BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2010
Broadband and spectrum on today's agenda (yes, there's still an agenda on the last Friday in July) http://bit.ly/bM5LHd
AGENDA
FCC Agenda for August Meeting
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Broadband Stimulus Funding Preserved
Broadband Technology Opportunities Program Study
FCC, Broadband Providers Hold More Broadband Reclassification Talks
MMTC says minority businesses need ability to pay for better broadband service
The USF Reform Act vs. the National Broadband Plan
Speaker Pelosi Connects Broadband to Restoring Manufacturing
Broadband could be Maine's communication backbone
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Breaking a Promise on Surveillance
Leahy To Hold Hearings On Administration's ECPA Proposal
Russia clamps down on Internet, Google frowns
Agency Chief FOIA Officers Respond to Call for Transparency
New FCC team aims for accessibility
Rupert Murdoch to White House: No free news
JOURNALISM
How information and misinformation can careen through the current media ecosystem
BP, Weingarten Lead news on Blogosphere
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
Broadcast TV Incentive Auction Bill Introduced in House
IPhone 4's parts cost more than Droid Incredible's
Cable TV, cellphone bills are ripe for cutting
OWNERSHIP
FCC Extends Comcast-NBCU Comment Period
Is a la carte back on the menu?
Tribune bankruptcy report fit for limited release, judge says
DIGITAL CONTENT
The Real Cost of Netflix Streaming is the Movie, Not the Bandwidth
Wylie threatens broad digital expansion
Google blames China 'blockage' on miscalculation
PRIVACY
Why Do-Not-Track Isn't The Same As Do-Not-Call
HEALTH
Boeing Stands in way of Medical-Monitoring
Cell phones save lives in Rwandan villages
EDUCATION
Study questions digital divide efforts
TELEVISION/RADIO
DISH Avoids STELA Noncommercial Mandate
Cathy Hughes Strikes Back on Paying Artists for Radio Plays: "Dionne Warwick Is a Lobbyist"
Cable TV, cellphone bills are ripe for cutting
COMMUNITY MEDIA
This headline is presented in partnership with:
Promoting Literacy the Curious George Way
Coffeehouse Stories: Now it's your turn
A Hyperlocal Pioneer's Next Frontier
Journalism Education Undergoes Academic Discipline Makeover
Students bring objects to life
New Hummelstown library is example of changing face of libraries
MORE ONLINE
California legislators should have to wear NASCAR-style logos of bill sponsors
AGENDA
AUGUST MEETING AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
You might have been thinking of sneaking out of town, but there's still more to do next week. The Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, August 5, 2010. The FCC will consider: 1) a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that enables consumers with hearing loss to enjoy the tremendous benefits offered by modern advanced telephone voice communication devices and 2) a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry seeking to remove regulatory barriers to the use of spectrum for wireless backhaul and other point-to-point and point-to-multipoint communications, in order to lower the cost of backhaul services and accelerate investment in broadband networks throughout the nation. Sunscreen optional.
benton.org/node/40116 | Federal Communications Commission
Recommend this Headline
back to top
INTERNET/BROADBAND
BTOP, BIP PRESERVED
[SOURCE: House of Representatives, AUTHOR: ]
On July 27, the House approved -- on a 308-114 vote -- a fiscal year 2010 supplemental appropriations measure (HR 4899), which eliminated previous House amendments that would have rescinded $302 million in funding for the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and $300 million in funding for the Broadband Initiatives Program. The measure already passed by the Senate and now awaits President Barack Obama's signature.
