Benton RSS Feed
AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said he is seeing "good signs" from a more pro-business stance from the White House, which he expects will be conducive to approving his deal with T-Mobile USA.
AT&T's proposed plan to buy T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom AG for $39 billion is expected to face heavy scrutiny from regulators and opposition from consumer advocacy groups and rivals. But Stephenson said that over the past few months, President Barack Obama has shown more of a willingness to work with businesses. He added he was encouraged by Obama's push to cover the nation with a mobile broadband network. Stephenson said he doesn't know what the net impact on jobs will be from the deal, but said that these kinds of deals lead to cuts from redundant operations. Over the long term, he sees more hiring as the company invests in wireless. Stephenson said the deal with DT could yield better roaming rates for its customers going to Europe. DT, which will be AT&T's largest shareholder after the deal closes, is working to get roaming rates at a predictable level.
AT&T CEO: Optimistic Obama's Pro-Business Stance Will Help Deal
AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson, making his case for a proposed takeover of T-Mobile USA, said the deal would boost network capacity and improve service for devices such as Apple’s iPhone.
The acquisition would improve capacity on AT&T’s wireless network by about 30 percent in some of the largest U.S. cities, Stephenson said at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. It could also reduce charges for overseas roaming, he said. “This transaction is very instrumental” in improving network service, said Stephenson at the event. “Virtually on the day you close the deal, getting a 30 percent lift in capacity in New York City: that’s a significant improvement in call quality and data throughput.” Stephenson said concerns about the merger limiting competition in the U.S. are unfounded. “This is an intensely competitive industry,” he said. “It is intense before we do this transaction, it will be intense after we do this transaction.”
AT&T CEO Makes Case T-Mobile Deal Will Boost IPhone Service
[Commentary] The rapidly increasing demand for smartphones and mobile bandwidth has prompted some analysts and regulators to warn of a looming wireless traffic jam — an irritant that some iPhone users in major cities have already experienced. Now, AT&T is proposing what it says is the fastest way to boost the capacity of its wireless network: buying T-Mobile.
The $39-billion purchase would eliminate one of the four largest U.S. mobile phone networks and leave just two companies — AT&T and Verizon Wireless — in control of more than 70% of the market. That's reason enough for regulators to take a skeptical view of the deal. Yet AT&T's technical arguments raise the possibility that the acquisition could do more for the burgeoning ranks of smartphone users than the companies are likely to do separately. There's little question that the deal would be good for AT&T. Combining the two companies would cut costs and increase revenue so much, analyst Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research recently wrote, that AT&T would effectively be acquiring T-Mobile's earnings for free. That's true in part because AT&T charges more for service than T-Mobile and would be expected to try to move T-Mobile customers into more expensive plans. Given the high stakes and complexity of the deal, regulators will probably spend more than a year poring over data and developing models for how the mobile phone market would behave if the takeover were approved. In the meantime, AT&T and Verizon will be rolling out higher-bandwidth 4G networks and phones in more markets, which could ease the capacity crunch — or exacerbate it, just as adding lanes on a highway inevitably draws more traffic. Regulators should watch what happens closely for signs that the ballyhooed spectrum crunch is or isn't near at hand. And lawmakers should get to work on the long-term challenge of freeing up more spectrum.
The quest for bandwidth
[Commentary] On March 23, Holman Jenkins wrote in the Wall Street Journal: “… AT&T, whose network in New York is sagging from all its iPhone users, could walk over to any broadcaster in New York with the following proposition: You aren't getting much value from your broadcast spectrum because most of your viewers are on cable or satellite. Why not lease some of that spectrum to us for mobile broadband?…. Unfortunately, this would require the FCC to show some willingness effectively to deregulate broadcast license holders to do new things with their spectrum…. The only substantive objection is that taxpayers, who own the public airwaves, wouldn't get a fair shake if broadcast licensees were set free to redeploy their spectrum to mobile broadband. But this is misleading. Under existing law, taxpayers are already entitled to 5% of the revenues if broadcasters turn their spectrum to new uses. If that’s not enough, Congress could always raise it to 10% or 15%.”
Let’s apply Jenkins’s economic logic to a licensed hot dog vendor in Central Park who pays a 5% sales tax on all sales. Jenkins would grant the vendor ownership rights to the area covered by his vending license and call this “deregulation.” By granting the vendor ownership rights the vendor could do whatever he wanted with the land covered by his license. Jenkins describes this as a win-win deal. Since selling hot dogs is hardly the most valuable use of the land, the vendor would earn a lot more revenue by building a high rise condominium complex where his hot dog stand once stood. The public would win doubly: first, because there is a desperate shortage of housing in Manhattan, especially adjacent to Central Park, and second, because the government would get more revenue from the 5% sales tax on the much higher revenues generated from a condominium complex within Central Park. Leaving aside the question whether Central Park should remain a park (read “unlicensed spectrum” here), the problem with this economic reasoning is that the public could still get both the condominium complex and the 5% fee on the increased condominium sales even if the land was auctioned to the highest bidder. In short, giving the land to the licensed hot dog vendor is an awful deal for the public.
The unholy alliance of NAB, News Corporation, and the Wall Street Journal’s Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
[Commentary] The question of how to enable America’s wireless future is an issue that should be settled on the facts. The facts, on which the Federal Communications Commission is basing its position, clearly suggest the broadcasters are hoarding spectrum. They are throwing “Hail Mary” passes, trying to do and say whatever they can to keep unused or underused spectrum to themselves. If we are forced to wait because some groups don't want to be paid for their unused spectrum, then we'll deprive American consumers of the fast-paced and cutting-edge innovation they have come to expect and love from our industry. That situation is unacceptable for the wireless industry, as it should be for anyone who cares about American competitiveness. That is why we’re so emphatic about this issue.
