April 27, 2011 (The case against the merger)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2011
Universal Service Fund reform is today's hot topic http://benton.org/calendar/2011-04-27/
AT&T|T-MOBILE
AT&T and T-Mobile USA: the case against a merger - analysis
Why Verizon should acquire Sprint (or at least try) - analysis
AT&T'S Quinn: We May Renege on 80%, 95% LTE Buildout
Teamsters president endorses AT&T merger [links to web]
MORE ON WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AT&T, Cellular South debate 700 MHz interoperability at FCC
Study Discredits Claim of Spectrum Crisis for Mobile Broadband - press release
NAB Study Draws Heavy Criticism from Wireless Groups
US Smartphone Market: Who’s the Most Wanted? - research [links to web]
Can your smartphone save your life? [links to web]
Text Messages Proliferate as Threats in Iraq
INTERNET/BROADBAND
State of the Internet: Fiber, Fast Cities and Faster Broadband
Nearly 100 Million Households Online By '16, Mobile Ads To Grow 60%
Looking deeper into Google’s plans for KCK [links to web]
Genachowski: FCC inherited a "real mess" in network neutrality [links to web]
Europe telecom groups target Google
South American Governments Pledge Billions For Broadband Access [links to web]
JOURNALISM
Lehrer calls for PBS, NPR to invest more in news
FCC's Copps Wants Better and More Accountable Journalism
British Law Used to Shush Scandal Has Become One [links to web]
CONTENT
Don't Forget To Protect IP, Groups Urge On World IP Day [links to web]
Why Fox, Paramount, Disney Are Holding Out on the YouTube Deal [links to web]
(Don't) Take Me Out To The Ballgame - op-ed [links to web]
HEALTH
With a little cash, health IT on the way
Researchers: electronic health record data valuable in genetics studies [links to web]
Can your smartphone save your life? [links to web]
PRIVACY
Sony Update on PlayStation Network and Qriocity Outages - press release
Why You Will Want Apple, Google To Track You - analysis
Privacy 2.0: We Are All Celebrities Now [links to web]
FCC REFORM
House Republicans take aim at FCC on rules and reform
MORE ONLINE
Report: Feds Could Save $14.4 Billion Moving to the Cloud [links to web]
Wiretapping leak probe dropped [links to web]
Google, Politics, And The President Of The United States [links to web]
Google replants its garage roots in tech workshops [links to web]
Facebook's plans for Menlo Park HQ: 9,400 workers in next 6 years [links to web]
AT&T|T-MOBILE
THE CASE AGAINST THE MERGER
[SOURCE: This is my next, AUTHOR: Chris Ziegler]
[Commentary] Some will argue for AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile because it has the potential to unify compatible spectrum in an open, fair way that encourages manufacturer participation and shifts control from operators to consumers. But the success of this plan hinges on a flawed foundation, which is that Americans are willing to pay $500 for their phones as a matter of course. They’re not. American carriers have trained us far too well into believing that a cheap phone should be free, and an awesome phone should generally be $150 to $250. So who blinks first? Carriers aren't about to remove subsidies from the devices they sell directly, of course — contracts and cheap hardware are key to keeping churn low from quarter to quarter. Manufacturers sporadically try to rage against the machine by offering their own pure, clean devices outside the carrier ecosystem, and they do so with very little success.
benton.org/node/57147 | This is my next
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VERIZON SHOULD BUY SPRINT
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
[Commentary] How could Verizon block AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile? “If Verizon really wanted to kill this deal, it would only have to say it was buying Sprint.” The Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department are leaning toward approving the merger of the AT&T and T-Mobile, a similar proposal from Verizon Wireless and Sprint would stop them in their tracks. The government may be willing to winnow the competitive market down to the three nationwide operators, but it would take a gigantic political and philosophical leap to justify only two.
The lynch pin to AT&T’s argument is that a combined AT&T and T-Mobile won't reduce competition; rather it puts the two operators in a position to compete more effectively. And AT&T’s key exhibit is none other than Sprint. Sprint not only would be a third Tier I operator to balance out the market, but, unlike T-Mobile, it runs a next-generation mobile broadband service, WiMAX, which is competitive with Verizon’s current and AT&T’s future long-term evolution (LTE) networks. AT&T can argue that in the grand scheme of things, taking T-Mobile out of the market would be a wash. It can't really make that argument if Sprint were removed also.
