Dec 23, 2009 (Merry Christmas, Connected Nation)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 23, 2009
Receive updates via twitter @benton_fdn
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN & THE STIMULUS
FCC Eyes Average Internet Speeds for Rural Areas
More Broadband Mapping and Planning Grants for 15 States
Merry Christmas, Connected Nation
Hey, White House, where's our broadband stimulus money?
FCC Receives Comments on Broadcast TV Spectrum for Broadband
Bringing Competition and Innovation to the TV Set-Top Box
USDA Highlights Rural Broadband Project
MORE ON BROADBAND/INTERNET
FCC hails Mayor Daley's plan to bring technology to 5 Chicago neighborhoods
Google races to speed up the Web
Comments Sought on Rural Health Care Pilot Program Extension
WIRELESS/TELECOM
New Wireless Substitution Estimates
Application disables smart phones in moving cars
TELEVISION
Almost $490 Million Unused from DTV Coupon Funding
FCC Delays Application Window for Low Power TV
Cablevision to Petition Supreme Court on Must-Carry
CYBERSECURITY
Howard Schmidt: What They Say
As attacks increase, U.S. struggles to recruit computer security experts
HEALTH
Health IT panel awaits public comment on standards rules
Clearer Picture Emerges on Stimulus's IT Funding
JOURNALISM
Don't throw out all old-media values
MORE ONLINE
A Senate vote for courtesy
Court Tells Microsoft to Edit Word
Ten Ways Social Media Changed Our Thinking in 2009
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN & THE STIMULUS
FCC EYES AVERAGE INTERNET SPEEDS FOR RURAL AREAS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Officials at the Federal Communications Commission are looking at setting a floor for Internet speed to which all Americans have access, particularly in rural areas which still rely on dial-up Internet service. FCC officials are considering speeds in the 2-4 mbps range, said Blair Levin, a former telecom analyst who's overseeing the FCC's National Broadband Plan. "That's kind of the range. A lot of people say that we ought to have big goals of 100 mbps to every home. When you look at the countries who say they're doing that, what they're doing is offering 100 mbps to some homes," Levin said Monday on the CSPAN show "The Communicators," which airs this weekend. Last week, Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA) -- chairman of the House Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee -- sent a letter to the agency suggesting that 80% of Americans should have access to 50 mbps service by 2015. "I think that's a very worthy goal, but what I think what we want to point out to decision-makers like the congressman, is yeah that's great if we think we have a path for doing it, here's a path," Levin said. "But if that path requires Congress to act in a certain way or the FCC to act in a certain way, here's what they need to do." Providing universal broadband access at 3 mbps would cost about $20 billion, the FCC estimates. The price tag for 50 mbps service across the U.S. would cost more than $50 billion. Much of that investment would have to come from the private sector, Levin says, although the agency is considering changes to a $7 billion annual federal phone subsidy program to fund new Internet lines in rural areas.
benton.org/node/30812 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MORE BROADBAND MAPPING AND PLANNING GRANTS FOR 15 STATES
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has awarded 15 grants to fund broadband mapping and planning activities in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee under NTIA's State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. The program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will increase broadband access and adoption through better data collection and broadband planning. The data will be displayed in NTIA's national broadband map, a tool that will inform policymakers' efforts and provide consumers with improved information on the broadband Internet services available to them. [details at the URL below]
benton.org/node/30811 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MERRY CHRISTMAS, CONNECTED NATION
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] In announcing a batch of broadband mapping grants on Dec. 22, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) turned the shape of the broadband world over to the parties most interested in shaping the outcome. They turned it over to an organization that got its way through whispers in a governor's ear, through a high bid on a procurement, through requests for proposals written just for them. The government has said it will supervise the mapping, (or someone will) to make sure they come out properly. Pardon the skepticism. The states won't do it. They are the ones which succumbed to the industry lobbying power. The Federal government? NTIA folded its tents long ago when it allowed so much confidentiality in the first Notice of Funds Availability, and when it caved to industry demands in July about what data should be reported. If NTIA had any courage to stand up to the industry, it would have presumably exercised it by now. So Merry Christmas, Connected Nation. Merry Christmas, AT&T. NTIA, your lump of coal is well deserved.
