Oct 29, 2009 (Does the Nation Need TV or Mobile Broadband?)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY OCTOBER 29, 2009
Find Headlines online at http://www.benton.org/headlines on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Benton-Foundation/ and on Twitter @benton_fdn
POLICYMAKERS
Obama tech adviser Susan Crawford plans departure
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN & THE STIMULUS
Decision Time: Does the Nation Need TV or Mobile Broadband?
FCC November Meeting Agenda Continues Focus on Broadband
National Broadband Plan Must Address Middle Mile before Building Fiber to Anchor Institutions
Evaluation of Broadband Investments on Small Businesses and Job Creation
MORE ON BROADBAND
Want 50Mbps Internet in your town? Threaten to roll out your own
Google Says It Will Limit Call Blocking
Sandvine follows shift to services, user experience
Point Topic Maps Broadband in the UK
Qwest: Fiber to the cell is hot, Fiber to the Home is not
HEALTH & MEDIA
Senate Commerce Committee Ponders Perils Of Texting, Driving
CONTENT
PTC Finds Increase in Violence Against Females on Television
Steven Waldman Named to Lead FCC Effort on Future of Media in a Changing
FCC Defends "Fleeting Expletives" Fox Ruling
Public Interest Groups Support New FTC Powers
UK threatens Web access block in piracy fight
SAFETY & SECURITY
House Passes the Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program Extension Act
Critical Infrastructure Protection: Current Cyber Sector-Specific Planning Approach Needs Reassessment
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Fox, Obama Administration Talking; CNN's Brown Backs Fox
MORE ONLINE ...
NIST Seeks Input on Smart Grid Interoperability Panel
Top students spurning STEM fields
Levin will head SETDA
Zell: No Newspapers Can Survive
Facebook challenges financial regulators: FINRA
Personalization moving into screening spotlight
Slump Sinks Visa Program
POLICYMAKERS
Obama tech adviser Susan Crawford plans departure
OBAMA TECH ADVISOR SUSAN CRAWFORD PLANS DEPARTURE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
White House technology policy adviser, Susan Crawford will leave her position in January to return to the University of Michigan Law School where she is a tenured professor. Crawford has served as a technology policy coordinator for President Obama on the National Economic Council headed by Lawrence H. Summers. In that role she has been President Obama's adviser on the development of broadband Internet networks and a Network Neutrality policy. Crawford left her teaching position at the University of Michigan on a temporary leave to work on Obama's transition from the campaign to government. She was charged during the transition with overseeing Obama's review of the FCC along with University of Pennsylvania professor Kevin Werbach. "Susan has done an outstanding job coordinating technology policy at the National Economic Council where her expertise on issues from intellectual property to the Internet has been invaluable," said a White House spokesman. "We understand that she needs to return to her responsibilities in Ann Arbor, but we will miss having her wise counsel in the White House."
