April 2013

Budget Includes Spectrum Fees

President Barack Obama proposed to clear the way for the Federal Communications Commission to require broadcast television station licensees to pay fees for the use of their channels. The spectrum fee proposal, included in the President’s proposed federal budget for fiscal 2014, also would allow the FCC to hit other agency licensees besides broadcasters -- basically any licensee who received spectrum without having to pay for it in an auction -- with the new user fees. The budget also says that the new fees, which would have to be approved by law before the agency could put them in place, could raise $4.8 billion for the federal government through 2023.

Patricia Harrison, CEO of CPB, Responds to President Obama's FY 2014 Budget Request

President Obama submitted his Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget to Congress, requesting full funding of $445 million for CPB’s FY 2016 advance appropriation.

On behalf of the millions Americans who utilize public service media, CPB would like to thank the President for the funding he proposes in his budget, as well as for his support of the two-year advance, which serves as an important firewall ensuring editorial independence in programming decisions. The federal appropriation provides essential support for the production of local and national content, making it possible for public radio and television stations across the country, locally owned and operated, to serve their communities with content that educates, informs, inspires and entertains. The President’s request reinforces the value of public media’s in-depth news reporting, our commitment to providing a safe place where children can learn, on-air, online, and in the community, and our commitment to lifelong learning through initiatives such as American Graduate helping to keep America’s young people on the path to a high school diploma. The request also recognizes the unique and powerful role that free, non-commercial, public media serves for 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.

BBG Budget Request Reflects Strategic Priorities And Global Media Environment

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) released its FY 2014 budget request to help U.S. international media meet its strategic priorities in light of dynamic global media environments and current spending constraints. For FY 2014, the BBG has requested $731 million for U.S. international media. The request contains proposed investments designed to increase the impact and reach of U.S. international broadcasting with $13.9 million primarily to support critical initiatives to counter violent extremism.

The investments as a whole would:

Create a multi-channel, multi-language information and engagement initiative targeting youth in the Trans-Sahel region of Africa.
Provide deeper, on-the ground coverage in the critical Maghreb region – the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
Engage new audiences in Burma by investing in the creation and distribution of compelling content for distribution over TV satellite, local affiliates, mobile, and other digital platforms.
Realign transmission assets and upgrade other infrastructure to improve service to critical audiences and to reduce reliance on external leases.
The request also contains $12.5 million in Internet anti-censorship funding to continue a broad-based approach to the deployment of emerging technologies and partnerships with cutting-edge experts, developers and in-country networks.

President Obama Seeks Slight Increase in Tech Spending for Fiscal 2014

President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget hikes information technology spending slightly to $82 billion, a 2 percent increase from estimated fiscal 2012 levels.

Much of that increase comes from a 22 percent jump in proposed IT spending at the Veterans Affairs Department, focused mainly on reducing VA’s disability claims backlog and improving electronic outreach to veterans, federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said. Another substantial part of the increase will go toward IT initiatives to improve border security managed by the Homeland Security Department, he said. The 2 percent hike actually represents a spending reduction after accounting for inflation, VanRoekel said.

2014 Budget Invests in IT Workforce

The fiscal 2014 budget proposal unveiled by the White House identifies a few goals for recruiting, hiring and retaining federal workers, including some that relate specifically to the federal IT workforce.

Those goals include identifying specific skills gaps in mission critical occupations like IT and cybersecurity, modifying the federal personnel system, addressing the pending retirement wave and expanding telework programs, all of which are critical items in maintaining and strengthening the federal IT workforce. Specifically, the budget seeks to build on efforts made by the Office of Personnel Management and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council in identifying critical skills gaps in areas like IT and cybersecurity. OPM already has designated leaders from agencies whose missions depend on these occupations and meets with these leaders regularly to discuss their progress in recruiting, hiring and retaining in these fields, the budget states.

‘Obama phones’ subsidy program draws new scrutiny on the Hill

“Obama phone” is the widely used — and misleading — nickname of a 28-year-old federal program known as Lifeline.

It provides discounts, averaging $9.25 a month, on phone service for 13.3 million low-income subscribers. In the 3 1/2 years after false rumors started that the Obama administration was giving free cellphones to poor people — and six months after a racially charged video about it went viral — a once-obscure phone service subsidy is getting renewed scrutiny on Capitol Hill. There are growing calls in Congress to end or drastically cut back Lifeline; later this month, the House Commerce Committee will hold a hearing that could help determine its fate. “The program has nearly tripled in size from $800 million in 2009 to $2.2 billion per year in 2012,” the senior Republicans on the Commerce Committee wrote in a March 26 letter to the Democratic minority. “American taxpayers — and we as their elected representatives — need to know how much of this growth is because of waste, fraud and abuse.” In Obama’s first term, amid evidence of widespread fraud, the Federal Communications Commission moved to crack down on the program, saving what it predicts will be $400 million this year, on top of $214 million in 2012. But in the view of many conservatives, the “Obama phone” has become Exhibit A in the case against a liberal president who they believe is doling out goodies to make people more dependent on government.

Obamaphone in the Crosshairs

[Commentary] The Lifeline program is a good and necessary thing.

It was started under President Reagan because it’s necessary and reasonable to provide the poor and the infirm with basic telephone service even when they can’t afford it for reasons of health and safety. Poor people need the ability to report crimes, sick people need the ability to call ambulances, the elderly and isolated need the ability to stay in touch with family, the unemployed need the ability to seek and gain employment, and all people of limited means need the ability to contact emergency services during weather-related crises and when power goes out. These abilities benefit society as a whole, and they’re basic responsibilities we all share for those of our fellow citizens who are less well off than most of us. There is no rational reason to limit Lifeline to wireline phones, and doing so will in fact delay the phaseout of Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) and impair the transition to the Internet of the future. All the rationales for Lifeline are enhanced if the program is shifted from wireline phones to mobile ones, especially those related to emergencies; the original Obamaphone was actually a Bush Katrinaphone, after all.

T-Mobile Nears Improved Offer for MetroPCS

Deutsche Telekom AG is reviewing a sweeter bid for U.S. wireless carrier MetroPCS Communications, people familiar with the matter said.

The company is likely to improve the terms and could announce them as early as April 10, one of the people said. The German telecom company is trying to save a deal to merge its U.S. unit, T-Mobile USA, with MetroPCS in the face of heavy shareholder opposition over the terms. The new terms would likely include a reduction in the amount of debt that will be transferred to the new company, a change some MetroPCS shareholders have sought, the people said. Other details of an improved offer couldn't be learned. Senior Deutsche Telekom officials were reviewing the improved offer

Deutsche Telekom Said to Sweeten Debt Terms of MetroPCS Bid

Deutsche Telekom AG (plans to offer a sweetened bid as soon as tonight for MetroPCS Communications, which the German company aims to merge with its T-Mobile USA division, a person familiar with the decision said. The new terms will impose less debt on the combined company and have lower interest rates on the loan than the previous bid, said the person, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The fresh offer would come two days before MetroPCS shareholders are scheduled to meet to vote on the original terms.

Who’s Paying Aereo to Watch Free TV?

Who exactly is Aereo’s target market? Who’s going to pay them $8 a month to watch broadcast TV — but only broadcast TV — on the Web? CEO Chet Kanojia sketched out a rough sense of his customers. Half of them, he said, are either cord-cutters or cord-nevers — people who used to have cable TV or have never signed up for it — and half are people who are still paying for cable.

Benton

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