BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2012
WCIT continues, Spectrum Hearing on the Hill, and FCC Meeting http://benton.org/calendar/2012-12-12/
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Compromise emerges in global talks on Internet oversight
Access Denied - op-ed
Why the battle over Network Neutrality isn’t getting settled anytime soon
Will Appeals Court Overturn “Network Neutrality” Rules?
There Is No Internet Freedom Without Internet and Broadband Competition - op-ed
FCC Announces Availability of Connect America Cost Model - research [links to web]
Price Cap Carriers, Small Cablecos Tussle Over CAF Cost Model
VoIP Changeover Brings Need for New Consumer protections - analysis [links to web]
Amazon will begin collecting taxes in Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick says [links to web]
Libraries can't use stimulus-funded fiber network in West Virginia [links to web]
Google pushing to get more Latino-owned small businesses online [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Sen Lautenberg Calls for More Consideration of Ownership Rules [links to web]
NABOB: FCC Should Delay Ownership Vote [links to web]
FTC to place limits on Google's use of standards patents
FTC expected to settle Google patent case [links to web]
Chairman Issa demands briefing from FTC as decision looms in Google case
Facebook vote results: New policies are in, voting rights are out
Why it’s a good thing that Facebook has given up on democracy - analysis
Tribune Said to Seek Bankers for Newspaper Sale [links to web]
Google CEO Larry Page: Can’t We All Say Kumbaya? [links to web]
A Question that Twitter Needs to Ask Itself - analysis [links to web]
CONTENT
Google: Copyright removal requests spike to 2.5 million per week [links to web]
The State of Intellectual Property Around the World [links to web]
Netflix loves Google Fiber, thinks Uverse is too slow for its own good [links to web]
How Google’s Designers Are Quietly Overhauling Search [links to web]
Google pushing to get more Latino-owned small businesses online [links to web]
CHILDREN & MEDIA
Faced With Privacy Complaint, Mobbles Pulls App
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Reps Eshoo, Issa Tell FCC to Stay the Unlicensed Course
FCC Commissioner Pai Has Issues With Spectrum Auctions
Apple, Samsung, RIM push Congress for more airwaves [links to web]
FCC Announces the Adoption of AWS-4 Order and H Block NPRM - press release
FCC Majority Votes to Approve Dish, H Block Items
Sen McCaskill threatens legislation on airplane electronic device rules [links to web]
Spectrum Conference Recap: Videos and Audio [links to web]
Sprint in Talks to Buy Clearwire [links to web]
The Government Plans An Internet Of Networked Cars [links to web]
TELEVISION
PBS Names Beth Hoppe as Programming Chief [links to web]
Noncom KPBS Finds Good News in News [links to web]
Cable Operators Continue To Lose Video Subscribers [links to web]
For cable, the lines keep blurring [links to web]
HEALTH
Social media a healthcare data gold mine
ECONOMY
Crafting a boom economy
A broadband solution to fiscal crises - op-ed
POLICYMAKERS
President Obama lags Bush, Clinton in nominating second-term Cabinet [links to web]
They may not be home for holidays [links to web]
2012/2013
The Year in Tech, 2012 [links to web]
Twitter releases top trends of 2012 [links to web]
Top TV In 2012 Dominated By Sports [links to web]
What we’ll see in 2013 in digital media - analysis [links to web]
What's next for tech in 2013? - analysis [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Top Jindal aides use personal e-mail to strategize [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU Approves the Creation of Common Patent System for Bloc
Top UK mobile operators apply for 4G
MORE ONLINE
By 2020, there will be 5,200GB of data for every person on Earth [links to web]
Evaluating the Long-Term Impact of Youth Media Programs [links to web]
Silicon Valley Straps on Pads [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
WCIT UPDATE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Matt Smith, Joseph Menn]
Hopes rose on Dec 11 for a compromise agreement that would keep intrusive government regulation of the Internet from being enshrined in a global treaty. The new draft was greeted positively by a broad swath of delegates to the conference and came as a surprise to many who had been frustrated by the deadlock gripping the event over the weekend. A majority of the more than 150 countries represented at the conference had been willing to officially extend the mission of the United Nations agency to the Internet, while the Americans, most Europeans and some other advanced economies wanted to limit the ITU to oversight of international phone calls and other means of communication. The issue is coming to a head now because the ITU is revamping its treaty for the first time since 1988, before the World Wide Web took shape and became an economic, cultural and political force usually free from international oversight. The compromise-in-progress would move most Internet elements from the treaty itself to a separate, U.N.-style "resolution" that is not binding on the countries, delegates said. Among the remaining provisions in the draft is a tentative assertion that countries could choose to "manage the naming, numbering, addressing and identification resources used within their territories for international telecommunications." That could be interpreted as including the right to assign Web addresses, which is currently controlled by ICANN, a United States-based nonprofit under contract to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
benton.org/node/141447 | Reuters
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ACCESS DENIED
[SOURCE: Foreign Policy, AUTHOR: John Arquilla]
