August 2015

NTCA: Affordable video content will drive competition, broadband investment in rural markets

The National Telephone Cooperative Association (NTCA) says in a Federal Communications Commission filing that the ability for smaller telecommunications companies to get access to competitively-priced video content in rural areas will drive competition and new broadband investments. Although the NTCA's members serve small areas, they share the same concerns recently filed by a host Tier 1 telcos CenturyLink and Verizon that the FCC needs to keep content costs in check.

"The provision of video services is key to rural local exchange carriers' ability to deliver robust broadband services to consumers in high-cost areas," NTCA said in an FCC filing. "Indeed, the Commission has long recognized the linkage between video and broadband services. Access to video content at affordable rates and under reasonable terms and conditions is needed not only to generate greater video competition, but also to spur broadband investment in rural service areas." Given the costs of building out network facilities to support video and acquiring content, only 73 percent of respondents to an NTCA survey said they offer video services, down from 76.9 percent in 2013.

Letter from Langdon: The Co-Op Model

[Commentary] CO-MO Connect, a holding company of CO-MO REC headquartered in Tipton (MO) provides Internet and cable TV service to 42 Zip codes and over 38,000 people in central Missouri -- towns like Tipton, Versailles, Sunrise Beach, Gravois Mills, and Warsaw. Super-fast Internet connections help businesses connect with consumers in a brisk retail environment that peaks from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Prior to CO-MO Connect, Internet service was spotty at best. Thanks to the busy lake atmosphere, mobile phone providers had already delivered 3G and 4G service, but on busy summer days when lake traffic was highest, cellular towers were bogged down by smart phones and unceasing demand. (That highlights the problems wireless Internet service faces as ever more powerful handhelds make greater and greater demands on mobile networks. Those same mobile networks are saying they need access to a broader spectrum of radio waves just to keep up.)

Because modern America is beginning to see Internet access as another utility, having service like that available in rural Missouri bolsters property values and helps attract new investment. That’s something that has been missing since the home mortgage crisis and recession hit property values around the lake about 10 years ago. Now values have begun to rise as investment returns. Having the fastest Internet speed in Missouri hasn't hurt the Ozarks.

[Richard Oswald is president the Missouri Farmers Union, is a fifth-generation farmer living in Langdon (MO)]

Baltimore Broadband Coordinator: Municipal broadband a 'distinct possibility'

Baltimore City (MD) could eventually offer municipal Internet service as it seeks to expand high-speed access, said Jason Hardebeck, the first broadband coordinator said. Hardebeck is stepping into the new role of city broadband coordinator after receiving Board of Estimates approval on Aug 26. Hardebeck is a veteran of the technology and startup sectors who sold software company WhoGlue Inc. to Facebook in 2011 and then became executive director of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council. He more recently co-chaired Baltimore's Smarter City Task Force, which Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called together to find ways to boost technology and broadband in the city. It was the task force that recommended the creation of the broadband coordinator position.

In taking on the role, Hardebeck will now oversee efforts to expand connectivity in Baltimore and make broadband access more affordable, Rawlings-Blake said. That could mean the creation of a municipal broadband system that has customers paying for city-run Internet service, which Hardebeck called a "distinct possibility." It could also mean convincing existing provides like Comcast to increase service, or it could mean offering incentives to bring new Internet service providers into the city, he said.

Sinclair: FCC had nothing to do with retrans deal

Sinclair Broadcast Group shot down claims by the Federal Communications Commission that the agency’s intervention was the reason that Dish and Sinclair finally hammered out a new retransmission consent agreement. In a statement, Sinclair said, “We understand the temptation for the FCC to take credit for resolving this impasse, but their intervention had nothing to do with it. We were very close to a resolution well before Chairman Wheeler got involved. In fact, the FCC process actually delayed the resolution, because it added more issues to negotiate, which lengthened DISH’s service interruption, not shortened it. And it is important to remember that our stations never went off the air in any of those markets, but were consistently available free of charge to our viewers, as well as through DISH’s competitors.”

CFO: Consolidated Communications Video Takes Backseat to Broadband

The latest conflict between content owners and video service providers may have been de-escalated when Federal Communications Commission intervention put a halt to Sinclair’s blackout of Dish Network, but conflicts remain. Some video providers -- including Consolidated Communications -- are finding video content economics so challenging that they are rethinking that whole line of business. “We used to be very triple play and video-centric,” said Consolidated Communications CFO Steve Childers. “But with the explosion of video content costs and the cost of [customer premises equipment] for video customers, we’re really trying to, from the consumer side, stabilize our broadband services -- and we’ll offer subscription services...but we’d really rather work with somebody to help them with over-the-top or streaming capabilities.”

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda For September Open Meeting

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the September Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 17, 2015:

Modernizing Contest Rules -- The FCC will consider a Report and Order to provide broadcasters greater flexibility in their disclosure of contest terms.

Submarine Cable Reliability -- The FCC will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to require submarine cable licensees to report outages.

AT&T Accepts Nearly $428 Million in Annual Support from Connect America Fund to Expand and Support Broadband for Over 2.2 Million Rural Consumers in 18 States

AT&T has accepted $427,706,650 in annual, ongoing support from the Connect America Fund to expand and support broadband for over 2.2 million of its rural customers. The Connect America Fund support will enable AT&T to deliver broadband at speeds of at least 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps uploads to over 1.1 million homes and businesses in its rural service areas where the cost of broadband deployment might otherwise be prohibitive.

Consolidated Telecom Accepts Nearly $14 Million in Annual Support from Connect America Fund to Expand and Support Broadband for Nearly 50,000 Rural Consumers in Six States

Consolidated Telecom, Inc. has accepted $13,922,480 in annual, ongoing support from the Connect America Fund to expand and support broadband for
nearly 50,000 of its rural customers. The Connect America Fund support will enable Consolidated to deliver broadband at speeds of at least 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps uploads to nearly 25,000 homes and businesses in its rural service areas where the cost of broadband deployment might otherwise be prohibitive.

Nice try, government officials, but this time the law is on the citizen’s side

[Commentary] Government officials can get creative when they want to hide information from public view. They sue people who request records. They try to kill programs designed to allow citizens to resolve FOI disputes without filing a lawsuit. They make decisions in open meetings without public deliberation. They even use Sunshine Week to propose bills to make it more difficult for citizens to record police activity.

Now, add two more strategies to the playbook: Suing a citizen for copyright infringement after he posted to YouTube recordings of city council meetings, and prohibiting a citizen from photographing a public record. Fortunately, neither effort was successful -- thanks to a federal judge and a public-records office, respectively, rejecting the government’s rationale in each case.

LTE over Wi-Fi spectrum sets up industry-wide fight over interference

A plan to use Wi-Fi airwaves for cellular service has sparked concerns about interference with existing Wi-Fi networks, causing a fight involving wireless carriers, cable companies, a Wi-Fi industry trade group, Microsoft, and network equipment makers. Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US plan to boost coverage in their cellular networks by using unlicensed airwaves that also power Wi-Fi equipment. While cellular carriers generally rely upon airwaves to which they have exclusive licenses, a new system called LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) would have the carriers sharing spectrum with Wi-Fi devices on the unlicensed 5GHz band.

The latest development came when Verizon, T-Mobile, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, and Qualcomm sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission opposing a Wi-Fi Alliance proposal that would slow the process of getting LTE-U out of testbeds and into real-world networks. The FCC hasn't made any final decisions yet.

Benton

Search