benton.org/node/40090 | House of Representatives
Recommend this Headline
back to top
BTOP EVALUATION
[SOURCE: Federal Business Opportunities, AUTHOR: ]
The federal government is seeking a study of the impact the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant awards are having on broadband availability, adoption, and on economic and social conditions in areas served by the grantees. Such assessment should take into account a number of key factors such as the nature of the funded activity, existing conditions in the service area, as well as other distinctive characteristics relating to each award. The assessment should also inform the Federal government on the return on investment expected from BTOP grant funding, as well as identify factors influencing performance and impact that can be used to inform future efforts, whether funded by the government or the private sector. The objective of this study is a methodologically rigorous evaluation of the economic and social impact of the BTOP grant awards. Bids are due by August 24, 2010
benton.org/node/40085 | Federal Business Opportunities
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MORE ON RECLASSIFICATION TALKS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
On July 27, AT&T Executive Vice President James Cicconi and National Cable and Telecommunications Association CEO Kyle McSlarrow met with Federal Communications Commission Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus and Zachary Katz, deputy chief of the FCC's Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis to discuss a regulatory framework for the Internet; prohibitions against blocking lawful Internet content; standards for preventing harm to consumers or competition; and avenues for addressing complaints regarding Internet openness. The cable and telecommunications industries want to head off an FCC Title II reclassification declaratory ruling -- the FCC would not need to issue a rulemaking -- but have long argued that legislative network neutrality mandates, particularly a too-heavy handed nondiscrimination rule, could prevent them from reasonably managing their networks, discourage investment and actually work against the broadband deployment that is currently the FCC's prime directive.
benton.org/node/40097 | CongressDaily | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MMTC ON NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Minority Media & Telecom Council says minority businesses need to be able to pay for faster and more reliable broadband service. MMTC has written the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of 13 minority business and professional groups asking the Commission not to disallow companies from paying for "quality of service" upgrades that insure performance of services like VoIP and video conferencing over the Internet. Free Press has met with FCC Chief of Staff Ed Lazarus and FCC Commissioner Michael Copps to push the FCC to include a prohibition on so-called paid prioritization. Free Press defines it as when third party content owners "can pay an ISP to "cut to the front of the line" at congested nodes," but also when an ISP favors its own content, which it calls "vertical prioritization." In response, MMTC argues that it is instead a voluntary, private agreement that allows minority businesses to compete with companies like Amazon, MSN, Google and Yahoo who can afford to invest in virtual private networks that can guarantee customers faster and more reliable access to content and apps by bypassing the Internet backbone.
benton.org/node/40098 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TWO VIEWS OF USF REFORM
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
[Commentary] When it comes to Universal Service, there seems to be consensus that today's plan should transition to one focused on broadband Past-focused people have been watching broadband service grow while voice declines. Forward-focused people see all the cool things that could be done if broadband were more widely available. And present-focused people have prioritized all the things on their to-do list, and getting broadband deployed is at the top. But different groups have different ideas about how to reach it. While the National Broadband Plan seems to have been written by people with a heavy future focus, the Universal Service Reform Act, authored by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Lee Terry (R-Nebraska), seems to have been written by people who are primarily past-focused. The strengths and weaknesses of each plan are a direct result of those divergent viewpoints. Future-focused people, like those involved with the NBP, believe in starting any project with the proverbial clean sheet of paper — an approach that often can help bring fresh thinking to a project. The past-focused people who wrote the Universal Service Reform Act didn't need a brainstorming session to know what needs to be done there. With small carriers losing more and more access charge revenues, the act's recommendations include prohibiting any carrier from omitting information from call detail records that another carrier requires in order to bill for terminating the call. The bill recommends that if only one or two wireless carriers are eligible to receive Universal Service support for a particular service area, those carriers should receive support at no more than the level they receive today. Yet wireless carriers today often receive support at a level that does not represent their actual costs of delivering service because it is based largely on the incumbent landline carrier's costs.
benton.org/node/40092 | Connected Planet
Recommend this Headline
back to top
3 RING BINDER
[SOURCE: WCSH, AUTHOR: ]
The actual construction work won't attract a lot of attention, but the project called the "3 Ring Binder" could be one of the most important Mainers have seen in years. Work is expected to begin by fall on construction of 1,100 miles of new, high-capacity, fiber optic communications line through much of Maine. The project is being paid for by a $25 million Federal grant, and seven and a half million in private investment. The goal of the 3 Ring Binder is to provide affordable, high speed Internet service, also known as broadband, to areas and customers not presently served, and those who are under-served. The project was conceived by GWO Internet of Biddeford and the University of Maine, among others. The government funding comes from federal stimulus money targeting broadband access, and several other states, including New Hampshire, have also received large grants. The new fiber optic cable will be what's called "middle mile" service. The cable will not connect directly to customers. Instead, it will connect towns and cities to the large Internet hubs or "nodes" in Portland, where the fastest service comes into the state. Local Internet Service Providers in each community will then be able to connect to the new fiber network so they can sell service to customers. The cable will run through Maine in three large loops, or rings, hence the name, 3 Ring Binder. Some of Maine's telephone companies were opposed to the project at the beginning.