benton.org/node/30817 | Public Knowledge
Recommend this Headline
back to top
HEY, WHITE HOUSE, WHERE'S THE STIMULUS MONEY?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The White House has announced the destination of about two percent of the government's $7.2 billion broadband stimulus grant package. "Where's the rest?" everybody's starting to ask. And how do we make up for the funding/investment gap that still remains? Craig Settles says many of the applicants for these grants—cooperatives, schools, and libraries—don't have the kind of back office support that the big telcos and medium-sized incumbents bring to the government grant game, Settles pointed out, and so their applications have been more difficult to evaluate. In addition, just about every proposal filed with the Department of Commerce's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) has received comments from some other party, in many instances a telco or cable company. Many of those statements challenge the claims of the applicant, or "defendant," and have to be considered.
benton.org/node/30806 | Ars Technica
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BROADCAST SPECTRUM FOR BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
In early December, the Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice requesting public input specific data on the use of spectrum currently licensed to broadcast television stations. The FCC is seeking market-based mechanisms for television broadcasters to contribute to the broadband effort any spectrum in excess of that which they need to meet their public interest obligations and remain financially viable. This inquiry also seeks to understand what processes and incentives could ensure continuing spectral efficiency gains for broadcasters going forward. Here's a quick look at comments filed.
benton.org/node/30809 | Benton Foundation | Microsoft, Dell | PBS, CPB, APTS | National Public Safety Telecommunications Council | TVNewsCheck | TVNewsCheck | TVNewsCheck | B&C | Broadcasting&Cable | Benton et al | TVNewsCheck | TVNewsCheck | NAB | B&C | B&C - Local stations | Broadcasting&Cable - CEA/CTIA | J. H. Snider
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BRINGING COMPETITION AND INNOVATION TO THE TV SET-TOP BOX
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
In early December, the Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice seeking comment on how the FCC can encourage innovation in the
market for video devices that will assist the Commission's development of a National Broadband Plan. The convergence of the television and content delivered by
IP makes this a critical time to promote innovation in set-top devices that could support the FCC's effort to drive broadband adoption and utilization. Accordingly, the FCC is considering taking an active role in formulating a solution that will spur the development of a retail market for nationally portable video devices that will work across all delivery platforms. See quick summaries of comments filed by Texas Instruments, the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, the Consumer Electronics Association, the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition, and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
benton.org/node/30808 | Benton Foundation | COAT | CEA | CERC | NCTA
Recommend this Headline
back to top
USDA RURAL BROADBAND PROJECT
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Press release]
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted the newly announced Recovery Act Broadband Infrastructure project in Ohio that will receive a grant worth $1 million and a loan worth nearly $1.4 million in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Vice President Joseph Biden announced on December 17 during an event in Georgia that this project is among the first wave of broadband Recovery Act projects to be funded. Congress provided $2.5 billion in Recovery Act funding to USDA to help bring broadband services to rural un-served and underserved communities. USDA is providing the Consolidated Electric Cooperative with a grant worth $1 million and a loan worth nearly $1.4 million. These funds - which are being matched by $1.2 million from the company - will fund construction of a 166 mile 'middle mile' network that will bring major city connectivity into underserved areas of Northern Delaware County, Morrow County and the western portions of Knox and Licking Counties. This investment will offer nearly 5,000 homes in the area access to broadband service for the first time. It will affect nearly 50 local community institutions, offering libraries, schools, hospitals, community centers and fire stations a direct connection to broadband to improve their network speed and help them provide critical services. The expansion has the potential to improve the quality and lower the cost of broadband for 2000 businesses located in the service area.