benton.org/node/29240 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN & THE STIMULUS
DECISION TIME: DOES THE NATION NEED TV OR MOBILE BROADBAND?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission has its eye on television broadcast spectrum. At stake is about 300 MHz of spectrum currently delivering the nation's NBC, CBS, ABC and other broadcast channels over the airwaves. Just months after forcing broadcasters to go through the process of switching spectrum through the digital television transition, the FCC wants to take part of the broadcasters' new home back so carriers can deliver mobile broadband. They should. As we treat our wireless devices like mobile computers (and even access the web on our laptops via cellular connections) data use is going up exponentially. Cisco estimates a 66-fold growth between 2008 and 2013 on mobile networks. The U.S. would need at least 120 MHz per carrier to fulfill that demand on the current generation wireless networks. Currently most carriers in large markets have about 100 MHz. The U.S. has about 50 MHz in the pipeline and 409.5 MHz of spectrum currently assigned for commercial wireless use. Stifel analysts think any effort to get the spectrum released would require an act of Congress and a considerable legislative fight. The broadcasters have 6 MHz of spectrum to use in order to deliver their programming. An HD stream conservatively requires between 2 MHz and 3 MHz to broadcast, so the FCC is interested in appropriating the other 3 MHz or 4 MHz. Some broadcasters are keen to use the excess to deliver over-the-air mobile television through a standard proposed by the Open Mobile Video Coalition. In a perfect world, where everyone had fat broadband pipes, this wouldn't even have to be up for much debate, because television, even broadcast TV, could be delivered via home broadband connections, as is the case with services like FiOS TV and U-verse. However, folks have to pay for that service rather than just buy a television capable of receiving digital signals, and since 10 percent of the population don't have a pay TV subscription, that's a lot of people who would be forced to buy a previously free service. The government has bent over backwards for those people before. Plus, even the cable guys and telcos get their broadcast signals over-the-air and then packetize them and send them to subscribers, although this could change. So in a way, the idea of allocating more spectrum for broadband at the expense of TV is an example of an older technology being forced to make way for a newer one. I don't think that's what the FCC plans to do here, since broadcasters do hold more spectrum than they can currently use to deliver shows like "30 Rock" or "CSI," but I expect the broadcast industry to hold onto their megahertz as tightly as they can.
benton.org/node/29238 | GigaOm
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC NOVEMBER MEETING AGENDA CONTINUES FOCUS ON BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
Less than a week since the Federal Communications Commission's last meeting, the Commission is already planning for next month. Chairman Julius Genachowski released a tentative agenda with two items: 1) Wireless Service Facility Siting: A Memorandum Opinion and Order on promoting the deployment of wireless broadband services by reducing delays in the construction and improvement of wireless networks, while also preserving local zoning authority. 2) National Broadband Plan Status Report: Commission staff will report on the status of the National Broadband Plan, which the FCC must deliver to Congress on Feb. 17, 2010. The presentation will include analysis of the major gaps in broadband in America. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2009
benton.org/node/29254 | Federal Communications Commission
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MIDDLE MILE AND ANCHOR INSTITUTION FIBER CONNECTIONS
[SOURCE: Fiberutilities Group, AUTHOR: ]
Responding to the Federal Communications Commission's request for comment on cost estimates for connecting anchor institutions to fiber broadband networks, Fiberutilities Group says the "drop and entrance" construction approach in the Gates model needs to be supplemented to resolve the middle mile problem. The issue is that the fiber plant currently deployed for middle mile is either depleted, not available for new uses or not there at all. Without middle mile fiber there is no advantage gained by building the "last" mile fiber to anchor institutions as contemplated by the Gates Foundation study.
benton.org/node/29253 | Fiberutilities Group
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BROADBAND STIMULUS AND SMALL BUSINESS
[SOURCE: House Small Business Committee]
The House Small Business Committee held a hearing to review steps to advance broadband deployment and adoption through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) programs. Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) noted that since larger telecommunications companies opted not to participate in the first round of broadband stimulus funding, small firms should win a sizeable chunk of available grants and loans. But she raised concerns that the programs' process has been less than seamless. Many small businesses have complained of challenges ranging from excessive paperwork to restrictive capital requirements. Representatives of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) testified on the current status of broadband investments and efforts to create opportunities for small businesses. NTIA head Larry Strickling said greater broadband availability impacts much more than the commercial operations and profit margins of small businesses. Broadband, by providing greater access to information, health care, education, and job opportunities, has the power to transform communities across the country and sow the seeds for the next generation of American entrepreneurship and innovation.
benton.org/node/29252 | House Small Business Committee | NTIA head Larry Strickling | RUS Director Jonathan Adelstein
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MORE ON BROADBAND
WANT 50MBPS INTERNET IN YOUR TOWN? THREATEN TO BUILD YOUR OWN
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Regional telco TDS Telecommunications last week issued a press release announcing a major milestone for the company: 50Mbps service over fiber optic cable to residents of Monticello, Minnesota. The Minneapolis suburb became one of the few non-FiOS communities in the country to experience full fiber-to-the-home deployment, and subscribers will all receive a free upgrade from 25Mbps service to the new 50Mbps tier. Even better is the price, which starts at $49.95 a month for 50Mbps fiber service without the need to buy other services. But the entire congratulatory press release glosses over a key fact: the reason that Monticello received a fiber network was the town's decision to install a municipal-owned fiber network to every home in town... spawning a set of TDS lawsuits that went all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the town.
