The global cellphone market is set to grow in the holiday sales-fueled October-to-December quarter, after four quarters of falls, raising fears of pricing battles, analysts said on Friday. The mobile phone industry is ending its worst year ever, with top handset vendor Nokia forecasting earlier this month that 2009 market volumes would fall 7 percent from 2008, indicating a small rise in the fourth quarter.
Change is in the wind for the pharmaceutical industry and magazines, as a rash of potential curbs on pharma advertising spotlights one of the medium's most dependable categories. With healthcare issues on the front burner, lawmakers are taking aim at the tax deduction on ad expenses for prescription drugs, while TV ads for sex aids like Viagra are coming under scrutiny. Even before President Obama took office, buyers and publishers noticed a tempering in pharma spending, which some interpreted as an anticipation of a less-friendly attitude toward the industry. Some drug marketers—including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Merck—last year said they had voluntarily put a moratorium on advertising for new drugs. Direct-to-consumer drug advertising has long been politically sensitive, but since the Food & Drug Administration relaxed its rules for drug ads on TV in 1997, spending to reach healthcare consumers directly has ballooned. Magazines have shared in the wealth. From 2003-'08, drugs & remedies in consumer magazines soared 58 percent to $2.2 billion, ranking it No. 2 behind toiletries & cosmetics, according to Publishers Information Bureau. And with mainstay print categories like financial, auto and travel tanking, pharma is one category that's been a bright spot.
The European Union moved to the next stage of an infringement proceeding, saying the UK has failed to provide its citizens with the full protection of EU rules on privacy and personal data protection when using electronic communications. "European laws state that EU countries must ensure the confidentiality of people's electronic communications like e-mail or Internet browsing," said the EU in a release, "by prohibiting their unlawful interception and surveillance without the user's consent. As these rules have not been fully put in place in the national law of the UK, the Commission today said that it will send the UK a reasoned opinion."
[Commentary] On the heels of the sixth annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, information security has been generally accepted as a cost of doing business. The question is how to pay the tab. Confronted by the Great Recession, some states and localities have deferred security spending to survive the budget crisis, making the same kind of Faustian bargain uninsured motorists do when they choose rent and food over insurance premiums. They perilously calculate that they'll catch up eventually and gamble that they can avoid accidents in the meantime. When the bet goes bad, there's hell to pay. Fresh guidance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on federal grant prioritization would help. So too would fresh thinking about a unified cyber-security funding model that accounts for potential weak links regardless of whether they are at the center or the periphery of what ultimately is government's shared operating environment.
On October 29, AT&T visited the Federal Communications Commission to discuss the requirements for deploying Smart Grid Technology on a wireless service provider network, the impediments to deployment, and opportunities for the FCC to help overcome these obstacles.
The Health IT Standards Committee's Implementation Workgroup heard from several large and small health plans, hospitals, doctors' practices and vendors. The workgroup, chaired by federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, is gathering information on how to set standards for secure health data exchange systems. The committee will forward its recommendations to the Health and Human Services Department, which will consider them for upcoming regulations later this year for distributing $20 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments. The payments will go to providers who buy and "meaningfully use" certified electronic health record systems. Some of the health plans have set up pathways to exchange data through HHS' Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) pilot project.
Capitalization Strategies Workshop
Federal Communications Commission
FCC Commission Meeting Room
445 12th St. SW
Washington D.C. 20554
November 12, 2009
9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-294387A1.doc
The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Communications Business Opportunities ("OCBO") will host a Capitalization Strategies Workshop focused on capital acquisition both for developing entrepreneurs and for Small and Disadvantaged Businesses ("SDBs). The Workshop is open to the public and will be held on November 12, 2009 from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
Entrepreneurs, SDBs, and others interested in telecommunications and/or broadcasting, for which raising capital is a prerequisite, will hear remarks presented by panelists on each of two panels. The first panel will be made up of government sector representatives and the second panel will be made up of finance experts from the private sector.
Specifically, the panelists will address issues involved in obtaining public-sector or private-sector financing for those entrepreneurs or SDBs who seek either to launch new enterprises or to facilitate growth in existing businesses. Panelists will discuss capitalization strategies applicable in a variety of business sectors, i.e. broadband technologies, cable and broadcast TV, broadcast radio, wireless services, and common carrier facilities. For more information related to the agenda and the panelists, please go to http://www.broadband.gov/workshops.
Capitalization strategies will also be discussed in the context of ownership of ancillary services that provide technological, marketing, and administrative support systems for businesses in the communications industry.