[Commentary] There is deep irony in the desire of nations to seek more control over cyberspace. Dictators have abused their existing abilities to restrict access in efforts to chill dissent. Hosni Mubarak shut down the Internet in just such an attempt. But he failed, because the Egyptian masses had been using cyberspace to share their anger and gather their courage for many months before the regime struck at the Net. Indeed, the shutdown was the signal to the people that it was time to go to Tahrir Square. Bashar al-Assad seems to have tried something similar over a week ago, when the Net went down briefly in Syria. He too will fail. In the end, UN efforts to control cyberspace, aided and abetted by all too many nations, will fail as well. The virtual world is a vast wilderness - artificial, but beautiful and complex, and growing in size and direction in ways that almost surely lie beyond the ability of governments to control. The sooner this is realized, the better. It will save the world from a costly global struggle between balky nations and nimble insurgent networks. There are better things for the United Nations to focus on if it wishes to play a productive role in the information age. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, whose video address at the opening of the Dubai conference spoke of a desire to foster openness and Internet freedom, should act on his own words and reject the role of regulator. Instead, he should lead his organization as a negotiator, fostering behavior-based forms of cyber arms control -- as there is still time to head off an age of "mass disruptive" cyberwars.
[Arquilla is professor of defense analysis at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School]
benton.org/node/141358 | Foreign Policy
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BATTLE OVER NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: David Meyer]
The most pressing issue at the ITU’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) is not the frequently misreported ‘plot’ to take over the Internet. No, the really dangerous proposal, coming from the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO), covers the banning of network neutrality around the world. Thankfully others, such as the European Parliament, have different ideas on the matter. With perfect timing, on December 11 the EP passed two resolutions – one on the ‘digital single market’ and the other on a ‘digital freedom strategy in EU foreign policy’ – that both backed network neutrality. The first of those two even called for new European legislation to protect the concept. But that’s the European Parliament, which had already voted in favor of network neutrality just over a year ago. For those unfamiliar with the EU legislative process, the EP does not propose legislation: that’s the role of the unelected European Commission.
benton.org/node/141369 | GigaOm
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WILL COURT OVERTURN FCC?
[SOURCE: , AUTHOR: Gary Kim]
A US Court of Appeals finally will hear a Verizon challenge to Federal Communications Commission network neutrality rules. How the court rules could lead to big changes for the broadband access business. Specifically, if the court sustains the network neutrality rules, it is possible the “best effort only” rules that now apply to fixed access providers likely will be extended to mobile service providers as well. It is conceivable that new rules could be considered that extend FCC rules over terms and conditions of service, including such items as prices or data caps. The case, which is before the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is Verizon’s challenge to the FCC’s controversial network neutrality rules. There is much at stake. If the Appeals Court overturns the network neutrality rules, fixed and mobile network high-speed access services with quality of service features could be created and sold, either directly to consumers or to third party application providers. On the contrary, if the rules are sustained, some think the rules will be extended to mobile networks that arguably need quality of service mechanisms to maintain end user experience. Up to this point, the legality of the network neutrality rules as applied to mobile service providers has been unclear, as the FCC has said it has the authority to apply net neutrality rules, but simply has avoided doing so.
benton.org/node/141370 |
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INTERNET FREEDOM, INTERNET COMPETITION
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Bruce Kushnick]
[Commentary] The unknown history of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in America is an ugly tale of government intervention, not free market enterprise. Most reporters and pundits today call AT&T, Verizon and Comcast et al "Internet Service Providers". They are not. AT&T and Verizon (and Centurylink) are the incumbent telecommunications utilities that have taken control of the wires as have the cable companies. In fact, they were able to get the government to protect their businesses to keep monopoly controls over the wires. In most of America, customers are stuck with one or two wired providers. Customers have more choices in deodorant or toothpaste than they do of Internet or broadband providers as the incumbent wires are controlled by the cable or phone company. And with AT&T and Verizon having announced they are not going to upgrade most of their territories, or worse, that they plan to abandon whole areas of their wired customers, it's more like an Internet prison for customers. And now, with the new threats by AT&T, working with the American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, to close down the entire telecommunications networks and obligations on both a state as well as federal level, it is time to stop these movements and start by bringing America real "Internet freedom", not simply freedom for the companies from regulation.
