March 2010

Stearns questions conflicts of interest in broadband plan

Rep Cliff Stearns (R-FL), the ranking Republican on the House Communications Subcommittee, has sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski saying he hopes the National Broadband Plan will not be "littered with hidden agendas" to pave the way for net neutrality, Title II reclassification and spectrum auction conditions.

He also asked Chairman Genachowski to respond to a number of questions including:

Why, specifically, was it necessary to delay the release of the plan to March 17 from the statutorily required deadline of Feb. 17?
How much money has been spent in preparing the plan? Please provide a total figure as well as a breakdown, including figures for categories such as...amount spent on studies and reports, amount spent on travel, amount spent on workshops, and amount spent on printing and production.
How many staff people were hired specifically to work on the plan? From where were they typically hired?
How did the FCC review potential conflicts of interest among employees hired from the private sector?
What is your personal opinion on whether broadband services should be classified under Title II?

Big Cable Offers FCC Seven Consumer Principles

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski concerning the National Broadband Plan, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association offers seven principles to which cable operators are committed and which the NCTA believes could serve as the foundation for Commission and inter-industry efforts:

Consumers should have the option to purchase video devices at retail that can access their multichannel provider's video services without a set-top box supplied by that provider.
Consumers should also have the option to purchase video devices at retail that can access any multichannel provider's video services through an interface solution offered by that provider.
Consumers should have the option to access video content from the Internet through their multichannel provider's video devices and retail video devices.
Consumers should have the option to purchase video devices at retail that can search for video content across multiple content sources, including content from their multichannel provider, the Internet, or other sources.
Consumers should have the option to easily and securely move video content between and among devices in their homes.
Consumers should be assured the benefits of continuous innovation and variety in video products, devices and services provided by multichannel providers and at retail.
To maximize consumer benefits and to ensure competitive neutrality in a highly dynamic marketplace, these principles should be embraced by all video providers, implemented flexibly to accommodate different network architectures and diverse equipment options, and, to the maximum extent possible, serve as the basis for private sector solutions, not government technology mandates.

What If Metcalfe's Law Is Wrong?

[Commentary] Networks — be they telecom, social, transportation or otherwise -- are the fabric of modern society. They provide immense value to consumers and businesses alike, enhancing mutual relationships and enabling the distribution of goods, services and information. But does this value grow as the size of the networks grow? And if so, how much?

"Metcalfe's Law" has long been accepted as characterizing the value -- and value growth -- of fully connected networks. It states that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of its nodes, which may take the form of devices -- such as computers -- or users, in which case a network connection is represented by a "friend" or "follower." But there are times when the "law," which has been used to explain network effects and justify mergers and acquisitions, appears to overstate a network's value. And if that's the case, what can service providers do about it? While the number of possible connections in a network is indeed proportional to the square of the number of nodes, value is not necessarily equivalent to number. There are several reasons that Metcalfe's Law can overestimate the value of a network. First, typically only a fraction of the possible connections have value. Second, there are natural limits to consumption of that value. And third, the value of the entire network may decline over time.

National Education Technology Plan Prods K-12 to Innovate

The Obama administration urged educators and policymakers last week to embrace a host of digital-learning approaches it says will make K-12 schools better, including putting a computing device in the hands of every student.

Guided by an overarching goal set by President Barack Obama to raise national college-completion rates from 40 percent to 60 percent by 2020, the first National Educational Technology Plan issued by his administration outlines the big-picture approaches it says U.S. schools need to employ in the areas of classroom learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity to help meet that goal. The plan was written over nine months by educators, researchers, and policymakers, with input from the public. It emphasizes the importance of leveraging technology to customize learning for each student, citing tactics such as mobile computing and online coursetaking. It recommends enabling every student to learn through digital technology in school and at home, a 1-to-1 computing approach using cellphones, laptops, and other mobile-learning devices that is taking hold in a growing number of school districts.

Strauss returns to FCC as Deputy Consumer Bureau Chief

Karen Peltz Strauss has been named Deputy Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. She will focus on disability issues, among other things, and will help the Commission to implement the components of the National Broadband Plan that address access for people with disabilities, including leading the effort to develop a proposed Accessibility and Innovation Forum.