A special feature of the Workshop will include 20-minute breakout sessions in which the panelists will meet one-on-one with individuals and provide a critique and constructive feedback on their business plans. In order to facilitate this process, interested parties are asked to review the investment criteria of each of the panelists and select the most appropriate panelist with which to discuss your business plan. Please indicate your selection as described below.
BREAKOUT SESSION PARTICIPANTS: Interested parties who wish to participate in the breakout sessions must sign up in advance and identify their top two choices of panelists with which they wish to meet during the breakout session. In order to participate in the breakout sessions, you must e-mail your selection of panelists together with your business plan, or pertinent business information, to Karen Beverly, OCBO, no later than Thursday, November 5, 2009. Karen Beverly may be reached at Karen.Beverly@fcc.gov or by phone at (202) 418-0990. There are a limited number of breakout sessions; however, we will attempt to accommodate interested parties to the maximum extent possible. The Workshop will provide you with an opportunity to exchange contact information with the panelists so that you may arrange future meetings.
BREAKOUT SESSION PANELISTS
Mark Levine (Core Capital) Core Capital primarily focuses on the types of core technologies enabling or enhancing data and communication, with successful investments in a wide range of information technologies. Core Capital looks to invest in large, rapidly growing markets. Core's initial investments are typically in the $3-$7 million range, with an expectation of $10-$15 million in total capital over the life of the investment. Core often serves as the lead investor, working with other leading funds to build, or participate in, investment syndicates for nearly every investment. See www.core-capital.com/.
Jerry Johnson (RLJ Equity) RLJ Equity seeks to identify and invest in high quality companies led by motivated and skilled executives. RLJ Equity then aligns both short and long-term interests by providing management teams with meaningful ownership stakes in the businesses they lead. While RLJ will actively pursue opportunities across a broad range of industries, they seek certain characteristics within each of our investments, including, but not limited to, companies valued between $50 million and $200 million, and equity investments of $20 million to $45 million. See www.rljequitypartners.com.
Arun Gupta (Columbia Capital) Columbia invests exclusively in the wireless, broadband, information technology, and new media sectors. As a premier venture franchise, Columbia leverages experience in all aspects of its business from sourcing to recruiting to successful exit. Columbia pursues a multi-stage strategy from seed through growth stages $1 million to $50 million. Columbia invests when the opportunity is right. Columbia is typically the first institutional investor in a business and assumes a leadership role in the company and on its board, building close working relationships with entrepreneurs. See www.colcap.com/.
Anita Stephens Graham (Opportunity Capital) Opportunity Capital's primary investment focus is providing capital to later stage companies seeking acquisition and expansion financing. OCP focuses primarily on businesses in the areas of communications, including media broadcasting and wireless, applied technology and traditional manufacturing segments. We invest in companies with exclusive licenses or franchises, proprietary products or processes or other unique features and characteristics that provide a clear and sustainable competitive advantage. OCP invests only in companies with experienced, compatible management teams that adequately cover each of the businesses' key functional areas. Our preferred investment range is $2,000,000 to $10,000,000. See www.opportunitycapitalpartners.com/.
Sean Green (SBA) The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is created as an independent agency of the federal government is formed to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. We recognize that small business is critical to our economic recovery and strength, to building America's future, and to helping the United States compete in today's global marketplace. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands and Guam. For a description of SBA's loan programs, see www.sba.gov.
Maureen Lewis (NTIA) The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the executive branch agency principally responsible for advising the President on telecommunications and information policies. In this role, NTIA frequently works with other Executive Branch agencies to develop and present the Administration's position on these issues. In addition to representing the Executive Branch in both domestic and international telecommunications and information policy activities, NTIA also manages the Federal use of spectrum; performs cutting-edge telecommunications research and engineering, including resolving technical telecommunications issues for the Federal government and private sector; and administers infrastructure and public telecommunications facilities grants. NTIA is currently managing the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). For a description of the BTOP, please see www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/.
Additional panelists from the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) have been invited to participate.
Senate Judiciary Committee
Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009
SD-226
Business meeting to consider S.448 and H.R.985, bills to maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media,
S.1490, to prevent and mitigate identity theft, to ensure privacy, to provide notice of security breaches, and to enhance criminal penalties, law enforcement assistance, and other protections against security breaches, fraudulent access, and misuse of personally identifiable information,
S.139, to require Federal agencies, and persons engaged in interstate commerce, in possession of data containing sensitive personally identifiable information, to disclose any breach of such information.
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