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April 2013

MMTC Celebrates Past and Present Women Leaders of FCC at First-of-Its-Kind Luncheon

The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council hosted its first luncheon to honor more than 60 past and present women leaders of the Federal Communications Commission.

Nearly 120 women and men convened in the venue decorated with busts and portraits of Dr. Dorothy I. Height and Dr. Mary McLeod-Bethune to hear several inspiring “her-stories” of seven of the women honorees and one sitting commissioner who recently announced his retirement from the regulatory agency. Sitting FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn served as the event’s opening and closing storytellers, respectively. They each spoke about the need for more diversity in the communications industry as well as the importance of role models to improve our nation’s communities.

IP Transition Requires Smart, Fact-Based Strategy to Boost Broadband Opportunity

[Commentary] Just as the light bulb replaced the kerosene lamp and steam engines replaced sails, IP-based networks that carry video, voice phone calls, and data are taking over for the voice-only phone lines of the past century. Copper phones lines, organized into the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) met the challenges of the 20th century; and fiber technology and IP-based networks are needed for the 21st century. The only question is whether this change, which is complex and will affect every American in some way, will be haphazard or carefully managed — in a fact-based and data-driven process to ensure that consumers are better off and that nobody is left behind.

A smart, managed transition means best-in-the-world broadband services for all consumers. It means continued private investment of tens of billions annually for the next three years by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile alone) and the jobs that come with it. For people of color and other minority communities, a well-managed transition promises expanded opportunity for high-quality and affordable Internet service so they can fully experience the benefits – in health care, education, jobs, and civic empowerment – that are possible in the digital age. While African Americans and Latinos have been early and enthusiastic adopters of mobile technologies, they run far behind whites in home-based broadband. African Americans trail whites by about 16 percentage points and Latinos trail whites by about 19 points, in large part because many African Americans and Latinos can’t afford broadband at home. Managed properly, in a process that includes affordability, pricing, and adoption rates in its analysis, a move to all-IP networks should provide additional competitive choices and affordable options for advanced home-based and mobile broadband.

Cyberattacks can't break the Internet

A recent string of gigantic cyberattacks has proven it is possible to bend, but not break the Internet. It is easy to take down a website. An attack method called "distributed denial of service" allows cybercriminals to direct enormous amounts of traffic to a website, overwhelming its servers and rendering the site unreachable. Banks, government websites and financial exchanges have been frequent targets of recent DDoS attacks. But last month, European spam-prevention service Spamhaus was hit with the largest known cyberattack in history. Speeds slowed for large sections of Europe, according to CloudFlare, a company hired by Spamhaus to thwart its attacks. The attackers used nearly 100,000 servers to send 300 gigabits of traffic per second. That's more than three times larger than the Iranian-sponsored cyberattacks of September 2012, which prevented access to some U.S. banks' websites for days. Yet experts contend that the entire Internet can't just be flipped on or off like a light switch.

GOP Senators Release White Paper on Health IT, Cite Concerns

Sens John Thune (R-SD), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Richard Burr (R-NC), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and Mike Enzi (R-WY) released a white paper, “REBOOT: Re-examining the Strategies Needed to Successfully Adopt Health IT,” outlining concerns with current federal health information technology (health IT) policy, including increased health care costs, lack of momentum toward interoperability, potential waste and abuse, patient privacy, and long-term sustainability. The 2009 Obama stimulus bill included the Health Information Technology and Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act which aimed to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health IT. Now, nearly four years after the enactment of the HITECH Act, and after hundreds of pages of regulations implementing the program, we see evidence that the program is at risk of not achieving its goals and that $35 billion in taxpayer money is being spent ineffectively in the process.

