DIGITALDIVIDE
DIGITAL DIVDE
Laos Online: Pedal for Its Mettle
Schweiker Administration Presents $400,000 in Digital Divide Funding
DEREGULATION
New Commissioner Urges FCC Caution on Media Caps
Feds Mull Broadband Market Shake-Up
DIGITAL DIVDE
LAOS ONLINE: PEDAL FOR ITS METTLE
To some, communication can be just as basic a need as food or water. This is
evident in rural Laos, where an impoverished community has asked for help in
establishing Internet access. Villages in the Plain of Jars, where bombings
in the 1960s and 1970s separated families for decades, wish to reopen lines
of communication with lost relatives as well as stimulate economic
development by finding new markets for their wears. The project is by no
means simple, as the region is without telephone lines and wired electricity
and is subject to torential rains for half the year and choking drought the
other half. Volunteer experts from the Remote IT Village project are
confident that "some pedal-powered generators, a few wireless antennas and
some rugged, Linux-powered computers" will meet the task of bringing the
digital age to this region.
[SOURCE: Wired.com, AUTHOR: Michelle Delio]
(http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57061,00.html)
SCHWEIKER ADMINISTRATION PRESENTS $400,000 IN DIGITAL DIVIDE FUNDING TO HILL
HOUSE ASSOCIATION
In another success for the state's Digital Divide program, Pennsylvania
acting secretary for Community and Economic Development Tim McNulty
presented a check for $400,000 to the Hill House Association in Pittsburgh
yesterday. The funds are intended to increase tech awareness and access in
low-income areas of Pittsburgh. "Projects such as these are exactly what the
Digital Divide grants are intended to be used for," McNulty said. The Hill
House Association has served residents of Pittsburgh's Hill District and
other low-income residents for over 35 years. Among other projects, the
funds will be used to create a WAN to connect different organizations,
provide computer access to low-income children, organize agencies geared
toward school accountability, raise achievement levels and improve student
tech skills, and distribute home computers to low-income families and
organizations.
[SOURCE: Silicon Valley Biz Ink, AUTHOR: PRNewswire]
(http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SVBIZINK3.story&STORY=/ww
w/story/01-06-2003/0001866721&EDATE=MON+Jan+06+2003,+04:19+PM)
DEREGULATION
NEW COMMISSIONER URGES FCC CAUTION ON MEDIA CAPS
In his first public speech since joining the FCC late last year,
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein cautioned his colleagues against hastily
liberalizing existing media ownership controls. Speaking at the Future of
Music Policy Summit in Washington, Adelstein noted that if the FCC further
relaxes existing rules "and it turns out to be a mistake, we will find it
difficult, if not impossible, to put the toothpaste back in the tube." He
described the state of the radio industry as an example of how deregulation
can be costly - since 1996, large conglomerates have purchased several radio
stations nation-wide. As a result, there are fewer local differences among
radio stations and more homogeneity across different formats. He also said
that the Commission should reexamine how it measures ownership, pointing out
that current regulations allow one company to own more stations in his
hometown than are currently on the air.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andy Sullivan]
(http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=1997630)
FEDS MULL BROADBAND MARKET SHAKE-UP
With widespread attention regarding its review of media ownership rules, the
FCC is also gearing up for an overhaul of regulations governing local phone
carriers' treatment of competitors seeking to enter their markets using
their infrastructure. Top policymakers at the FCC have indicated that
competition would thrive if such restrictions were curtailed. Experts
believe such a move would drastically alter the broadband deployment
landscape over the next decade. Baby Bell companies have complained that
current regulations have put them at a disadvantage relative to cable
companies, who were not required to open access to their high-speed
networks. After a push for legislative a remedy failed last year, attention
turns to the FCC, which some believe will kowtow to the large local
companies' wishes.
[SOURCE: CNET News, AUTHOR: John Borland]
(http://news.com.com/2100-1033-979356.html?tag=fd_lede1_hed)
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