benton.org/node/29237 | Ars Technica
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOOGLE SAYS IT WILL LIMIT CALL BLOCKING
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Google said it will limit the number of phone numbers its Internet-phone service blocks, in a partial bow to Federal Communications Commission concerns that it was skirting rules designed to ensure that consumers phone calls are connected seamlessly. It's not clear if Google's actions will settle the FCC's inquiry, since the agency has historically taken the position that phone companies can't block calls or stop consumers from calling whomever they want. The search giant said its Google Voice service, launched in March, will no longer block all calls to some rural areas where it costs more to connect calls. It will continue to restrict calls "to fewer than 100 specific phone numbers, all of which we have good reason to believe are engaged in...schemes" designed to increase costs for phone carriers, Google wrote in a blog posting.
benton.org/node/29257 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SANDVINE EVOLVES
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Rich Karpinski]
Deep packet inspection (DPI) is evolving into something new. It has to what it was before, with a focus on helping providers manage packets and protocols, is both a done deal in most networks and a bit verboten in this age of Network Neutrality. That's part of the message in the release of an updated usage management solution from DPI vendor Sandvine, perhaps best known for providing the traffic switches at the heart of Comcast's network which has drawn the scrutiny, and sometimes ire, of the FCC. Sandvine released Usage Management 2.5, a new version of one of its core solutions for helping network providers both wireline and wireless institute new billing models driven on user consumption, service plan tiering and other approaches that try to manage the bandwidth crunch by influencing usage patterns.
benton.org/node/29245 | TelephonyOnline
Recommend this Headline
back to top
POINT TOPIC MAPS BROADBAND IN THE UK
[SOURCE: Point Topic, AUTHOR: ]
Point Topic's new mapping of broadband geography in the UK shows how deep the digital divide is between the North and the South. Looking more closely at the local authorities with high or low broadband penetration serves to strengthen the North-South distinction. High broadband areas are the prosperous towns, cities and extended suburbs of the four Government Regions which form the south of Britain the South East, the South West, East of England and London. Taken together these four regions have 32.9 broadband lines for every 100 population. The eight more northern and western regions on the other hand have only 26.1% penetration. High broadband areas include the more prosperous London Boroughs, towns such as Norwich, Watford, Bristol or Plymouth, and largely suburban districts such as Elmbridge, Hertsmere or South Gloucestershire. Exceptions on the high broadband list, such as Cardiff and the Shetland Islands, seem to be benefiting from special local factors. Cardiff, with its capital city status, is having considerable success in stretching the London effect a little further west into South Wales. The Shetland Islands seems to be showing something of a Scandinavian effect Internet usage tends to be higher in lands with harsh weather and long winter nights.
benton.org/node/29236 | Point Topic
Recommend this Headline
back to top
QWEST: FIBER TO THE CELL HOT, FIBER TO THE HOME IS NOT
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
A month after announcing the launch of wholesale fiber-based wireless backhaul services, Qwest Communications is bullish on fiber to the cell at the same time it says industry trends indicate clearer than ever that the company has no need to deploy fiber to the home (FTTH). As Qwest exits the retail wireless business this week, it is talking to all of the industry's mobile operators about using its fiber-to-the-node network, which now passes more than 3 million homes, to bring fiber to mobile base stations. Though the company said it was too soon to estimate the potential revenue from its fiber backhaul initiative, executives said the new initiative could help raise margins in its wholesale business.
