June 2015

COURT CASE

FCC NET NEUTRALITY RULES SET TO GO INTO EFFECT AFTER COURT DENIES STAY
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Mike Snider]
The Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules will go into effect June 12 after a court decided not to block them. The US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC denied a request by several broadband providers and opponents to the FCC's Open Internet order or net neutrality rules. After the rules' passage in February, several companies and groups including AT&T, USTelecom, CTIA The Wireless Association and National Cable & Telecommunications Association challenged the rules in court asking for a stay. "This is a huge victory for Internet consumers and innovators," said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. "Starting [June 12], there will be a referee on the field to keep the Internet fast, fair and open. Blocking, throttling, pay-for-priority fast lanes and other efforts to come between consumers and the Internet are now things of the past. The rules also give broadband providers the certainty and economic incentive to build fast and competitive broadband networks." The court did grant an expedited hearing of the case, meaning it could be argued as soon as the fall or early winter in 2015.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-net-neutrality-rules-set-go-effect-after-court-denies-stay | USAToday | Court Decision | New York Times | LA Times | The Hill | Washington Post | ars technica | Broadcasting & Cable
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NET NEUTRALITY

THIS IS THE GOP'S NEW TACTIC TO STOP NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
The Federal Communications Commission's new network neutrality rules officially go into effect June 12, but Republican Representatives are making a last-minute legislative push to keep them from taking effect. Their efforts to do so just cleared an important hurdle in the House: the draft appropriations bill containing the measure that prevents the FCC from enforcing its Internet provider regulations was approved by the House Financial Services Subcommittee. The legislation would freeze the net neutrality rules until the Internet providers that have sued to overturn them receive an answer from the court. Rep. José Serrano (D-NY) said that the FCC budget cut was penny wise and pound foolish and would force the FCC to either spend more now to stay in its more expensive headquarters, spend more later to move, or cut some core essential services. He also called the net neutrality rule rider among the most "excessive" riders, and one that would make the bill unpassable from the Democratic view. He said the rider was fundamentally flawed from a policy and procedural standpoint and would block the FCC's important step of insuring Internet content is treated the same way for everyone, in service of "a few large corporations." He said the bill will encourage plaintiffs to delay resolution of the cases.
benton.org/headlines/gops-new-tactic-stop-net-neutrality | Washington Post | Vice | Broadcasting & Cable
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FCC REFORM

SENATE PASSES FCC REPORT CONSOLIDATION BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Senate has unanimously passed the Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2015 (S 253). That is the bipartisan bill that consolidates eight separate FCC reports to Congress, including the FCC's Sec. 706 report, into a single report on the state of the communications marketplace. It also gets rid of some outdated reports, including one on competition to the telegraph. The bill, introduced by Sen Dean Heller (R-NV) and co-sponsored by Se. Brian Schatz (D-HI), is the Senate version of a House bill that passed 411 to zip in February. Had the bill passed in the exact same form in the Senate, it could then have gone to the President's desk, but apparently there was a small change to the bill related to an international data report and some other changes that will require the House to vote the Senate bill. Among the main differences, according to s Senate source speaking on background, were:
The Senate bill retains the annual report on broadband deployment required by Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
Retains the cable rates report, though going forward it will be produced every two years (as part of the larger communications marketplace report required by the bill), rather than each year
Would not subject the FCC to a 2-year score card where it has to document and defend its activities
Includes language sponsored by Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) that would retain the FCC’s International Broadband Data Report, including that report in the larger communications marketplace report required by the bill.
It is unclear whether the changes, and others said to be in the bill, will mean any hiccup in swift House passage, like having to conference the two bills.
benton.org/headlines/senate-passes-fcc-report-consolidation-bill | Broadcasting&Cable
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LIFELINE