Findings from the senators’ white paper include:

  • Increased Costs. Despite previous estimates that the HITECH Act would save money due to the efficiencies in storing and sharing records and ordering and coordinating patient care, early reports raise concerns that health IT may have actually accelerated the ordering of unnecessary care as well as increased billing.
  • Lack of Clear Path Toward Interoperability. The HITECH Act federal incentive payments are being made to hospitals and physicians without clear evidence that providers can achieve “meaningful use,” or the ability to use the health IT program internally, and without an adequate plan to ensure unaffiliated providers can share information with each other through an interoperable network.
  • Lack of Oversight. Reports from the HHS Inspector General (IG), the Government Accountability Office, and stakeholders have revealed that the administration does not have adequate mechanisms in place to prevent waste and fraud in its health IT programs. Taxpayer dollars are being paid to providers who cannot or do not have to demonstrate that the health IT technology is actually used as prescribed, because the administration relies on provider “self-attestation” in many cases to determine eligibility for payments.
  • Patient Privacy at Risk. The HHS IG found that the security policies and procedures at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology – two federal entities which oversee the administration of the health IT program – are lax and may jeopardize sensitive patient data.
  • Program Sustainability. It is unclear for providers that have accepted grants and incentive payments how much it will cost to maintain their health IT systems after the initial grant money and incentive payments run out. In 2015, incentive payments in most scenarios cease, and providers face reduced Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements if they do not comply with federal requirements, which may impact small providers that may not have economies of scale to make health IT cost-effective.

Internet Ad Revenues Reach Nearly $37 Billion

Digital advertising revenues climbed to a milestone high of $36.6 billion in 2012, according to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report for the full-year of 2012. That historic number marks a 15 percent rise over 2011’s full-year number, which itself had been the highest on record, at $31.7 billion. The report, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and prepared by PwC U.S., additionally reveals that 2012’s fourth quarter numbers, at $10.3 billion, rose by 14.9 percent from $9 billion in the final quarter of 2011. These 2012 Q4 figures represent an uptick of 11.6 percent over Q3 2012, which came in at $9.2 billion.

Other highlights include:

  • For the second year in a row, mobile achieved triple-digit growth year-over-year. The past year saw the mobile category surge 111 percent to $3.4 billion, pivoting off of 2011’s record-breaking 149 percent year-over-year rise to $1.6 billion. Mobile accounted for 9 percent of total internet ad revenue in 2012.
  • Digital video, a component of display-related advertising, brought in $2.3 billion, marking a significant year-over-year increase of 29 percent in 2012, compared to $1.8 billion in 2011.
  • Search revenues in 2012 totaled $16.9 billion or 46 percent of 2012 revenues, up 14.5 percent from $14.8 billion in 2011.
  • Display-related advertising revenues in 2012 totaled $12 billion or 33 percent of 2012 revenues, up almost 9 percent from $11 billion in 2011.
  • Retail advertisers continue to represent the largest category of internet ad spending, accounting for 20 percent in 2012, followed by financial services, which is responsible for 13 percent of the year’s revenues.

Texas Tribune wins $1.5 million in funding from Knight Foundation

The Texas Tribune will refine its model for sustainable local journalism and hire business analysts to explore new revenue models with $1.5 million in support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Since its founding in 2009, the Tribune, a nonprofit online news organization, has built a sound financial base, going beyond philanthropic support to gain revenue from corporate sponsorships and its signature events. Building on this success, one-third of the Knight grant, or $500,000, will allow the Tribune to hire two fellows who will examine the creation of premium content for specific audiences and explore new revenue streams. The Tribune team will then write about their experiences and the successes of similar ventures on a new web site, sharing lessons and best business practices with nonprofit news organizations and other media observers. The balance of the grant, $1 million, will go to shoring up the Tribune’s working capital to ensure its long-term sustainability.

The Oligopoly Problem

[Commentary] T-Mobile recently broke with longstanding industry norms and abandoned termination fees, sneaky overage charges, and other unfriendly practices. Although T-Mobile’s decision is welcome news for consumers, it doesn’t change the fact that the old extortions remained in place for about fifteen years, and that they remain in place for the vast majority of Americans still trapped in contracts with Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. And it sheds light on a long-standing problem with how we think about and treat anticompetitive practices in the United States.

Our current approach, focused near-exclusively on monopoly, fails to address the serious problems posed by highly concentrated industries. If a monopolist did what the wireless carriers did as a group, neither the public nor government would stand for it. For our scrutiny and regulation of monopolists is well established—just ask Microsoft or the old AT&T. But when three or four firms pursue identical practices, we say that the market is “competitive” and everything is fine. To state the obvious, when companies act in parallel, the consumer is in the same position as if he were dealing with just one big firm. There is, in short, a major blind spot in our nation’s oversight of private power, one that affects both consumers and competition. This blind spot is of particular significance during an age when oligopolies, not monopolies, rule.

