BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2010
Following the National Broadband Plan? See all the coverage we've found at http://bit.ly/mnA3b
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
The NBP and ISP competition: this fight's just beginning
National Broadband Plan Doesn't Address Downside Of Competition
Rep. Stearns: never mind about those previous concerns with the broadband plan, I've got some others
FCC's plan for broadband Internet access falls short
Sides line up as FCC looks to re-allocate valuable spectrum
See also: Broadcasters face spectrum battle
Free Data
FCC Seeks Comment on Free Press Data Request
US eyes early summer for airwaves auction process
See also: FCC Details Broadband Plan For Public Safety
Broadband plan aims to improve HIT infrastructure
See also: ONC to survey consumers on privacy, Health Information Exchange
Inmarsat CEO Sukawaty to FCC: Where's the love for satellite?
Wireless Broadband Indicator Methodology
BROADBAND FUNDING
BTOP grants for New York and California
RUS Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Boucher Still Working Toward Network Neutrality Legislation
How Ambassador Phil Verveer Undermines His Boss and Her Boss on Network Neutrality
A Wrong-Headed Right-Wing Take on Broadband and Network Neutrality
TELEVISION
FCC Seeks Comment on Retransmission Rules
Malone Sees Pay-TV Industry Consolidation as Fee Disputes Mount
Broadcast TV Revenues Showing Signs of Improvement
Bernstein: Broadcasters Once Again Have a License To Print Money
The REAL Reason NBC, FOX, And ABC Execs Want To Kill Hulu
More Internet TV Viewers Erode Traditional Media
Mabuhay Alliance first group to file petition to deny Comcast-NBC Universal Deal
Fallout Could Impact Political Ad Ruling
Did This Commercial Step Over the Line? [Video]
Public Telecommunications Facilities Program: New Closing Date
WIRELESS
Wireless Carriers Bicker Over Size Of Spectrum Holdings
Televisa grabs spectrum
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Agencies must be the engines behind sustained transparency push
While feds avoid social media, their agencies log on
To Make Sense of the State Department's Opinion Space, Think Robots. Yes, Robots.
MORE ONLINE
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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
BROADBAND PLAN AND COMPETITION
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
[Commentary] For a plan that puts "competition" as its number one goal, the National Broadband Plan is remarkably light on policies that will produce much of it in the wireline space. Talk of competition is everywhere, but all suggestions are remarkably general or terribly banal: "more data collection" and "future policy reviews" are everywhere. Suggestions about how such reviews should turn out is lacking. But the reviews will still be held, and at some point the consensus-building NBP will devolve into ugly battles of wholesale access, special access (middle-mile connections), and ISP disclosure. The FCC commissioners know it, and they're already gearing up for the fights ahead. The NBP reminds us that, within a few years, cable will be the only high-speed choice for most Americans unless the telcos start investing in fiber to replace their aging copper networks. Even now, in a well-off Chicago suburb, Anderson has a single ISP choice if he want anything over 6Mbps. Promoting competition might not require a return to line-sharing mandates -- but it certainly requires something.
benton.org/node/33547 | Ars Technica
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DOWNSIDE OF COMPETITION
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] The National Broadband Plan includes an assumption that competition is a good thing, that having multiple facilities-based competitors unencumbered by government regulation will create a healthy broadband marketplace. But there's a downside to unfettered, market-driven competition: a concentration of limited resources for deployment in markets where competition exists. And we often see that incumbent operators only upgrade to next-gen networks when competition forces their hand to do so. While some might see this as an example of a healthy market in action, the flip side to this is that by letting the market work on its own we're creating islands of super connectivity while the majority of the country is left without.
