Ownership

In my new book, “From Gutenberg to Google,” I examine the two great network revolutions of the past—the printing press in the 15th century, as well as the combination of the railroad and telegraph in the 19th century—to put in historical perspective the confusion and uncertainty brought about by the internet today. Though current technology may be causing massive societal changes faster than ever before, the book discusses how these past upheavals shed light on how to deal with the issues of the information age.

On March 15, we’ll aim to make progress on many of the issues core to the Federal Communications Commission’s mission: promoting US leadership on 5G, closing the digital divide, advancing public safety, modernizing our media rules, helping rural consumers, and more.

The level of journalistic resources dedicated to coverage of local politics is in a long-term decline in the US news media, with readership shifting to national outlets. We investigate whether this trend is demand- or supply-driven, exploiting a recent wave of local television station acquisitions by a conglomerate owner.

Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wasted no time taking aim at e-commerce giant Amazon over its economic practices after announcing his 2020 presidential bid — marking an early campaign appearance for the senator's long-standing critiques of tech titans. Sen. Sanders criticized the company over how it conducted its second headquarters search and for not paying any federal income taxes for 2018.

Both DirecTV and long-time rival Dish Network have recently reported fourth quarter 2018 operating results and the numbers are not good. DirecTV lost 403,000 subscribers in the quarter, compared to 147,000 in the same quarter of 2017. The service is now shedding subscribers at a rate of 6.1% per quarter. The satellite operators are suffering from the same problem as cable operators are — the proliferation of broadband over-the-top (OTT) services.

Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Truth-In-Billing, Remedies, and User Empowerment over Fees (‘TRUE Fees’) Act. The TRUE Fees Act requires phone, cable, and internet providers to include fees, charges, and surcharges in the prices they advertise for service; allows customers to end their contract without early termination fees if their provider increases prices; prevents hikes on equipment fees unless providers improve equipment; and prohibits forced arbitration clauses for wrongful billing errors.

Members of Congress are fed up with the state of cellphone coverage in the United States and they weren’t afraid to lodge their complaints personally — with the leaders of some of the country’s biggest wireless networks. As Sprint and T-Mobile went to Capitol Hill to defend their $26 billion proposed merger, lawmakers buttonholed T-Mobile’s chief executive, John Legere, and Sprint’s executive chairman, Marcelo Claure, on the frustrating inability to get a cell signal in many parts of the country, particularly in rural areas.

The major takeway from the House Communications Subcommittee hearing on the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint merger was that regulators are having to reconcile wildly divergent views of the impact of the deal. According to the various witnesses at the hearing on the deal:

In Jan 2018, T-Mobile completed its acquisition of a small Midwestern telecommunications company, Iowa Wireless Services (iWireless). While the company only provided service to 75,000 customers, many of its users had no other options. The service was precisely what rural communications advocates have asked for: affordable, effective, and accessible.