this country. Despite their availability in other countries, use of cell phone jammers in this country is forced underground and does little to interfere with commercial or public safety wireless use." The threat of widespread jammers is one reason commercial and public safety licensees oppose the attempts of one company, CellAntenna, to deploy the technology.
http://benton.org/node/26469
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DEVELOPER: APPLE BLOCKING PUSH ON UNLOCKED IPHONES
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Jim Dalrymple]
Czech developer PoweryBase is claiming that Apple is intentionally blocking push notifications to users of unlocked iPhones. PoweryBase, makers of several applications that use Apple's push notification service, said 80 percent of its customer support complaints are coming from a very small minority of its customers. All of these customers are using unlocked iPhones. The developer explains that when a push application requests an ID from the Apple server, the iPhone receives a unique token. Once the token is received, push notifications proceed as you would expect. The process only takes a few seconds to complete. However, PoweryBase says on unlocked phones they have seen the Apple server not respond at all. This just leaves the user's app in limbo until it times out.
http://benton.org/node/26468
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FREE PRESS CALLS FOR MORE COMPETITION IN WIRELESS MARKET
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Press release]
Free Press, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Media Access Project, New America Foundation and Public Knowledge filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission for the agency's annual report on competition in the wireless market. The filing highlights numerous problems in the wireless industry that limit consumer choice, raise prices and slow innovation. The groups also point to data that show reduced growth, investment and innovation in the market because of a lack of competition; they go on to suggest a comprehensive evaluation of the wireless market by the FCC.
http://benton.org/node/26467
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