Here's where Chicago's digital divide lies

Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to bring low-cost broadband access to another 1 million Chicagoans and free Internet training through nonprofit Connect2Compete.

There's no shortage of opportunity to attack the digital divide in Chicago. Neighborhoods with the least access include Hermosa at 36 percent and Garfield Park at 44 percent. Much of the West Side and Far Southeast Side have about 50 percent access. Compare that to North Center, which has the highest penetration at 94 percent broadband usage, followed by Wrigleyville, Lakeview, Lincoln Park and the South Loop at 93 percent. Chicago was selected as a pilot city for the Washington-based “Everyone On” campaign. The effort combines computer training at libraries and other facilities with home Internet access to increase digital literacy.

April 16, 2013 (Boston)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013

For updates throughout the day, follow us on Twitter @benton_fdn


EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   Wireless woes in Boston

CYBERSECURITY
   House Dems rally against CISPA over concerns about privacy protection
   Stakes high for White House on CISPA - analysis
   Cyber Tops Intel Community’s 2013 Global Threat Assessment [links to web]
   Pentagon Quietly Backing CISPA [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   The fastest way to speedy networks: ignore Uncle Sam - op-ed
   ACA: National Broadband Map Is Good Enough
   Is the web getting faster? - research [links to web]
   High-Speed Wi-Fi? Not So Fast [links to web]
   Google Fiber Springs Into Action [links to web]
   AT&T Researchers Set a Long-Haul Data Record [links to web]
   Fresh Wave of 2013 State Bills Seeks to Limit PUC VoIP, IP Regulation
   House Commerce Committee to Mark Up Internet Governance Bill

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Verizon Wireless Pursues Clearwire Spectrum
   MetroPCS Board Backs Deutsche Telekom's Improved Offer
   Sprint’s tough choice: Dish might be a more attractive suitor than Softbank - analysis
   Ergen: Mobile Video Driving Sprint Proposal [links to web]
   Dish turns Sprint race into marathon - analysis
   What would Dish-Sprint deal mean for consumers? [links to web]
   Softbank says its bid for Sprint Nextel superior [links to web]
   Is the web getting faster? - research [links to web]
   Deputies brace for backlash as cellphone ban kicks in Monday at Chicago Court House [links to web]
   Blame your mobile-phone company AND the US government for your dropped calls - analysis
   The FCC Report on Wireless Competition – Another Angle on How Competition Works - editorial [links to web]
   High-Speed Wi-Fi? Not So Fast [links to web]
   UK speeds up signals on 5G introduction
   Urgent need to improve mobile networks

CONTENT
   The More Mobile Devices You Have, the More Valuable Mobile Content Becomes [links to web]
   71% of Facebook Users Engage in 'Self-Censorship' [links to web]
   Simon & Schuster launches e-book lending pilot with New York City public libraries [links to web]

PRIVACY
   Senate panel to take up e-mail privacy bill [links to web]
   FTC Approves Final Order Settling Charges Against Software and Rent-to-Own Companies Accused of Computer Spying - press release [links to web]
   Start-Up Lets Users Track Who Tracks Them [links to web]

HEALTH
   The Health IT Performance Challenge [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Ownership Limits Shackle Local Broadcasting - op-ed
   For Broadcast Nets, Cable Path Is Twisty [links to web]
   Comcast is encrypting basic cable now [links to web]
   College sports, business and realignment entangled [links to web]
   Malone: Split sports nets from cable lineup

DIVERSITY
   NAMIC, WICT, Kaitz Team On Cable Diversity Survey [links to web]

CHILDREN & MEDIA
   Facebook teams up with attorneys general on safety campaign

POLICYMAKERS
   FCC’s Genachowski to be Aspen Institute Senior Fellow - press release [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   UK speeds up signals on 5G introduction
   Urgent need to improve mobile networks

MORE ONLINE
   In A Fragmented Cultureverse, Can Pop References Still Pop? [links to web]
   Tech industry may pay price for bump up in H-1B visas [links to web]
   Library Association Lists Frequently Challenged Books [links to web]

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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