benton.org/node/33546 | App-Rising.com
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REP STEARNS AND THE BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Rep Cliff Stearns (R-FL), one of the first lawmakers to criticize the Federal Communications Commission's national broadband plan, is now retreating from some of his initial comments. He fired off a statement right after the plan's release, calling net-neutrality and reclassification of broadband service provisions "stalking horse" items that would kill off investments. But in a C-Span interview to air later this week, Rep Stearns noted that the agency didn't include those controversial items in its plan. "I have to be honest with you, there's nothing in this national broadband plan talking about that, which is good news, so I'm sort of relieved," Rep Stearns said in an interview with C-Span host Peter Slen of The Communicators'program. Still, Stearns said he wants to know how much it cost the FCC to create the broadband plan, which was developed by executive director Blair Levin and dozens of staff members over the past several months.
benton.org/node/33545 | Washington Post | The Hill
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FCC PLAN FALLS SHORT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Rob Pegoraro]
[Commentary] The National Broadband Plan aims to speed up and expand broadband access, which are both big problems: 35 percent of adult Americans lack high-speed Internet access at home, and those who do connect at slower speeds than residents of other countries. But this set of blueprints doesn't represent much of a change from the existing market for high-speed Internet access. The plan relies on a rearrangement of the airwaves, a reshuffling of existing subsidies and tweaks to current regulations. If those measures work as planned, we should have more choices for wireless broadband. But wireless carriers may not charge any less and could exert the same control over which devices we can run on their networks. For faster connections, most of us will continue to be stuck with the same two wireline providers: the phone company and the cable company. Which, in turn, means that the cost of connectivity -- what the FCC's own research identified as the biggest factor holding back broadband -- isn't likely to get much lighter.
benton.org/node/33544 | Washington Post
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SIDES LINE UP IN SPECTRUM BATTLE
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
[Commentary] A crucial side-battle in this week's release of the National Broadband Plan - and likely a long, drawn out one at that - is the tussle over whether existing spectrum currently allocated to TV broadcasters should be dedicated to broadband services. The biggest problem with broadcast spectrum is its owners don't value it very highly. Obviously they like having it, otherwise they wouldn't fight tooth and nail to keep it. But because their licenses cost little or nothing, they have little incentive to make the most efficient use of it. If they had to pay $1 billion for a license in NYC, I bet they find a way to pack as much content into the spectrum as possible. And if they couldn't find a use for it, they'd sell it to someone who could. So why not hold a spectrum auction that both wireless operators and broadcasters can both participate in? If broadcasters really need that TV spectrum for future channels and services, then let them speak with their wallets. If the programming they provide is more important and more profitable than mobile broadband then the market will show us the way, right?
benton.org/node/33543 | Connected Planet
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FREE DATA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: John Horrigan]
The Federal Communications Commission is releasing the raw data files that were the basis for the "Broadband Adoption and Use in America" working paper. The Broadband Data Improvement Act directed the Commission to "conduct and make public periodic surveys of consumers" as part of the FCC's efforts to understand who uses broadband, who does not, and, if not, why people do not subscribe. The FCC released the results of the survey on February 23rd, and today it makes available to the public the underlying data for the survey.
benton.org/node/33541 | Federal Communications Commission | here's the data | survey results
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FREE PRESS DATA REQUEST
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
Free Press on February 22, 2010, filed a request to "review data collected by the Federal Communications Commission in connection with its periodic inquiry into the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans." In particular, it requests that "the public be granted the opportunity to examine and analyze the data collected by the FCC on Form 477." Free Press states that its request is "limited to the data reflecting subscribership as of December 31, 2008." Free Press further states that it "understand[s] that some of the companies that provided this information may believe their submissions are competitively sensitive," and therefore requests "a protective order and ask[s] that the Commission institute appropriate procedures for the public to review the Form 477 data." Free Press asserts that grant of its requests will allow it "to conduct a more comprehensive analysis of subscribership to high-speed Internet access services" that will "assist the Commission in making well-informed, data-driven policy choices." Interested parties may file comments on or before April 19, 2010, and reply comments on or before May 4, 2010.