LIFELINE BROADBAND: 61 GROUPS OFFER GUIDELINES FOR FCC
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
A broad group of 61 interest groups has sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler advocating for the FCC to adopt a Lifeline low-income program for broadband in 2015. The letter also makes broad recommendations about how that program should be structured. The move comes just a week before the FCC is expected to adopt a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) about a Lifeline broadband program. In the letter the groups propose five principles they say should guide the FCC’s work to modernize the Lifeline program, including:
The Lifeline program should provide sufficient resources and be designed so that all eligible households can receive the support they need to afford high-quality broadband.
The program should support Internet connectivity of sufficient capacity to provide access to digital education and social services, healthcare, applying for jobs, performing job-related functions, doing homework, accessing “diverse and independent media,” reaching out for emergency services and participating in “civic discourse.” The letter points to the 10 Mbps downstream/ 1 Mbps upstream target speed established for the Connect America Fund broadband deployment program as an example of a speed target.
Choice and competition. Low-income recipients of Lifeline funding should be able to use any qualified provider and the FCC should “adopt mechanisms that will increase users’ knowledge of their choices.”
The Lifeline program should be structured to support continuous innovation. The letter argues, for example, that the program should offer financial incentives to provide above-average services or achieve program objectives such as high participation rates and that states should be offered incentive grants for finding the best ways to centralize eligibility databases, boost enrollment, improve efficiency and reduce fraud.
Efficiency, transparency, accountability. The commission should continue enforcement actions. Additionally the letter states that “we hope to see reports on successful carriers and states, data on participant choices, . . . enrollment numbers and more.
[The Benton Foundation was a co-signer of the letter]
benton.org/headlines/lifeline-broadband-61-interest-groups-offer-guidelines-fcc | telecompetitor | pdf
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

PCIA, CTIA FIGHT LAWSUIT SEEKING TO BLOCK FCC RULES THAT SPEED UP INFRASTRUCTURE DEPLOYMENT
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
CTIA and PCIA are teaming up to fight a lawsuit by Montgomery County (MD) that seeks to toss out rules the Federal Communications Commission adopted Fall 2014 intended to speed up the deployment of wireless infrastructure. In a joint filing with the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the wireless industry's trade group and the main wireless infrastructure trade association said that the FCC was within its legal authority to change some legal definitions and make deploying network gear more streamlined. At issue is whether the FCC's interpretation of a statue is entitled to deference usually granted to federal agencies in interpreting laws in order to make rules. The lawsuits also argue over whether the rules on infrastructure are constitutional exercises of federal power. As CTIA and PCIA note in their court filing, the FCC created new rules that interpreted and changed the definitions of "substantially change" and "base station," and established timeframes after which facilities applications that had not been acted upon would be "deemed granted." Montgomery County wants the FCC's actions set aside. CTIA and PCIA argued against that course of action, noting that the FCC's "authoritative interpretations of undefined statutory terms provide certainty, and the 'deemed granted' remedy ensures that reluctant State and local jurisdictions cannot thwart federal law through endless delay." Further, the lobbying groups argued that the FCC was within its rights and should be allowed to interpret terms that the law left undefined.
PCIA, CTIA fight lawsuit seeking to block FCC rules that speed up infrastructure deployment

benton.org/headlines/pcia-ctia-fight-lawsuit-seeking-block-fcc-rules-speed-infrastructure-deployment | Fierce
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OWNERSHIP

DISH NETWORK IN TALKS WITH BANKS ABOUT FUNDING T-MOBILE BID
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dana Cimilluca, Ryan Knutson, Gillian Tan, Shalini Ramachandran]
Dish Network is in talks with banks about funding a bid for T-Mobile that would include as much as $15 billion in cash, in the latest sign the takeover effort is progressing. Apparently, Dish is considering borrowing between $10 billion and $15 billion for the cash portion of a bid that would primarily be comprised of its stock. The two sides are discussing a deal that would leave Deutsche Telekom AG , which controls T-Mobile, with a big minority stake in a combined company. However, apparently a deal agreement between Dish and T-Mobile isn't imminent, and it is possible there won’t be one. It is unclear how much Dish is considering paying for T-Mobile, which has a market value of $31 billion and is the nation’s fourth-largest cellphone carrier. Dish, the country’s second-largest satellite-television provider, has a market value of $34 billion. Still, Dish’s discussions with banks, and the fact that the structure of any bid is coming into focus, are a sign that the company and its unpredictable chief executive, Charlie Ergen, are moving closer to potentially buying T-Mobile after years of aborted attempts to strike a big wireless or satellite deal. Dish has consistently expressed interest in entering the wireless industry and has been amassing licenses to use wireless airwaves that a network like T-Mobile’s would enable it to put to use.
benton.org/headlines/dish-network-talks-banks-about-funding-t-mobile-bid | Wall Street Journal
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