WIRELESS WOES IN BOSTON
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
The aftermath of the deadly explosions that ripped through the Boston Marathon overwhelmed wireless networks, which struggled to complete calls and process messages. Contrary to initial reports from The Associated Press and elsewhere, law enforcement did not shut down the system to prevent another detonation by wireless device. The AP later retracted that claim. Still, congestion proved debilitating for many wireless users trying to contact loved ones. At one point, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency offered a plea over Twitter: "If you are trying to reach friends or family and can't get through via phone, try [texting] instead (less bandwidth)." A Federal Communications Commission spokeswoman said the agency is working with the Department of Homeland Security and top wireless carriers to address the difficulties. Some of the nation's largest wireless carriers acknowledged disruptions.
benton.org/node/149787 | Politico | Public Knowledge | The Verge
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CYBERSECURITY

CONCERNS OVER CISPA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
A group of House Democrats circulated a letter calling on lawmakers to oppose a controversial cybersecurity bill up for a vote this week unless additional privacy protections are adopted into the measure. Four Democratic members say the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) as written "would undermine the interests of citizens and their privacy" despite the addition of five privacy-focused amendments adopted to the bill last week. They argue that the amendments do not go far enough to ease their concerns. "Without further amendments to protect privacy and civil liberties, we cannot support the bill," the House Democratic lawmakers write in the "Dear Colleague" letter. "The bill has improved from earlier versions, but even with the amendments adopted, CISPA unacceptably and unnecessarily compromises the privacy interests of Americans online," they add. Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Rush Holt (D-NJ) signed the letter.
benton.org/node/149766 | Hill, The | B&C
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CISPA STAKES
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
The Obama administration didn't mince words in 2012 when it threatened to veto what it saw as a horrible House cybersecurity bill — one that fell short on consumer privacy. A year later, that bill is back, and the White House may be hedging its bets. As a House vote draws near, the White House remains caught between large technology companies that support the measure, powerful privacy advocates who vocally oppose it and congressional leaders it can't afford to alienate if it seeks a cybersecurity deal in 2013. For President Barack Obama, the stakes are high. He’s made improving the country's digital defenses one of his top national security priorities, but the House bill, known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, has incurred the wrath of the Internet’s loudest activists, and the administration must tread carefully to avoid becoming a target as well. For now, the White House's allies are urging it to speak with the same forceful tone it adopted in 2012.
benton.org/node/149786 | Politico
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

SPEEDY NETWORKS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Blair Levin, Ellen Satterwhite]
[Commentary] Local leaders are starting to crack the code for how to broadband drive network upgrades in their communities. They are learning to build agreements with private enterprise that work for both the private and public interests. These efforts lower deployment and operating costs as well as risk, while at the same time creating numerous public benefits including attractive service levels and reasonable consumer pricing. These agreements, in effect, are new versions of the social contracts that enabled phone companies and cable companies to build out their networks in the last century. While the network upgrade may seem to be only about speed, in actuality it will also drive other public improvements as well. Federal policymakers certainly understand the importance of faster networks, but as a recent workshop at the Federal Communications Commission demonstrated: The federal government’s actions, other than a one-time Recovery Act investment, have been neutral, at best, and probably negative. There are positive steps that can, and should, be taken.
[Blair Levin is the Executive Director of the University Community Next Generation Innovation Project, or Gig.U; he led the development of the National Broadband Plan in 2010 for the Federal Communications Commission. Ellen Satterwhite is Program Director at Gig. U]
benton.org/node/149723 | GigaOm
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NATIONAL BROADBAND MAP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Telecommunications and Information Association's National Broadband Map may be imperfect, but it is good enough for the Federal Communications Commission to use to determine where broadband is already being delivered and should not be overbuilt. That was the word from the American Cable Association to the FCC in reply comments on the commission's second phase of broadband subsidies in the Connect America Fund, which the FCC created to migrate traditional phone support to broadband. In reply comments to the commission, ACA, which represents smaller and mid-sized cable operators, said there were a number of reasons to use the map even though it conceded it is a flawed "work in progress."
benton.org/node/149725 | Broadcasting&Cable
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ALEC AGENDA
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: John Hendel]
The push to keep states from regulating Internet Protocol-enabled services goes strong in 2013. Legislators in more than half a dozen states introduced such IP bills this year. More than two dozen states had already passed laws before 2013 began, California prominent among them. The IP transition’s urgency escalated when AT&T introduced an FCC petition urging transition trials last November, and it’s widely accepted that much voice traffic will shift to VoIP and IP-enabled frameworks in the next decade amid these transforming state roles. Proponents and observers told us these state laws will keep appearing, while NASUCA and AARP fear they’ll create public safety and affordability risks. States that introduced such bills include Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming. Some bills lost their fire, while others have already become law. Industry coalitions helped craft some of these bills, as national trade groups urge them forward. They tend to exclude states from regulation but often include exceptions for 911 charges and other funding mechanisms.
benton.org/node/149714 | Communications Daily
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INTERNET GOVERNANCE BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The House Commerce Committee has scheduled an April 17 markup of a bill that would codify the earlier sense of the Congress resolution endorsing the multistakeholder model of Internet governance. The bill was voted out of the Communications subcommittee on a voice vote last week, but only after Republican bill backers agreed to talks with Democrats about some of their problems with the bill. Democrats say that language in a sense of Congress resolution, which lacks the force of law, is different from a bill saying the same thing. They fear unintended consequences like undercutting the FCC's authority to impose network neutrality regulations or oversee the transition to IP delivery.
benton.org/node/149780 | Broadcasting&Cable
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

