January 2010

Call for Applications for the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration seeks applications from persons interested in serving on the Department of Commerce's Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC) for new two-year terms. This Notice reopens the application period announced in the Federal Register on May 6, 2009 in order to identify additional candidates who may provide balance in terms of points of view, as well as diversity, to the committee. Any applicant who provided NTIA with the requested materials in response to the May Notice will be considered for appointment and need not resubmit materials, although they are permitted to supplement their applications with new or additional information. Applications must be postmarked or electronically transmitted on or before February 1, 2010.

Department of Energy set to form new group to protect electric grid from cyberattacks

In 2009, Congress said it would give the Department of Energy about $172 million to consider ways to tighten the security of the networks that the energy sector uses to operate the grid once the department formed an independent national organization. Energy has yet to create the group. The group's goals will be to establish "policies and protocol to ensure the effective deployment of technology and software controls to protect the bulk power electric grid," according to the fiscal 2010 appropriations bill, which President Obama signed into law on Oct. 28, 2009. Congress required that within 60 days of the enactment of the appropriations law -- which was Dec. 27, 2009 -- Energy Secretary Steven Chu would have to invite qualified individuals from the power and security industries to disseminate best practices in cybersecurity; organize the collection, analysis and dissemination of the vulnerabilities and threats that networks face; and work cooperatively with Energy and other federal agencies that oversee efforts to enhance security of the bulk power electric grid. Energy plans to conduct a competitive solicitation soon to identify possible participants in the national cybersecurity organization, a spokeswoman said. She could not comment about any steps taken to meet the 60-day deadline set by Congress.

Frugal shoppers turning to Internet in droves, retailers investing in technology

While the recession took a toll on shopping centers and strip malls across the country, the economic downturn has left the Internet poised to enter 2010 as a larger force in retail. Frugal shoppers are turning to the Internet in droves to compare prices, hunt for bargains, download coupons and seek advice from fellow shoppers. Retailers, weary from years of building sprees, are diverting capital away from storefronts and to Web sites, investing in the technology to make online shopping easier, faster and cheaper. Look no further than Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for a sign that online shopping, historically only 5 percent of U.S. retail sales, is about to get a lot bigger. The world's largest retailer announced late last year plans to unleash its economic might on its decade-old but often neglected Web site, walmart.com, intent on toppling Amazon from its perch as the world's largest online merchant.

Four U.S. agencies deficient in controlling stimulus reporting errors, auditors say

Inspectors general found shortcomings in the procedures to monitor data quality for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act reporting at the Agriculture, Defense and Homeland Security departments and the Small Business Administration, according to a new report. The Recovery Act contains provisions to ensure transparency of and accountability for stimulus spending; agencies have received guidance about how to track their spending, as well as recipients' spending, of stimulus money. Of the 21 IG reports governmentwide, only four — USDA, Defense, DHS and SBA — identified deficiencies in data quality reviews. Management officials at those agencies generally agreed with the findings and recommendations for improvements, the summary report said. USDA, DOD, DHS and SBA had taken some steps to ensure that recipients of funding from their agencies comply with reporting requirements. But their efforts left gaps, according to the summary report. The Agriculture IG's office reported that the department had not established an internal control structure with clear responsibilities for determining the completeness and validity of recipient reporting. Recipients of stimulus law grants are required to file detailed reports on their spending.

Streamlining cell phone network maintenance

For the past several years, cell phone service providers have been pressed to significantly reduce their costs of doing business. The pressure comes from their general need to improve their overall financial performance due to competitive and economic forces, and their desire to accomplish these financial improvements while investing in the next-generation technologies necessary to meet customers' demands for bandwidth and advanced services and applications. Reducing the costs associated with network maintenance, which represents a sizeable portion of operating expenditures, is one way to help meet these goals. And as operators have become more willing to bring in third-party companies to manage various aspects of their services, the practice of outsourcing maintenance activities has found traction. Maintenance services are distinct from managed services, however. Maintenance typically includes complex technical support services and repairing equipment problems as they occur, while managed services tends to cover the proactive 24/7 management of the network, according to Roosmarijn Cornelissen, research analyst in the European telecommunications and networking group at IDC. And while the line between the two types of services is beginning to blur, "maintenance is usually offered and delivered as a separate service from managed services," she said. Because most networks are built and maintained by numerous vendors, service providers--led by operators in Europe and India--have found ways to establish multi-vendor maintenance strategies.

