December 2012

Congress and the FCC Talk Incentive Auctions, Spectrum, and Your Wireless Future

[Commentary] On December 12, 2012, the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held an oversight hearing on the implementation of spectrum auctions in an effort to meet the growing demand for wireless broadband services and fund a nationwide public safety network. The five FCC Commissioners testified before the panel on the status of the auctions and their interpretations on how the auctions will free up additional spectrum and promote competition. These auctions were part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. Three issues that permeated throughout the hearing were (1) an accurate history and interpretation the intent of the statute’s unlicensed spectrum provisions; (2) a focus on the spectrum cap; and (3) what role federal spectrum should play in this discussion.

Getting Spectrum from a Jobs Bill: Keeping the New Broadband Spectrum Law on Track

[Commentary] When President Barack Obama signed into law the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 on February 22, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gained authority to 1) hold voluntary incentive auctions and 2) allocate necessary spectrum for a nationwide interoperable broadband network for first responders. The new law also provides $7 billion for public safety broadband network build out, and up to $1.75 billion for relocation costs for broadcasters. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the spectrum auction will raise $15 billion over the next eleven years. Lawmakers are relying on spectrum revenue to raise $7 billion for the public safety network, $135 million for State planning, $300 million for research and development, and $115 million for next generation 911 services. On December 12, the House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held an oversight hearing, Keeping the New Broadband Spectrum Law on Track, on the FCC’s implementation of the new law. Each of the five FCC commissioners testified. In a briefing memo shared on December 10, House Republicans shared concerns that the FCC plans to give away large swaths of spectrum reclaimed from television broadcasters. Committee staff said the FCC “runs the risk of short changing First Responders, squandering much of the legislation’s potential, and violating the act.”

Online story comments affect news perception

A study published last month in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication shows that the way certain readers see news stories can be distorted by the comments below them. Especially when someone cares deeply about the issue being covered, disagreeable commentary may stoke concern over media bias. The study’s author is Eun-Ju Lee, a professor in the department of communication at Seoul National University, in South Korea

National Broadband Plan relies on communities to drive innovation

A Q&A with Blair Levin, one of the premier communications strategists in the United States who lead in the creation of the National Broadband Plan released in March 2010. He now serves as executive director of Gig.U. He said communities have to take steps to remove bandwidth as a constraint on innovation.

AT&T, Verizon, others debate liability, funding for Next-Generation 911 service

As the nation's wireless carriers and messaging providers gear up to support text-to-911 service, they are also already staking out positions on a Next-Generation 911 service that could support a range of communication mechanisms including pictures, video and other IP-based communications.

The Federal Communications Commission announced proposed rules that will allow wireless users to send text messages to 911. The rules will require wireless carriers and over-the-top messaging providers like Facebook Messenger and Apple's iMessage to support text messages to 911 and to provide bounce-back messages if the service is unavailable. As part of that effort, the nation's four largest carriers agreed to deploy a nationwide text-to-911 service by May 15, 2014. However, the FCC is also seeking comment on a Next-Generation 911 system, dubbed NG911. That system, the details of which are still being hashed out, will support a wide range of functions beyond just text messages.

In comments to the FCC, major carriers including Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, and T-Mobile USA generally voiced support for a next-generation 911 system, but pointed out several issues in the implementation of such a service. Specifically, Verizon urged the FCC to implement statewide or region-wide guidelines for the deployment of NG911 services to 911 call centers, dubbed Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Verizon also said Congress should issue nationwide laws for liability--the carrier warned that "liability risks could potentially deter NG911 deployment or increase deployment costs in a particular state." In its filing AT&T noted that a NG911 system will require additional funding, and that the FCC and Congress should revamp the current funding system for 911. "AT&T believes that these public safety expenses should be funded through general revenues and that the burden of making 911 service access available to everyone should be borne equally. The commission should recommend to Congress that it explore ways of addressing this funding issue."

High-speed broadband a lifeline for rural America

[Commentary] Most of the people I know who choose to live in rural America happily do without the conveniences of the cities and suburbs in order to enjoy the benefits of rural life. In today’s world, though, high-speed broadband networks are far more than a convenience for rural America. To forego the benefits that state-of-the-art broadband networks bring would limit the potential of small towns and rural counties that deserve to be equal beneficiaries of the technology revolution that’s being made possible by the transition away from legacy analog copper wire-based networks and to high-speed next generation Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks.

Wireless broadband is a natural solution for rural areas because it doesn’t involve running miles of expensive fiber-optic cable across thinly populated swaths of land. To encourage more of this kind of private investment in rural districts, federal and state policy makers need to trim cumbersome regulations written back in the days when telecommunications was limited to voice phone calls over antiquated networks with only one provider. With today’s many choices in communications delivery, the sweeping advances in IP communications technology make that era look like the Stone Age, and Stone Age regulations are a hindrance in the Information Age. Removing barriers to investment and modernization of our networks and accelerating the spread of advanced broadband networks is a crucial issue for the whole country. But nobody has a bigger stake in seeing it happen than the 50 million of us who live in rural America.

[Ashley McMillan is executive director of Partnership for Technology Innovation]

Clinton: businesses need Korean broadband speeds

Former-President Bill Clinton says businesses need broadband speeds comparable to those in parts of Asia to compete in the global market. In an echo of the broadband argument rumbling in the UK, Clinton believes the US needs to invest in fast, universal broadband throughout the country. Delivering the opening keynote at Dell World in Texas, the former president said: "You want to help small businesses, you want to help your entrepreneurs, you want to make it possible for people living in remote towns and upstate New York and West Texas to be part of the global economy? Then stop pretending we can do it with South Korea having average download speeds of four times ours."

Big Savings, New Jobs from Community-Owned Networks

[Commentary] We're all frustrated at rate hikes from phone and cable companies. Every year, it's either an outright increase or some new fee that has the same effect. Now imagine being told that over the next five years, Comcast was going to raise the price of your Internet connection by over 800 percent. That's what the company told Martin County, Fla., a few years ago, aware that the region had few alternatives to turn to. But Martin County recognized the danger in agreeing to extortionary prices and built its own network to connect schools, libraries, police and other community anchor institutions. The project is forecast to save the county $30 million over 20 years. This is one of the many examples we at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance detailed in our fact sheet on the public savings community-owned networks bring.

Will LPTV survive after spectrum auctions?

Is there a future for low power television (LPTV) stations?? It’s a question even being asked by low-power broadcasters themselves. Now, the Federal Communications Commission is on record as saying even they aren’t sure yet.

The Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance, an industry organization of low power television broadcasters, translators, full-power television broadcasters and allied industry organizations and companies, believes the upcoming incentive auction must protect the pre-auction spectrum usage rights of all LPTV and translator operators. Under the law, these stations are considered “secondary” to Full Power and Class A services with regard to interference issues, and will therefore be ineligible to participate in the auction. Neither will they be compensated for expenses in moving to a different channel in their market should they create interference for a Full Power or Class A protected TV Broadcaster.

NAB's Smith Defends Broadcast Future

Appearing on C-SPAN's The Communicators, National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith said that as the original wireless service, broadcasting remains "highly relevant," particularly given what he says is mobile's limitations on video delivery and the indecency regulations that keep it a family viewing destination.

Smith used the word "fail" repeatedly to talk about mobile's inability to deliver the kind of live, real-time video, including high-value sports, which broadcasters supply through their one-to-many architecture. Smith warned that in a world where broadband has replaced, rather than complemented broadcasting, important public values like free, local and decent content will be lost. He stood up strongly for indecency regulations, calling them good public policy as well as a good talking point with Congress.

Benton

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