AT&T is also claiming that the mobile broadband space has seen increased competition lately as new entrants like Clearwire and LightSquared enter the market, each loaded up with new spectrum. Well, a Verizon-Sprint merger would cut those new entrants in half, given Sprint’s ownership stake in Clearwire. To make its application credible, Verizon might offer to divest Sprint’s Clearwire assets, but Sprint is Clearwire’s largest wholesale customer and investor. If Sprint were to cut and run, Clearwire might simply fail. LightSquared’s future also is far from assured.
So in this outlandish scenario, could regulators allow an AT&T-T-Mobile deal to pass, but deny a Verizon-Sprint tie-up?
benton.org/node/57146 | Connected Planet
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AT&T AND LTE BUILDOUT
[SOURCE: dslreports.com, AUTHOR: Dave Burstein]
AT&T Senior Vice President Bob Quinn believes the recent FCC decision on mobile data roaming will "discourage investment and build out of broadband facilities." With U-Verse construction winding down, the only AT&T investment in broadband left to cut is the LTE network. CEO Randall Stephenson has promised 80% LTE coverage in 2013 and 95% afterwards as encouragement for the T-Mobile deal. Even indirectly suggesting they might pull back on the buildout is risky given the likely struggle to get the T-Mobile approved. Stephenson's approach to their remaining broadband buildout is "about as fast as we can go." 80% coverage will require upgrading 10,000 or more cell sites, a big job even for a company the size of AT&T. It's easy to understand why he's pushing hard. AT&T is bleeding customers to Verizon since they lost iPhone exclusivity. They are a year behind on the LTE build. When the LTE iPhone comes out later this year, Verizon will have LTE in more than half the country and AT&T will be barely beginning. Verizon is going to 92% in 2013 and "all our territory" (95-99% of the U.S.) by a few years later. AT&T says its goal is 95% in 2016 or so. AT&T has already cut nearly all other "elective" capital spending on broadband.
benton.org/node/57144 | dslreports.com
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MORE ON WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
700 MHZ INTEROPERABILITY DEBATE
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
Representatives from Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and other large companies argued that mandating interoperability across different band classes of the 700 MHz band will be costly and difficult to achieve. On the other side, smaller carriers and consumer advocates argued that, without interoperability, subscribers of smaller carriers will suffer from more expensive devices and a lack of roaming. The Federal Communications Commission convened a workshop to explore both the commercial and technical issues related to 700 MHz interoperability. The issues are incredibly complex, but are growing more urgent as more carriers begin deploying LTE networks in 700 MHz spectrum. Smaller and rural carriers have claimed that Verizon and AT&T are ordering LTE equipment that will not work with the band classes of 700 MHz spectrum they own, effectively shutting them out of the growing LTE ecosystem. Verizon acquired most of the FCC's 700 MHz C Block spectrum (which lies in band class 13), and many of AT&T's 700 MHz licenses sit in the lower C and B Blocks (which lie in band class 17). A number of smaller operators acquired 700 MHz spectrum licenses in the Lower A, B and C Blocks, which lie in band class 12. An alliance of smaller carriers called the Good Faith Purchasers Alliance, which is a joint venture among Cellular South, Cavalier Wireless, Continuum 700 and U.S. Cellular, has urged the FCC to require network and handset suppliers to build gear that can work across all 700 MHz bands.
benton.org/node/57111 | Fierce
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NEW NAB PAPER
[SOURCE: National Association of Broadcasters, AUTHOR: Press release]
The National Association of Broadcasters filed with the Federal Communications Commission a study by former FCC official Uzoma Onyeije questioning the existence of a spectrum crisis. The paper suggests alternative solutions to auctioning broadcasting spectrum to help alleviate mobile broadband congestion. In the paper, Onyeije shows that insufficient analysis and reliance on faulty information in the formation of the FCC's National Broadband Plan has led to the overstated assumption of a nationwide spectrum "crisis." The paper cautions that using flawed data to address the capacity crunch affecting only a handful of cities will lead to inadequate solutions. Onyeije calls for a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the issue that is not based on preconceived assumptions.