benton.org/node/33540 | Federal Communications Commission | Washington Post
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D BLOCK SPECTRUM AUCTION
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: John Poirier]
The Federal Communications Commission plans to begin a process in a few months aimed at auctioning airwaves that failed to garner enough interest during the 2008 spectrum auction. The segment, called the D-block, is part of the 700 megahertz band of the airwaves that raised about $19 billion for the U.S. government when other blocks were sold to carriers in 2008. But the D-Block did not sell because carriers did not like some of the conditions for use. Companies are waiting for the FCC to issue the terms and conditions, if any, to be attached to the auction for use of the D block airwaves. Jamie Barnett, chief of the FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau, told Reuters on Friday, after speaking to state and local emergency officials who want the D block for public safety use, that the FCC could issue a notice of inquiry "early summer" but a final decision has not been made. The auction, which is planned for commercial purposes, could take place in the first or second quarter of 2011, he said.
benton.org/node/33539 | Reuters
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BROADBAND AND PUBLIC SAFETY
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Montalbano]
The Federal Communications Commission is promoting how its National Broadband Plan could enhance public-safety activities with a new Web page on the agency's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau site. The agency launched the page this week, as the FCC convened a panel to create a nationwide interoperable public safety wireless broadband network, a plan that many believe will take years to come to fruition. A national broadband service is particularly important to public safety, as it can "provide enhanced situational awareness from first responders in emergency situations," according to the FCC.
benton.org/node/33538 | InformationWeek | Broadband, Public Safety and Homeland Security
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BROADBAND AND HEALTH
[SOURCE: ModernHealthcare.com, AUTHOR: Shawn Rhea]
The Federal Communications Commission has laid out an ambitious 10-year plan for drastically improving broadband connectivity and usage that, among other goals, aims to improve healthcare delivery, patient outcomes and control medical costs nationwide. In a chapter dedicated to healthcare information technology infrastructure and usage, the National Broadband Plan offered 11 recommendations for how the government could incentivize healthcare providers' use of e-care technology, which FCC officials estimated would save the country $700 billion over the next 20 years. The recommendations include reimbursement incentives that pay providers for adoption and use of e-care services, such as remote diabetes monitoring and mobile medical applications, that are proven to improve patient outcomes and save money. The agency also proposes setting up a dedicated healthcare broadband access fund that would help providers pay for broadband services in areas where connectivity is more expensive because of a dearth of available service providers. Mohit Kaushal, the FCC's director of connected health, said the recommendations are based on recent FCC research findings. "Unfortunately, there are really no data out there around connectivity for healthcare providers, so we had to do a lot of research" to determine what services are available to hospitals and physicians, Kaushal said. "The biggest problem that it highlighted is the severity of costs. Some physician offices are going to have to pay more for broadband service than physicians in other areas."
benton.org/node/33537 | ModernHealthcare.com
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NO SATELLITE IN BROADBAND PLAN(S)?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Inmarsat CEO Andrew Sukawaty questions if the Federal Communications Commission is seriously considering satellite as a viable solution to America's broadband needs. His satellite service customers include broadband providers in the U.S. that bring high-speed Internet connections to hard-to-reach areas through satellite feeds. Inmarsat's main business comes from military and governments and businesses (oil rigs, construction sites, etc.) that can't tap into fiber optic, cable connections or wireless cell services. He doesn't see much that includes satellite as part of the nation's future broadband plans.
benton.org/node/33536 | Washington Post
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WIRELESS BROADBAND INDICATOR METHODOLOGY
[SOURCE: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, AUTHOR: ]
The wireless broadband methodology is the result of several rounds of contributions from, and in-depth discussions among, member countries. The new indicator will assist in informing policy makers and other stakeholders in this increasingly important market segment. The OECD began collecting and reporting broadband data in 2000 as a way to capture and record significant changes in OECD markets for Internet access. The OECD set the minimum threshold for broadband at a download speed of 256 kbit/s at the time, primarily to exclude ISDN technologies at 144 kbit/s and to include the majority of commercial offers then available via other technologies. Wireless broadband technologies (such as fixed wireless and satellite) have always been included in the historical OECD broadband subscriber statistics, although they have only accounted for a small percentage of total connections. Less than 2% of all reported broadband subscriptions were wireless (fixed and satellite) in June 2008. Mobile network subscriptions (with data services) were not included by the OECD or the ITU in broadband statistics due to their slower speeds and difficulties determining actual use. There have been significant advances in wireless and wired broadband since the OECD first started reporting the number of broadband subscriptions. It is important for the OECD to have an indicator which measures the development of wireless broadband connections across countries. The indicator methodology formulated in February 2009 at an OECD expert meeting in Lisbon and revised based on comments from OECD delegations appears to be robust and sufficiently forward looking. The Secretariat will also continue working with international organizations such as the ITU and regional bodies such as the EU to harmonize methodologies and reduce the burden on regulatory and statistical agencies.