benton.org/node/141366 | Huffington Post, The
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ARGUING OVER CONNECT AMERICA FUND
[SOURCE: Telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
The nation’s largest price cap carriers and the American Cable Association have been waging a war of words over the cost model that the price cap carriers proposed for phase 2 of the Connect America Fund, the broadband Universal Service program. Several of the nation’s largest price cap carriers have been working together for a couple of years now as the ABC Coalition, a coalition formed specifically to enable those carriers to develop consensus about Universal Service reform and to speak with a common voice on those reforms. (Initial members included AT&T, CenturyLink, FairPoint, Frontier, Verizon, and Windstream.) At issue is the cost model that will be used to determine the level of support that price cap carriers will be offered to help cover the costs of bringing broadband to areas of their service territories that are costly to serve and that cannot get broadband today. The price cap carriers submitted a cost model which has come under attack by the ACA, which argues that the model would direct more money than merited to the price cap carriers.
benton.org/node/141355 | telecompetitor
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OWNERSHIP
GOOGLE’S USE OF STANDARDS PATENTS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Joe Mullin]
Federal antitrust enforcers have been looking into Google this year on two issues: how the company arranges its search results, and its use of standards-based patents as ammunition in the sprawling smartphone wars. Just two months ago, it looked like there was going to be action before the end of the year on the search fairness issue. Today, the ground has shifted. It looks like the Federal Trade Commission has almost reached a deal with Google over the patent issue, and the FTC may leave action over search results to European regulators, according to a report in Politico. The big question is whether Google will be able to use such patents to get an injunction that could kick competitors' products off the market. In a case involving Google-owned Motorola, a federal judge has already ruled standards-based patents—which involve a promise to license on a "reasonable" basis—can't be used to win injunctions. Other bodies, including the International Trade Commission, are also considering how to deal with standards-based patents.
benton.org/node/141375 | Ars Technica
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ISSA DEMANDS BRIEFING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is concerned that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will try to step beyond its legal power to regulate anti-competitive business practices. In a letter sent to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Chairman Issa demanded a staff briefing by Dec. 21 to discuss how the FTC views its power under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Issa encouraged the FTC to issue guidelines detailing how it views its authority under Section 5. "Such guidelines would provide the regulated community the certainty it needs when contemplating business practices," he wrote. Chairman Issa expressed concern that the "Commission appears to be putting its ambitions ahead of a responsible and measured use of its Section 5 authority." He argued that the FTC should not search for a case to test the limits of its legal power. He wrote that the agency should take action only if there is a clear violation of the law — not to further bureaucratic goals. He also criticized the agency for leaking details of the Google investigation to the press, saying disclosures of sensitive information are "counterproductive to the investigative process and should be stopped."
benton.org/node/141377 | Hill, The
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FACEBOOK VOTE RESULTS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jessica Guynn]
Facebook has made it official: Its users will no longer get a vote in how the giant social network handles their personal information. And the votes that they did cast over the past week rejecting Facebook's proposed changes to privacy policies will not count. Facebook said it has already adopted the policy changes. An external auditor reviewed and confirmed the final results, Facebook said. Nearly 669,000 Facebook users voted, most of them opposed to the policy changes, including taking away their right to vote on policy changes. Yet that was less than 1% of the 1 billion Facebook users around the globe, and Facebook requires 30% of users to cast ballots for the vote to be binding. That means 300 million users would have had to vote.
benton.org/node/141416 | Los Angeles Times
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FACEBOOK GIVES UP ON DEMOCRACY
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Mathew Ingram]
[Commentary] Is the removal of the right to vote a crushing blow for online democracy? Hardly, because there isn’t any democratic right inherent in using Facebook, and there never has been — and you could argue that encouraging people to believe they have democratic rights when they actually don’t is the kind of approach that totalitarian states use, and is probably more dangerous in the long term than admitting that your vote doesn’t matter. If it makes you as a Facebook user feel any better, it’s not just your vote that doesn’t count: as a result of the way that co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg controls the board of directors of the company through voting proxies and a number of other perfectly legal methods, the votes of the majority of Facebook shareholders don’t really count either. The social network has what’s called a dual-voting share structure — meaning some shares have 10 times as many votes attached to them as the regular class — and Zuckerberg controls a majority of the super-voting shares (other tech companies such as Google also use this structure). And since he also controls the board, his word is effectively law.