"The factual basis for the 'spectrum crisis' claim is underwhelming," Onyeije said. "For example, the answer to the fundamental question of how much spectrum mobile carriers need remains uncertain. It appears that the notion of a need for large-scale spectrum reallocation to address a shortage of mobile spectrum is based on questionable assumptions designed to achieve a particular result."
The National Broadband Plan's conclusion of a spectrum shortage is based on little more than a wish list by wireless carriers, says the paper. Onyeije cites contradictory statements by high-ranking corporate officials to show the Plan's calls for making 500 MHz of spectrum available for broadband in ten years is a gross overestimate of the actual need. Onyeije offers his support for innovative solutions that have been previously deployed and currently being developed to address capacity needs, and which can be utilized much faster and more efficiently than a reallocation of broadcast spectrum:
deploying innovative network technology upgrades that promote spectral efficiency;
leveraging consumer infrastructure such as femtocells and wi-fi;
investing in infrastructure to enhance capacity through the deployment of smart antennas, picocells, sectorization and cell splitting;
encouraging the development of bandwidth sensitive applications
benton.org/node/57105 | National Association of Broadcasters | read the paper | The Hill | B&C
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WIRELESS DISMISSES NAB PAPER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
After countering various points in the National Broadcasters Association's spectrum study released April 26, CTIA and the Consumer Electronics Association in a joint response concluded: "The NAB 'study' ignores the most obvious and telling question -- if wireless providers could solve their spectrum needs cheaply or don't have spectrum needs at all, why would they want to pay billions of dollars for such an unnecessary asset? Anyone who has studied not only projections, but also actual use of mobile networks knows that our wireless networks desperately need more capacity - wireless companies are seeking more spectrum for their networks because their customers demand it."
"While NAB might choose to ignore the realities of today's consumer demands, American wireless consumers are staring down a spectrum shortage," said Mobile Future chairman Jonathan Spalter. "As the FCC, 112 leading economists and wireless technology experts have all explained in great detail, a spectrum crunch is looming and the most efficient way to meet growing consumer demand and deliver cutting-edge, innovative services to consumers is to move forward with incentive auctions to get more wireless spectrum to the marketplace as soon as possible."
Wireless Communications Association International President Fred Campbell joined the chorus: "While NAB might choose to ignore the realities of today's consumer demands, American wireless consumers are staring down a spectrum shortage. As the FCC, 112 leading economists and wireless technology experts have all explained in great detail, a spectrum crunch is looming and the most efficient way to meet growing consumer demand and deliver cutting-edge, innovative services to consumers is to move forward with incentive auctions to get more wireless spectrum to the marketplace as soon as possible."
benton.org/node/57126 | Broadcasting&Cable
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TEXTING IN IRAQ
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Arango]
Digital media have amplified the young voices of democracy ringing around the Middle East, but the flip side here is that the authorities and insurgents alike are also adept at using technology, particularly cellphones, largely unavailable here before the 2003 American invasion, as part of their arsenals of intimidation. Actual violence may have declined substantially since the worst days of the war, but a culture of fear and intimidation still prevails. It has been on display during the intermittent protests that have rippled across Iraq in the wake of the regional uprisings. Death threats delivered by text message have become such a common experience across the spectrum of Iraq’s public-minded professions — lawyers, journalists, activists and government officials — that the two mobile phone companies, Zain and Asia Cell, have arrangements with the police and courts to investigate them. “There is a great deal of cooperation between the security forces, the Iraqi judiciary and Zain with exchanging information,” said Mazin al-Asadi, a representative for Zain. Yet most of the threats are untraceable, having been sent from throw-away phones and SIM cards bought on the black market.
benton.org/node/57161 | New York Times
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
STATE OF THE NET
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
The last three months of 2010 were good for broadband, thanks to growing demand for high-speed connections and growing popularity of fiber-based networks in Asia and Europe, according to the State of the Internet Report put together by Akamai Technologies. According to Akamai data, the global broadband adoption at the end of 2010 was about 61 percent with nine of the top 10 countries having ended 2010 with broadband adoption levels of 90 percent or higher. Given that Akamai has a fairly large and global footprint, the Akamai data is a good proxy for overall trends.