VERIZON AND CLEARWIRE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sharon Terlep, Dana Cimilluca, Spencer Ante]
Verizon Wireless has offered to pay as much a $1.5 billion to buy spectrum leases from Clearwire, people familiar with the matter said. The move would give the largest U.S. wireless carrier the right to use airwaves currently controlled by Clearwire in big markets in the U.S. It also further complicates a three-way series of deals in which Clearwire had agreed to sell itself to part-owner Sprint Nextel and Sprint agreed to sell a controlling stake in itself to Japan's Softbank. Verizon's offer, as well as Sprint's bid to buy the rest of Clearwire, highlights how the U.S.'s biggest carriers are trying to lock up the airwaves needed to carry fast-growing volumes of wireless data. It is unclear whether Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, has any ambitions with Clearwire beyond the spectrum purchase or how it might fit in with Sprint's agreement to buy the roughly 50% of Clearwire it doesn't already own. Clearwire said in the filing that it would evaluate the proposal and discuss it with "Party J" and Sprint. Any bid for Clearwire spectrum could face hurdles if Sprint doesn't approve. Sprint has a number of contractual rights that pose steep obstacles for any outsider trying to do a deal.
benton.org/node/149730 | Wall Street Journal
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METROPCS BOARD OK’s DEUTSCHE TELEKOM’S IMPROVED OFFER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Saabira Chaudhuri]
MetroPCS Communications said its board has unanimously approved the amended terms of its proposed merger agreement with Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA. MetroPCS will reduce the combined company debt issued to Deutsche Telekom by $3.8 billion to $11.2 billion, a move the carrier said creates additional financial flexibility and significantly increases the combined company's equity value. Deutsche Telekom has agreed to lower the interest rate on the T-Mobile debt by half a percentage point. The amendment also extends the lock-up period for Deutsche Telekom-owned stock to 18 months from six. A shareholder vote on the proposed merger is scheduled for April 24. Now Deutsche Telekom's strategy is to strengthen T-Mobile through the MetroPCS merger, which would give it new customers and valuable rights to the airwaves. The merged entity's publicly traded stock could give Deutsche Telekom an avenue to sell down its stake in T-Mobile over time.
benton.org/node/149765 | Wall Street Journal
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SPRINT: DISH OR SOFTBANK?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
Dish Network’s bid for Sprint presents Dan Hesse and Co. with an interesting choice. Analysts point out that Softbank has more than enough money to counter Dish’s $25.5 billion bid, but money aside Dish would make a much better strategic fit for Sprint. Softbank offers much-needed investment to the still struggling No. 3 U.S. wireless operator. But Dish doesn’t just bring cash; it’s got 4G spectrum and a huge pay TV network to boot. Informa Telecoms & Media Principal Analyst Mike Roberts lays out all of the advantages of a Sprint-Dish marriage: “First and most importantly, Dish could combine its 2GHz LTE spectrum with the LTE spectrum of Sprint and Clearwire to build one of the strongest LTE spectrum portfolios in US, which would be the foundation for a powerful new competitor in the US telecoms market. Second, using Sprint’s newly-modernized mobile network would give Dish a cost-effective way to deploy LTE in its 2GHz spectrum and meet the FCC’s rollout requirements. Third, if the deal goes ahead, Dish and Sprint could quickly offer TV, broadband and mobile bundles to compete more effectively with larger integrated telecoms players such as Verizon and AT&T.”
benton.org/node/149761 | GigaOm
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SPECTRUM RACE
[SOURCE: Quartz, AUTHOR: Gina Chon]
The last time there was a major auction for spectrum was 2008. So instead, mobile phone companies have been scrambling to buy existing spectrum from each other and from cable companies. Mobile phone companies have long complained that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) isn’t auctioning spectrum fast enough. But companies also have a lot of spectrum they aren’t fully using. And other tech firms like Google and Microsoft have lobbied for saving some wireless spectrum for mobile services that haven’t been invented yet. The FCC is trying to make more spectrum available, but wants to do it in a way that gives more people access to high speed internet. Next year, TV broadcasters will put spectrum up for sale in a complex arrangement and share in the proceeds with the government, which should help in the spectrum crunch. But the US Justice Department has warned the FCC that it shouldn’t let the two largest mobile phone carriers, Verizon and AT&T, dominate the auction, but that smaller carriers like T-Mobile and Sprint, which have also been scrambling for spectrum, should also have a shot. That has caused TV stations to worry that the spectrum sale could fail because companies that have the resources to bid, like Verizon, are being discouraged.
benton.org/node/149705 | Quartz
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SPRINT MARATHON
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Jonathan Soble]
Charlie Ergen’s move to snatch Sprint Nextel from the grasp of Japan’s Masayoshi Son has set the stage for a potential bidding war between strong-willed billionaires who have disrupted telecoms industries on two continents. Investors in Son’s SoftBank, however, are not keen to see the drama play out. Shares in SoftBank fell as much as 10 per cent on Tuesday after Dish Network, Ergen’s satellite TV operator, unveiled an unsolicited $25.5bn offer for Sprint, the third-largest US mobile phone provider with 46m subscribers. His bid trumped a $20.1bn offer for Sprint made by Son last October. Industry experts suggested that investors sold SoftBank stock, which closed down 6.8 per cent, not because they were worried the company would miss out on a lucrative acquisition opportunity. Rather, it was more likely that they feared Son would come back with a more generous offer – one that could stretch SoftBank’s finances and possibly lead to a dilutive issue of new shares.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24810308-a674-11e2-bc0b-00144feabdc0.html
Ergen Serves Up Sprint on a Dish (Wall Street Journal)
benton.org/node/149784 | Financial Times | Wall Street Journal
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TELEVISION