benton.org/node/40105 | WCSH
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
BREAKING A PROMISE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] It is just a technical matter, the Obama administration says: We just need to make a slight change in a law to make clear that we have the right to see the names of anyone's e-mail correspondents and their Web browsing history without the messy complication of asking a judge for permission. It is far more than a technical change. The administration's request is an unnecessary and disappointing step backward toward more intrusive surveillance from a president who promised something very different during the 2008 campaign. Democrats in Congress can remind President Obama of his campaign promises by refusing this request.
benton.org/node/40120 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
LEAHY TO HOLD HEARINGS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Chris Strohm]
On July 29, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said he plans to hold hearings this fall before agreeing to change a law giving the government the power to obtain more information on the electronic communications of US citizens. "Given the technical advances of the last two decades and the need for a comprehensive, national cybersecurity strategy, it is clear that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act must be updated to reflect the realities of the digital age," Chairman Leahy said. "While the government should have the tools that it needs to keep us safe, American citizens should also have protections against improper intrusions into their private electronic communications and online transactions," he added. "We must also address past government abuses of these authorities."
benton.org/node/40119 | CongressDaily | NYTimes
Recommend this Headline
back to top
RUSSIA CLAMPS DOWN ON INTERNET
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Dmitry Solovyov]
A court in Russia's far east has ordered an Internet provider to block five sites which it said disseminated extreme views, prompting Google to say the move restricted access to information. Russian Internet provider Rosnet appealed to overturn the ruling by a district court in Russia's Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, which is the only place the order applies, and which ordered Rosnet to limit access to the five sites that include the YouTube video service owned by Google. Rosnet President Alexander Yermakov told national media that his company had declined to block access to the sites, saying the judge was "incompetent" and that he was determined "to go till the end, till the Constitutional Court." Google, which runs the world's largest search engine, also criticized the court's ruling which ordered Rosnet to block its popular YouTube video site for having posted a film clip which the judge said fomented ethnic hatred.
benton.org/node/40110 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top
FCC'S NEW-MEDIA TEAM
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Gloria Park]
A look at the Federal Communications Commission's new-media team. The team's goal is to comply with President Barack Obama's open government directive, the independent initiative of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, and turn a once notoriously opaque and uncommunicative FCC into a consumer-friendly agency.
In the 12 months since its inception, the new-media team of six specialists has been attempting to present all FCC projects in an accessible, easy-to-digest way. Tweets, podcasts, blogs and crowd-sourcing platforms have been integral to the team's communications efforts. The team has rolled out a series of websites, including Broadband.gov to chronicle the National Broadband Plan, OpenInternet.gov, and Reboot.FCC.gov -- a site for citizens to share ideas on the FCC's reform agenda and website redesign. The "reboot" website also serves as an interim platform until the long-awaited launch of the new FCC website, slated for the end of this year.
benton.org/node/40087 | Politico | Politco
Recommend this Headline
back to top
NO FREE NEWS FOR WHITE HOUSE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Glenn Thrush]
The Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has jacked up the rate it charges the Administration's news clipping service by a jaw-dropping $600,000 per year — and is steering the White House towards a direct deal with News Corp's Factiva aggregation service. It's unclear how News Corp. arrived at the $600,000 figure. But copyright laws would prevent the news-clipping service from widely disseminating Wall Street Journal articles without the parent company''s permission. For the past decade, Democratic and Republican administrations alike have paid a small Virginia-based media company $100,000 or more each year to prepare customized packages of excerpts from print, TV, radio and blog outlets. Bulletin News of Reston performs the labor-intensive searches (which would otherwise require the hiring of government staff) every night starting at 9 p.m., delivering a package of article extracts and Web links to the West Wing by 5 a.m. each morning. The Journal, which sits behind a licensed pay wall, has always been part of the package -- until now. Earlier this month, a Bulletin News executive informed the White House of the fee increase, which appears to have been motivated by Murdoch's business model, not his conservative politics.