In the US, three of every four connections to Akamai are at speeds above 2 Mbps.
In the US, during the fourth quarter of 2010, the average measured connection speed was 5.1 Mbps, up about 9.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009.
The US had an average peak connection speed of 20.3 Mbps during the fourth quarter of 2010.
Delaware is the fastest state in the union with an average speed of 7.2 Mbps; 97 percent of connections to Akamai at speeds above 2 Mbps.
The growing popularity of fiber-based networks and availability of higher speed cable connections meant three East Coast communities -- Staten Island, Jersey City and Boston Metro -- became members of the top 10 US broadband cities club.
benton.org/node/57119 | GigaOm | Akamai | Connected Planet
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INTERPUBLIC STUDY
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Gavin O'Malley]
Paving the way for more online activity, 99.4 million U.S. households will be online by the end of 2016 -- of which 97.9 million will have broadband services -- according to a new forecast from Interpublic Group's Magna Global. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, about 84.7 million homes -- or 71.5% of the total -- were online, while 90% of these homes accessed the Web using broadband services. Magna now predicts that 61.9 million U.S. homes -- or 50% of the total -- will subscribe to DVR services by the end of 2016, which would be up from 39.2 million -- 33.5% -- at the end of last year. By 2016, Magna expects that Video On Demand -- which it now defines as all Over-the-Top services -- will reach 70.1 million households, or about 57% of all TV-viewing households). This compares with 52.5 million VOD households -- 45% -- at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010.
benton.org/node/57134 | MediaPost
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EUROPE TELECOM GROUPS TARGET GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Parker]
Leading European telecoms companies want to levy significant charges on Google and other online content providers through an overhaul of the regime governing how data travel over the Internet. Operators in Europe complain that they are contending with an explosion of data on their networks, much of which comes from US sites such as Google’s YouTube video service. Companies led by France Telecom, Telefónica and Vodafone favour the introduction of wholesale charges based on the volume of data traffic passing through their networks, which could result in online content providers making substantial payments to get their video material to consumers. The charging arrangements could result from reform of the so-called peering system, under which operators exchange traffic where their networks meet. Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner responsible for the European Union’s digital agenda, is concerned that telecoms companies are not investing enough to meet EU targets on improving broadband speeds. The companies have said they must be able to tap new revenue streams to help pay for those broadband speed investments. One such stream could result from the network operators’ interest in rewriting the peering agreements on data exchange.
benton.org/node/57158 | Financial Times
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JOURNALISM
PUBCASTING NEEDS TO INVEST IN NEWS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Brett Zonker]
Public Broadcasting Service anchor Jim Lehrer told public broadcasters that they must continue to defend their federal funding and raise more money to meet an increasing need for serious journalism as commercial newspapers and broadcasters see declines. The heads of PBS, NPR, Minnesota-based American Public Media and others gathered in Washington to discuss the most serious threats in Congress to their federal funding in 44 years. Lehrer said public media needs to produce more local news and serious journalism because other channels are being used to "tease and to entertain and only to inform across the surface." "I have a good source on why this is a problem. The source is Thomas Jefferson," Lehrer said. "Thomas Jefferson told the folks back when this country was founded that the only way this democratic society we just created is going to work is if there is an informed electorate." Interim NPR chief executive Joyce Slocum said the Washington-based public radio network has rebounded from the controversy over its management. "Our journalism has not missed a beat," she said. Executive Editor Dick Meyer said NPR is working on a project to place two reporters in every state capital across the country through its Impact of Government initiative. "It's an area where commercial media is retreating with Custer-like force," Meyer said. Some PBS stations also are starting new local news programs, including WNET-TV in New York, which plans to launch its MetroFocus program online this summer and eventually on television.
