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April 2011

CBS, NBC affiliates say fair compensation for spectrum harms might be 'impossible'

Representatives of NBC and CBS television affiliates headed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to question whether it's even possible to quantify the damages they could incur during repacking, a central aspect of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's spectrum proposals.

Though Genachowski says participation will be voluntary, some broadcasters who opt not to take part in the auctions will nevertheless have to change which airwaves they use so that contiguous swaths of spectrum are available for mobile broadband. The FCC has promised to repay the broadcasters for the costs they incur. But broadcasters are saying that might be "impossible." A representative for the NBC and CBS affiliates met with Chairman Genachowski's top aides to raise concern that the harms associated with repacking won't be fully addressed, according to an ex parte filing. He argued that the damages "would be serious, widespread, and difficult or even impossible to quantify in terms of compensable damages."

Internet ad revenue hits high in '10

US Internet advertising revenue jumped 15 percent to $26 billion in 2010, setting a record high and proving that more companies are opening up their coffers to reach people online.

The new figures released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC also reported record online ad revenue increases in the fourth quarter of 2010, up 19 percent to $7.5 billion. "We now have had five consecutive quarters of growth since the great recession impacted interactive advertising in 2009," said Sherrill Mane, senior vice president, industry services at the IAB. The report found that the most popular form of advertising was search, which represented 46 percent of revenue and increased 12 percent from 2009. Digital video advertising accounted for 5 percent of total ad dollars spent online in 2010, or $1.4 billion. Display advertising, which also includes video, jumped 24 percent to almost $10 billion last year. The fastest growing form of advertising in 2010 was sponsorships, which soared 88 percent to $718 million.

Rep Stearns' Privacy Bill Balances Consumer, Corporate Needs

The congressional push to enact major online privacy legislation intensified April 13 when Rep Cliff Stearns (R-FL) followed through on his pledge to introduce a comprehensive measure that he began crafting in the last congressional session.

The "Consumer Privacy Protection Act" seeks to strike a balance between consumer and corporate interests by requiring websites to better inform visitors about how their personal information is used while relying on self-regulation by companies for compliance. The Consumer Privacy Protection Act, requires covered entities to provide consumers in clear and easy to understand language what information is being collected and how the information is being used. It also provides incentives for covered entities to enter into strong self-regulatory standards.

The Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2011 specifically would:

  • Require covered entities to notify consumers that their personally identifiable information as defined in the bill may be used for a purpose unrelated to the transaction.
  • Require entities to notify consumers of any material change in their privacy policy.
  • Require covered entities to establish a privacy policy with respect to the collection, sale, disclosure for consideration, or use of the consumer's information and such policy be made easily available for consumers.
  • Require an entity to provide consumers the opportunity to preclude the sale or disclosure of their information to any organization that is not an information-sharing partner.
  • Provide for a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved five-year self-regulatory program and prescribes requirements for a self-regulatory consumer dispute resolution process.
  • Require the FTC to presume that an entity is in compliance with this Act if it participates in an approved self-regulatory program.


Federal Communications Commission
Friday, May 6, 2011
10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EST)
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-677A1.doc

The May meeting of the EAAC will focus on results from the national survey and planning for a written report on the data obtained from the survey.


PEG Access Centers Closing at Alarming Rate

By Cecilia Garcia

Benton and our friends at the Alliance for Communications Democracy (ACD) wanted to get a feel for the state of public, educational and government (PEG) access across the nation. We wanted to see if PEG channels are realizing the promise and optimism expressed back in 1984 by the House Commerce Committee in a report that set forth the reason why these channels are so important.

NCTA: Broadband Subsidies Are Wasting Millions

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association said that the Agriculture Department's broadband subsidy program wastes millions of dollars to overbuild existing service and, if it is symptomatic of a larger infirmity, could mean it would cost $87.2 billion to reach every unserved household in the country, rather than the FCC's estimated $23.5 billion. NCTA's new study finds that "millions of dollars in grants and loans have been made in areas where a significant majority of households already have broadband coverage," and that "the costs per incremental home passed are therefore far higher than existing evidence suggests should be necessary." The study found that over the three projects analyzed, more than 85 percent of households were already served by existing providers and in one, more than 98% were served by at least one other provider.

Defenders of the program argue that grantees need to be able to provide service in the more lucrative served areas to afford sustainable service to the target unserved areas--sustainability is one of the requirements of the one-time grants and loans. But the NCTA study points to the cost-ineffectiveness of the government spending what amounts to $349,000 per incremental home passed if mobile broadband is counted, and over $30,000 if it isn't. The study was conducted by Jeffrey Eisenach and Kevin Caves of Navigant Economics of Washington.

FCC's Genachowski hints at lack of competition in AT&T merger bid

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski won't talk directly about AT&T’s bid to buy T-Mobile, but he did hint at the agency’s thinking about competition – the key to determining whether to pass the deal.

When asked if the wireless industry is competitive enough, Chairman Genachowski pointed to an FCC report last May on the issue. And what’s interesting is that nowhere in the 281-page report did the FCC say the wireless industry is effectively competitive. That omission was significant, analysts say, because for all the reports before that the agency had concluded that there was enough competition. “We released a competition report that looked at a whole series of metrics and trends,” Chairman Genachowski said. “We looked at real areas of vibrancy and areas where there were questions and concerns.” Specifically, the FCC report found: “There appears to be increasing concentration in the mobile wireless market. One widely-used measure of industry concentration indicates that concentration has increased 32 percent since 2003 and 6.5 percent in 2008.”

T-Mobile introduces unlimited plans, but with throttling

T-Mobile introduced two new unlimited plans, though it will continue to throttle data use over 2 GB per month. The new Even More plan costs $79.99 a month and won't charge consumers overage fees for calling, texting and data usage. It requires a two-year contract. The Even More Plus plan, for the month-to-month crowd, will costs $59.99 and requires no annual contract. Even More Plus plans are not advertised on T-Mobile’s Web site, but customers can ask about them at T-Mobile retail locations. T-Mobile has said it will honor any plans made before the company’s proposed merger with AT&T. AT&T’s plans tend to be pricier than T-Mobile’s, so if you’re interested in one you might want to lock it in now.

NPR, public television won't get budget ax

Despite Republican-led calls to strip funding from National Public Radio, public broadcasting emerged largely unscathed in the federal budget compromise hammered out in Congress over the past week.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which passes federal funds to public radio and TV stations, is slated to receive $445 million from Congress — essentially the same amount it received in its last appropriation. The proposed budget places no restrictions on how CPB can dole out federal funds to stations. House Republicans, led by Rep Doug Lamborn (R-CO), had sought to restrict public radio from using CPB-granted funds to pay dues to NPR for its programming. The proposed funding is a huge victory for public broadcasters, particularly NPR, which has suffered a series of public-relations disasters that have strengthened conservative calls to eliminate its federal support.

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