BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016
Cyber, Analytics, IoT; A View from the Hill https://www.benton.org/calendar/2016-01-05
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Four Essentials for Digital Inclusion Efforts - new Benton research
Actual Vs. Advertised Broadband Speed: FCC Praises Fiber and Cable, Finds DSL Lacking
Some Internet customers running into data caps
Coming Soon: 50 Gigabit States - analysis
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
T-Mobile’s Binge On Optimization is Just Throttling, Applies Indiscriminately to All Video - Electronic Frontier Foundation
FCC Wireless Competition Report Highlights Shrinking Tier 2 and 3 Market
Why Countries Need National Strategies for the Internet of Things - analysis
Libraries Lend Mobile Wi-Fi Hot Spots To Those Who Need Internet Service [links to National Public Radio]
There's a new type of Wi-Fi, and it's designed to connect your smart home [links to Benton summary]
A startup is using a mesh network to bring free Wi-Fi to Philadelphia [links to Benton summary]
At CDC, a Debate Behind Recommendations on Cellphone Risk [links to New York Times]
Resolve to stop hurting the poor - Mark Jamison op-ed [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
How the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission Regulate Media Company Acquisitions - Andrew Jay Schwartzman analysis
FCC Pauses Shot Clock on Charter-TWC Review
Manager of Las Vegas Review-Journal Is Removed [links to New York Times]
Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent Set to Put Merger to Work [links to Wall Street Journal]
Om Malik: The failure of Sidecar, a ride-sharing venture backed by Richard Branson, illustrates that today’s tech-business ecosystem isn’t structured to foster multi-company competition. [links to New Yorker]
CYBERSECURITY
Lawmakers notch win in fight for global cyber laws
PRIVACY
How ‘Do Not Track’ Ended Up Going Nowhere - Dawn Chmielewski analysis [links to Benton summary]
HEALTH
At CDC, a Debate Behind Recommendations on Cellphone Risk [links to New York Times]
CHILDREN AND MEDIA
App Makers Reach Out to the Teenager on Mobile [links to New York Times]
TELEVISION
Michigan's oversight of cable TV firms shuts off in '16 [links to Detroit Free Press]
Court Won't Force FCC Action on LPTV Decision [links to Benton summary]
Fate of Over-the-Air Broadcast TV Hangs in the Balance in 2016 - Harry Jessell editorial [links to Benton summary]
Cable One, Nexstar Strike New Retransmission Deal [links to Multichannel News]
TWC Adds 32K Video Subscribers in 2015 [links to Multichannel News]
CONTENT
Consumers Can't Tell Native Ads From Editorial Content - research [links to Benton summary]
Turner Seeks To Become One Big Native Ad Platform [links to Benton summary]
MLB Faces Antitrust Trial Over Telecasts: Are Small-Market Clubs Doomed By Cord-Cutters? [links to Hollywood Reporter]
DIVERSITY
Five Ways Tech Can Encourage Diversity [links to Revere Digital]
JOURNALISM
Rep Donna Edwards: Media treats white militants better than black activists
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
How Medium is breaking Washington's op-ed habit - analysis
Rep Anna Eshoo is all ears on the innovation economy [links to Benton summary]
POLICYMAKERS
Chief of Staff to FCC Commissioner Clyburn Exits
COMPANY NEWS
ComScore: Google Unique Visitors Reach 247.1 Million In Nov, Tops Digital Media Rankings [links to telecompetitor]
Meet Sidewalk Labs, Google’s Company That’s Trying to Fix Cities and the Internet All at Once [links to Revere Digital]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
India deserves better than Mark Zuckerberg’s watered-down Internet - Vivek Wadhwa op-ed [links to Benton summary]
The Future of Facebook Advertising Isn’t in the United States - analysis [links to Benton summary]
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
FOUR ESSENTIALS FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION EFFORTS
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Colin Rhinesmith]
[Commentary] Over the last few months, I have been speaking with and visiting digital inclusion organizations across the United States to better understand local efforts to address the digital divide. Digital inclusion is a national priority in the United States. High-speed Internet access is widely recognized as a necessity for full participation in today’s society. Employers, educators, businesses, healthcare providers, and civic institutions expect people to have access to computers and broadband connectivity. However, accessible, reliable, and affordable broadband service continues to be out of reach for millions of Americans, many of whom live in low-income households. This gap in adoption of high-speed Internet and the lack of skills needed to use broadband-enabled tools in meaningful ways continue to be significant problems that policymakers, researchers, and practitioners have all focused their attention on for over a decade. In my conversations with and observations of eight digital inclusion organizations, I’ve identified four essential activities that are necessary to help low-income individuals and families adopt broadband in ways that are most appropriate to their personal needs and contexts: 1) Providing low-cost broadband, 2) Connecting digital literacy training with relevant content and services, 3) Making low-cost computers available, and 4) Operating public access computing centers.
