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December 2013

Controversy over proposal to allow cellphone calls in flight tests new FCC Chairman Wheeler

It didn’t take long for Tom Wheeler, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, to face controversy. On Dec 12, the agency’s five-member commission is set to vote on whether to allow the public to comment on Wheeler’s idea to enable cellphone calls and Internet access on flights. That may sound like a minor procedural motion. But the proposal has generated so much backlash that some commissioners are wavering on whether to even take that step.

Chairman Wheeler and another Democrat on the commission are expected to sign off on creating a public commenting period. But the other Democrat and the two Republican commissioners are hearing an outcry of protest from consumers and some lawmakers, and there is no guarantee that they would support opening the matter for review, FCC officials said. Chairman Wheeler said that he understands “the consternation caused by the thought of your onboard seatmate disturbing the flight making phone calls. I do not want the person in the seat next to me yapping at 35,000 feet any more than anyone else. But we are not the Federal Courtesy Commission.” He added: “Technology has produced a new network reality recognized by governments and airlines around the world. Our responsibility is to recognize that new reality’s impact on our old rules.” Some expect companies to jump on the proposal if the FCC ultimately approves the idea, said an aide to an FCC commissioner. “Once the FCC gets out of the way, you have to imagine airlines are immediately thinking of how to monetize it,” the aide said.

Centerbridge Reaches Tentative Deal for LightSquared

Private-equity firm Centerbridge Partners LP reached a tentative deal to buy LightSquared Inc. out of bankruptcy proceedings, said people familiar with the matter, potentially upstaging a bid by Dish Network to take over the wireless-telecommunications firm.

Centerbridge proposed paying roughly $3.3 billion for the wireless venture, backed by financier Philip Falcone, and assuming about $1.7 billion in various liabilities, the people said. The deal would be executed under a bankruptcy-reorganization plan, some of the people said. Centerbridge's negotiations with LightSquared were fluid, and there remained a chance discussions could fall apart, some of the people said.

White House vetted questioners for Biden’s Skype chat

Skype publicized Vice President Joe Biden’s recent immigration chat as a chance for regular people to pose questions directly to the Obama Administration. But those who actually got to speak directly with VP Biden were first recruited by Skype and vetted by the White House.

Skype spokesman Chaim Haas said the company reached out last week to people already active in the immigration debate in order to find people to interact with VP Biden and White House domestic policy chief Cecilia Munoz. Skype then submitted a list of would-be questioners to the White House, which eliminated some of them from contention, Haas said. Haas said he could not identify who at the White House was responsible for vetting the questioners and categorized the number of people rejected as “a very small percentage” of those offered. One was removed because the person is a Capitol Hill staffer, but Hass said he did not recall the circumstances around others.

Silicon Valley must keep the spies out of its honey trap

[Commentary] The internet and social network companies of Silicon Valley enjoy one of the world’s most attractive business models. Offer a free service, collect personal data, use it to lure advertisers, and expand seamlessly across the US and around the world to millions of users. Unfortunately, the spies noticed.

This week’s appeal to governments by eight companies, including Google and Microsoft, in the wake of revelations in The Guardian and The Washington Post about National Security Agency surveillance, is a typical blend of noble aspiration, self-interest and naivety. Ultimately, it is useless. If you have a jar of jam, expect wasps. Silicon Valley has to help itself, and it has done too little to stem a loss of confidence in how it operates around the world. The companies’ open letter puts the responsibility for reform on governments that are not likely to help, while emanating corporate inertia.

The companies urgently need to re-establish their credibility as stewards of confidential information, rather than conduits to the NSA. Failing in that task will cause a lot more long-term damage than adjusting the operating model. Blue-sky thinking about the future of technology will not cut it this time.

Apple wins legal victory against Samsung in South Korea

A South Korean court has handed Samsung Electronics an unexpected loss on its home turf, dismissing claims that Apple violated three of Samsung’s mobile patents.

The Seoul Central District Court rejected Samsung’s request for a sales ban on older iPhones and iPads in South Korea, the latest setback for the smartphone maker in a long-running patent battle with its US rival. Samsung sued Apple in South Korea in March 2012, seeking Won100m in damages. It claimed that the US company’s products infringed its mobile messaging patents. But the Seoul court ruled that Apple products, including the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and iPad 2, did not violate two of the patents in dispute, and that the US group did not use Samsung’s technology for the third patent.

