August 22, 2012 (FCC Broadband Report)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012 (46!)
Another round of privacy talks at the NTIA today http://benton.org/calendar/2012-08-22/
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC Broadband Report Finds Significant Progress In Broadband Deployment, But Important Gaps Remain - press release
Thousands in San Francisco Bay Area lack broadband access [links to web]
House GOP: FCC 'twists the facts' in report to justify regulation
FCC Begins Work on Next Broadband Report - public notice
FCC Releases International Broadband Comparison Report - research
Broadband access inequality growing across US - op-ed
Verizon renews criticism of Network Neutrality regulations
AT&T: Pay Me, Screw Network Neutrality - op-ed
Broadband: Huge potential (for education), but access barriers remain
Did Bush’s Broadband Deregulation Upend His Own NSA Wiretapping?
ICANN expects gTLD application processing to start in December [links to web]
WIRELESSS/SPECTRUM
Three FCC Votes In for Verizon/SpectrumCo
Full Speed Ahead for Verizon and Cable - analysis [links to web]
The Sprint Is On for New Wireless Bids
Smart Cars Get a Connection Test in Michigan
House panel to examine turning over government airwaves to private sector
Three firms must defend mobile phone suit - US judge
T-Mobile, Cleartalk Get Go-Ahead on Low-Income Services [links to web]
AT&T: 700 MHz interoperability proposal unnecessary, unprecedented [links to web]
Google, Boingo bring their free Wi-Fi experiment to mall rats [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
National Public Safety Network Begins to Take Shape
Planning for the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network - public notice
PRIVACY
Web Sites Accused of Collecting Data on Children
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Akin Controversy Could Cost Missouri Stations
Political junkies take note: YouTube launches new Elections Hub [links to web]
Google's 2012 PAC spending nears half a million [links to web]
CONTENT
The billion-dollar question: What is journalism for? - analysis [links to web]
Ad-Supported Content Tops With Connect TV Users [links to web]
Web TV needs to have captions starting next month, the FCC rules [links to web]
TELEVISION
Of Course Networks Don't Reach Many Hispanics: Look at the Stereotypes on TV - analysis [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Unhappy Creditors Want Tribune Plan Put on Hold [links to web]
Liberty Media files with FCC to take control of Sirius XM—again [links to web]
Bill Gates Part of $12 Million Round for Satellite Mobile Broadband Start-Up [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
Former White House Cybersecurity Official Joins Start-Up [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Foxconn Trims Working Hours, Boosts Safety After FLA Audits
Google, Facebook Working on India Request to Remove Content
Google Analytics breaks Norwegian privacy laws, agency says [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Fifth Circuit Short Circuit: Court of Appeals Limits Rights of FCC Forfeiture Defendants [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC BROADBAND REPORT FINDS SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The nation has made significant progress expanding high-speed Internet access in recent years, but further implementation of major reforms newly adopted by the Federal Communications
Commission is required before broadband will be available to the approximately 19 million Americans who still lack access, according to the FCC’s Eighth Broadband Progress Report. The Report chronicles major strides taken by providers and policymakers to accelerate deployment, including:
Billions invested by the communications industry in broadband deployment, including next-generation wired and wireless services
Expansion of networks technically capable of 100 megabit-plus speeds to over 80 percent of the population through cable’s DOCSIS 3.0 rollout
World-leading LTE deployment by mobile operators
Sweeping reforms by the FCC to its universal service programs, including the new Connect America Fund for broadband deployment, Mobility Fund, and the Lifeline program for low-income Americans
Action under the FCC’s Broadband Acceleration Initiative to reduce the cost and time required for deployment
Numerous steps to expand availability of wireless spectrum for broadband
Notwithstanding this progress, the Report finds that approximately 19 million Americans—6 percent of the population—still lack access to fixed broadband service at threshold speeds. In rural areas, nearly one-fourth of the population —14.5 million people—lack access to this service. In tribal areas, nearly one-third of the population lacks access. Even in areas where broadband is available, approximately 100 million Americans still do not subscribe. The report concludes that until the Commission’s Connect America reforms are fully implemented, these gaps are unlikely to close. Because millions still lack access to or have not adopted broadband, the Report concludes broadband is not yet being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion.