benton.org/node/40086 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top
JOURNALISM
HOW INFORMATION TRAVELS
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
At one point during the furor over Shirley Sherrod, the Agriculture Department staffer forced to resign after a video was posted on a conservative website, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the incident was a "teachable moment." The episode may or may not serve to foster a broader national discussion on race. But it did open a window on how information and misinformation can careen through the current media ecosystem. Increasingly, supersonic speed predominates and reaction time shrinks. Online posts come in the middle of the night. Commentary and punditry add velocity to stories even before news reports have sorted them out. Partisan players are increasingly becoming news distributors with ties to cable channels and bloggers who follow them closely. The Sherrod saga began on the morning of July 19 when the conservative website Big Government posted an excerpt of a speech that appeared to show the African-American woman admitting to an NAACP audience she did not do her best to help a white farmer in trouble. The broader backdrop was that the NAACP had recently issued a statement asking the tea party to repudiate the racists in its midst. The proprietor of Big Government, Andrew Breitbart, publicized a video that he said showed that the NAACP itself was racist. Within hours, the video was picked up in the blogosphere, the administration forced Sherrod to resign and it became a cable talk topic (particularly on Fox). The narrative abruptly changed the morning of July 20 when Sherrod told her side of the story. Then the full video showed her using the farmer story as an example of how she moved beyond racial issues to help save his farm. Events moved quickly after that. The NAACP, which initially condemned Sherrod's remarks, declared that it had been fooled by a hoax. On July 21, both Gibbs and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack apologized to Sherrod, who was asked to continue working in the department. And on July 22, Obama spoke to her by phone. Toward the end of the week, the story began morphing into a broader analysis of race in America, the behavior of the media and the apportioning of blame among parties ranging from the Obama administration to the Fox News Channel.
benton.org/node/40106 | Project for Excellence in Journalism
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
INCENTIVE AUCTION BILL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
Reps Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL), the leaders of the House Commerce Communications Subcommittee, introduced a bill, the Voluntary Incentive Auctions Act of 2010, to empower the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct voluntary incentive auctions to free up spectrum for commercial wireless providers. The bill would allow the FCC to conduct the auction and determine what cut broadcasters would get of the proceeds, but would prohibit it "from reclaiming the licenses of broadcast television licensees or any other licensees directly or indirectly on an involuntary basis for the purpose of conducting an incentive auction." Originally one of the most contentious recommendations in the FCC's National Broadband Plan released in March, the possibility of offering incentives to spectrum licensees to relinquish their spectrum has become less controversial in recent weeks. That's after President Barack Obama endorsed the policy in June and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) said such auctions would be acceptable as long as they are truly voluntary. The broadcasters had sought assurances that they would not be forced off the airwaves.
benton.org/node/40108 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable | press release | read the bill | section-by-section overview
Recommend this Headline
back to top
TIPS FOR LOWERING BILLS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Jillian Berman]
"People are in a good position to be able to negotiate some discount for telecommunications," says Anthony Giorgianni, associate finance editor for Consumer Reports Money Adviser. "Every week it seems like they're trying to offer something else. It's a really good place to try to save money." John Walls, vice president for public affairs for CTIA - The Wireless Association, says cellphone companies will often be flexible with consumers, especially in times of financial distress.
Some tips on how to get the best results when negotiating with your cable or cellphone company: Make sure you're always taking advantage of a promotional offer. Call your cable provider when the promotion has expired and ask for an extension of the rate. If the provider won't agree, you may need to switch to another provider that's offering a promotion, Giorgianni says. Review your options before you negotiate, and make sure you understand what's included in the price. "It can be very difficult to compare one cable company to another because they all have different types of programming, particularly on the television side," Giorgianni says. Let them know you're looking at the competition. "These companies are at each other's throats in terms of competition," Giorgianni says, which is why he suggests letting your provider know that you've looked into other offers. Ask for what you've negotiated in writing. Just because you've verbally negotiated a deal doesn't mean your bill will turn out the way you expect, Giorgianni says. He advises consumers to get a line-by-line breakdown of the bill before they agree to anything.
benton.org/node/40115 | USAToday
Recommend this Headline
back to top
OWNERSHIP
COMCAST EXTENSION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission has extended the reply comment period in the review the applications of Comcast Corporation, General Electric Company, and NBC Universal for consent to assign and transfer control of certain FCC licenses. The new deadline for reply comments is August 19, 2010.
benton.org/node/40083 | Federal Communications Commission | B&C
Recommend this Headline
back to top
COMCAST AND A LA CARTE?
