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  2. July 2013

July 2013

FCC Commissioner Touts Rural Healthcare Program Changes

Changes to the Federal Communications Commission’s rural healthcare program will begin kicking in soon.

“We have a new Healthcare Connect Fund that is part of the $400 million the agency makes available annually to rural healthcare providers through its universal service program,” said FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel in an address at the American Telemedicine Association Federal Policy Summit. “Under the program, eligible healthcare providers can apply to receive funding to cover 65% of the cost of either broadband services or healthcare provider-owned networks.” The program Commissioner Rosenworcel references was formalized in an order adopted by the FCC back in December. At that time the FCC essentially modified an existing program and gave it the new Healthcare Connect Fund name. Modifications included expanding eligibility as well as what could be covered. The moves were made after a pilot test of some of the modifications. A cap on total annual funding also was imposed at the time the order was adopted. As Commissioner Rosenworcel explained in her address, funding for applicants to the new program will begin on January 1, 2014.

Although Commissioner Rosenworcel did not discuss the filing window for new applicants, the commission all along has said it would open “late summer 2013” and a timeline currently posted on the Universal Service Administrative Company site shows that the filing window for the new program will open in August or September. In her speech, Commissioner Rosenworcel positioned rural healthcare initiatives such as telemedicine as a way of reducing healthcare costs as well as enhancing care. “With the cost of healthcare in the United States projected to be nearly $3 trillion this year, we should seize solutions that can reduce costs while also improving medical outcomes and patient care,” she said. “Telemedicine is one of those solutions.” She also noted, however, that more work needs to be done to help rural healthcare initiatives such as telemedicine reach their full potential. For example, she said, reimbursement for telemedicine services for Medicare patients is “restricted to very limited circumstances.” She encouraged people to study the Servicemembers’ Telemedicine and E-Health Portability Act, which she said has helped streamline telemedicine rules across the country.

comScore: Apple, Android’s Hold on U.S. Smartphone Market Continues

Apple continued as the leading smartphone manufacturer in the U.S., capturing a 39.2% Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) market share for the three months ending May 2013, says comScore.

With 52% of the U.S. smartphone market, Google Android ranked as the #1 smartphone platform provider, according to comScore’s MobiLens service. In the U.S., 141 million people owned smartphones during the three months ending May 31, a mobile market penetration of 59%. That’s up 6% from February’s level, according to comScore’s latest MobiLens report.

Report: 86% of In-Home Broadband Usage Will Be on Wi-Fi By 2017

In a new study, wireless and mobile communications market strategy consultancy iGR forecasts that Wi-Fi devices will account for 86% of broadband data use in U.S. households in 2017.

In-home data, in turn, will drive growing data usage outside the home, a matter of interest and importance for wireless and mobile industry participants across the value chain, iGR notes. “In-home data usage is a precursor to outside-the-home usage. If a user gets accustomed to streaming music over an in-home cable / Wi-Fi network, then that same user is likely to stream their music when they step outside the home,” said iGR founder and president Iain Gillott.

Open Government is an Open Conversation

President Barack Obama launched the first U.S. Open Government National Action Plan in September 2011, as part of the Nation’s commitment to the principles of the global Open Government Partnership. The Plan laid out twenty-six concrete steps the United States would take to promote public participation in government, increase transparency in government, and manage public resources more effectively. A year and a half later, we have fulfilled twenty-four of the Plan’s prescribed commitments—including launching the online We the People petition platform, which has been used by more than 9.6 million people, and unleashing thousands of government data resources as part of the Administration’s Open Data Initiatives.

We are proud of this progress, but recognize that there is always more work to be done to build a more efficient, effective, and transparent government. In that spirit, as part of our ongoing commitment to the international Open Government Partnership, the Obama Administration has committed to develop a second National Action Plan on Open Government. To accomplish this task effectively, we’ll need all-hands-on-deck. That’s why we plan to solicit and incorporate your input as we develop the National Action Plan “2.0.”

[Lisa Ellman is Chief Counselor for the Open Government Partnership and Senior Advisor to the Chief Technology Officer and Hollie Russon Gilman is Open Government and Innovation Policy Advisor ]

Preparing for Text-to-911

For the millions of Americans who use text messaging on their wireless phones, it may come as a surprise that you typically can’t reach 911 by text message. That is beginning to change, however.

