December 2012

New Airwave-Sharing Scheme Will Launch a Wireless Revolution

Aiming to boost wireless bandwidth and innovation, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is poised to recommend the biggest regulatory change in decades: one that allows a newly available chunk of wireless spectrum to be leased by different companies at different times and places, rather than being auctioned off to one high bidder.

The step “is a critical milestone,” said David Tennenhouse, Microsoft’s vice president of technology policy, adding that it will not only release more spectrum but also enable “dynamic spectrum sharing that is particularly well suited for absorbing growing wireless data traffic.” Cisco Systems estimates that mobile data traffic will grow by a factor of 18 by 2016, and Bell Labs predicts it will increase by a factor of 25. Many more airwaves could eventually be shared with the help of cognitive radios, which sense available frequencies and shift between them. The move will open up a piece of spectrum in the 3.550 to 3.650 gigahertz band now used by radar systems. The move in effect allocates spectrum for another Wi-Fi—a technology that has had tremendous impact. But it is the sharing approach that represents a dramatic change in unleashing bandwidth.

Sprint Offers to Buy Rest of Clearwire

Sprint Nextel offered to acquire all of Clearwire in a $2.1 billion deal, ending a four-year joint venture that struggled to build a nationwide network capable of challenging Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Sprint, which already owns more than 50 percent of Clearwire, is seeking to acquire the remaining shares at $2.90 each, according to a regulatory filing. That’s 5.5 percent more than the stock’s closing price in New York Dec 12. Sprint proposed to provide interim financing of as much as $800 million to help keep the money-losing Clearwire afloat.

Here’s Why Sprint Offered to Buy Clearwire

The rationale behind Sprint’s $2.1 billion deal for Clearwire is simple. Our growing demand for data means that mobile operators need the capacity on their networks to support their users. And that means they need spectrum.

At the moment AT&T and Verizon have some of the best spectrum assets around, but even AT&T was trying to buy T-Mobile in order to get more airwaves. For Sprint, which is building out an LTE network later than its rivals, capacity is key. The company is trying to free up as much spectrum as possible by getting some of its older Nextel subscribers off its older iDEN network technology. But with its investment in Clearwire, Sprint has access to many megahertz of spectrum –albeit in a band that’s not as ideal as the 700 Mhz and AWS bands that AT&T and Verizon own. Clearwire has more than 100 Mhz of spectrum in many of its markets. That’s roughly a third as much as AT&T and Verizon have in many of theirs. This deal is far from done given that SoftBank would need to approve it as well as Clearwire’s board and the Federal Communications Commission. The faster Sprint closes the deal, though, the sooner it can start shift Clearwire’s focus away for its older WiMAX technology and on to new LTE networks.

Why Is the FCC Fighting the Coalition of the Ascendant?

[Commentary] The media keep telling us how changing demographics are profoundly reshaping our nation, and that businesses, political parties, and government must diversify to remain relevant. So why are the bearers of these truths—the same media—fighting tooth and nail to stay as homogenous as possible? The media-dubbed “coalition of the ascendant” of women and minorities has made historic gains in our nation, yet according to the Federal Communications Commission, these communities own only a pittance of the mainstream media.

Apparently not satisfied with their grip on the market, media conglomerates are lobbying the FCC to allow even more consolidation in the industry, effectively shutting the door to the development of a media that’s more reflective of our nation. Instead of promoting diversity in media ownership, the FCC is now preparing to vote for an order that would increase consolidation, allowing big media to own even more TV and radio stations and permitting TV stations and newspapers in more cities to combine under a single masthead. The very predictable result will be more shuttered newsrooms and even less diverse ownership. This is a far cry from the original broadcaster commitment to serve the public interest in return for free use of the people’s airwaves. If the FCC decides to cave to big media consolidation again and allow fewer companies to own our public airwaves, we will all be subject to lower quality local programming, a less competitive market environment, glitzy infotainment passed off as news, public airwaves that don’t really serve the public, and ultimately, a more distorted view of our country. The demographic shifts are real for the country; they’re real for business; they’re real for politics. It’s time for the FCC to recognize that they’re also real for the media.

[Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national civil rights groups. Former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps leads the Media and Democracy Reform Initiative at Common Cause.]

Microsoft Rankles Advertisers With Web User-Privacy Plan

Microsoft is sticking with a decision to make it harder to track users’ online behavior, earning plaudits from privacy groups while drawing fire from the advertisers its money-losing Web unit needs most.

After months of criticism that the new tools cut off valuable customer-targeting information, the software maker has no plans to change the automatic setting in its newest Internet Explorer browser that tells websites not to track user behavior, General Counsel Brad Smith said. The so-called Do Not Track feature has been at the center of privacy debates over browsing data and how websites and marketers use it to make money. For Microsoft and the advertisers, at stake is a $31.7 billion U.S. Internet ad market that grew 22 percent in 2011, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, much of it generated by ads tailored to user behavior.