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Vince Vittore]
[Commentary] At the Chicago field hearing on the proposed Comcast-NBC merger, James Speta, a professor with the Northwestern University School of Law, noted that it might be difficult to stop the merger from a legal standpoint because most of the fear was based on "what might happen." Much of what Internet service providers and other multichannel providers fear is based on Comcast-NBCU's potential to gouge competitors for content fees, hold back the most desirable content and provide preferential treatment for its own content. Among the multiple restrictions being proposed by opponents of the deal are strong safeguards against Comcast using its massive power over content to harm competitors or forced divestitures of some assets. While not proposed as part of the merger, Vittore predicts that one of the end results of this merger will be a renewed interest in requiring all pay TV providers to offer a la carte programming. Perhaps this comes from the FCC but more likely from the deep-thinking minds in Congress. A la carte programming has been discussed for more than a decade and has been successfully beaten back by programmers every time. But with one of the largest programmers about to be swallowed into a vertically integrated powerhouse, the concept is about to get another hearing. [Vittore is with the Yankee Group]
benton.org/node/40093 | Connected Planet
Recommend this Headline
back to top
DIGITAL CONTENT
NETFLIX SPENDS ON CONTENT, NOT BANDWIDTH
[SOURCE: NewTeeVee, AUTHOR: Ryan Lawler]
Everyone knows that Netflix's future is in streaming, and as a result, the company is investing heavily in titles for its Watch Instantly service. But a closer look at Netflix's financials underscore how the Internet has changed the movie distribution business, and how it is capitalizing on that trend. Netflix is spending more money than ever on streaming video, in part because it costs less to deliver that content online than by mail. According to its 10-K filing, Netflix spent $66 million in the second quarter 2010 to license streaming titles for its Watch Instantly service, compared with just $9 million that was spent in the prior-year period. The acquisition of new and better content has helped drive its subscriber numbers up 42 percent over the past year, with 15 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter, compared with 10.6 million a year earlier. In addition, those subscribers are watching more streaming content than ever, with 61 percent using the service, compared to just 37 percent a year earlier. But despite a huge increase in the amount of video streams it's serving up through Watch Instantly, Netflix's streaming costs haven't increased proportionally. In the second quarter, the company said costs associated with delivery over third-party CDN networks only increased by $1 million versus the previous quarter. Netflix is benefiting from bandwidth costs continuing to fall exponentially as it grows its streaming business.
benton.org/node/40091 | NewTeeVee
Recommend this Headline
back to top
n
WYLIE AND DIGITAL PUBLISHING
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Kenneth Li, John Gapper]
Andrew Wylie, the literary agent whose exclusive deal with Amazon last week stunned the publishing world, has threatened a broad expansion of his digital publishing business to include up to 2,000 titles if traditional publishers refuse to improve digital royalties. Wylie has established a digital publishing company called Odyssey Editions and struck a deal with Amazon, giving the online bookseller exclusive access to 20 classics including John Updike's Rabbit series and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man for a two-year period. Random House, which owns the book rights to many titles on Wylie's list, has suspended dealings with his agency because it contests whether he holds these e-book rights. Wylie said he preferred to negotiate a deal with publishers that combined the print and digital rights, but had failed to reach a satisfactory compromise after nine months of discussions with all large publishing houses.
benton.org/node/40117 | Financial Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOOGLE ADMITS MISCALCULATION
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: David Gelles, Richard Waters, Kathrin Hille]
Google said that its search and advertising services were being blocked in China for first time since its groundbreaking compromise with the Chinese government earlier this month. But Google later attributed the blockage to a miscalculation on its part. "Because of the way we measure accessibility in China, it's possible that our machines could overestimate the level of blockage," Google said in a statement. "That seems to be what happened last night when there was a relatively small blockage. It appears now that users in China are accessing our properties normally."