benton.org/node/30810 | Department of Agriculture
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MORE ON BROADBAND/INTERNET
FCC HAILS PLAN TO CONNECT 5 CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS
[SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times, AUTHOR: Fran Spielman]
Five months after designating four impoverished Chicago neighborhoods as "digital excellence demonstration communities," Mayor Richard Daley on Monday added a fifth neighborhood to the list and put some meat on the bone. The plan to flood Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Chicago Lawn, Pilsen and the latest addition, Humboldt Park, with technology was hailed by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski as a model for the nation. "As we develop the national broadband plan in Washington, we're paying a lot of attention to the smart actions being taken in cities like Chicago," Genachowski said. Mayor Daley argued that bridging a digital divide that has left nearly 40 percent of Chicagoans with little or no access to the Internet is as important to cities today as paving streets and building water and sewer systems was in the 19th and 20th Centuries. "Many Chicagoans haven't embraced broadband and digital technology because they see it as too hard or too expensive," Daley said.
benton.org/node/30807 | Chicago Sun-Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOOGLE RACES TO SPEED UP THE WEB
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Juan Carlos Perez]
Google is in a really big hurry to make the Web experience faster. That became abundantly clear in 2009, when the company unveiled a steady stream of projects, products, and enhancements focused on increasing Internet speed. The common denominator across the various heterogeneous efforts -- including pushing proposals to revamp aging Internet protocols and lobbying governments for broadband improvements -- is an urgent desire to speed up the Web. This is rooted in Google's deeply held belief that a faster Internet is good for everyone, drives up online usage all around, and boosts the company's business. At first pass, it's hard to argue with this reasoning, particularly when many of the Google efforts are free and available as open-source software, which anyone can adopt, modify and use. Plus, Web latency remains a chronic, thorny problem with many improvement opportunities, and Google has the financial and talent resources needed to lead the way and tackle the bottlenecks.
benton.org/node/30804 | IDG News Service
Recommend this Headline
back to top
COMMENTS SOUGHT ON RURAL HEALTH CARE PILOT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
On November 2, 2009, the Wireline Competition Bureau issued a public notice seeking comment on a filing by the North Carolina TeleHealth Network (NCTN) requesting an extension of the June 30, 2010 deadline for funding commitment requests under the universal service Rural Health Care Pilot Program (Pilot Program). Extension requests similar to the one filed by NCTN have been filed by the Oregon Health Network (OHN), the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), Arkansas Telehealth Network (ATN), the New England Telehealth Consortium (NETC), Western New York Rural Area Health Education Center (R-AHEC), Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI), and Health Information Exchange of Montana (HIEM). NCTN's filing will be treated as a request for a one year extension for all participants in the Pilot Program. The extension requests filed by OHN, ANTHC, ATN, NETC, R-AHEC, MPHI and HIEM will be treated as ex parte comments in the open proceeding initiated by the NCTN filing. Any similar filings will also be treated as ex parte comments on the pending extension request proceeding.
benton.org/node/30803 | Federal Communications Commission
Recommend this Headline
back to top
WIRELESS/TELECOM
NEW WIRELESS SUBSTITUTION STATS
[SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AUTHOR: Stephen Blumberg, Julian Luke]
Preliminary results from the January-June 2009 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that the number of American homes with only wireless telephones continues to grow. More than one of every five American homes (22.7%) had only wireless telephones during the first half of 2009 -- an increase of 2.5 percentage points since the second half of 2008. In addition, one of every seven American homes (14.7%) had a landline yet received all or almost all calls on wireless telephones. This report presents the most up-to-date estimates available from the federal government concerning the size and characteristics of these populations. Nearly half of adults aged 25-29 years (45.8%) lived in households with only wireless telephones. More than one-third of adults aged 18-24 (37.6%) and approximately one-third of adults aged 30-34 (33.5%) lived in households with only wireless telephones. Hispanic adults (28.2%) were more likely than non-Hispanic white adults (19.7%) or non-Hispanic black adults (21.3%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones. Adults living in the South (25.0%) and Midwest (21.9%) were more likely than adults living in the Northeast (14.6%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones. Adults living in poverty (33.0%) and adults living near poverty (26.5%) were more likely than higher income adults (18.9%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
benton.org/node/30805 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Recommend this Headline
back to top
APP DISABLES PHONE WHILE DRIVING
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Melissa Rohlin]
Illume Software has developed a smart phone application that prevents drivers from talking or texting while driving. The application uses GPS technology to detect a car's speed. If the car is traveling faster than 5 mph, the software application sends incoming calls directly to voice mail and holds text messages. It also blocks outgoing text messages and calls, except 911 calls. Account holders can customize the software to allow calls to or from particular numbers, such as a parent's phone. The application is teenager-tamper-proof, according to the company. If it is successfully uninstalled, the account holder will immediately receive an e-mail alert.