benton.org/node/33535 | Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
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BROADBAND FUNDING
BTOP GRANTS FOR NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced two American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments to help bridge the technological divide, improve education, and increase economic opportunities for low-income families in New York, New York and Los Angeles, California. The grants, totaling more than $29 million, will fund computer training and provide more than 30,000 computers to middle school students and their families in high-need schools, enabling them to make use of key educational, employment, and health resources online.
In New York, the NYC Connected Learning project plans to provide computer training, desktop computers, educational software, and free broadband access for one year to more than 18,000 low-income sixth graders and their families in 100 high-need public middle schools in New York City. The not-for-profit organization Computers for Youth will conduct computer training for parents and students in English, Spanish, and other languages to enhance digital literacy and increase the relevance of broadband to people's everyday lives. As a result of this project, more than 12,000 households are expected to subscribe to broadband beyond the free year-long subscription period.
In California, Computers for Youth will partner with the Los Angeles Unified School District to increase broadband technology awareness, help students succeed academically, and increase family involvement in their children's education through computer and Internet tools. The project will provide 15,000 sixth-grade students and their families with computer training, after which they will receive a refurbished computer with educational software. Nearly 8,000 households are anticipated to become new broadband subscribers as a result of this project.
benton.org/node/33534 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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RUS GRANTS
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture]
The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces its Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program application window for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. Applications will be received through May 18, 2010. In addition RUS announces the anticipated amount of funding available, the minimum and maximum amounts for DLT grants applicable for the fiscal year, and a change in scoring necessitated by the expiration of the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) designations. RUS also notes that libraries are eligible to be recipients of DLT Loans and Grants.
benton.org/node/33533 | Department of Agriculture
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
NETWORK NEUTRALITY BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) said Thursday that he continues to work toward network neutrality legislation and remains solidly behind a free and open Internet, but does not think network neutrality should be part of the national broadband plan. The Federal Communications Commission did not make network neutrality proposals part of the plan. But as a practical matter it didn't have to. The FCC is already proposing to expand and codify its network openness principles in a separate proceeding and a majority of commissioners have backed it. Commissioner Robert McDowell used part of his statement on the plan this week to reiterate his serious concerns about the proposal. But if it is adopted, it becomes part of the FCC's oversight of the Internet, and thus by default part and parcel of the plan, which will include numerous similar notices of proposed rulemakings on elements of a national broadband strategy. On the legislative proposal, Chairman Boucher said he was "talking to the broadband providers, we're talking to the companies that rely on the Internet as a means of transporting their product to their customers, and we're working toward a set of understandings that hopefully we can embody in statute in the not-to-distant future."
benton.org/node/33532 | Broadcasting&Cable
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AMBASSADOR PHIL VERVEER ON NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] Want to know why the Obama Administration can't seem to get its "messaging" together? Consider the recent case of The Hon. Phil Verveer, who managed to echo a set of Republican attack bullets at an event at the Media Institute, a think tank funded by big media conglomerates to lobby for a Citizens United view of the First Amendment. In the question and answer session, Verveer managed stray from the original topic of his speech and drop some casual remarks that undermined not just Secretary Clinton's Internet freedom agenda, but President Obama's domestic broadband agenda generally. To make matters worse, Verveer's comments came one day after the crowning achievement of the Obama Administration on broadband to date: the release of the a National Broadband Plan spelling out how we can leverage modern technology to create jobs, make government more efficient, and improve the quality of life for all Americans. How did a man as experienced and professional as Verveer manage to get so off message at precisely the wrong time? Apparently through carelessness.