benton.org/node/132629 | Federal Communications Commission | read the report | Chairman Genachowski | Commissioner McDowell | Commissioner Clyburn | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai | USAToday | GigaOm | ars technica | The Hill
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HOUSE GOP REACTS TO BROADBAND REPORT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
A spokeswoman for House Commerce Committee Republicans accused the Federal Communications Commission of using an annual report on broadband access to justify more regulation. “In the FCC broadband report, the FCC twists the facts and the law to denigrate our nation’s advanced telecommunications capability and justify past and presumably future regulatory intervention," Debbee Keller, a GOP spokeswoman, said. The two Republican commissioners, Robert McDowell and Ajit Pai, dissented from the report's finding, arguing that broadband is expanding rapidly. "As Commissioners McDowell and Pai explain in their dissents, the FCC’s own data actually shows broadband availability grew from 15 percent of Americans in 2003 to 95 percent of Americans in 2009," Keller said. "Private sector investment brought fixed and mobile broadband service to 7.4 million and 46.7 million additional Americans, respectively, from June 2010 to June 2011. If anything is lagging, it is the FCC’s willingness to get out of the way and let the country’s entrepreneurs bring needed jobs and economic growth to the country,” she said. But an FCC spokesman argued that the report already "reflects the huge strides that both the private and public sector have made to extend broadband, while also explaining that there’s more work to do."
benton.org/node/132632 | Hill, The
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FCC’S NEXT BROADBAND REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
This Notice of Inquiry initiates the Federal Communications Commission’s ninth assessment of the “availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans (including, in particular, elementary and secondary schools and classrooms).” This Inquiry will culminate in a report to “determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” To help the FCC fulfill our statutory responsibilities, we solicit data and information that will inform the FCC’s determination and allow us to evaluate all of the factors that influence the availability of broadband to all Americans. Given the critical contribution of broadband to the opportunities for individuals to find and create jobs and prosperity, the FCC examines critically how we should define “advanced telecommunications capability.” In particular, the FCC seeks comment on the criteria the FCC should use to define “advanced telecommunications capability,” whether the FCC should establish separate benchmarks for fixed and mobile services, which data the FCC should rely on in measuring broadband, and other issues. In this Inquiry, the FCC seeks comment about these three core characteristics—speed, latency, and data capacity—for the purposes of determining whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans.
benton.org/node/132628 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Genachowski | Commissioner McDowell | Commissioner Clyburn | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai
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INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND COMPARISON REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission released its third annual International Broadband Data Report (IBDR or Report). The IBDR is required by the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA) and provides comparative international information on broadband services. Through the presentation of this data, the FCC has the opportunity to evaluate the United States’ rates of broadband adoption, speeds, and prices in comparison to the international community. International data can serve as useful benchmarks for progress in fixed and mobile broadband accessibility. The United States has regained its role as a global leader in and around mobile broadband. More than 80% of smartphones sold globally run on U.S. operating systems, up from less than 25% three years ago. As the first adopters of 4G LTE, the U.S. is the global test bed for wireless technology and services. In 2011, venture investment in Internet start-ups reached its highest levels since 2001. The apps economy, a $20 billion industry that barely existed five years ago, has created nearly 500,000 jobs.
benton.org/node/132627 | Federal Communications Commission | Fixed Broadband Price Dataset | Mobile Broadband Price Dataset | Community Dataset
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BROADBAND ACCESS INEQUALITY GROWING
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Christopher Mitchell, Sascha Meinrath]
[Commentary] Imagine paying $40 per gallon of gasoline when people in neighboring towns are paying $4. Or paying $8 per kilowatt-hour for electricity when others are paying 8 cents. Unthinkable! But this stark disparity is commonplace when it comes to paying for Internet access in the United States. As the recent report “The Cost of Connectivity" from the New America Foundation documents, something is fundamentally wrong with our broadband. Businesses and households without fast, affordable and reliable access to the Internet are tremendously disadvantaged in the modern economy. And the gap between the most connected and least connected communities is actually getting worse. Some homeowners in North Carolina are reluctant to publicly discuss their total lack of broadband access due to fears of being unable to later sell their property. We cannot have a robust 21st-century economy without affordable, ubiquitous broadband, as many peer nations — like France, Latvia, Japan and Romania — have long understood.