benton.org/node/40118 | Financial Times | BusinessWeek | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top
PRIVACY
NO-NOT-TRACK AND ADVERTISING
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
The concept of a do-not-track list seems likely to alarm many online ad companies, if for no other reason than because of telemarketers' experience with the do-not-call registry. That list, which has proven hugely popular with consumers, now has 200 million phone numbers. But, while the phrase do-not-track might sound comparable to do-not-call, the concepts really aren't all that similar. People who sign up for the federal do-not-call registry are able to avoid most telemarketing -- including the much-disliked ringing telephone that interrupts dinner with an ad. Do-not-track, on the other hand, wouldn't allow consumers to avoid advertising in the slightest. On the contrary, people would still see as many ads online as ever, but the difference is that ads wouldn't be targeted based on sites visited. So even Web users who dislike online ads might not join a do-not-track list if they decide they would prefer receiving targeted ads to run-of-network ones. Additionally, many consumers already have the ability to place themselves on a do-not-track list of sorts by opting out of behavioral targeting, either through the Network Advertising Initiative's opt-out page, by using the group's browser plug-in, or on a site-by-site basis. While the NAI doesn't include all online ad companies, it counts at least 50 ad networks as members. And even aside from the NAI opt-out page, consumers today can control much behavioral targeting through cookie settings in their browsers. Despite these tools, very few consumers seem to opt out of behavioral targeting.
benton.org/node/40094 | MediaPost
Recommend this Headline
back to top
HEALTH
BOEING AND MEDICAL-MONITORING
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Sophia Yan, Christopher Flavelle]
Technology companies led by General Electric want to revolutionize the nascent medical-monitoring industry by taking to the airwaves. Standing in the way is Boeing. GE's health-care unit has asked the Federal Communications Commission to allow devices that transmit patients' vital signs to share the 2360MHz to 2400MHz range of the electromagnetic spectrum, now used by Chicago-based Boeing to test the safety of planes. It's the only section of the spectrum where remote monitoring would be cost-effective, according to GE Healthcare. Boeing, the largest U.S. aircraft maker, is urging the FCC not to allow new uses of the space. Transmitting medical signals on the spectrum would interfere with flight-test data, causing delays that would cost $50,000 an hour, said Audrey Allison, the company's frequency-management services director. The disputed bandwidth may bring the U.S. as much as $6 billion should the FCC decide to auction it, said Coleman Bazelon, an industry consultant at Brattle Group.
benton.org/node/40109 | Bloomberg
Recommend this Headline
back to top
CELL PHONES IN RWANDA
[SOURCE: CNN, AUTHOR: Lisa Desai]
The Rwandan government is giving out hundreds of cell phones in an attempt to save pregnant women and babies. Nearly 500 volunteer community health care workers in the rural district of Musanze have been given free phones so they can keep track of all the pregnant women in their villages. The cell phones are used to register and monitor expecting mothers. If there are any questions, complications or updates, health workers simply send a text to their local clinic and receive a response within minutes. The cell-phone program, or Rapid SMS scheme, was set up in conjunction with various U.N. organizations to bring the number of maternal deaths down.
benton.org/node/40089 | CNN
Recommend this Headline
back to top
EDUCATION
STUDY QUESTIONS DIGITAL DIVIDE EFFORTS
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Meris Stansbury]
Two researchers at Duke University have published a draft study that raises questions about the academic value of giving students home computers and broadband Internet access. Their study has led to a flurry of media coverage, with some reports trumpeting the study's findings as evidence that efforts to close the digital divide are counterproductive. But is that what their research really says? Jacob Vigdor and Helen Ladd of Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy examined the reading and math test scores of more than 500,000 North Carolina public school students in grades five through eight from 2000-05. It sought to determine if differential access to computer technology at home compounds the educational disparities among students from various socio-economic backgrounds, and whether government provision of computers to middle school students would reduce those disparities. The researchers found that students who had home computers for all five years of the period examined had better test scores overall than students who did not have home computers during this time. But the scores of students who reported getting a computer during this period showed a moderate decline in their first three years of home computer access. This effect was most pronounced for students who received free or reduced-price lunches and/or who were black.
benton.org/node/40096 | eSchool News | read the research
Recommend this Headline
back to top