February 2017

FCC Settles Investigation Of Relay Service Providers

The Federal Communications Commission announced a $9.1 million settlement with two companies which provide telecommunications services to consumers with hearing and speech disabilities. In addition to a monetary penalty for improper billing, the settlement with telecommunications relay service (TRS) providers Purple Communications and CSDVRS repays the TRS Fund and establishes a 5-year compliance plan to ensure that services going forward incorporate the required checks. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O’Rielly unanimously approved the action.

Senate Names Communications Subcommittee Members

It took awhile, but the Democratic Senators have chosen the new subcommittee assignments for the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees communications issues including the Federal Communications Commission.

Returning as Ranking Member of the Senate Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet Subcommittee is Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI). Rounding out the committee are Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tom Udall (D-NM), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). The reason the process took as long as it did was the usual jockeying for position for assignments, plus added seats given Democrats' greater proportion of the Senate due to gains in the election. The communications subcommittee lost two members, Sens Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), but gained four--Sens Duckworth and Baldwin, Hassan, and Cortez Masto. Unlike the House, historically most of the communications issues are handled at the committee level.

Bipartisan House Commerce Committee Leaders Comment on Incentive Auction’s Conclusion

The incentive auction’s conclusion with more than $19 billion in bids marks the end of the second largest auction and years of successful work in bringing market forces to bear on spectrum use policy. The broadcast incentive auction revolutionized the way that our nation makes spectrum allocation decisions by empowering broadcasters, businesses, networks, and consumers alike. Not only did the auction successfully encourage investment and competition by bringing 70 MHz of licensed and 14 MHz of unlicensed spectrum to meet our nation’s wireless broadband needs, but also generated $7 billion for deficit reduction. We thank the broadcasters and wireless bidders that ensured the auction was a success and are looking forward to the FCC working expeditiously to repack the remaining broadcasters without disruption to consumers. We will continue to work together to free up our airwaves and usher in the future of wireless broadband.

Google Fiber Sheds Workers As It Looks to a Wireless Future

Google Fiber is getting a lot smaller. Alphabet is sending hundreds of employees at Access—the division that runs the high-speed internet service—to work at other parts of the company. It’s not the end of Fiber, not exactly. But the slimming-down likely signals a future for Alphabet’s broadband ambitions that involves less fiber. Google first announced Fiber in 2010 with a widely publicized contest to see which city the company would first grace with its ultra-fast service. Since then, Fiber has spread to several US cities and metropolitan areas. But Access said in October that it was curtailing plans to expand to new locations, and Alphabet has clearly lost faith in the idea of running fiber optic cables right into people’s homes, at least in the traditional way.

Instead, Access has hired a new CEO, tech and broadband veteran Greg McCray, to figure out new ways to bring faster—and presumably cheaper—high-speed internet access to the rest of the country. McCray used to be chief executive officer of telecom services provider Aero Communications Inc. He also sits on the board of CenturyLink Inc., one of the biggest U.S. providers of internet and phone services for businesses.

Yahoo warns users of potential malicious activity on their accounts

Yahoo Inc. is warning users of potentially malicious activity on their accounts between 2015 and 2016. It's the latest development in the Internet company's investigation of a mega-breach that exposed 1 billion users' data a few years ago. Yahoo confirmed that it was notifying users that their accounts had potentially been compromised, but it declined to say how many people were affected.

In a statement, the company tied some of the potential compromises to what it has described as the “state-sponsored actor” responsible for the theft of private data from more than 1 billion user accounts in 2013 and 2014. The stolen data included email addresses, birth dates and answers to security questions. The catastrophic breach raised questions about Yahoo's security and destabilized the company's deal to sell its email service, websites and mobile applications to Verizon Communications Inc.

For the Blind, an Actual-Reality Headset

The eSight 3—which weighs less than a quarter of a pound and is operated by hand-held remote—captures the world through a camera system and then displays it on OLED screens that sit very close to the eyes. Legally blind people have some limited vision, and eSight’s displays are tuned to make use of it. By dialing up contrast and allowing users to zoom in, it can dramatically amplify sight without a surgical procedure.

Sean Spicer isn't finished

Sean Spicer has barely moved into his office. Three weeks after the inauguration, the only things adorning the White House press secretary's shelves are a framed picture of himself at the podium, a book on Naval Special Warfare (he's in the Reserve), and a Super Soaker commemorating the infamous "Saturday Night Live" skit in which he, played by an enraged Melissa McCarthy, berated reporters while dousing them with soapy water. Just beyond these walls, in the briefing room and the restaurants and hotel bars frequented by the town's journalists and politicos, conclusions about Spicer's future have already been drawn. The prevailing wisdom is that the combative press secretary is not long for his office, destined to be thrown out in a matter of months or perhaps weeks for failing at what everyone describes as the hardest job in Washington: defending, and pleasing, President Donald J. Trump.

Telco, cable-backed Missouri bill could limit municipal broadband growth, opposition group says

A new broadband battle is brewing in Missouri as the state’s largest telecommunication companies and cable operators are backing a new bill to limit municipal broadband. The new bill, SB 186, which was introduced by MO State Sen Ed Emery (R-Lamar) seeks to limit the power of municipalities to provide competition to entrenched incumbent service providers. SB 186, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, imposes restrictions on local governments to provide retail and wholesale bandwidth services. “This legislation is trying to cut off communities at every turn by limiting any sort of ‘competitive service,’ whether it comes from public broadband infrastructure investment or a public-private partnership” said Christopher Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. “Missouri should be encouraging investment and local Internet choice, not working with monopoly lobbyists to prevent it.”

Windstream, EarthLink secure regulatory approvals to complete merger

Windstream has received all of the state and federal regulatory approvals required for its acquisition of EarthLink, paving the way for the service provider to complete the deal in the first quarter. On Feb. 24, Windstream and EarthLink will each hold special meetings of their respective stockholders in connection with the merger. Windstream also announced that it will hold a conference call on March 1 to review the company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 earnings results. The companies first announced the all-stock deal last November. In January, the Federal Communications Commission announced it approved Windstream’s proposed acquisition of Windstream. At that time, the FCC said it did not receive any comments opposing the deal during the public comment period required by law.

Time Warner Shareholders Approve AT&T Merger

Time Warner shareholders approved the pending $108.7 billion merger with AT&T on Feb 15, putting the mega-deal on a path for a year-end 2017 close. Time Warner said about 78% of its outstanding shares voted in favor of the deal, with the rest not casting a vote. Of the shares that were voted, 99% were in favor of the transaction.

Benton

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