FCC’s Rosenworcel: Promoting Confidence for Investment, Promoting Confidence for Consumers

Federal Communications Commission member Jessica Rosenworcel delivered remarks at the Practising Law Institute: Telecommunications Policy and Regulation Institute. Commissioner Rosenworcel set out her perspectives on today’s transitional telecommunications landscape, including guiding principles for promoting confidence in private investment in digital age infrastructure and promoting confidence for consumers to reach the full potential and opportunity of this investment.

A. Promoting Confidence for Investment. Today, the Commission is faced with complicated questions raised by technologies in transition, such as the transition from TDM to IP. “We are all wrestling with applying the laws of the present to the networks of the future, and we must make choices that inspire confidence and private investment in our nation’s infrastructure.”

Four fundamental criteria should guide our long-term thinking.

1. Public Safety. Any technological or network transition must first be judged by its ultimate impact on public safety and network resiliency.
2. Universal Service. As we transition to new technologies, we must ensure that no American is left behind.
3. Competition. We must monitor IP to IP interconnection and stand ready to act to ensure that network providers negotiate in good faith.
4. Consumer Protection. We need to help consumers understand what different technologies offer and help them make good choices.

In the near-term there are clear opportunities to promote confidence in investment.

Our upcoming wireless auctions should be put on a timeline. “Nothing inspires capital formation like a pending opportunity with a date certain.”
We should seize opportunities to simplify our universal service rules in a manner that is fiscally sound, good for rural consumers, and bound to inspire investment.

B. Promoting Confidence for Consumers. “In a world where consumer choices have become both vast and complex, information is power. It is vitally important to get consumers the information they need to make choices with confidence in a marketplace that can be bewildering to navigate.” The Commission can improve upon its efforts to get information to consumers in two ways.

First, our consumer complaints interface needs to be upgraded for the digital age.
Second, we should open up our consumer complaint and other data collections to the public in machine-readable form to help identify meaningful trends that can guide our policymaking.

Gigya Rolls Out Privacy Seal For Sites With Social Log-Ins

Social networking technology firm Gigya is launching a new privacy seal of approval for Web companies.

The SocialPrivacy Certification Seal aims to assure consumers that their activity won't be blasted to their Facebook friends or Twitter followers without their consent. To obtain a seal, publishers must promise to refrain from selling user social data, posting to social feeds without permission, engage in social data-based email marketing campaigns without permission, and sending private messages to users' friends without permission. Gigya CEO Patrick Salyer estimates that hundreds of thousands of sites allow consumers to sign on with the same user names they already use at Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other companies with social media platforms. But he says many consumers hesitate to do so due to fear that publishers will share data about them.

Users Prefer Mobile Video At Home

When it comes to the rise of two-screen viewing, much of the discussion has focused on tablets as the second screen. But a new study shows most people watching video on mobile phones are doing so at home (63%), rather than on the go.

More than a third (36%) of this viewing takes place in a room where a TV, PC or tablet is also available for watching video. The findings come from a new report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and its Mobile Center of Excellence. In terms of time spent, two-thirds spent more than an hour a week watching video, with music, movie trailers and how-to videos being the most popular formats. The vast majority (85%) also favor videos under 10 minutes long, given the limitations of the small screen size. Most videos (55%) were watched on apps versus the mobile Web (41%). The study showed nearly all (92%) of mobile video watchers share material they’re watching, with 56% of those doing so via Facebook or other social media and 44% by simply showing others content on their phone. Texting, email, YouTube and Twitter were among other means of sharing.

CALM law regulating TV commercial volume takes effect

TV viewers finally should get some relief from a major annoyance: excessively loud commercials. On Dec 13, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, which limits the volume of TV commercials, goes into effect.

The federal law, known as CALM, requires broadcasters to ensure that TV commercials maintain the same volume as the entertainment programming in which the ads are contained. Prompted by an outcry from irritated consumers, Congress more than a year ago passed the law, sponsored by Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park). It will be enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. Viewers can report super-loud commercials to the FCC on the agency's website or by calling 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-225-5322).

Social Media Becomes A Major

South Carolina's Newberry College will allow its students to major in social media.

The college, for its part, explains that this is one of the first interdisciplinary social media majors. It says it blends graphic design, communications, business, marketing, psychology, and statistics, and that social media is such a vital part of marketing and other business habits that it'll be a valuable qualification with a likely career path ahead of it. One way students will learn mobile marketing, the college says, is by designing QR codes, "those little black and white scanners you use with your smartphone." Apparently this is the "hot new way" to do marketing with mobile phones.

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