benton.org/node/141415 | GigaOm
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CHILDREN & MEDIA
MOBBLES PULLS APP
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
Mobbles pre-emptively took its mobile app for kids temporarily offline learning that a privacy group would be filing a complaint against it with the Federal Trade Commission. Alex Curtelin, the co-founder and CEO, chalked it up to poor communication about how it communicated its privacy policies. "We don't store any sensitive information," Curtelin told Adweek. "We only use nickname and email of users to operate the app. Articles are implying that we are collecting a bunch of information. We are being careful not to collect information. There is no advertising, so we don't share any data with any commercial entity," he said. Mobbles said the company is open to speaking with the FTC to make sure it is complying with all the rules. "The mobile area is moving fast and it's hard to know exactly what the rules are. We're trying our best to communicate more clearly," Cutelin said. The new Mobbles version with an improved privacy disclaimer will be available on the Android system in the next day or so, but the Apple version could take much longer, Curtelin said.
benton.org/node/141379 | AdWeek
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
STAY THE UNLICENSED COURSE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A pair of House members, representing high-tech constituents, has urged the Federal Communications Commission to stay the course when it comes to freeing up more unlicensed spectrum via the incentive spectrum auctions. That came in a letter from Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee, and Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA) to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. In the letter they point out that the legislation implementing the auctions also included "enhanced access" to unlicensed spectrum. "[T]he commission should implement the incentive auction and resulting reorganization of the band in a manner that optimizes the value of both licensed and unlicensed spectrum access," they wrote, saying they support the FCC's Sept. 28 incentive auction framework proposal of using guard bands between spectrum users for unlicensed devices. They also cited several examples of the public benefits of unlicensed, including progress in opening the so-called "white spaces" between current TV channels the FCC has opened up to unlicensed use.
benton.org/node/141402 | Broadcasting&Cable
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ISSUES WITH SPECTRUM AUCTIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai has a number of problems with the FCC's incentive auction framework, which he plans to share with the House Communications Subcommittee. According to his prepared testimony, Commissioner Pai will tell them that he is concerned about the proposal that the only condition for closing the auction is that it cover the costs of reverse auction -- paying and moving broadcasters. That, he says, is like ending an auction after the reserve price is met. If the FCC only covered the cost, it would not have any money for a first responder network, public safety research or deficit reduction. "The Spectrum Act mentions each of these items, which makes it difficult to square that legislation with an auction that would provide no funding for them," he says. Commissioner Pai is also concerned about possible limits on who could bid, which could also affect the proceeds and success of the auction.
benton.org/node/141400 | Broadcasting&Cable
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FCC ANNOUNCES ADOPTION OF AWS-4 ORDER
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission took two actions significantly advancing the President’s goal of freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum for broadband by 2020. The FCC unanimously approved freeing up 40 MHz of underutilized satellite spectrum for land-based mobile broadband, including 4G LTE. The FCC removed regulatory barriers that limited this spectrum to satellite use. Carefully balanced technical requirements will unlock tremendous value in both the AWS-4 band and the 10 MHz H Block, which Congress directed the FCC to auction. The FCC also unanimously approved a proposal setting the stage for an auction of the H Block in 2013. Proceeds from this auction will help fund a nationwide Public Safety Network for first responders and reduce the deficit.
benton.org/node/141446 | Federal Communications Commission | WSJ
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DISH ITEM WINS APPROVAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
According to multiple sources, a majority of Federal Communications Commission commissioners have voted to approve the items allowing Dish to use its satellite spectrum for terrestrial wireless broadband and opening up adjacent spectrum (the H block )for wireless use as well. The item had been scheduled for a vote at the Dec. 12 public meeting, but will be pulled if all the commissioners vote it before then, as is likely. The item was actually circulated for a vote several weeks ago, but then added to the public meeting list. There has been some complaint that the vote was being taken out of the public eye. The item is also apparently still being vetted for any technical issues with adjacent government spectrum per a standard interagency review process, though there are not expected to be any issues.
