October 2011

Big Data, Speed and the Future of Computing

Big data is, yes, about more data — the rising flood from corporate databases, Web browsing trails, sensors and social network communications. But it is just as much about speed. If “big data” is more than a marketing term, it has to be the raw material for making smarter decisions, faster. And that means, as the big-data industry evolves, the need for groundbreaking new approaches to computing, both in hardware and software. Getting answers quickly in the world of big data necessitates this a new approach, called in-memory processing. Early signs of the move toward this new architecture can be seen in recent announcements of new computer appliances designed for high-speed data applications.

Do we need a line between big data and big brother?

We often laud big data when it’s capturing and storing all sorts of new data types such as social media feeds, genome-sequencing data and server logs, but would the positive tone change if we were talking about monitoring your every digital interaction while at work to discover questionable behavior? I tend to think it would — Americans are particularly skeptical of Big Brother tracking their activity — but Cataphora CEO Elizabeth Charnock doesn’t agree, at least when it comes to the workplace. In fact, she thinks that in a world with increasingly larger corporations and distributed workforces, companies will be doing themselves and their employees big favors by keeping close tabs on what employees are doing.

LightSquared’s foes assemble lobbying force over GPS issue

With the showdown heating up between wireless broadband firm LightSquared and a broad coalition of players in the global positioning system industry, both sides are lining up lobbyists to sway lawmakers.

LightSquared hired four new firms to lobby on its behalf. Trimble, Garmin and John Deere (registered as Deere & Company, which uses GPS in agriculture and construction equipment) are pouring resources into their own army of lobbyists. Since January, Trimble has spent $840,000 in lobbying fees related to the LightSquared spectrum issue — including nearly $330,000 in the third quarter alone — according to records filed with the Senate. Most of Trimble’s lobbying on spectrum interference is through one of K Street’s leading firms, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, to whom Trimble has shelled out $620,000 this year. Garmin has retained Dow Lohnes, paying the firm $70,000 since March on GPS interference issues; John Deere has spent $964,000 on in-house lobbyists.

Rep Graves Asks FCC to Hold Off on Approving LightSquared Wireless Network

In a letter to federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, House Small Business Committee Republicans, led by Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) have asked the FCC not to approve LightSquared's wholesale national 4G wireless network until it has ensured that it will not interfere with GPS devices.

The FCC originally conditioned its waiver for the service, which uses satellite spectrum for terrestrial service, on resolving interference issues, and has reiterated that in putting the service on hold until more testing is done, which is slated to be completed by the end of November. But the Republicans want to make sure they are on the same page as the commission as what would qualify as a clean bill of health for LightSquared's service, which in their view means no interference, period.

Ex Parte and the FCC’s Emergency Access Advisory Committee

On December 7, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission established of the Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC), an advisory committee required by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA). The purpose of the EAAC is to determine the most effective and efficient technologies and methods by which to enable access to Next Generation 911 emergency services by individuals with disabilities.

In order to fulfill this mission, the CVAA directs that within one year after the EAAC’s members are appointed, the Committee shall conduct a national survey, with the input of groups represented by the Committee’s membership, after which the Committee shall develop and submit to the FCC recommendations to implement such technologies and methods. Under the CVAA and the charter and by-laws adopted by the EAAC, the FCC is responsible for oversight of the EAAC, including its informal working groups and subcommittees. As a result, FCC staff may participate in meetings or other activities held by the EAAC or its informal working groups or subcommittees. The FCC is therefore announcing that presentations to the EAAC will be treated as exempt presentations for ex parte purposes. This treatment is appropriate because presentations to the EAAC, like comments in response to a Notice of Inquiry, will not directly result in the promulgation of rules.

The FCC recognizes, however, that issues that may be considered or addressed by the EAAC are the subject of a number of pending FCC proceedings. The FCC will not rely in these proceedings on any information submitted to the EAAC, or to any of its subcommittees or working groups, unless that information has been filed in the record of the relevant
proceeding.

FTC OK With Scripps/McGraw-Hill

The Federal Trade Commission has no antitrust issues with Scripps' deal to buy McGraw-Hill Broadcasting for $212 million in cash. The deal is also being vetted by the Federal Communications Commission, which goes beyond competition issues to public interest determinations. The proposed station sale was placed on public notice Oct. 14. The public has 30 days from that date to file petitions to deny or other objections, if any.

Local News is Driver for NBC O&O Revival

Last year when Comcast was trying to convince regulators to allow it to acquire a controlling interest in NBCUniversal, executives insisted that they were committed to broadcasting and restoring NBC to its former place atop the Nielsen charts.

They have not accomplished that yet (they’ve been in charge only 10 months), but they are trying, most certainly at NBC’s string of 10 big-market TV stations whose ratings and reputation have fallen along with those of NBC primetime. Valari Staab, a longtime ABC local broadcaster who was hired away to lead the NBC Owned Television Stations, is reinventing the group through a four-pronged strategy of bigger budgets and staff for better, stronger newscasts; better promoting those newscasts and stories; increased local autonomy; and otherwise recharging the non-network daytime schedule.

MetroPCS May Be No Answer for U.S. Concerns With AT&T Deal

MetroPCS Communications, a wireless carrier looking to expand, may struggle to become a viable replacement for T-Mobile USA as AT&T tries to win government approval to buy the company from Deutsche Telekom AG.

MetroPCS has less than one-third the customers of T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. wireless carrier, and covers less than half the US population. The company would need to spend as much as $10 billion for wireless spectrum and customers to compete with Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and AT&T, said Michael Mahoney, senior managing director and portfolio manager at San Francisco-based Falcon Point Capital LLC. That is probably beyond its capability, he said. “They are a very niche player right now, with a specific brand image,” Mahoney said. “They need to be more than that to be a credible nationwide player.” MetroPCS had 9.1 million wireless subscribers at the end of June, compared with 33.6 million subscribers for T-Mobile. Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint had 107.7 million, 100.7 million and 53.3 million, respectively, at the end of September. MetroPCS probably needs 25 million users to compete with the industry giants, Mahoney said. That means it has to acquire the equivalent of about half the subscribers at T-Mobile, which AT&T has agreed to buy from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion.

Job Cuts to Cost Motorola Mobility $31 Million

Motorola Mobility expects to incur $31 million in costs as it cuts 800 jobs. The pretax costs include $27 million in severance and $4 million for closing facilities and will be recorded this quarter. The moves were approved Oct. 24, the company said. Motorola Mobility is reining in costs as it prepares to complete its acquisition by Google.

Why Does Louisiana Hate Broadband?

[Commentary] I've been watching a train wreck in slow motion the past few weeks as the state I now call home fumbles away $80 million of federal money to bring broadband to connect the unconnected.

The story is that the Louisiana State University Board of Regents was awarded an $80 million broadband stimulus grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to extend LONI, Louisiana's statewide research fiber network, primarily into the northeast part of the state. In particular the LONI extension was going to bring affordable 100Mbps service to rural high schools across wide swathes of Louisiana. Only now those schools won't be getting these connections. Why? Public details are sparse at this point, but NTIA's justification for pulling the funding is that there were serious doubts about whether the project would be able to spend its money fast enough to meet programmatic goals. The other thing we know is that at some point in the process the Board of Regents asked the Governor's Office to get involved in helping get things back on track. Only instead of focusing on how to execute more efficiently the plan as originally conceived, LA Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater appears to have shifted gears and tried to radically change the plan.