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October 2015

Back to Basics: Accessibility and Public Safety

Oct 29, I’m circulating a proposal to make Wireless Emergency Alerts a more effective tool to communicate important information to the public. For example, we propose to increase the amount and type of information that can be included in alerts and to make it easier for state and local authorities to send these messages. In Nov, the Federal Communications Commission will consider rules that would strengthen accessibility by Americans with hearing loss to emerging and future technologies and services by expanding the scope of our hearing aid compatibility requirements to all forms of voice communication. If adopted, this action would cover emerging technologies such as Wi-Fi calling and VoLTE as well as those that may develop in the future.

In addition to these rules, the FCC will lay the groundwork for future improvements by calling on stakeholders to work collaboratively to develop a consensus plan for dramatically expanding the kinds of devices that Americans with hearing loss can use. If there is a better way to consider and implement accessibility at the front end of the handset-design process, millions of Americans with hearing loss will benefit. The draft item makes clear that a consensus solution is the preferred path forward, but the Commission will also seek comment on whether there are other steps it might take to ensure 100 percent of handsets are hearing aid compatible at the same time as promoting innovation and investment.

The Truth About Access, Affordability and the Digital Divide

[Commentary] According to the Washington Post, you’re paying just the right amount for broadband service. In an article, tech writer Brian Fung relied on a recent Pew study to support his conclusion that what consumers really need is Internet “guidance” and “coaching”  --  rather than lower prices  --  to close the digital divide. Digital literacy training sounds like a nice, uncontroversial idea, and it may very well be a helpful piece of this puzzle. The trouble is, Fung glosses over fundamental details about the broadband market and ignores the huge impact that affordability  --  or the lack thereof  --  has on broadband adoption and the digital divide.

He begins by noting that while 19 percent of broadband non-adopters cite price as the main barrier to Internet access, nearly 34 percent say the Internet simply isn’t relevant to their lives. That may seem like a meaningful statistic, but by lumping all non-adopters together, Fung fails to account for differences in income. High prices are locking communities out of our digital future, and instead of opening the door, we’re wondering why they don’t want to come inside. Digital literacy shouldn’t be used as a cop-out for broadband providers and policy makers who don’t want to do the hard work of improving broadband affordability. We need to recognize that access, affordability and adoption go hand in hand, and get down to the real business before us.

[Dana Floberg is a policy fellow with Free Press]

How Much Will the FCC’s Airwaves Auction Raise?

The Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming auction of unused TV airwaves has been projected to bring in $60 billion to $80 billion dollars for the US Treasury. But with several major wireless providers shying away, that figure may be out of reach. The FCC will use the auction this spring as a way of opening up more licenses to feed the increasing demand for the nation’s airwaves, which are increasingly crowded with LTE networks, the Internet of Things, and high consumer demand for mobile data. When the FCC filed its procedures for the auction on Aug. 11, it cited a statistic from the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition that put the expected revenue at $60 billion to $80 billion. Financial group SNL Kagan calculated the estimate. Since then, some analysts are asking how they will get there.

Sprint, one of the major carriers that might have bid for some of these airwaves, said they plan to not participate in the auction. One of the nation’s largest wireless providers, Verizon, has also downplayed its potential involvement in the auction. Nonetheless, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said that he thinks the auction will be “very successful.” The moves from Sprint and Verizon are “pre-auction shenanigans that one can expect happens in any kind of marketplace.”

Tweets are disappearing on Twitter. Why?

Twitter’s appeal has long been connected in part to its reputation as a user-controlled firehose, as opposed to a place where an algorithm determines what you see and don’t see. But that’s changed recently, at least incrementally.

The company rolled out two abuse filters in spring 2015, to help improve Twitter’s response to harassment on its site: an opt-in, aggressive quality filter for any verified Twitter user; and a second, less comprehensive abuse screener that’s currently being tested on all users of the site, with no option to opt out, apparently. These measures have been welcomed by many who advocated for the site to find a better way to address harassment. But a recent spate of mysteriously disappearing tweets triggered an intense debate over how the social networking site handles objectionable content -- and to what extent the site has begun to filter content automatically.

Weekly Digest

Senate Passes CISA: Robbie's Round-Up (10/26-30)

You’re reading the Benton Foundation’s Weekly Round-up, a recap of the biggest (or most overlooked) telecommunications stories of the week. The round-up is delivered via e-mail each Friday; to get your own copy, subscribe at www.benton.org/user/register

The Senate Passes CISA
Robbie's Round-Up (October 26-30, 2015)

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