Strauss has over 25 years experience working on telecommunications access for people with disabilities. She is a co-founder of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT, a coalition of over 290 national and regional organizations dedicated to ensuring disability access to emerging Internet-based and digital communications technologies in the 21st century.

Strauss most recently provided consulting services to non-profit consumer groups, educational research institutes, and relay service providers. Previously, she served as legal counsel for Gallaudet University's National Center for Law and Deafness, and the National Association of the Deaf. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Bureau Chief of the former Consumer Information Bureau at the FCC. In that capacity, she helped initiate its first Disability Rights Office and managed the Commission's consumer and disability access programs and policies. Ms. Strauss holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an LLM from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Chicago Sets its Sights on Ultra-Modern Web Site With Enhanced E-Government

Chicago officials launched a new website emphasizing it will make life simpler for residents, businesses and visitors alike. With more than 3,500 pages of information, the site has some neat features you won't find on the typical municipal website.

It makes use of embedded video, 225 social media tools (including Twitter and Reddit), RSS feeds -- and takes advantage of a service called TechLocator to pinpoint WiFi hotspots in the city. And yes, Mayor Richard M. Daley has his own YouTube channel. Residents may also be surprised to learn that the new site comes with a promise of increased government transparency: the site will provide, and continue to further facilitate, city documents requested through the Freedom of Information Act, city contract information and other documents that reflect how city money gets spent.

NAB: Anti-Fee Resolution Gains More Support

The National Association of Broadcasters Friday touted the newest congressional supporters of a resolution opposing a bill that would require AM and FM radio stations to pay performers a fee for playing their music on the radio.

The latest lawmakers to sign on in support of the House resolution are House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman emeritus John Dingell (D-MI) and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Their support brings the total number of House supporters of the resolution to 258, well above the number needed for it to pass. NAB argues that the performance rights bill backed by the music industry would place a big financial burden on radio stations. In addition, the NAB notes that performers already benefit from the exposure they receive from radio air play. Marty Machowsky, a spokesman for the MusicFIRST Coalition, which represents several music industry groups including the Recording Industry Association of America, argued that the NAB is taking a hypocritical stand on the issue, opposing the performance rights legislation, while battling cable companies to pay a fair retransmission rate to the broadcast networks for using their programming.

Senate Supports Meaningful Use Eligibility Change

The Senate-passed legislation that extends programs and tax incentives that create jobs includes language to expand the types of physicians eligible for meaningful use incentive payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Senate on March 10 in a 62-36 vote passed its version of H.R. 4213, which previously cleared the House. ARRA's language -- and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' proposed meaningful use rule -- exclude hospital-based physicians from receiving incentive payments. But many industry stakeholders believed that congressional intent was to include physicians who primarily work in ambulatory care facilities owned by hospitals.

Advisory panel proposes national electronic health record safety database

On March 12, the Health IT Policy Committee proposed creating a national database into which clinicians could report patient data errors and unsafe conditions they encountered in their use of electronic health records.

Clinicians could use the system to report instances - noticeably inaccurate patient data or an EHR technical glitch, for instance - that they believed might compromise patient safety. The idea was one of several preliminary recommendations that the committee's adoption and certification work group discussed. The group also suggested establishing an organization that could oversee a nationwide EHR safety system and provide other methods for reporting, analyzing and disseminating incident reports.

European Mobile-Phone Companies Need to Merge Networks, 3 Says

European mobile-phone companies need to share their networks to cut costs and meet increasing demand for high-speed data services, according to Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.'s 3 U.K. unit.

In the U.K., Vodafone Group Plc and Telefonica SA's O2 unit could follow 3 and Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile U.K. division, which since 2007 have a wireless network sharing deal, 3 U.K. Chief Technical Officer Graham Baxter said yesterday in an interview in London. "This will become a case study for other operators," Baxter said. "You have got to have a low-cost infrastructure. If we're operating at a lower cost, then everyone else needs to as well. Ultimately the shareholders are going to be asking why you're more expensive." Phone companies are trying to reduce expenses and bolster sales from high-speed data networks that allow Internet browsing, video conferences and music downloads to make up for a decline in traditional voice revenue.

The U.K., Europe's most crowded telecommunications market, will probably end up with two cellular infrastructures after T- Mobile and France Telecom SA's Orange unit won European Union approval to merge their local units, Baxter said. "The merger has just set the direction."

Benton

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