September 2014

Wi-Fi Should Scare the Hell out of Verizon and AT&T

A major threat looms over wireless carriers that have invested billions in lightning-fast cellular networks: the humble Wi-Fi router.

Well more than half of the online activity produced by smartphone users happens over Wi-Fi, according to newly released data from Adobe Systems. Adobe’s research found that Wi-Fi had already surpassed Web browsing via cellular networks by early 2013. As customers have increased their data consumption, companies like AT&T have been happy to offload some portion of that activity to Wi-Fi networks as a way to clear up the cell networks. “But there’s a flavor of too much of a good thing here, where Wi-Fi offloads start to really impinge on the prospects of monetizing all that additional usage,” says industry analyst Craig Moffett. “All the carriers have put their eggs in the basket of incremental usage as the source of revenue growth. It isn’t going according to plan.”

Proposed Fourth Quarter 2014 Universal Service Contribution Factor

The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Managing Director announces that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the fourth quarter of 2014 will be 0.161 or 16.1 percent. This increase of .4 percent in the contribution factor is primarily attributed to a $315.3 million decrease in the revenue base from the last quarter. The total program collection (revenue requirement) for the fourth quarter is $2.156 billion, which is approximately the same amount as the prior quarter, which was $2.155 billion.

The Art of the Possible

For folks like me who have been toiling to open up closed networks to the public for decades, what makes the Internet so earth shattering is that it turns our old system of command and control communications networks on its head. For the first time, rather than begging for scraps of access from the largest media companies, it is possible to put the power of those networks into the hands of ordinary people, so that they can speak and be heard without permission. But notice that I used the word “possible,” which ties nicely into the theme of this meeting -- “The Art of the Possible and the Future of Broadband in America’s Future.” While the Internet makes possible the ability for everyone, and not just the most powerful among us, to speak to millions unfiltered, we are still much too far from that goal.

Sen Cruz: 'SNL' Threatened by Campaign Finance Amendment

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took to the Senate floor with photos of Dana Carvey, Tina Fey and others from Saturday Night Live to take issue with the proposed Constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to re-regulate campaign finances in the wake of the Supreme Court Citizens United decision.

Sen Cruz said that with all the issues the Senate could be dealing with, it was discussing an amendment that "would repeal the free speech provisions of the First Amendment." He said that was not hyperbole. He came prepared with a copy of the First Amendment with the words "freedom of speech" and "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" parts drawn with a red line. He said the amendment would give the government "a blanket license to abridge political speech and that citizen speech rights were being used for partisan warfare." He called it the most radical proposal being brought up in the time he has served and that if it were to pas s-- which is highly unlikely -- the effects would be breathtaking.

Study: Intent to Cut Cable Cord Rises

According to Frank N. Magid Associates, 2.9% of pay-TV subscribers say they are “very likely” to cancel their pay TV in the year ahead, up from 2.7% last year and 2.2% two years ago. The urge to cut the cord is strong with young adult consumers. Among 25 to 34 year olds, 49% say they are very likely to cut the cord. Sports is a powerful reason to keep cable, according to the study. Only 1.4% of ESPN viewers are a likely cord cutter.

Republicans Biggest Spenders on Primary Electioneering Ads

About $97 million was spent by outside groups on media buys categorized as primary spending for the mid-term elections, according to Sunlight Foundation analysis of Federal Election Commission data.

Of the $95 million in spending where party identification could be determined, Republican-leading groups outspent Democrats $59 million to $36 million. But Democrats were the big spenders on attack ads, which Sunlight suggests is an effort to soften up the candidates for November, so general election-targeted spending classified as primary spending. The top spender on ads and related ad production and ad buyer expenses was the Senate Majority PAC at $13,021,696, with all but about $2 million of that spent on ads opposing Republicans. The US Chamber of Commerce spent $11,580,732 at number two, with almost $10 million of that supporting Republicans, another $762,5000 spent opposing Democrats, and $1 million opposing Republicans. Club for Growth Action was at number three, spending $6,240,774, with $4,678,119 spent opposing Republicans. Democrat groups spent almost $28 million opposing Republicans, while Republican-supporting groups spent only about $2.5 million opposing Democrats.

Comcast, Liberty Global Forge A Wi-Fi Connection

Comcast and Liberty Global have struck a Wi-Fi roaming agreement that will allow their respective customers to access millions of hotspots in the US and seven countries in Europe. The Wi-Fi roaming/peering deal, a first between MSOs that serve customers in the US and abroad, is poised to provide access to more than 10 million hotspots in the early phases -- Comcast expects to have 8 million “Xfinity Wi-Fi” hotspots up by year’s end, while Liberty Global expects to have 2.5 million by then under its “Wi-Free” and “WifiSpots” SSID signals in several countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, and Switzerland.

Comcast Hires TWC Exec to Oversee Transaction Compliance

Comcast has promoted a number of Washington executives and hired a top Time Warner Cable executive to oversee transaction compliance, which will be a neat fit if Comcast gets Washington approval of its proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable merger.

Julie Laine has joined Comcast company as VP, chief transaction compliance officer and senior deputy general counsel. She had been group VP and chief counsel, regulatory, for Time Warner Cable. Laine is also a former attorney advisor in the Policy Division of the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau. Rudy Brioché has been named VP of global public policy and policy counsel, reporting to SVP of global public policy Rebecca Arbogast. Brioché had been executive director of external affairs and public policy. Lindsey Dickinson and Sam Lancaster, who had been named VP's of legislative affairs, report to Melissa Maxfield, SVP of federal government affairs. Dickinson and Lancaster had been executive directors of federal government affairs. David Don has been named VP of regulatory policy and Jordan Goldstein VP or regulatory affairs, reporting to Kathy Zachem, SPV of regulatory and state legislative affairs. Don had been executive director of regulatory and public affairs and Goldstein had been executive director of regulatory affairs.

How 'A La Carte' TV Legislation Died in the Senate

Sens Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and John Thune (R-SD) had planned a committee vote on their "Local Choice" proposal, but they were forced to pull the legislation due to opposition from other committee members.

"It probably would've been a tough vote, only because a lot of our guys had not had a lot of time to digest and process it," Sen Thune, the top Republican on the committee, admitted. The proposal wouldn't have affected cable channels like ESPN, but it would have required broadcast networks like Fox, NBC, and CBS to set individual prices for their channels. Consumers could then choose which ones they wanted to pay for in an "a la carte" pricing system instead of the channels being part of larger bundles. Although Sen Thune admitted "this is probably not the time" for his proposal, he argued that the debate over the past few weeks on the issue "sets the stage for a fuller and broader discussion next year."

California law says companies can’t punish customers who post negative reviews

Gov Jerry Brown (D-CA) signed a law that will fine businesses up to $10,000 if they use contracts that prevent customers from expressing their opinion about a good or service online.

The law is a victory for consumers’ free speech rights, and comes after repeated instances of merchants trying to collect penalties of thousands of dollars from customers who criticized them. The text of the law is straightforward, and says businesses may not impose contract terms “waiving the consumer’s right to make any statement regarding the seller or lessor or its employees or agents, or concerning the goods or services.” The law goes into effect in 2015.

Benton

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