benton.org/node/33531 | Huffington Post, The
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A WRONG-HEADED RIGHT-WING TAKE ON BROADBAND
[SOURCE: DailyFiance, AUTHOR: Sam Gustin]
[Commentary] Faster Internet service for more people -- who would have thought that would be such an evil thing? The Obama administration's National Broadband Plan has been public for only a few days, and it's already under fire from predictable quarters. Front and center is Mar. 15's Wall Street Journal op-ed by George Gilder, the well-known techno-gadfly supply-sider who co-founded the Discovery Institute, a conservative think tank. He blasts the broadband plan in the article and disparages network neutrality -- the idea that Internet providers shouldn't discriminate against rival content. Characterizing Gilder's argument, his fellow Discovery co-founder Bruce Chapman writes approvingly: "Net neutrality is Orwellian. It is further evidence of America's careening drive into a planned economy -- and stagnation." This alarmist view is reminiscent of popular TV host Glenn Beck, who last fall described net neutrality as a "Marxist" plot by the Obama administration to take over the Internet. Sounds scary. But in truth, Net neutrality is really simple: You like YouTube? Net neutrality means that -- like now -- no Internet provider will be able to block you from getting it in favor of its own video programming.
benton.org/node/33530 | DailyFiance
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TELEVISION
FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON A PETITION FOR RULEMAKING TO AMEND THE COMMISSION'S RULES GOVERNING RETRANSMISSION CONSENT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
Fourteen entities filed a petition for rulemaking on March 9, 2010 requesting that the Federal Communications Commission amend and supplement its retransmission consent rules. The petition argues that the FCC's current retransmission consent rules do not account for changes in the video programming distribution market, and it proposes reforms including dispute resolution mechanisms and mandatory interim carriage. The FCC is now inviting public comment on this petition. Comments are due April 19, 2010 and Reply Comments are due May 4, 2010. [MB Docket No. 10-71 Contact: Diana Sokolow at (202) 418-0588.]
benton.org/node/33529 | Federal Communications Commission | B&C | Reuters | MediaWeek | TVNewsCheck | Bloomberg
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MALONE EXPECTS MORE CONSOLIDATION
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Kelly Riddell]
Media billionaire John Malone said fee disputes between U.S. broadcasters and cable-television operators will force companies to combine to gain negotiating clout. "The biggest distributors have some leverage in that negotiation because they can do damage," Malone, 69, said yesterday in an interview. "The smaller distributors are going to be pretty powerless to protect themselves from getting creamed, so it's going to lead to more consolidation." Cablevision could gain scale by merging with Time Warner Cable, bolstering its influence, said David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. "If the Comcast-NBC deal can get done without the FCC or DOJ neutering any of the positives in that combination, then there's any host of other media merger combinations that could make sense," said Joyce. Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., the biggest U.S. cable operator, agreed to take over broadcast and film company NBC Universal last year.
benton.org/node/33526 | Bloomberg
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BROADCAST TV REVENUES SHOWING SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT
[SOURCE: Television Bureau of Advertising, AUTHOR: ]
Broadcast television's fortunes began to turn around in the fourth quarter of 2009 and evidence is mounting that the first quarter of 2010 will show positive growth, according to the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) in conjunction with its release of 2009 estimates supplied by Kantar Media. Total broadcast revenues were down only 4.5% in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with a total year decline of 12.9%. Susan Cuccinello, svp/research at TVB, said: "Local broadcast television revenues are definitely improving, judging by the anecdotal evidence from our stations and the preliminary numbers we've seen." Network TV posted a 3.3% gain for the fourth quarter of 2009 (and a 7.2% decline for the year); syndicated TV was down 10.7% for the quarter (and down 4.9% for the year), and local broadcast television was down 13.8% for the quarter (and was down 23.6% for the year). Among local broadcast's top ten individual advertisers, No. 1 Chrysler Group LLC was up 28.0% in the fourth quarter, No. 2 AT&T was up 20.6%, No. 3 Toyota Motor Dealers Association was up 16.1%, No. 4 Ford Motor Co Dealers Association was up 33.4%, No. 5 Verizon Communications was down 14.2%, No. 6 General Mills was down 16.4%, No. 7 Honda Motor Co was down 33.8%, No. 8 General Motors Corp. was down 5.6%, No. 9 Comcast was down 25.7%, and No. 10 McDonalds Corp. was up 34.0%.