benton.org/node/132626 | Slate
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VERIZON RENEWS CRITICISM OF NETWORK NEUTRALITY REGULATIONS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
Verizon renewed its criticisms of the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules, saying its lawsuit seeking to overturn them will rein in an out-of-control federal agency. The company's lawsuit is about "the importance of restraint on the regulatory authority in the Internet space," said Tom Tauke, Verizon's executive vice president for public affairs. "We believe that is critical -- and this battle is really a battle about that kind of restraint." "If you allow an agency to go outside those guidelines and begin to set policies that is not authorized (to do), then there is no limitation on what that agency can do," Tauke said at the Technology Policy Institute's conference. Tauke said that if the FCC takes action based on real harm to consumer or competition, "I think that's fine -- but once you get into the business of having an agency set rules for fear of what could go wrong in the marketplace...that has the potential to limit innovation."
benton.org/node/132617 | C-Net|News.com
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AT&T AND NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Craig Aaron]
[Commentary] From electricity to earmuffs, once you buy a product or service from a company, it shouldn't be any of its business how you choose to use it. The power company doesn't say you can't use the energy-saving features on your new refrigerator unless you buy more electricity; and your grocer doesn't make you buy an extra loaf of bread if you stop purchasing potato chips. Then there's the upside-down world of AT&T -- where Ma Bell's spawn sees nothing wrong with making you buy more of what you don't want just to use something you like. AT&T's latest proposal is a clear violation of Network Neutrality -- the fundamental principle that keeps the open Internet free from discrimination -- and a serious test of whether the Federal Communications Commission will protect mobile users. AT&T just announced that unless its iPhone customers subscribe to a more expensive "mobile share" unlimited text-and-voice plan, the company will cripple the device's built-in FaceTime app so users can't make mobile video calls. So if you want to use an app rather than make a call -- something you'll be able to do on a "3G" network when Apple updates its operating system -- then you first have to pay for more old-fashioned phone calls and text messages. Say what?
benton.org/node/132616 | Huffington Post, The
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BROADBAND AND EDUCATION
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Laura Devaney]
Broadband internet access is crucial for student learning as online and blended learning expand throughout the country, but obstacles such as digital access and policy roadblocks must be addressed, said panelists during an Internet Innovation webinar on broadband’s potential in education. A broadband backbone is invaluable for expanding learning quality and opportunities for students and teachers when it comes to differentiated instruction, content, communication, and administrative needs, said David Teeter, director of policy for the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Broadband supports online and blended learning, enables and enhances personalized learning and differentiated instruction, and supports decision-making.
benton.org/node/132615 | eSchool News
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BROADBAND DEREGULATION AND WIRETAPPING
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Julian Sanchez]
As Congress prepares to reauthorize the controversial FISA Amendments Act of 2008 — which effectively legalized the notorious warrantless wiretap program launched by President George Bush — much about the law remains shrouded in secrecy: The National Security Agency (NSA) has refused to give legislators even a rough estimate of how many Americans’ communications have been swept up in the digital dragnet. Yet even four years after the FAA’s passage, one of the biggest mysteries isn’t how the law has been used, but why it was necessary in the first place. One surprising — but surprisingly plausible — explanation points to the unexpected consequences of broadband deregulation. In other words, it seems entirely plausible that the Bush Administration’s deregulation of cable broadband service accidentally led to a secret court refusing to approve a sizable chunk of the NSA’s wiretapping activities. That ruling then precipitated a dramatic political battle full of overblown claims of threats to America and eventually resulted in the passage of a measure expanding the NSA’s ability to intercept communications inside the United States.
benton.org/node/132605 | Wired
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WIRELESSS/SPECTRUM
FCC VOTING ON VERIZON/SPECTRUMCO
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission's two Republican members -- Robert McDowell and Ajit Pai -- have voted to approve the order allowing Verizon to buy advanced wireless spectrum from cable operators Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Bright House, according to an FCC source familiar with the tally. Those commissioners concurred -- short of an endorsement -- to parts of the decisions, but their yes votes, combined with that of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, whose yes was on all counts, are enough to seal the deal.