NAB’s Hail Mary Attempts to Thwart Wireless Industry Innovation Need to Stop
It’s the kind of accountability journalism that makes readers raise an eyebrow, if it doesn't raise their blood pressure first. General Electric Co., reported the New York Times, earned $14.2 billion in worldwide profits last year, including $5.1 billion in the United States — and paid exactly zero dollars in federal taxes. The front-page story drew widespread commentary in newspapers and on many Web sites. ABC News and Fox News, among others, were all over it. But the story was conspicuously absent from the reportage of one news organization: NBC. During its March 25 broadcast, “NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” had no time to mention that America’s largest corporation had essentially avoided paying federal taxes in 2010. Or its March 26, March 27 or March 28 broadcasts, either.
On NBC, the missing story about parent company General Electric
Google Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it used deceptive tactics and violated its own privacy promises to consumers when it launched its social network, Google Buzz, in 2010. The agency alleges the practices violate the FTC Act. The proposed settlement bars the company from future privacy misrepresentations, requires it to implement a comprehensive privacy program, and calls for regular, independent privacy audits for the next 20 years. This is the first time an FTC settlement order has required a company to implement a comprehensive privacy program to protect the privacy of consumers’ information. In addition, this is the first time the FTC has alleged violations of the substantive privacy requirements of the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework, which provides a method for U.S. companies to transfer personal data lawfully from the European Union to the United States.
The proposed settlement bars Google from misrepresenting the privacy or confidentiality of individuals’ information or misrepresenting compliance with the U.S.-E.U Safe Harbor or other privacy, security, or compliance programs. The settlement requires the company to obtain users’ consent before sharing their information with third parties if Google changes its products or services in a way that results in information sharing that is contrary to any privacy promises made when the user’s information was collected. The settlement further requires Google to establish and maintain a comprehensive privacy program, and it requires that for the next 20 years, the company have audits conducted by independent third parties every two years to assess its privacy and data protection practices.
The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning March 30, 2011 and continuing through May 2, 2011, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final.
Sen John Kerry (D-MA) said the settlement underscores the need for legislation that outlines how businesses can use consumer information collected online.
Center for Democracy & Technology President Leslie Harris said: "The terms of this agreement are strong medicine for Google and will have a far-reaching effect on how industry develops and implements new technologies and services that make personal information public. We expect industry to quickly adopt the new requirement for opt-in consent before launching any new service that will publicly disclose personal information. This settlement sends the message that companies not only have to keep the promises they make to consumers, they must give users control over any technologies that make their information public."
FTC Charges Deceptive Privacy Practices in Google's Rollout of Its Buzz Social Network Google, FTC settle charges of privacy violations (Wash Post)
The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition assembled broadband stimulus award winners and government officials for their inaugural broadband summit on March 29 to share solutions and success in solving digital literacy and adoption issues.
The SHLBC, formed two years ago, comprises libraries, hospitals, schools, non-profit groups and corporations that seek to further broadband availability for community anchor institutions. New Mexico’s State Librarian, Susan Oberlander, provided one of the most descriptive presentations on the state’s digital literacy program. “By holding the programs in the libraries we found that the programs instantly gained credibility,” Oberlander said. “People already trust the library as a source of good information.” Oberlander went on to describe how the state contacted telecommunications providers for assistance with developing and implementing the digital literacy and training programs, but the telecommunications providers were not receptive to providing assistance.
Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Holds Broadband Summit
Two key supporters of a public safety plan authored by the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) have changed positions to support a White House proposal instead.
Former Gov. Tom Kean (R-NJ) and former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN), the chairmen of the 9/11 Commission, switched their positions to back a spectrum plan offered by key senators and endorsed by the Obama Administration. Both Kean and Hamilton had been frequently invoked by those who want a D-Block auction rather than a direct allocation of airwaves to public safety agencies. If the FCC is to directly allocate airwaves to public safety, it needs a new law. Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has introduced legislation, as has House Homeland Security Chairman Pete King (R-NY). It's unclear whether the proposal can get support from House Republicans worried about cost.
Key holdouts endorse public safety plan
House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-NY) said it is time to allocate, not auction, D block spectrum for a national interoperable public safety network.
Chairman king has introduced legislation that would allocate the D block spectrum and pay for it through auction of broadcast and other spectrum to wireless companies. At a March 30 hearing on the proposal, William Carrow, president of the The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), said that the needs of first responders are not being met, and that young people coming into public safety jobs have more capabilities on their personal communications devices than they do in their jobs. He said allocating the D block to public safety (10 MHz adjacent to the 10 MHz already allocated to public safety) is a unique opportunity to give public safety exactly what it needs. Chairman King pointed out that it has been almost seven years since the 9/11 Commission recommended in 2004 that the network be built ASAP. Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald of the National Sheriffs' Association said that among all the recommendations, the public safety network is the only one that has not been acted on. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), ranking member of the committee and co-sponsor of the bill, pointed out that House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) still supported auctioning the D block -- for a public-private partnership -- as did the FCC (a recommendation of the national broadband plan). But he called on them both to support allocation of the block.
Chairman King: Now is Time to Reallocate D Block