benton.org/node/33513 | Television Bureau of Advertising
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BROADCASTERS BOUNCE BACK
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: David Kaplan]
Most forecasters have expected broadcast ad revenues to experience a nice recovery as the recession eases, but Bernstein Research analyst Michael Nathanson expects a TV advertising to see a rebound that could bring stations back to their healthier 2007 levels. While the major station owners took a big hit on revenue declines last year, margins remained fairly strong. But he also warns about the possibility that the Federal Communications Commission might levy spectrum fees or ask stations to give up parts of the spectrum in exchange for auction proceeds. The best hope for broadcasters is that retransmission fees from their local cable MSOs. Broadcasters can't have it both ways anymore, Nathanson writes, saying that stations' arguments boil down to: "Please pay us for our channel but allow us to keep all this free (and valuable) broadcast spectrum for ourselves. Given that less than 10 percent of the nation's household watches TV over the air, it is likely time to reclaim this spectrum over the next decade."
benton.org/node/33511 | paidContent.org
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WHY NETWORKS WANT TO KILL ADS
[SOURCE: Silicon Alley Insider, AUTHOR: Jay Yarow]
Hulu's sales team is "actively subverting" the ad sales of its parent companies that are also trying to sell ads for their shows on Hulu, according to a source at one of the parent companies. Hulu's ad sales team is "cutting rates," so its ad prices are cheaper. Hulu is also building different, more innovative, ad products than its parent companies like FOX, NBC, and ABC. Basically, Hulu is selling better ads at cheaper rates. It's "hollowing out ad sales" for the networks. The bigger companies are finding it harder to sell Hulu ads at higher rates. This news is significant because Hulu needs the long-term support of its parent companies to survive. If Hulu were to lose its exclusive access to FOX, NBC, and ABC TV shows, the whole operation would fall apart.
benton.org/node/33520 | Silicon Alley Insider
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TV AND INTERNET
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Wayne Friedman]
Viewers have tripled their use of watching TV shows via the Internet since 2006 -- and some of this has hurt traditional TV viewing. Media researcher Knowledge Networks says this trend affects a broad range of viewers: ages 13-54. Viewing of complete TV shows from streaming or downloaded video has climbed to 22% from 8%. This also has climbed faster for younger 18-34 viewers, rising to 30% from 12% to 30% of 18-to-34 online users. When it comes to making the sometimes more labor-intensive connection of hooking up TVs to PCs, 7% of 13-to-54 viewers have streamed or downloaded TV shows, and 11% for 18-to-34. Knowledge calls this "over-the-top" viewing. There has been some erosion of traditional TV viewing from all of this, the study says. Of those that have reduced or canceled TV service in the past year, due to their online viewing of network TV programming -- or expect to do so in the next year -- 6% of 13-to-54 viewers and 9% of 18-to-34 viewers said they have made these decisions.
benton.org/node/33518 | MediaWeek
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ASIAN GROUP OPPOSES COMCAST-NBCU
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Comcast/NBCU merger has drawn its first petition to deny from self-described "Pan-Asian" group called the Mabuhay Alliance, which felt neglected by what they said was a lack of references to their constituency in the proposed deal's filing, including its public interest filing. "The combined 749 page application and appendix contain no references to America's 15 million Asian Americans or any references as to their past treatment or future treatment by Comcast and NBCU," the group said in opposing the deal as currently constituted. But they suggested there was a way to make them happier. "As a condition for allowing this proceeding to continue," they said. "we formally request that the FCC order Comcast to revise its 145 page application and set forth specific and unique benefits this acquisition will have for 15 million Asian Americans, including those most ignored, such as Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans, Filipino Americans, Samoans, Hmong, Thais, Cambodians and Indonesians."