benton.org/node/132630 | Broadcasting&Cable
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NEW WIRELESS DEALS?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Miriam Gottfried]
The government's relative leniency in its requirements for giving a green light to the Verizon-SpectrumCo deal has sparked hopes of further wireless consolidation as carriers seek spectrum to build out next-generation 4G LTE networks. One theory is that Sprint, which needs more capacity to compete with Verizon and AT&T, will buy MetroPCS, which has some spectrum that is contiguous with its own. Leap Wireless International could also be a Sprint takeover candidate. Like Metro, its network uses the same technology, allowing for easier customer transfer. Metro's spectrum is more valuable than Leap's because it is in major cities. But Sprint's board already spurned Metro in February, making a reversal unlikely. These deals would also come with considerable costs. Verizon is paying 69 cents per megahertz pop—an industry metric representing bandwidth per person in a coverage area—for the spectrum it is buying. But an acquirer would have to pay 83 cents and 87 cents for Metro and Leap, respectively, just to cover their net debt, according to BTIG. What may make more sense for Sprint is buying T-Mobile USA.
benton.org/node/132625 | Wall Street Journal
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SMART CAR TEST
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bill Vlasic]
Federal regulators announced a yearlong “smart car” project to determine whether wireless communication between vehicles can improve safety on the nation’s highways. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said 3,000 cars, buses and trucks would be equipped with data recorders and a technology akin to Wi-Fi that can transmit information about accidents or hazardous traffic conditions. Drivers in the connected vehicles will be warned, for example, of sudden changes in traffic patterns or potential collisions through data transmitted from similarly equipped cars and roadside devices. Sec LaHood said the $25 million study would yield data useful in deciding whether the government should require such crash avoidance technology in future vehicles.
benton.org/node/132638 | New York Times
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HOUSE SPECTRUM HEARING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The House Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing to examine freeing up federal-government frequencies for commercial use. Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) did not announce a witness list or say when the sub-panel will hold the hearing. Congress is on recess until September. "The subcommittee will continue to examine how both federal agencies and commercial wireless carriers might benefit from more efficient government use of spectrum," said Chairman Walden. "As the single largest spectrum user, the federal government could save taxpayers money and make more frequencies available to meet American consumers’ growing demand for mobile broadband services.”
benton.org/node/132621 | Hill, The
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PHONE SUIT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Nate Raymond]
Ericsson, Qualcomm and Alcatel-Lucent SA lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by a Liberty Media unit that accused them of conspiring to exclude its positioning technology from being adopted in 4G mobile phones. U.S. District Judge Robert Kelly in Philadelphia wrote that TruePosition Inc's "allegations of an illegal conspiracy between the corporate defendants are plausible when viewed in context and as a whole". TruePosition is a Liberty Media subsidiary that sells technology to assist carriers in locating mobile phones when someone calls the U.S. emergency number 911. The company accused Ericsson, Qualcomm and Alcatel-Lucent of hijacking the organizations that set global standards for what technologies would be included in LTE 4G networks.
benton.org/node/132635 | Reuters
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Wayne Hanson]
Last week Harris County, Texas, stood up the first 14 sites of what could one day become a nationwide broadband wireless network for public safety. The launch was a major milestone in an effort stretching back to the late 1990s, when Congress ordered the Federal Communications Commission to set aside 700 MHz spectrum for public safety. For many years the dream of an interoperable radio for the nation’s first responders had stalled at the federal level. Twenty-one cities, counties and states got tired of waiting, said former Seattle CTO Bill Schrier. In 2010, those jurisdictions formed the Operator Advisory Committee (OAC) and formally applied to the FCC to use the bandwidth, which was granted in May 2010. According to Schrier — who led Seattle’s effort and became chairman of the OAC — members began building their networks. Last week the FCC gave permission for Harris County and Charlotte (NC) to go live — with Harris County first out of the gate. That permission came in the form of a provisional waiver, which allowed those two jurisdictions to move ahead since both projects met interoperability requirements needed for the planned national network.