benton.org/node/30813 | Los Angeles Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TELEVISION
DTV COUPON FUNDING GOES UNUSED
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Apparently, the National Telecommunications & Information Administration wound up not using almost the exact amount of extra funding provided in the stimulus package for DTV-to-analog converter box coupons -- $490 million. That doesn't mean, however, that the agency didn't need the money as an insurance policy after Congress failed to change the accounting rules on the DTV bill establishing the program. NTIA has returned to the Treasury $241.6 million left over from the DTV-to-analog coupon program. That money has been divided up by Congress and applied to HR 3326, the just-passed Defense appropriations bill ($128 million), and HR 2847, a jobs bill ($111 million) that is technically an appropriations bill for Commerce, Justice, Science and related agencies (NTIA is part of the Commerce Department). But another $250 million is left over from the original $1.34 billion funding as well. NTIA was free to return the unused $240 million in coupon funding it received from the stimulus package. But because of the way the original bill allocating the $1.34 billion for the subsidy was written, anything left over from that funding goes into a DTV public safety fund, which is not NTIA's to give back. While it may seem like that extra $490 million turned out to be unnecessary, it was actually crucial to keeping the program going because the original bill didn't allow NTIA to access funds until coupons expired and the money was freed up. That caused a backlog of millions of coupons early last year as NTIA waited for coupons to expire, a backlog that was cleared up with the extra stimulus funds. It does suggest, however, that a proposed legislative effort that would have changed the accounting rules on the first bill in order to free up that initial funding would have essentially covered the program.
benton.org/node/30801 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC DELAYS APPLICATION WINDOW FOR LOW POWER TV
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Media Bureau announces that the initiation of nationwide first-come, first-served, digital-only licensing for low power television (LPTV) and TV translator stations scheduled to begin January 25, 2010, is hereby postponed to July 26, 2010. The Bureau believes that a postponement of the January 25, 2010 date for nationwide licensing is necessary to complete the processing of applications that have been filed for rural areas since August 25, 2009, and to allow interested parties additional time to prepare applications for the remainder of the United States. Furthermore, postponement will permit Commission staff to dedicate additional time and resources for consideration of the Broadband Plan.
benton.org/node/30802 | Federal Communications Commission
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CABLEVISION V MUST-CARRY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Cablevision is planning on asking the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of the Second Circuit's upholding of the Federal Communications Commission's must-carry mandate for station WRNN. The company is taking aim at the entire must-carry regime armed with the decision by the D.C. Circuit earlier in Comcast v. FCC this year, which threw out the 30% cap on one cable operator's sub count. It plans to argue that the lack of robust competition and presence of a cable bottleneck no longer exist, and were the underpinnings of the Supreme Court's close decisions to uphold the rules in two earlier challenges by Turner.
benton.org/node/30816 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CYBERSECURITY
REACTION TO CYBERSECURITY ANNOUNCEMENT
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Jill Aitoro]
How are people reacting to President Barack Obama picking Howard Schmidt to be his cybersecurity advisor? Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Sen Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a senior member of the Committee, said Schmidt "brings the technical expertise and the depth of private sector and governmental experience needed for this important job." But they also cautioned: "We remain concerned that this cybersecurity coordinator position, even filled by a leader like Schmidt, still does not possess the institutional heft that it needs. That's why we introduced legislation last spring that will create a Cabinet-level, Senate confirmed National Cybersecurity Adviser within the White House who will report directly to the President. Our legislation is based on the statute that created the U.S. Trade Representative. We believe that cybersecurity is an issue that cuts across all agencies of government and every sector of the U.S. economy, and our national and economic security calls for powerful leadership from the White House." James Lewis, director of the technology and public policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "I think it's a good move. The administration has started a lot of initiatives on cyber Defense Department, Homeland Security Department, State Department -- and they need someone to make sure it all fits together. They also need to rewrite the National Cyber Strategy, and having someone to honcho that process and avoid recycling old ideas will be the big challenge."