benton.org/node/29235 | TelephonyOnline
Recommend this Headline
back to top
HEALTH & MEDIA
SENATE HEARING ON DISTRACTED DRIVING
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on distracted driving. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller and Sen Frank R. Lautenberg -- Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security -- introduced comprehensive legislation (S. 1938) to address the nationwide problem of distracted driving in both passenger and commercial vehicles. Ray LaHood noted three types of distraction: (1) visual taking your eyes
off the road; (2) manual taking your hands off the wheel; and (3) cognitive taking your mind off the road. "While all distractions can adversely impact safety," Sec LaHood said, "texting is the most egregious because it involves all three types of distraction." Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said the FCC wants to play an active role in encouraging technologies that can reduce injuries and loss of life due to distracted driving. The Commission is examining whether there are ways in which it can act to create a climate that will allow consumers and industry to have more options in addressing the problem, he said. Chairman Genachowski said he wants the FCC to set a good example and recently reinforced to agency employees the importance of complying with President Obama's recent executive order that banned the use of federal devices to text while driving. The order also prohibited the use of personal devices while driving government vehicles. Transportation secretary
benton.org/node/29251 | CongressDaily | Sen Rockefeller | Sec of Transportation Ray LaHood | FCC Chairman Genachowski
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CONTENT
PTC FINDS TV VIOLENT TO WOMEN
[SOURCE: Parents Television Council, AUTHOR: Press release]
New research from the Parents Television Council finds that storylines depicting violence against females are increasing and being shown more graphically and in ways that have not been seen in the history of television. The PTC's report examined fatal and nonfatal female victimizations on prime time broadcast television and finds that there was a significant increase in all forms of female victimization storylines; an increase in the depiction of teen girls as victims; an increase in the use of female victimization as a punch line in comedy series; and an increase in the depiction of intimate partner violence. Major findings include: 1) Incidents of violence against women and teenage girls are increasing on television at rates that far exceed the overall increases in violence on television. 2) Every network but ABC demonstrated a significant increase in the number of storylines that included violence against women between 2004 and 2009. 3) Although female victims were primarily of adult age, collectively, there was a 400% increase in the depiction of teen girls as victims across all networks from 2004 to 2009. 4) Fox stood out for using violence against women as a punch line in its comedies -- in particular Family Guy and American Dad -- trivializing the gravity of the issue of violence against women. 5) From 2004 to 2009 there was an 81% increase in incidences of intimate partner violence on television.
benton.org/node/29248 | Parents Television Council | PTC report | Reuters | TVNewsCheck | B&C
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WALDMAN WILL HEAD CHILDREN AND MEDIA REVIEW
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the appointment of Steven Waldman, a highly respected Internet entrepreneur and journalist, to lead an agency-wide initiative to assess the state of media in these challenging economic times and make recommendations designed to ensure a vibrant media landscape. Waldman is the Co-Founder, President, and Editor-in-Chief of Beliefnet.com, the largest multi-faith Web site for religion and inspiration, and served as its CEO from 2002 until 2007, when it was acquired by News Corporation. Under his leadership, Beliefnet won the top editorial awards on the Internet, including the General Excellence Award from the Online News Association and the National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online. Waldman, who will join the Office of Strategic Planning and serve as Senior Advisor to the Chairman, will work with the relevant FCC bureaus and lead an open, fact-finding process to craft recommendations to meet the traditional goals of serving the public interest and making sure that all Americans receive the information, educational content, and news they seek. He will step down from Beliefnet and News Corporation and discontinue his blog and the regular column he writes for Wall Street Journal Online.