benton.org/node/132611 | Government Technology
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PLANNING FOR THE NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY BROADBAND NETWORK
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issues this Notice to announce requirements for the State and Local Implementation Grant Program authorized by section 6302 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Act). The Notice describes the programmatic requirements under which NTIA will award grants to assist state, local, and tribal governments with planning for a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network.
benton.org/node/132604 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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PRIVACY
WEB SITES ACCUSED OF COLLECTING DATA ON CHILDREN
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Natasha Singer]
A coalition of nearly 20 children’s advocacy, health and public interest groups plans to file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, asserting that some online marketing to children by McDonald’s and four other well-known companies violates a federal law protecting children’s privacy. The law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, requires Web site operators to obtain verifiable consent from parents before collecting personal information about children under age 13. But, in complaints to the F.T.C., the coalition says six popular Web sites aimed at children have violated that law by encouraging children who play brand-related games or engage in other activities to provide friends’ e-mail addresses — without seeking prior parental consent. The sites cited by the advocacy groups include McDonald’s HappyMeal.com; Nick.com, the Nickelodeon site owned by Viacom; General Mills’ ReesesPuffs.com; SubwayKids.com; another General Mills site, TrixWorld.com; and Turner’s CartoonNetwork.com. At least one company, however, said the accusation mischaracterized its practices, adding that the law allows an exception for one-time use of a friend’s e-mail address.
The coalition includes the Center for Digital Democracy, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Berkeley Media Studies Group, Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood, Center for Media Justice, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Children Now, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Watchdog, ChangeLab Solutions, Global Action Project, Media Literacy Project, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Public Citizen, Public Health Advocacy Institute, Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale.
benton.org/node/132639 | New York Times | AdWeek
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
AKIN CONTROVERSEY COULD COST STATIONS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: David Goetzl]
Leading Republicans weren’t the only ones pulling for Rep. Todd Akin to get out of the Missouri Senate race on Tuesday. Local TV stations across the Show Me State had a lot on the line, as well. Stations stand to lose a lot of money with Akin defying pleas from the GOP establishment -- including Mitt Romney -- to abandon his campaign. Their urging came after his bizarre comments about women being able to prevent pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.” Akin, the Republican seeking to unseat incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill, prepped an ad apologizing for his remarks, saying he “used the wrong words in the wrong way” and he has “a compassionate heart” for sexual assault victims. But how many more ads he will be able to run between now and November remains a question that could negatively impact some of the country’s leading station groups, including Belo, Sinclair and Gannett (with affiliates in St. Louis) and Meredith, Hearst and E.W. Scripps (in Kansas City).
benton.org/node/132636 | MediaPost
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
FOXCONN REFORMS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Stanley James, Tim Culpan]
Foxconn Technology Group, Apple’s largest supplier, cut working hours and improved safety conditions at its China factories after inspections by the Fair Labor Association found dozens of violations, the group said. The changes are among 284 made by Foxconn this year after FLA audits at three plants of the Taiwan-based company logged more than 50 breaches of Chinese regulations, the group said in a report released today. Foxconn is ahead of its own 15-month schedule for upgrading conditions and meeting FLA mandates, with 76 more items due for completion by July 1, the group said. “A lot of companies are looking at Foxconn’s progress with considerable interest and concern because they know how ambitious a target Foxconn has set,” Auret van Heerden, president and chief executive officer of the labor group, said in an interview. “It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that a Samsung facility will come up” for future inspection.
benton.org/node/132634 | Bloomberg
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INDIA REQUESTS CONTENT REMOVAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: R Jai Krishna]
Google and Facebook said they are working on requests from India to remove from their web sites "inflammatory and hateful content" that New Delhi blames for sparking a mass exodus of people from several cities. Tens of thousands of panic-stricken students and workers from northeast left for home last week, spurred by rumors they would be attacked in retaliation for communal violence in Assam, a northeastern state, that left at least 78 people dead. India blocked as many as 245 Web pages for hosting video clips and other content that the authorities said were distorted and were used for spreading the rumors. The government is wary of social networks being misused for inciting violence and has asked companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft to remove such content from their websites.
benton.org/node/132624 | Wall Street Journal | Reuters | NYTimes
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