CABLE BUNDLING
[SOURCE: New York Post, AUTHOR: Claire Atkinson]
It’s time to break up the bundle. Cable pioneer John Malone warned that the runaway cost of sports programming poses a threat to the pay-TV industry. Malone, who recently jumped back into the cable business with the $16 billion purchase of Virgin Media, said rising cable bills may be reaching the breaking point for consumers. He said it’s time for sports channels to be moved to a separate tier, allowing customers to decide whether to pay for them. “The sports guys may face reality that you may need to segregate your market like everyone else,” he said in an interview with CNBC. As cable and satellite-TV companies start to lose customers to Web-based viewing alternatives such as Netflix and Hulu, Malone predicted that sports programmers would shoulder the blame. “Some of the economics will be reflected back on the sports guys,” he said. The cost of sports programming continues to skyrocket, driven in part by advertiser demand for TiVo-proof programming. Cable and satellite-TV providers that agree to pay sports leagues big increases end up passing these costs on to their customers.
benton.org/node/149711 | New York Post
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BROADCASTING OWNERSHIP
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: John Hane]
[Commentary] I am perplexed that people actually believe it’s a good thing for the government to mandate that broadcasters be the underdogs in all major negotiations that affect the quality and availability of their programming. If anything, government policy should encourage broadcasters to grow to a scale that is meaningful in today’s complex television marketplace. Not one of the other major distributors makes its programming available for free. If independent broadcasters aren't permitted to achieve a scale large enough to negotiate effectively with upstream programmers and downstream distributors you won't long see high-cost, high-quality, high-value programming available for free to those who choose to opt out of the pay TV ecosystem. It’s much better to have two, three or four strong competitors in each market, owned by companies that can compete for rational economics in the upstream and downstream markets, than to have eight or more weak competitors, few of which can afford to invest in truly local service or negotiate at arms-length with suppliers and distributors. [John Hane is counsel in Pillsbury’s Communications practice group in Washington]
benton.org/node/149779 | TVNewsCheck
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CHILDREN & MEDIA