Text-to-911 service is currently available on a limited basis in a few locations across the country. It can provide a lifesaving alternative in many situations – where a person with a hearing or speech disability is unable to make a voice call, where voice networks are congested, or where a 911 voice call could endanger the caller. In fact, it has already saved lives and thwarted crimes, including preventing a suicide in Vermont and, in Iowa, protecting women and children from abuse who were silently able to text for help. To build on that progress, the four largest U.S. wireless companies – AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon – have voluntarily committed to make text-to-911 available by May 15, 2014, in all areas served by their networks where the local 911 call center has the technical capability to receive texts. In addition, the FCC has sought comment on proposed rules to require all wireless carriers and “interconnected” text message providers to likewise make text-to-911 available where the 911 call center has the technical capability to receive texts.

[David Turetsky, Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and Kris Monteith, Acting Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau]

Chairman Upton Announces House Commerce Committee Staff Changes

House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) announced several changes to the committee's communications and technology staff, outlined an expanded cross-subcommittee staff portfolio, and also welcomed a new press secretary.

David Redl will serve as the new Subcommittee on Communications and Technology chief counsel, replacing outgoing subcommittee chief counsel Neil Fried, who has held the position since Rep Upton became chairman in 2011. Ray Baum, a senior advisor who has focused on the C&T Subcommittee under Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), will provide strategic counsel for the committee in an expanded role as senior policy advisor and chief strategist on state initiatives, cybersecurity, telecommunications, and technology. Chairman Upton also welcomed Kelsey Guyselman to the subcommittee as counsel.

David Redl has served on the Energy and Commerce Committee since 2011 as counsel. Prior to joining the committee, Redl was Director of Regulatory Affairs at CTIA – The Wireless Association. Baum, who has served as Senior Policy Advisor for Chairman Walden and the subcommittee, has extensive experience at the state level as a former Majority Leader of the Oregon state House of Representatives and former chairman of the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Guyselman received her JD from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law and most recently served as a Law Clerk for Regulatory Affairs at CTIA.

India’s new surveillance network will make the NSA green with envy

India doesn’t seem to worry that the surveillance scandal recently rocking the US might perturb its own citizens. The country is going ahead with an ambitious program that will let it monitor any one of its 900 million telecom subscribers and 120 million internet users.

The Centralised Monitoring System (CMS) will be operational in 10 of the country’s 22 telecom “circles” (i.e., regions) by the end of the year. The far-reaching surveillance program rivals the worst in the world, and makes the US National Security Agency (NSA) look like a model of restraint.

Federal Communications Commission
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
10 am
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0702/DOC-...

Professor Lewis will focus on the evolution of technology, how it is creating challenges to traditional thinking about making information and services available to people with differing functional needs and preferences, and providing opportunities for superior access. The presentation will highlight developments such as:

  • The shift in focus from access to presentations of content to access of content itself.
  • Replacement of mass production by customized, individualized creation.
  • Non-visual access for traditionally "visual" activities like games, interactive simulations, and visual programming.
  • The need for useable tools to allow end users to create and customize their own information environment.
  • The prospect that technology can automatically create new and different presentations of information and services.
  • Policy changes that may be needed to address such opportunities.

Following the presentation, demonstrations of accessible technology solutions will be held, 12:30 - 3 pm, in the FCC's Technology Experience Center located in the same building.

To register to attend, email Aaron Vimont at Aaron.Vimont@fcc.gov or call (202) 418-2738. Pre-registration is encouraged.

A free webcast of the live event, with open captioning over the Internet, will be available at FCC.gov/live. Pre-registration is not required for the live webcast.

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Send detailed requests, with contact information, to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). Requests should be made as early as possible


Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
House Commerce Committee
Thursday, July 11, 2013
10:30 am
http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/improving-fcc-process

The subcommittee is continuing efforts to improve transparency, efficiency, and accountability at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Last Congress, the House approved H.R. 3309, the FCC Process Reform Act, and H.R. 3310, the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act, with bipartisan support. Members will review discussion drafts similar to the legislation approved last Congress as they continue their efforts to streamline obligations of the FCC and improve decision-making while reducing regulatory burdens facing job creators.


Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
House Commerce Committee
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
10:15 am
http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/cyber-espionage-and-theft-us-int...

The subcommittee will continue the committee’s review of cyber threats and security solutions with a hearing examining the scope and nature of threats from cyber espionage to U.S. intellectual property and technology. Specifically, members will review proposed policy solutions to better protect U.S. intellectual property and technology from cyber threats emanating from state actors, including best practices, enhanced information sharing, and public-private partnerships.


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