benton.org/node/30797 | nextgov | Rockefeller and Snowe | BroadbandBreakfast.com
Recommend this Headline
back to top
US STRUGGLES TO RECRUIT COMPUTER SECURITY EXPERTS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima, Brian Krebs]
The federal government is struggling to fill a growing demand for skilled computer-security workers, from technicians to policymakers, at a time when network attacks are rising in frequency and sophistication. Demand is so intense that it has sparked a bidding war among agencies and contractors for a small pool of special talent: skilled technicians with security clearances. Their scarcity is driving up salaries, depriving agencies of skills, and in some cases affecting project quality, industry officials said. The crunch hits as the Pentagon is attempting to staff a new Cyber Command to fuse offensive and defensive computer-security missions and the Department of Homeland Security plans to expand its own "cyber" force by up to 1,000 people in the next three years.
benton.org/node/30815 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top
HEALTH
HIT PANEL AWAITS PUBLIC COMMENT
[SOURCE: GovernemntHealthIT, AUTHOR: Mary Mosquera]
When the public gets its chance to comment on upcoming meaningful use rules, an advisory health IT panel will know if they got the standards piece of the entitlement package right. The Health IT Standards Committee will weigh those comments before producing final recommendations for 2011 meaningful use requirements to the Office for the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), said John Halamka, vice chairman of the committee, at its final meeting for the year. "The comments that follow release of the meaningful use rule will guide the committee if they need to revise them," he said. "We won't know what is simple and good enough until the regulation comes out." Halamka is also chief information officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. ONC is expected to publish an interim final rule on certification standards for meaningful use by the end of the month. In the meantime, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will separately propose rules defining meaningful use and provider eligibility for incentives under the HITECH Act. In a wrap-up of its standards work Dec. 18, Halamka said the committee tried to walk a middle course by recommending standards that were general enough that small and large organizations could incorporate them but which still meet health IT requirements under the health IT stimulus law.
benton.org/node/30799 | GovernemntHealthIT
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CLEARER HIT STIMULUS FUNDING PICTURE
[SOURCE: iHealthBeat, AUTHOR: Helen Pfister, Karyn Bell]
Over the past few weeks, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released key updates about available funding to advance health IT adoption, including changes to an existing funding program and the announcement of a new initiative. First, the Health IT Regional Extension Center Program cycles have been consolidated and available funding has been increased. Second, ONC unveiled the health IT "Beacon Communities" program, which aims to strengthen community-based health IT infrastructures and health information exchange capabilities. Both programs were established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Through these and other initiatives, ONC seeks to ensure wide-scale adoption and effective implementation of health IT applications nationwide to ultimately improve the quality and efficiency of health care delivery.
benton.org/node/30795 | iHealthBeat
Recommend this Headline
back to top
JOURNALISM
DON'T THROW OUT ALL OLD-MEDIA VALUES
[SOURCE: , AUTHOR: Edward Wasserman]
[Commentary] The toughest challenges facing the news business may have more to do with values than finances. There's reason for optimism about its economic future. The appetite for fact-based reporting and topical commentary is keener than ever, and the number of people with the skill and desire to feed it is greater than ever. Demand is high, supply is high, the economic fundamentals are solid. Even the business uncertainties causing so much heartache right now -- how this new news industry will pay its bills -- is solvable. It won't be tidy and it won't be tomorrow, but some layered blend will emerge of direct payment and subsidy via advertising, NPR-type fundraising, profit-making spinoffs, offline activities and sweat equity from pro-am journalists working on the cheap. News will survive. Whether it'll be good and whether it'll do good -- that's what the public should worry about. The damage isn't done by the new tools, but by the old villain of market calculation, the belief that haste pays, that racy and sensational disclosures drive traffic and now, if they're incorrect or one-sided, actually increase interactivity. Getting it first trumps getting it right. Funny, that's something the corrupt old press barons believed too.
benton.org/node/30796 |
Recommend this Headline
back to top