benton.org/node/33528 | Broadcasting&Cable
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POLITICAL AD RULING FALLOUT
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: ]
A look at the main developments and effects of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling so far and suggestions for stations. What happens in the aftermath of the ruling at the FEC, in Congress and the states will shape campaign ad spending for years to come - the devil's in the details. Broadcasters have a stake in the outcome, both in terms of the service they provide to the public by their role in elections, and ad revenues.
benton.org/node/33519 | TVNewsCheck
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NEW PTFP CLOSING DATE
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will re-open the solicitation for Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) applications until Thursday, April 22, 2010, to accommodate the increase in digital power levels of radio stations allowed by the Federal Communications Commission's January 29, 2010 Order.
benton.org/node/33527 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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WIRELESS
WIRELESS CARRIERS BICKER OVER SIZE OF SPECTRUM HOLDINGS
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Tricia Duryee]
Clearwire frequently brags about how much spectrum it has at its disposal, and how easy it will be to deliver a ton of video and other high-bandwidth services over mobile networks. It's a luxurious position to be in and something that has only become top of mind for consumers recently as they experience dropped calls or sluggish 3G Internet speeds. But it appears that AT&T and Verizon have been formulating their response to this, and this week refuted Clearwire's claims, by arguing that they have deep spectrum positions that can re-purposed for 4G when it needs to. Kris Rinne, AT&T's SVP of architecture and planning, who spoke along side other executives at a GSM Association event, said: "You need to make sure you count all of our spectrum when you make these comparisons." However, when you check the facts, it does appear that Clearwire has the better spectrum position—no matter how you slice it. A Yankee report on the subject wrote: "Clearwire ranks highest with an estimated average of 150 MHz in the top 100 U.S. markets, measured in terms of population. Clearwire is followed by Verizon and AT&T, which have 88 and 84 MHz respectively, then Sprint with 69 MHz and T-Mobile with 51 MHz." Other than Clearwire, Sprint is likely in the best position of all. It has partnered with Clearwire to roll-out its 4G network, meaning that in addition to its 69 MHz of holdings, it can tap into Clearwire's 150 MHz. Rinne's logic was not completely flawed.
benton.org/node/33507 | paidContent.org
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TELEVISA GRABS SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: TheDeal.com, AUTHOR: Chris Nolter]
As Mexico prepares for a wireless spectrum land rush, Grupo Televisa SAB agreed in mid-February to pay $1.44 billion for a 30% stake in the local subsidiary of mobile group NII Holdings Inc. The Mexican government is readying an auction of spectrum licenses earmarked for so-called third-generation services that make greater use of data and media. Televisa can augment its television, broadband and landline phone services with mobile for the coveted "quad play." NII gets a wealthy local partner with a trove of content and cash to spend at the auction. NII is the former international arm of Nextel Communications Inc., which merged with Sprint Corp. in 2005.
benton.org/node/33514 | TheDeal.com
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
SUSTAINED PUSH FOR TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
Norm Eisen, special counsel to the President for ethics and government reform, said federal agencies and the public, more than the White House, are accountable for sustaining open government. The day after taking office, President Obama committed himself to an open government agenda that would improve transparency, citizen participation and public-private interaction, in part by applying new technologies to agency operations. "This initial push is really wonderful, but what's going to be done to sustain the culture change that we want to occur? It's very easy for the agencies to drift back if the White House isn't paying attention," said Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of transparency advocates. She moderated a talk on Friday hosted by the Center for American Progress, a Washington research group with close ties to the White House. At the event, transparency specialists from inside and outside government debated the impact of Obama's initiative with most agreeing it has enhanced transparency, public participation and collaboration with the corporate sector. The next big task under the program is an open government plan -- an agency-specific navigational chart for embedding transparency into daily operations.
benton.org/node/33516 | nextgov
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