Japan Passes US as Top App Spender as Smartphone Use Rises

Japan surpassed the US as the top-grossing market for apps in October as smartphone use surged and wireless carriers started billing customers directly for downloads from Google’s online store.

App revenue in Japan more than tripled from a year earlier as the rising popularity of games including GungHo Online Entertainment’s “Puzzle & Dragons” helped Google Play close the gap with Apple’s store, defying the trend elsewhere, according to a Dec. 11 report by researcher App Annie. Downloads also increased after NTT Docomo, the country’s largest mobile-phone operator, started offering the iPhone in September. Japanese consumers are quickly adopting smartphones after previously lagging behind other markets, with 42 percent of the population using the devices in 2013 compared with 28 percent a year earlier. That proportion is expected to jump to 62 percent in 2014, outpacing the 50 percent penetration rate estimated for the U.S., App Annie said.

Liberty Global in takeover talks with Dutch cable group Ziggo

John Malone has stepped up a push to consolidate the European cable industry with Dutch operator Ziggo revealing it was in talks with the US cable tycoon’s corporate flagship Liberty Global.

The news comes just months after Ziggo, which is 30 percent owned by Liberty, rejected a full takeover bid from the US cable group as “inadequate.” It did not disclose how much Liberty was offering at the time. Liberty is already Ziggo’s largest shareholder, having bought a 12.7 percent stake in March for €25 a share. It boosted the holding to 28.5 percent in July. Liberty Global already operates in the Netherlands through its UPC Broadband Holding division.

Ziggo, based in Utrecht, is the largest provider of cable television services in the Netherlands, with about 2.8 million subscribers. The company was created in early 2012 through the merger between former Dutch cable rivals Multikabel, Casema and Kabelcom.

Britons lead the world in online shopping

Britain has embraced internet shopping more than any other major country in the world, according to figures from Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator.

British online shoppers spent £1,175 per head last year – up 16 percent over the year -- which is £307 higher than the second-ranked country, Australia, and more than double the average spending per head of all the big countries featured in the research. Italy and Spain spent the least online per head in 2012, with figures of £126 and £180, respectively. Ofcom found that British shoppers trust online retailers more than other countries and have more confidence in the way products are advertised online.

The UK also had the highest spending per head on mobile internet advertising in 2012, rising by almost £5 to more than £8 per person. This is the first year on record that Japan has not had the greatest spending, and Ofcom attributed the rise to an increase in smartphone take up, along with the growth of search, app and Facebook advertising.

Benton Foundation Welcomes FCC's IP Transition Presentation

Submitted by benton on Wed, 12/11/2013 - 21:01

December 12, 2013

Earlier today, the Federal Communications Commission heard a status update on the Technology Transitions Policy Task Force’s work to make near-term recommendations related to the Commission’s expectations and role in what is referred to as the IP transition: the ongoing transitions from copper to fiber, from wireline to wireless, and from time-division multiplexing (TDM) to all-Internet Protocol (IP). The following can be attributed to Benton Foundation Director of Policy Amina Fazlullah:

Disconnected: What the Phone System’s Digital Transition Will Mean for Consumers

The accelerating shift to digital telephone networks could end basic standards like affordable service and 9-1-1 access, The Greenlining Institute argues in a new report.

Key findings include:

  • Major telephone providers plan to upgrade the technology they use in their telephone networks, switching to all-digital networks.
  • If the Federal Communications Commission doesn’t enforce basic standards as this transition proceeds, programs making sure phone service is available and affordable would be in danger. People in rural areas could lose service, and low-income consumers might not be able to get basic phone service they can afford.
  • Access to 9-1-1 emergency services would also be in danger, along with reverse 9-1-1, which provides notification in case of natural disaster or other emergency.
  • Despite these consequences for consumers, major carriers argue that the Federal Communications Commission should reduce its ability to enforce these basic standards. They advocate for the elimination of FCC and state oversight of all-digital networks, arguing that they should be treated as information services, not telecommunications services.
  • These and other potential impacts would affect all telephone users, but would be felt most severely by low-income consumers and communities of color.

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