[Dr. Colin Rhinesmith is a Benton Faculty Research Fellow. He is also an Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma.]
https://www.benton.org/blog/four-essentials-digital-inclusion
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FCC BROADBAND REPORT
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
In the latest actual vs. advertised broadband speed debate, most broadband providers are delivering the speeds they advertise, according to the Federal Communications Commission’s latest “Measuring Broadband America” report, released December 30. The main exceptions are DSL-based broadband providers, said the FCC, which bases its findings on the experiences of volunteer panelists whose performance data is collected by the FCC using Internet-based tools. This year’s report was based on data collected during the year ending September 2014. The best performing providers, measured by the percentage of advertised speeds delivered, are Cablevision, Comcast and Hughes, the FCC said. The report notes that fewer than 10% of customers of each of those companies were unable to attain an average download speed of at least 95% of the advertised broadband speed. In contrast, less than half of DSL customers of four providers – AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier and Windstream — attained average download speeds that were at least 95% of the advertised rate.
benton.org/headlines/actual-vs-advertised-broadband-speed-fcc-praises-fiber-and-cable-finds-dsl-lacking | telecompetitor
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DATA CAPS
[SOURCE: Charleston Gazette-Mail, AUTHOR: Andrew Brown]
As broadband providers continue to expand and upgrade their networks throughout West Virginia, some Internet customers in the state are finding barriers to their existing service. In recent months, some customers with Suddenlink in West Virginia — and other companies nationwide — have run into new policies, known as data allowances or data caps, that limit the number of emails, photos, songs and videos they can download in a given month. The policies also limit customers’ streaming capabilities from on-demand Internet media streaming services like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime. “We have introduced data plans in virtually all markets and are in the process of rolling them out to the remaining few,” said Pete Abel, a spokesman for Suddenlink, one of the biggest cable and broadband providers in the country. Abel said the data plans, which limit the number of gigabytes a customer can download without being charged an additional fee, are meant to improve Suddenlink’s system and ensure that customers who use their Internet service less are not negatively affected by customers who use more than their allotted amount of data.
benton.org/headlines/some-internet-customers-running-data-caps | Charleston Gazette-Mail
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COMING SOON: 50 GIGABIT STATES
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
[Commentary] It’s been almost three years since former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski set a goal of having at least one gigabit network in every state by 2015. The year is now over and by Telecompetitor’s tally, we didn’t quite make it – but we’re close. We combed through our archives and other online resources and, by our tally, at least one network operator has announced plans to offer gigabit service in every state. Not all of these networks are actually deployed or supporting service yet. But generally network operators don’t announce specific markets more than a year or two in advance of when they expect to deliver service. We also didn’t count a deployment unless plans included residential users. Clearly Genachowski wasn’t talking about gigabit Ethernet service to commercial buildings when he set the gigabit goal. Even heavily rural states – states such as Wyoming, West Virginia, or Maine – made the list, thanks to a wide range of small locally-focused telecommunication companies, utilities, municipal network operators, and others. Even though deployment costs tend to be higher in rural areas, entities with a local focus often manage to find a way to make gigabit happen – and in the telecommunication company arena, many companies already had fiber-to-the-home networks, making it relatively easy to upgrade to a gigabit. Another thing that helped put all 50 states on the gigabit map was that tier one or tier two telecommunication company and cable operators that had not previously announced gigabit plans decided to get in on the trend.