benton.org/node/29250 | Federal Communications Commission | USAToday | B&C
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC DEFENDS FLEETING EXPLETIVES RULING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the Federal Communications Commission says it was correct to conclude that the "vulgar expletives" from Cher and Nicole Richie during a Fox 2002 broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards were a violation of community standards for broadcasting. Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the FCC's decision to "expand broadcast indecency enforcement to fleeting expletives, Fox is left with no basis for challenging the Commission's determination that the broadcasts violated longstanding federal prohibitions against broadcasting indecent material." The Commission also said indecency regulation is still necessary to "ensure that parents can construct 'a relatively safe haven for their children.'" The FCC reaffirmed that it believes broadcasting to be pervasive and uniquely accessible to children, and that broadcasting remains a unique medium given its free access to spectrum. "[U]nlike wireless telephone companies and others who are required to pay often substantial sums at auction for spectrum licenses," said the commission, broadcasters get theirs for free in exchange for public interest obligations.
benton.org/node/29249 | Broadcasting&Cable | FCC's brief
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NEW FTC POWERS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
High-tech, consumer, health and child advocacy groups wrote to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman and ranking member Joe Barton on Wednesday backing legislation that would ramp up the FTC's authority. The letter from the Center for Democracy and Technology, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumers Union, Public Knowledge, Media Access Project and others was sent on the eve of the committee's scheduled vote on the bill. The measure, which would also create a separate Consumer Financial Protection Agency, would allow the FTC to conduct consumer protection rulemakings under expedited processes; provide it with aiding and abetting liability for violations of the Section 5 of the FTC Act involving unfair or deceptive practices; and enable it to seek civil penalty liability for unfair and deceptive practices found to violate Section 5. The watchdog groups also support giving the FTC independent litigating authority in civil penalty cases.
benton.org/node/29244 | CongressDaily
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SAFETY & SECURITY
PUBLIC SAFETY GRANT PROGRAM
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
The House of Representatives passed by a vote of 420 to 0 the Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program Extension Act of 2009. This bipartisan legislation, which was introduced in the House by Rep. Jane Harman, would allow the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) to extend the deadline for making grants to public safety agencies to improve the interoperability of emergency communications systems Under current law, all grant expenditures must be completed by September 30, 2010. This measure would allow NTIA to extend that date to the end of fiscal year 2012.
benton.org/node/29246 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | Text of bill
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION
[SOURCE: Government Accountability Office, AUTHOR: David Powner]
The nation's critical infrastructure sectors (e.g., energy, banking) rely extensively on information technology systems. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued guidance in 2006 that instructed lead federal agencies, referred to as sector-specific agencies, to develop plans for protecting the sector's critical cyber and other (physical) infrastructure. These agencies issued plans in 2007, but GAO found that none fully addressed all 30 cyber security-related criteria identified in DHS's guidance and recommended that the plans be updated to address it by September 2008. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which sector plans have been updated to fully address DHS's cyber security requirements and assess whether these plans and related reports provide for effective implementation. To do this, GAO analyzed documentation, interviewed officials, and compared sector plans and reports with DHS cyber criteria. GAO recommends that DHS assess whether existing sector-specific planning processes should continue to be the nation's approach to securing cyber and other critical infrastructure and consider whether other options would provide more effective results. DHS concurred with the recommendation; however, it took exception with certain report facts and conclusions. GAO addressed these comments, but they did not result in substantive report revisions.
benton.org/node/29243 | Government Accountability Office | Highlights
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
FOX, OBAMA TALKING; CNN BACKS FOX
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Bauder]
Fox News Channel and the Obama administration are talking. The network confirmed a Politico report that Fox news executive Michael Clemente met at the White House on Wednesday with Robert Gibbs, President Barack Obama's press secretary. There were no details given about the meeting. Fox received support Wednesday from an unlikely source: CNN's prime-time host Campbell Brown. She interviewed Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and asked whether the White House considered left-leaning MSNBC biased as well. Jarrett wouldn't speak about the network. She "seems loathe to admit that MSNBC has a bias," Brown said. "And that is where I think the White House loses all credibility on this issue." If the White House wants to talk about bias in the media, officials "should elevate the conversation and talk about bias on the right and on the left," Brown said. "Because when you just target one side, you reveal your own bias - that you are only critical of those who are critical of you."
benton.org/node/29258 | Associated Press
Recommend this Headline
back to top