benton.org/node/57142 | Associated Press | TVNewsCheck
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BETTER AND MORE ACCOUNTABLE JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael Copps]
Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps spoke at the Walter Cronkite Awards on April 26 saying, "the plight of journalism seems only to get worse. The situation has morphed from one about journalists not having the resources to do their jobs to one about them not having jobs at all. How much better America would be served if reporters were walking the beat in search of a story instead of walking the street in search of a job." He reiterated concerns about media ownership consolidation and its effect on journalism. "The overwhelming majority of news we citizens get still originates in newspaper and broadcast newsrooms-including the news we read online. It's just that there is so much less of it because so many resources have disappeared. How many stories go untold because there is no reporter on the beat? How many facts are never dug up? How many wrongdoers are not held accountable because investigative journalism is on the endangered species list in so many places? How do we hold the powerful accountable when 27 states don't have an accredited reporter on Capitol Hill?"
benton.org/node/57140 | Federal Communications Commission | B&C
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HEALTH
HEALTH IT ON THE WAY
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Megan McCarthy]
The new federal center set up to launch U.S. health care into the digital age has already certified more than 600 new health information technology products and is ready to start helping providers set these systems up, said Farzad Mostashari, the new head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. He said at a Bipartisan Policy Center panel discussion that his office has opened 62 regional "extension centers," which aim to help providers understand and set-up health IT programs. The center, set up under the Health and Human Services Department, has started curricula at 82 community colleges around the country to focus on health IT. And most notably, Mostashari said, the agency has established competition in the marketplace, certifying more than 600 products from nearly 400 vendors that the federal government will accept for providers to get bonus payments. Providers can receive up to $44,000 in incentive payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over five years, but they must start using electronic health records next year to be eligible for all the cash. After 2015, providers will take a cut in their Medicare reimbursements if they are not using health IT up to government standards.
benton.org/node/57136 | National Journal
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PRIVACY
PLAYSTATION UPDATE
[SOURCE: Sony, AUTHOR: Patrick Seybold]
Sony is working to resolve the current outage of PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and revealed a compromise of personal information as a result of an illegal intrusion on its systems. Sony says it has a clear path to have the PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back online, and expect to restore some services within a week. The info the hacker got access to includes user names, addresses, email addresses, birthdates, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online IDs. The hacker may also have gotten access to profile data, including purchase history and billing address, password security answers may have been obtained, and credit card data.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) fired off a letter to Sony to note he is “troubled by the failure” of the company to “immediately notify affected customers of the breach and to extend adequate financial data security protections.”
benton.org/node/57128 | Sony | Politico | The Hill
WHY YOU'LL WANT TRACKING
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Kit Eaton]
If you look at some recent and older patents from Apple, bearing in mind the current vogue for social sharing and the upcoming wave of NFC wireless credit card tech, you're going to prefer Apple and Google track your whereabouts all the time. The future "location history database" file has very useful, innocuous purposes. Apple suggests the file could be used to geo-tag photographs taken by the iPhone's camera, presumably long after you snapped the image and forgot where it was. This could help you use the images in systems like its own iPhotos app -- which has a "places" feature -- as well as other online photo databases. Apple even mentions the history file could be useful for users to "augment a travel time-line with content," in some kind of post-vacation multimedia creation, or to form part of a "personal 'journal' which can be queried at a later time" (a Captain's Log app, anyone?). It's all about mapping and added value, suggests the text -- and though it does talk about how third party apps could call the data through an API, these too are "location aware" apps like the one's we're all signing up to in droves. The specifics of the patent also highlight the location history is approximately defined based on triangulation from known positional data like cell masts and Wi-Fi grids, because using a GPS system for permanent geo-coding would consume too much battery life. Apple functionality may deliver a type of advertising many consumers could prefer -- as it's sharply tailored to their needs, rather than irrelevant ads -- and it too requires some sort of location history. And don't tell us Google, king of social graphing and placing consumer-tailored ads on everything, everywhere, doesn't plan exactly this sort of uses for its location data from Android smartphones or tablets.
benton.org/node/57107 | Fast Company
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FCC REFORM
FCC REFORM ON HOUSE AGENDA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
A key House subcommittee is planning a hearing on process reform at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Scheduled for May 3, the session will include the four FCC commissioners and chairman as witnesses, according to a committee aide.
benton.org/node/57143 | Hill, The
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