benton.org/headlines/coming-soon-50-gigabit-states | telecompetitor
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
T-MOBILE'S BINGE ON OPTIMIZATION IS JUST THROTTLING, APPLIES INDISCRIMINATELY TO ALL VIDEO
[SOURCE: Electronic Frontier Foundation, AUTHOR: Jeremy Gillula]
The Electronic Frontier Foundation decided to test T-Mobile's Binge On Optimization by posting a video on one of tour servers and tried accessing it via a T-Mobile LTE connection using various methods and under various conditions. The first result of our test confirms that when Binge On is enabled, T-Mobile throttles all HTML5 video streams to around 1.5Mps, even when the phone is capable of downloading at higher speeds, and regardless of whether or not the video provider enrolled in Binge On. This is the case whether the video is being streamed or being downloaded—which means that T-Mobile is artificially reducing the download speeds of customers with Binge On enabled, even if they’re downloading the video to watch later. The second major finding in our tests is that T-Mobile is throttling video downloads even when the filename and HTTP headers (specifically the Content-Type) indicate the file is not a video file. We asked T-Mobile if this means they are looking deeper than TCP and HTTP headers, and identifying video streams by inspecting the content of their customers’ communications, and they told us that they have solutions to detect video-specific protocols/patterns that do not involve the examination of actual content. Our last finding is that T-Mobile’s video “optimization” doesn’t actually alter or enhance the video stream for delivery to a mobile device over a mobile network in any way. This means T-Mobile’s “optimization” consists entirely of throttling the video stream’s throughput down to 1.5Mbps. If the video is more than 480p and the server sending the video doesn’t have a way to reduce or adapt the bitrate of the video as it’s being streamed, the result is stuttering and uneven streaming—exactly the opposite of the experience T-Mobile claims their “optimization” will have. In other words, our results show that T-Mobile is throttling video streams, plain and simple.
benton.org/headlines/t-mobiles-binge-optimization-just-throttling-applies-indiscriminately-all-video | Electronic Frontier Foundation
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FCC WIRELESS REPORT
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
The nation’s four largest wireless service providers – AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon—had a combined market share of 98.5% as of year-end 2014, leaving all other wireless providers combined with only 1.5% of the market, according to a report released in late December by the Federal Communications Commission. In comparison, the top four providers controlled only about two-thirds of the market in 2003.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-wireless-competition-report-highlights-shrinking-tier-2-and-3-market | telecompetitor
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NATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS
[SOURCE: Center for Data Innovation, AUTHOR: Joshua New, Daniel Castro]
The Internet of Things offers many opportunities to grow the economy and improve quality of life. Just as the public sector was instrumental in enabling the development and deployment of the Internet, it must play a similar role to ensure the success of the Internet of Things. Therefore, national governments should create comprehensive national strategies for the Internet of Things to ensure that the technology develops cohesively and rapidly, that consumers and businesses do not face barriers to adoption, and that both the private and public sector take full advantage of the coming wave of smart devices. A national strategy for the Internet of Things, if designed and implemented correctly, would maximize the opportunity for the Internet of Things to deliver substantial social and economic benefits. No country will successfully capture these benefits by leaving development of the Internet of Things solely up to the market, just as no government actions could capture all of the potential benefits without a robust private sector that can innovate unencumbered by overly restrictive regulations. As countries increasingly recognize the potential of the Internet of Things, they should develop comprehensive national strategies that proactively promote development and adoption of the technology while limiting regulatory barriers that restrict its growth.
benton.org/headlines/why-countries-need-national-strategies-internet-things | Center for Data Innovation
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OWNERSHIP
REGULATING MEDIA COMPANY ACQUISITIONS
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Andrew Jay Schwartzman]
[Commentary] Regulating concentration of control in the mass media and related technology companies is a never-ending chore for the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This is the first of a two-part discussion of the regulation of media ownership. It will deal with the way in which the three agencies deal with proposed acquisition of media properties. (This blog previously visited this question here.) The second part will address the FCC’s specific rules establishing limits on how many broadcast properties one owner can control and the ongoing (and seemingly endless) litigation surrounding those rules. Industries within the FCC’s jurisdiction and their Congressional supporters frequently object to the fact that they are subject to two different enforcement schemes. They argue that the antitrust laws provide sufficient protection for the public and that the FCC’s review of media transactions is burdensome and duplicative, and thus should be repealed or circumscribed. However, given the important impact of these companies on the diversity of voices in the media, the pace of broadband deployment and the evolution of digital technologies, it seems unlikely that the FCC’s role will be limited in the foreseeable future.
https://www.benton.org/blog/how-department-justice-federal-trade-commiss...
