February 2012

GOP senators call for delay on cybersecurity bill

Seven Republican senators urged Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to slow down a cybersecurity bill and allow for more committees to amend the legislation.

Sens Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), John McCain (R-AZ), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Mike Enzi (R-WY) said the cybersecurity bill "does not satisfy our substantive concerns, nor does it satisfy our process concerns." "Given the serious national security and economic consequences of any legislation, it is imperative that the other committees of jurisdiction be given the opportunity to shape the legislative outcome in a bipartisan manner," the senators wrote. The lawmakers, who serve as the ranking Republicans on the Commerce, Intelligence, Judiciary, Energy, Armed Services, Budget and Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committees, said all of their panels should have the opportunity to hold hearings and markup the legislation.

In a statement, Sen Reid said the bill is the "product of more than three years of bipartisan cooperation across several committees" and that given the urgency of the threat, he will "move quickly to bring this legislation to the Senate floor.”

Three More Years! FCC Wants to Extend Cable's Viewability Mandates

In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) the Federal Communications Commission proposed extending a cable analog carriage mandate for another three years, and more definitively proposed extending its waiver of the high definition carriage mandate for smaller cable operators for three more years as well.

The FCC is asking whether it should extend the mandate that cable operators deliver all TV stations' digital signals in analog format to analog customers or, alternatively, make sure all its customers have the equipment to view a digital signal. It may be in the form of a question, but the FCC signaled in its rulemaking proposal that it was pretty sure of the answer. "The available market evidence seems to indicate that the viewability requirements remain important to consumers." To help make its case, the FCC cited National Cable & Telecommunications Association data showing that as of the third quarter of 2011, there were still more than 12 million analog cable-only households, and that the switch from analog to digital cable had slowed since the DTV transition.

BlackBerry faces new challenge from U.S. agency

In another blow for beleaguered BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, the General Services Administration, the U.S. federal government's main procurement agency, is issuing iPhones and Android-based devices to some of its 17,000 workers.

While GSA does not impose its purchasing decisions on other parts of the government, the terms and conditions it negotiates can be used as a blueprint for other agencies. The GSA - which manages $500 billion of government assets including telecom, information technology and real estate - is also testing the use of employees' personal smartphones and tablets on their secure networks

Amazon Falls on Prime Subscriber Numbers

Apparently, Amazon’s Prime service, a linchpin of its effort to keep customers loyal and fuel long- term profit, has attracted fewer than half as many members as analysts estimate.

As of October, 3 million to 5 million people subscribed to Prime, a program begun in 2005 that provides two-day shipping for $79 a year, said the people, who asked not to be named because the figures are private. Amazon is working to reach 7 million to 10 million in the next 12 to 18 months, the people said. Analysts have pegged the current number at 10 million or more, with expectations for it to climb higher this year. The slower adoption of Prime adds to concerns about Amazon’s revenue growth.

paidContent writes: “The main thrust of the [Bloomberg] piece is that that is about half as many as analysts believed, but since Amazon has never released numbers about the program, it’s not clear what the takeaway is. It’s not as if Amazon publicly stated that it has attracted half as many Prime subscribers as it wanted to; in fact it’s made clear that it’s moving ahead forcefully with the program.

Apple Apps Remain Developers’ Favorite Even as Android Expands Footprint

Google has turned Android into the most popular operating system for smartphones. And yet the platform may be losing ground to Apple’s iOS in a major area: new applications. Relative to Apple, fewer apps were created for Android in January than a year earlier, according to Flurry, a company that analyzes mobile-software data.

Developers made roughly one new Android app for every three Apple apps, Flurry found. A year ago, they created two Android app for every three Apple apps. While the study only tracked developers who design apps using Flurry’s tools, the shift suggests that Google’s bid to overtake Apple’s industry-leading App Store may be losing some steam. Apple has more than 550,000 apps in its store, compared with over 400,000 for Google’s Android Market. Both companies count on the array of apps to make their phones more enticing and lock in consumers who are already using the devices.

White House to Honor NTIA Recovery Act Broadband Grantees as Innovators in Infrastructure

The White House will recognize two individuals who helped develop and are now implementing broadband infrastructure projects that are key to revitalizing their communities. Joe Freddoso, President and CEO of MCNC, and Donald Welch, President and CEO of Merit Network Inc, will be among 11 local leaders honored at the White House as “Champions of Change” who are using innovative techniques to develop valuable projects helping to improve America’s infrastructure.

Patricia Harrison, CEO of CPB, Responds to President Obama's FY 2013 Budget Request

President Obama … submitted his Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget to Congress. In it, he requested full funding – $445 million – for CPB’s FY 2015 advance appropriation. CPB’s two-year advance appropriation, in place since 1976, serves as a “firewall” designed to protect public media’s independence. The federal appropriation provides essential funding to local and national content and approximately 70 percent goes directly to public radio and television stations across the country to help them better serve their communities. The President’s request reflects the value of public media’s in-depth news reporting, our commitment to children, and initiatives such as American Graduate, which focuses on public media’s core value of education. The request also reflects the unique and powerful service that public media provides for free to listeners and viewers. We appreciate the President’s support. His request reaffirms that federal funding for public media is a vital investment – one that continues to deliver proven value and service to our country.”

New Service Will Stream Local TV Stations in New York

An online television company has come up with a way to stream local television stations to paying subscribers on the Internet, potentially forming a new cord-cutting threat for cable and satellite distributors.

The new company, called Aereo, held a news conference to demonstrate its service, which will go on sale on March 14. The service will cost subscribers $12 a month and will work only in New York City. Aereo will stream all of the programming of the major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) and will include an Internet-powered digital video recorder. What it lacks completely is cable TV. But for some people, particularly those who do not watch sports cable channels like ESPN or premium channels like HBO, a combination of Aereo and an on-demand streaming service like Netflix or Hulu could be an appealing alternative to a cable subscription. For casual television viewers, “if you have this and you have Netflix, you absolutely have the ability to not have a standard cable subscription,” said Chet Kanojia, the founder and chief executive of Aereo, which was initially named Bamboom Labs.

Why your next smartphone could have better Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is now a staple in today’s smartphones, but it’s expected to get even better in handsets as soon as next year. The new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard, or 5th generation of Wi-Fi, is still in the works, but companies such as Broadcom already have supporting products available. This “5G Wi-Fi” offers improved power efficiency and speeds faster than 802.11n Wi-Fi, and it could be your smartphone’s new best friend.

AT&T’s data traffic is actually doubling annually

AT&T is now claiming that its mobile data traffic is doubling every year, rather than increasing by the more modest 40 percent annual rate it detailed in recent investor and analyst calls. The distinction is important because the faster AT&T’s HSPA and LTE networks become overloaded, the more pressure it faces to use its reserve spectrum and find new sources of airwaves. So is AT&T contradicting itself? No, it’s just looking at different sets of numbers. According to the Wall Street Journal, AT&T confirmed that the 40 percent number cited by AT&T executives cited only factored in increases from existing users, not traffic produced from new subscribers, i.e., the typical AT&T smartphone customer increased his mobile data consumption by 40 percent over the last 12 months. The 100 percent number is for overall mobile data traffic on its network, factoring in the increased usage of its existing subscriber base along with the burden millions of new smartphones brought to its network.

Benton

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