FACEBOOK AND AGs
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
Facebook and 19 state attorneys general announced they’re joining forces to educate young people about the basics of online security. Maryland state attorney general Doug Gansler, currently the president of the National Association of Attorneys General, said the attorneys general and Facebook will distribute public service announcements outlining how teens and their parents can control online information on Facebook and across the Web. Facebook will post the announcements on its Facebook Safety page, while state attorneys general will do the same on their own Facebook pages and official Web sites. “We hope this campaign will encourage consumers to closely manage their privacy and these tools and tips will help provide a safer online experience,” Gansler said in a Facebook release. Facebook will also release a video answering top questions it has heard from teachers, parents and teens about online privacy, bullying and Internet safety. Those participating in the initiative will also distribute a tip sheet on what users can do to protect their online privacy. Privacy advocate Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy and a critic of Facebook’s past privacy efforts, said he was not that impressed with Facebook’s latest initiative.
benton.org/node/149729 | Washington Post | ABC News
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

5G WIRELESS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
Just weeks after the end of the long delayed auction of 4G spectrum, British policy makers are already turning to plans for the next generation of superfast mobile broadband that will be called, inevitably, 5G. Ofcom, the communications regulator, will this week launch an industry consultation about freeing radio frequencies for 5G internet services many times the speed and capacity of today’s best 4G networks. The early start to 5G planning signals determination by policy makers and industry to avoid the delays that have seen the UK fall behind many other developed countries in rolling out 4G services. It also reflects fears of a future capacity crunch in the airwaves as rapidly growing usage of mobile broadband devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, increases pressure on networks.
benton.org/node/149771 | Financial Times
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NEED TO IMPROVE MOBILE NETWORKS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
There are few who can argue against the rapid increase in data use in most countries around the world. This has led to an urgent need to improve mobile networks so that they can withstand the sharp increase in demand for internet on the move, particularly given the emergence of mobile devices as the main means for internet access. Although 5G has different meanings for different countries and organizations, the term can generally be taken to mean the next generation of high-speed and ultra-reliable internet access that can accommodate data-heavy applications such as high-definition video, as well as other future technologies not yet developed.
Ubiquitous and high-speed 5G services could, according to industry experts, support always-connected mobile devices that host multiple applications from high-definition video streaming to navigation aids and social media. Better networks will also continue to underpin the growth of smartphone and tablet use, as well as applications such as mobile TV and gaming. Much of the innovation associated with 5G will be unseen by consumers, with devices simply better able to utilize constrained spectrum in a way that will not only improve services but reduce the environmental impact of doing so. So-called “machine to machine” communication will also become more important, with utilities hooked up to constantly updated national networks, household appliances able to talk to owners and health monitoring systems connected to local hospitals.
benton.org/node/149770 | Financial Times
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Wireless woes in Boston

The aftermath of the deadly explosions that ripped through the Boston Marathon overwhelmed wireless networks, which struggled to complete calls and process messages.

Contrary to initial reports from The Associated Press and elsewhere, law enforcement did not shut down the system to prevent another detonation by wireless device. The AP later retracted that claim. Still, congestion proved debilitating for many wireless users trying to contact loved ones. At one point, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency offered a plea over Twitter: "If you are trying to reach friends or family and can't get through via phone, try [texting] instead (less bandwidth)." A Federal Communications Commission spokeswoman said the agency is working with the Department of Homeland Security and top wireless carriers to address the difficulties. Some of the nation's largest wireless carriers acknowledged disruptions.

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