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FCC PAUSES SHOT CLOCK ON CHARTER-TWC REVIEW
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has paused the clock on the Charter-Time Warner Cable-Bright House Networks merger review for 15 days. The FCC had no comment beyond what it said in a letter to the parties informing them, but the stoppage, not unusual in merger reviews, came after documents were submitted around the holiday breaks. “We have recently submitted supplemental information to underscore the benefits of these transactions and it is expected that the FCC would want to give the public time to comment," Charter said. "We are working well with the FCC on its review of our deal and continue to look forward to a timely approval.” That included information on interconnection, cybersecurity, regional sports networks, low-cost broadband and more. "The commission has a strong interest in ensuring a full and complete record upon which to base its decision in this proceeding," the FCC said. "Pausing the clock will ensure that commenters have sufficient time to review and comment on this new information, and will provide commission staff with the necessary time to review both the applicants' materials and any responses." The FCC's 180-day shot clock is an informal guide, not a deadline.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-pauses-shot-clock-charter-twc-review | Multichannel News | FCC letter
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CYBERSECURITY
GLOBAL CYBERSPACE RULES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Cory Bennett]
Lawmakers pushing for global cyberspace norms have scored an early win. The major cybersecurity bill that President Obama signed into law includes a clause requiring the State Department to publicly produce an international cyberspace policy within 90 days. The edict is the product of months of cajoling from cyber-focused lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who regularly have warned that the lack of global cyberspace rules poses serious dangers.
benton.org/headlines/lawmakers-notch-win-fight-global-cyber-laws | Hill, The
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JOURNALISM
MEDIA TREATMENT OF MILITANTS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Rachel Weiner]
Rep Donna Edwards (D-MD) accused the media of a racial double standard in covering the armed anti-government activists who are occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon. The group took over a federal building at the refuge Saturday to protest the treatment of a pair of local ranchers who were convicted of arson on federal land. Rep Edwards said that the activists should be called “lawbreaking . . . militants” and that they are being judged differently than black activists who have demonstrated throughout the country over the past 18 months as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. “I am deeply troubled by the media portrayal of the events in Oregon and the armed takeover of a federal wildlife refuge,” Rep Edwards said. “Since the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement, activists . . . have been referred to variously as ‘thugs,’ ‘criminals,’ and ‘drug users.’ To the contrary, most of these protests and protesters have been peaceful, and organizers have sought and obtained permission to peaceably assemble in exercise of their Constitutional rights. But in Oregon, a group of armed men illegally occupying a federal building have been referred to as an ‘armed militia,’ or simply ‘occupiers,’ as though that behavior is acceptable in a nation of laws. What is happening in Oregon is not protest sanctioned by the Constitution, it is lawbreaking.”
benton.org/headlines/rep-donna-edwards-media-treats-white-militants-better-black-activists | Washington Post
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
HOW MEDIUM IS BREAKING WASHINGTON'S OP-ED HABIT
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Nancy Scola]
[Commentary] Medium, the three-year-old online publishing platform run by one of the founders of Twitter, has spent much of its infancy assiduously courting members of the political class. The pitch is clear: Get your message out with none of the editorial interference that comes with old-school media. The effort has paid off. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/headlines/how-medium-breaking-washingtons-op-ed-habit | Politico
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POLICYMAKERS
CHIEF OF STAFF TO FCC COMMISSIONER CLYBURN EXITS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Chanelle Hardy, chief of staff and media legal advisor to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Federal Communications Commission has left the FCC, apparently, with an announcement expected soon. Succeeding her will be Holly Saurer, who has been detailed on a temporary basis from the Media Bureau, where she is associate bureau chief. Hardy had been chief of staff since May 1, when she succeeded Adonis Hoffman. She had been senior VP for policy at the National Urban League and director of its Washington bureau. There have been rumblings inside and outside the building that Commissioner Clyburn might want to exit the FCC to run for her father's, Rep James Clyburn (D-SC), seat in Congress, though a source close to the commissioner had downplayed that.
benton.org/headlines/chief-staff-fcc-commissioner-clyburn-exits | Broadcasting&Cable
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