The new cyber arms race
Tomorrow's wars will be fought not just with guns, but with the click of a mouse half a world away that will unleash weaponized software that could take out everything from the power grid to a chemical plant.
March 2011
UK’s 3 fights to stay in bandwidth race
3, the UK’s smallest mobile network operator, is warning it will get swallowed up in a fresh round of industry consolidation if it fails to secure airwaves being sold off next year.
Kevin Russell, chief executive, demanded that regulators introduce rules that give his company a stronger chance of buying radio spectrum in the much-delayed auction. His statement underlined how all Britain’s mobile operators badly need more spectrum to cope with booming customer demand for bandwidth-hungry smartphones and tablet computers, which has been fuelled particularly by Apple’s iPhone and iPad. The spectrum auction now scheduled for the first quarter of 2012 will be Britain’s biggest airwaves sell-off and will enable mobile operators to build networks based on fourth-generation wireless technology.
Tycoon in India telecoms scandal quits
Shahid Balwa, a central figure in a telecoms scandal that has shaken India’s government, has resigned as the head of his flagship real estate company, DB Realty. Balwa is vice-chairman of Gulf group Etisalat’s joint venture in the country and at 36 was the youngest billionaire on last year’s Forbes India rich list. He was detained by investigators in February, becoming the first executive arrested in connection with a probe into allegedly improper allocation of telecoms licences to several companies in 2008. The probe has widened, with some of India’s wealthiest tycoons questioned by anti-corruption officials. At the time of his arrest last month, DB Realty said that “neither Mr Balwa nor any person/entity forming part of the DB Group has done anything inappropriate or illegal”. It added that Balwa “will be strongly contesting the proceedings”.
The Fading Power of Beck’s Alarms
Since last August, when he summoned more than 100,000 followers to the Washington mall for the “Restoring Honor” rally, Glenn Beck has lost over a third of his audience on Fox — a greater percentage drop than other hosts at Fox.
True, he fell from the great heights of the health care debate in January 2010, but there has been worrisome erosion — more than one million viewers — especially in the younger demographic. He still has numbers that just about any cable news host would envy and, with about two million viewers a night, outdraws all his competition combined. But the erosion is significant enough that Fox News officials are willing to say — anonymously, of course; they don't want to be identified as criticizing the talent — that they are looking at the end of his contract in December and contemplating life without Beck. On the other side, people who work for Beck point out that he could live without Fox News. Unlike some other cable hosts, Beck has a huge multiplatform presence: he has sold around four million books, is near the top of talk-radio ratings, has a growing Web site called The Blaze, along with a stage performance that still packs houses. Forbes estimated that his company, Mercury Radio Arts, had more than $30 million in revenue. How could a breakup between Beck and Fox News — a bond that seemed made in pre-Apocalyptic heaven — come to pass? They were never great friends to start with: Mr. Beck came to Fox with a huge radio show and had been on CNN Headline News, so he did not owe his entire career to Fox and frequently went off-message. The sniping between Fox News executives and Beck’s team began soon after he went on the air in 2009. Many on the news side of Fox have wondered whether his chronic outrageousness — he suggested that the president has “a deep-seated hatred for white people” — have made it difficult for Fox to hang onto its credibility as a news network. Some 300 advertisers fled the show, leaving sponsorship to a slew of gold bullion marketers whose message dovetails nicely with Beck’s end-of-times gospel. Both parties go to some lengths to point out that that the discussion has nothing to do with persistent criticism from the left.
Tax rates on cell phones can be steep
Residents of nine states pay an average state and local tax rate of at least 13 percent on their cell phones, a new map from the Tax Foundation shows. The map, which the nonpartisan group based off a recent private sector report, shows that regional differences cannot tell the whole story when it comes to which state’s residents get hit the hardest with cell phone taxes. According to the report from Scott Mackey, at KSE Partners in Vermont, Americans now face, on average, a 16.3 percent rate on their cell phones, when combining federal, state and local levies roughly twice as much as the average retail sales tax rate.
Verizon meets with FCC to discuss 911 problems
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a meeting with Verizon on March 3 to discuss the carrier's failure to connect thousands of 911 calls in Maryland during a snowstorm in January.
The meeting included FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief James Barnett and Verizon Senior Vice President for Federal Regulatory Affairs Kathy Grillo. Officials at the FCC and Verizon both said the meeting was "productive." The parties did not close the book on the issue, and the FCC is still slated to receive more details from the company about a definitive solution. Verizon will respond in greater detail on March 9.
Comcast promotes top two lobbyists
Comcast announced the promotions of the top two lobbyists in its Washington office, both of whom played a crucial role in securing the government's approval of the NBC Universal acquisition.
Kathy Zachem will become senior vice president for regulatory and state legislative affairs, while Melissa Maxfield's new title will be senior vice president for congressional and federal government affairs. Zachem will continue to lead the cable giant's lobbying efforts before the regulatory agencies, as well as state and local government relations. Maxfield will oversee all congressional lobbying as well as some executive branch agencies such as the White House and Commerce Department. Both will continue to report to Comcast's executive vice president, David Cohen, in Philadelphia, who praised their key roles in gaining approval of Comcast's acquisition of a majority stake in NBC Universal from General Electric earlier this year. Comcast's spending on lobbying more than doubled since 2006, to more than $12 million annually from 2008 through 2010.
Sen Ensign, ranking telecom senator, to retire
Sen John Ensign (R-NV), the top Senate Republican on telecom policy, will retire after this session of Congress.
Microsoft Is Said to Pay Nokia More Than $1 Billion in Deal
Apparently, Microsoft will pay Nokia Oyj more than $1 billion to promote and develop Windows-based handsets as part of their smartphone software agreement. Nokia will pay Microsoft a fee for each copy of Windows used in its phones, costs that will be offset as Nokia curtails its own budget for software research and development. As part of the deal, Microsoft will use Nokia’s Navteq mapping products for functions such as geolocation services and selling local advertising and coupons tied to a user’s position. If successful, that also could generate additional revenue for Nokia, which will share in the sales. The two companies will also divide revenue from services like search and advertising.
Cable Economic Impact Up In Down Economy
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association released a 2010 Bortz Media and Sports Group study that finds that the cable industry contributes a quarter trillion dollars and about 1.8 million jobs to the US economy.
Those figures are up from $227 billion and 1.5 million jobs according to a similar 2008 report. The study also points out that cable has led development of broadband infrastructure, "contributing both to a truly competitive telecommunications marketplace and to more robust growth in the penetration of broadband services." The NCTA also released its version of a national, interactive map illustrating where cable-generated dollars and jobs are available to boost local economies.