benton.org/node/141373 | Broadcasting&Cable
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HEALTH
SOCIAL MEDIA AND HEALTHCARE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: April Dembosky]
Bill Schmarzo envisions a future where holiday photos posted on Facebook become a gauge of a person’s weight loss or gain over time. The chief technology officer for EMC’s consultant services acknowledges that privacy advocates are unlikely to allow his fantasy to become reality, but the technology that can measure minute body changes in photographs and feed it into someone’s electronic health record already exists. “The scary thing is if that data could be used to deny care and insurability,” Schmarzo says. Healthcare companies are loathe to tread into such sensitive territory, but they are keenly aware of the gold mine of health data stored in people’s social media accounts.
benton.org/node/141441 | Financial Times
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ECONOMY
CREATING A BOOM ECONOMY
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen]
Most politicians in the most powerful positions in Washington agree in private that there are a half-dozen or so big things they could and should do that could put a rocket booster on the U.S. economy — but they are too timid to say it in public. The current tax-and-spending debate only flirts with what these insiders say needs to be done. Instead, top White House and congressional leaders talk privately of the need for tax reform that goes way beyond individuals and rates; much deeper Social Security and Medicare changes than currently envisioned; quick movement on trade agreements, including a proposed one with Europe; an energy policy that exploits the oil and gas boom; and allowing foreign-born students with science expertise to stay here and start businesses. Do this and there could be not an economic recovery — but a boom, many argue. “Both Democrats and Republicans privately agree,” Warren Buffett told us. “They just don’t want to be the first to speak out on their side.” Erskine Bowles, a Democrat who meets regularly with officials at the White House and in Congress, said lawmakers often plead to him: “Save us from ourselves.”
benton.org/node/141398 | Politico
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BROADBAND AND FISCAL CRISES
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Reed Hundt, Blair Levin]
[Commentary] After Congress and the White House close the gap between the Democratic and Republican approaches to the “fiscal cliff”, there is another gap that they need to bridge: the gap between how the worlds of technology and government approach the future. The opportunities for top-line, technologically driven growth – funded primarily by the private sector -- are huge. According to Forbes Magazine, the $3.9 trillion education market -- $1.3 trillion in the United States alone -- is about to be radically transformed by a new breed of venture-backed disruptors. Almost half of the education venture deals in the last decade have closed in the last two years. Investments in digital healthcare start-ups in 2012 are up 73% from last year. Healthcare start-ups exceeded all other sectors, including software, as the largest recipient of angel investments. Our carriers have raced to deploy high-speed mobile and fixed broadband networks. On these new platforms, e-education, e-health ventures and all manner of e-services based on government data can proliferate. The principal role of government in driving this growth is to remove obstacles to for-profit investment. [Reed Hundt was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997. Blair Levin oversaw the creation of the National Broadband Plan and is now a fellow at the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program.]
benton.org/node/141352 | ComputerWorld
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU PATENT SYSTEM
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Alessandro Torello]
The European Union sealed an agreement for the creation of a single patent system across 25 countries, bringing to an end decades of argument. The measure aims to boost competitiveness and innovation as it reduces red tape for inventors and brings patent costs in line with other economies like the U.S. and Japan. The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in Strasbourg in favor of the new rules Tuesday, after governments backed the same rules Monday. The new patent should come into force in 2014, and a new unified patent court will be set up in Paris with some specialist services located in London and Munich. It will mean an inventor can file a single application with the European Patent Office with no need to validate it one by one in each country, a process that involves complex validation requirements and stacks up huge translation costs.
benton.org/node/141434 | Wall Street Journal
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4G APPLICATIONS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
At least five applications have been made to take part in the mobile spectrum auction that will allow 4G services in the UK. The UK’s four mobile operators – O2, Vodafone, EE and Three – submitted applications along with an initial deposit of £100,000. The groups are keen to acquire the lower frequency 800MHz band that can be used to broadcast fast 4G mobile services such as data-heavy video and gaming on the move. BT has also expressed initial interest, although only at the higher, and likely much cheaper, 2.6 GHz frequency that can be used to provide capacity needed to deliver faster speeds for voice and data users in local areas. Both bands are being packaged into smaller lots so that they can be acquired by multiple operators. The window for applying shut at 4pm on Dec 11.
benton.org/node/141432 | Financial Times
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