June 2016

Benton Editorial

Let Me Hear Your Yawp

– Free Speech, Net Neutrality, and Election 2016


The Future of Wireless: A Vision for US Leadership in a 5G World

If the Federal Communications Commission approves my proposal in July, the United States will be the first country in the world to open up high-band spectrum for 5G networks and applications. And that’s damn important because it means US companies will be first out of the gate. We will be repeating the proven formula that made the United States the world leader in 4G. It’s a simple formula: Lead the world in spectrum availability, encourage and protect innovation driving competition, and stay out of the way of technological development. By opening up higher-frequency bands, we are making available more licensed spectrum for mobile than in the cumulative history of mobile spectrum allocation. And we’re not done.

As a part of our July 14 action, we also plan to ask for comments on opening up other high-frequency bands. And, what we’ll be considering on July 14 is not just licensed spectrum. Unlicensed will continue to play a critical role in future 5G networks. Our plan proposes making a massive 14 gigahertz unlicensed band. Consider that – 14,000 megahertz of unlicensed spectrum, with the same flexible-use rules that has allowed unlicensed to become a breeding ground for innovation.

House to consider blocking Lifeline program

Lawmakers are set to vote June 21 on a bill that would block low-income consumers from getting a federal subsidy for mobile phone and wireless broadband plans.House Republican leadership will offer the End Taxpayer Funded Cell Phones Act on the evening of June 21. The bill blocks the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program from funding mobile carriers providing either voice or data service.

The bill will be considered under suspension of the rules, a procedural move requiring a two-thirds majority to pass the bill. Democrats have generally been opposed to any efforts to limit the program. Conservatives have long portrayed the program as a handout, arguing the program is a target for abuse and fraud. Senior Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai has recently been rolling out the results of his office’s inquiry into what he says is significant fraud on the part of carriers who benefit from the subsidies.

Surveillance reform measure blocked in the wake of Orlando killings

The US House of Representatives voted down an anti-surveillance amendment after some of its members expressed concern about its impact on the fight against terrorism, in the wake of the massacre at a nightclub in Orlando (FL). The measure was proposed by Reps Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Zoe Lofrgren (D-CA) as as an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act. It would prevent warrantless searches by law enforcement of information on Americans from a foreign intelligence communications database. It would also prohibit -- with some exceptions -- the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency from using any funds appropriated under the Act to require that companies weaken the security of their products or services to enable surveillance of users. The amendments had earlier been passed in 2014 and 2015 but were stripped from the defense appropriations bill before the bill reached President Obama. This year its timing seems to have been its biggest handicap, coming a few days after the killings at the Orlando nightclub.

Chairman Wheeler: 'Ditch the Box' Effort Is 'Terrific'

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said he was glad the cable industry offered up a compromise set-top proposal but suggested that indicated many of the problems those same parties had with the initial proposal weren't problems after all. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association and others proposed a "ditch the box" variation on the Chairman's "unlock the box" proposal recently. In a Q&A following a speech at the National Press Club on 5G wireless broadband, Chairman Wheeler was asked about the cable-backed effort. "I think it is absolutely terrific that the cable industry came forward with this proposal," he said. "I have been asking them to do this, and I think that by coming forward they indicated that a lot of the arguments that had been put up against our set-top box proposal really fell by the wayside."

He said that cable proposal indicated that copyright can be protected, that privacy can be protected and that small networks can continue to thrive and that you don't have to remake the network to do all that. "So, I think that what they have done is say, 'yes, the approach that the FCC suggested is an approach that can be taken.'" He said he wanted to now engage in "constructive" dialog on how you write the specific regulations to achieve that.

Commissioner Rosenworcel: FCC Needs ‘Another Way Forward’ on Set-Tops

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission is optimistic that the FCC and industry can find a way forward on set-tops to promote a competitive marketplace in navigation devices but signals that the problems have become clear, as has the need for more work on the proposal. That proposal is to require multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs, or pay-TV) to make their program and data streams available to third-party devices and app developers to promote competitive alternatives, including wedding traditional and over-the-top content. "Set-top boxes are clunky and costly," Rosenworcel said. "Consumers don't like them and they don't like paying for them," she added. "Kudos to the chairman for kicking off this conversation [Rosenworcel voted along with Wheeler and Democrat Mignon Clyburn to kick off that conversation], but it has become clear the original proposal has real flaws and, as I have suggested before, is too complicated. We need to find another way forward."

Chattanooga (TN) mayor: Gigabit speed Internet helped revive city

When Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke describes his city's economic renewal, he points to the city’s fiber network as a significant source of its new vibrancy. In the past three years, the city’s unemployment rate has dropped to 4.1 percent from 7.8 percent and the wage rate has also been climbing. Volkswagen’s presence has boosted the manufacturing sector and 10-gigabit speed Internet has fueled wage growth, Berke said. “We know that the wage rise is linked to internet jobs and particularly the technology sector,” Berke said.

A pioneer in municipal broadband, Chattanooga developed its fiber network in 2010 with $330 million, paid for with $105 million in federal funds and the rest from bonds. The high-speed access led to direct and indirect economic gains and has been profitable. “It changed our conceptions of who we are and what is possible,” Berke said. “Before we had never thought of ourselves as a technology city." Gigtank, a startup accelerator, emerged, and startup and tech events popped up as the city began taking advantage of its high-speed access. Berke described a Chattanooga company that developed during an entrepreneurial event and was eventually bought by OpenTable. Now, OpenTable has an office in the city’s Innovation District and it has doubled its local presence, part of the city’s downtown revitalization efforts. Downtown has doubled its residents and landlords often advertise gigabit speeds that are included in monthly rents. “It’s an explosion of growth in our technology sector,” he said. “That has sparked not only this (downtown) living but restaurants and bars and music and the quality of life that truly makes a city interesting, cool, hip, vibrant and energetic."