Intel Vulnerable as Consumers Shift to Phones to Surf

Intel's position as the gateway to the Internet will come under attack in 2010 as more consumers start going online via phones, tablets, e-readers and scaled- down laptops. Qualcomm Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. are among the chipmakers demonstrating new kinds of Internet devices at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Their goal: persuade consumers to ditch their Intel-powered personal computers as the primary way of going online. Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, makes more than 80 percent of PC processors -- the brains of computers. It aims to use its Atom product, which runs small laptops known as netbooks, to break into chips for wireless devices, a market IDC estimates will increase 14 percent to more than $46 billion in 2010. Its rivals are heading in the other direction: using phone chips to woo users of PCs and consumer electronics. While the PC will remain the main way for people to go online, portable devices are chipping away at that dominance -- with mobile phones leading the charge. Qualcomm, Freescale, Marvell and Texas Instruments Inc. are using chip technology developed by ARM.

News Publishers Start Seeking Money From Twitter Feeds

When Kim Kardashian can ask $10,000 just for sending a marketer's tweet to her 2.8 million followers on Twitter, traditional news companies have to wonder whether they can cash in too. Many news sites have successfully harnessed Twitter to distribute their stories and build their audiences, after all, but they aren't making money from news tweets yet. Now, though, early exploration is emerging from Los Angeles to New York to Montreal. Paid-tweet purveyor Ad.ly, the 4-month-old Los Angeles startup, has pitched its services for the most obvious approach, inserting paid tweets among news tweets. So far the big takers are individuals such as Ms. Kardashian, but Ad.ly says major publishers are coming to the table, too.

ABC Seeks Half Of Affiliates' Retrans Take

Even as broadcast television networks are bitterly fighting over retransmission consent fees from cable operators — witness the recent flare-up between Time Warner Cable and News Corp. — they also are gearing up to grab a share of the fees that their station affiliates are collecting. And the most aggressive network on that front appears to be ABC, which is drawing the ire of its affiliates. ABC has made getting a piece of its affiliates' retransmission consent revenue — or extracting comparable programming fees — a major deal point in affiliation renewals. And it is taking a hard line, demanding that affiliates either fork over 50% of their retransmission consent payments or pay a flat license fee, whichever is greater, according to affiliates.

Why aren't ISPs crying about the National broadband Plan?

[Commentary] The fact that major Internet service providers haven't been crying about the National Broadband Plan either indicates that it won't do much to rattle the uncompetitive duopoly status quo -- or that Blair Levin and the rest of the Federal Communications Commission's broadband team are doing a stellar job at making everyone feel good about the plan -- without actually revealing any of its more pointed specifics. We'll know more in 43 days.

Genachowski: Broadband Plan Will Be Bold, Pro-Active, Addressing Spectrum Shortages and Adoption Problems

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski says the FCC's upcoming broadband plan will propose bold, proactive steps to close the so-called digital divide. The Chairman voiced those sentiments in a letter to Henry Rivera, chairman of the FCC's diversity committee. Although it was dated Jan. 5, the letter appeared to respond to concerns expressed by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) in an op-ed (see http://www.benton.org/node/31007).

In his letter to Rivera, Genachowski cited pending spectrum shortages and adoption problems, among others, that he pledge would be addressed. "I reiterate that these gaps must be addressed boldly" he said. "In the National Broadband Plan, the agency will identify the proactive steps the commission will take..." He added that they were initial steps. Among the highlights of the letter: the chairman said he thought it best to have the director of the FCC's Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO) Thomas Reed, at present, "play the lead role." The diversity committee had recommended that the commission designate one commissioner to oversee implementation of its recommendations on spurring access to capital and funding for minorities and women.

Benton

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