AMAZON PROBED FOR E-BOOKS AS EU WIDENS SCRUTINY OF US TECH
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Stephanie Bodoni]
Amazon.com faces a probe into its e-book contracts with publishers as the European Union’s Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager added to her growing list of fights with US technology companies. EU regulators said the world’s biggest online retailer may be squeezing out rival distributors of e-books by insisting that publishers can’t give them better terms. “We’re not actually targeting US companies -- we don’t have a geographic bias,” Vestager said. “This just reflects that there are many strong companies in the US that influence the digital market elsewhere.” The e-books probe is Amazon’s latest clash with the EU after it was embroiled in an investigation into tax loopholes for multinationals including Apple. Since taking office in November, Vestager has also sent Google a formal antitrust complaint for shutting out rival search engines and started a clampdown on possible barriers to e-commerce and digital content including Hollywood studios’ pay-TV deals. The EU’s antitrust watchdog said the Seattle-based company includes clauses in its contracts that “require publishers to inform Amazon about more favorable or alternative terms offered to Amazon’s competitors” and to “ensure that Amazon is offered terms at least as good as those for its competitors.” Amazon, now the largest distributor of e-books in Europe, helped pioneer the market with the introduction of the Kindle device in 2007.
benton.org/headlines/amazon-probed-e-books-eu-widens-scrutiny-us-tech | Bloomberg | Reuters
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CUBA'S WEB ENTREPRENEURS SEARCH FOR US CLIENTS, AND RELIABLE WI-FI
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Victoria Burnett]
At his parents’ cramped house in Havana, Yondainer Gutiérrez builds apps and websites on a makeshift computer that runs on pirated software. He has no Internet access there, so he rents time on a friend’s connection to send his work to clients in France, Britain, Canada and the rest of Latin America. This is outsourcing, Cuban-style, a little-advertised circle of software developers, web designers, accountants and translators who -- despite poor and expensive Internet access -- sell their skills long-distance. And ever since the United States in February authorized Americans to import goods and services from Cuban entrepreneurs for the first time in half a century, they have their eyes on America as well. Many who work at the University of Information Sciences, or UCI, near Havana, or the José Antonio Echeverría Higher Polytechnic Institute, or Cujae (pronounced Coo-hai), moonlight as freelance programmers, using the institutes’ broadband to transfer large files, software developers said. Others buy dial-up connections on the black market -- for about $200 per month -- or rent time on wireless connections at big hotels. The smoky lobby of the Habana Libre hotel in downtown Havana serves as an office for Cubans who write software, build apps, unblock or fix mobile telephones, or rent houses. They huddle daily on deep armchairs and pay $8 per hour for Wi-Fi. Dairon Medina, 28, a Cuban computer programmer who worked as a freelancer for several years before moving to Ecuador four years ago, hires colleagues in Cuba to do jobs for clients in Argentina, Canada, Germany and the United States.If American clients began hiring Cubans on a regular basis, he said, “it could be an immense market” for Cuba.
Cuba’s Web Entrepreneurs Search for U.S. Clients, and Reliable Wi-Fi
benton.org/headlines/cubas-web-entrepreneurs-search-us-clients-and-reliable-wi-fi | New York Times
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June 2015

How Wi-Fi Will Power Tomorrow’s Battle Gear

LA Guns for Gigabit Partners

Muni Broadband Goes Mainstream

James Murdoch Is an Old School Media Executive, So Don’t Expect Big Changes at His Dad’s Empire

The Senate and your broadband bill: Why you should care about the Internet Tax Freedom Act

ALA president calls for digital transformation of Copyright Office

June 12, 2015 (Court Denies Net Neutrality Stay)

Cuba’s Web Entrepreneurs Search for U.S. Clients, and Reliable Wi-Fi

Apple and Google brew up battle over future of mobile devices

FCC Net neutrality rules set to go into effect after court denies stay