press release

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) and the Corporation for Education Networking Initiatives in California (CENIC) announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that will foster initiatives to expand the availability and accessibility of high-capacity broadband to communities and institutions throughout California.

As a part of the high-speed rail system corridor, the Authority and CENIC will create an ultra-fast broadband network, connecting into CENIC’s statewide research and education network, as well as to other public and private sector broadband networks. According to a recent Field Research Corporation Poll, conducted for the California Emerging Technology Fund, the lowest income, least educated, and most rural Californians are living without this reliable Internet access. This investment in broadband connectivity will allow these communities access the educational, employment, healthcare, and civic engagement opportunities that lead to greater economic opportunities and to a better quality of life.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors released its annual impact numbers which show the agency had its largest ever increase in its weekly worldwide audience to 278 million people, up from 226 million in 2015. These increases occurred across all platforms with digital platforms seeing the largest percentage growth, followed by radio and television.

“The unprecedented growth we’ve seen this year further illustrates the need for US international media particularly in parts of the world where access to balanced, impartial news is severely limited or non-existent,” said BBG CEO and Director John Lansing. “In media markets increasingly dominated by disinformation and propaganda, more and more people are turning to BBG networks for fair, accurate, fact-based reporting.” The increases include gains in highly competitive media markets that are of strategic importance to the United States. Digital audiences increased from 32 million to 45 million while those for radio rose by 27% to 130 million. Television audience also grew, increasing 23% to 174 million.

Fujitsu announced that the first two long-time Fairlawn, Ohio, businesses that are connected to the city’s new broadband network, FairlawnGig, are now delivering enhanced customer service and experiencing smoother business operations. Fujitsu Network Communications is the design-build network integrator and is operating and maintaining the network on behalf of the City.

FairlawnGig’s state-of-the-art fiber optic and carrier-grade wireless network delivers from 1 Gbps up to 100 Gbps connectivity to established enterprises, and is expected to attract new generations of professionals to the city and Akron-Fairlawn-Bath Township Joint Economic Development District (JEDD). FairlawnGig differs from many traditional broadband implementations in that it is the only entity within its area offering ubiquitous fiber and wireless coverage to the entire City and JEDD. By design, every service address will have access to a direct fiber connection, or fixed wireless, or standard Wi-Fi. The reliable broadband network is more than 20 times faster than anything previously available in the area. With the rollout of FairlawnGig beginning in August, the advantages of broadband are already being realized by area businesses like RDA Hotel Management Company, which owns and operates Hilton and DoubleTree hotels, as well as a 100,000 square foot office building on a 12-acre campus.

The Federal Communications Commission is alerting consumers to be on the lookout for callers pretending to be utility company employees demanding immediate payment, often by prepaid debit cards, credit cards, or gift cards. As American consumers prepare for winter months when many people would be endangered by an interruption to heating fuel, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau wanted to make consumers aware of this scam and prepared to protect themselves.

Key Consumer Tip: If consumers receive a call warning them of a balance they do not believe they owe their utility, they should hang up, independently look up their utility company’s phone number on a recent statement or legitimate website, and call that number to verify the legitimacy of the call.

The Internet Association, an organization that represents several large Internet companies including Facebook, Twitter, and Google, released a policy roadmap detailing opportunities for the incoming administration and Congress to enable continued growth and success in the Internet ecosystem, and in turn, the US economy. The letter states, “From its inception, the internet was built on an open architecture that lowers entry barriers, fosters innovation, and empowers choice. The internet represents the best of American innovation, freedom, and ingenuity.” The list of policy positions include:

• Upholding Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act so Internet companies can't get sued easily for things their users say or do online.
• Upholding Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act so Internet companies can't get easily sued if they quickly remove copyrighted content that users upload (such as infringing photos and YouTube videos).
• Reforming the 30-year-old Electronic Communications Privacy Act -- "Internet users must have the same protections for their inbox as they do for their mailbox," states the association.
• Supporting strong encryption (President-elect Trump called for a boycott of Apple when it refused to comply with an FBI order to unlock an iPhone linked to terror.)
• Reforming Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which lets the National Security Agency collect online communications without a warrant.
• Providing similar copyright protections for companies that operate outside the US.
• Reforming the US Patent Office to deter patent trolls, a term for companies that sue other companies based on patents without actually producing new products.

EducationSuperHighway released Compare & Connect K-12, a new free tool that CEO Evan Marwell says will help provide high-speed broadband at lower costs for school leaders looking to amp up students’ digital access. In order to allow districts to compare their options, EducationSuperHighway first needed to gather the data school leaders wanted. They turned to E-rate, the $3.9 billion Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program that helps 96 percent of schools get more affordable broadband.

Public schools can apply for annual funding through E-rate, which involves itemizing the services they currently pay for, what providers they are buying from and how much they are spending for their broadband. But all of that data was kept private. That is, until researchers at EducationSuperhighway closely examined the program back in 2012. The Commission was hesitant to give up the data. So instead, EducationSuperHighway collected the data they wanted from thousands of districts themselves. That alone was enough to convince all five commissioners of just how valuable the data could be, Marwell said, and in 2014 the FCC ultimately agreed to publicly release its information on what kind of broadband service school districts are getting and how much they pay for it. Now, Compare & Connect K-12—which maps the 2015 and 2016 E-rate application data—allows administrators, state leaders and even service providers to compare bandwidth speeds and broadband prices against school districts nearby or across the country.

The News Media Alliance (formerly the Newspaper Association of America) filed an appeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s inexplicable decision to keep in place media ownership rules that prevent a television or radio station from being co-owned with a newspaper in the same market.

“After 41 years of abiding by a rule that has long outlived its purpose, we have been forced to fight the FCC’s decision in court,” said David Chavern, President and CEO of the News Media Alliance. “Our industry provides long-term investigative journalism and local news and public affairs coverage that is intensely important to local communities. It makes no sense at all to prevent newspapers from helping to fund this essential activity by receiving capital and collaboration by an aligned industry such as broadcasting...This rule prevents our industry from achieving the necessary scale to compete in media marketplace, while investment will continue to flow to Internet distribution platforms that compete with news publishers for advertising revenue. The result will be fewer resources for local news and investigative reporting, the foundation of an open democracy. We are deeply disappointed and we will fight to overturn these rules once and for all,” stated Chavern.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, November 17, 2016:

Universal Service Reform – MobilityFund: The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would adopt rules for the second phase of the Mobility Fund, which would provide ongoing universal service support dedicated to expanding the availability of mobile broadband networks.

Roaming Obligations of Commercial Mobile Service Providers and Regulatory Classification of Voice over LTE Service: The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on proposals to implement a unified roaming standard and to classify Voice over LTE.

Business Data Services: The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would allow for lighttouch regulation of packet-based Business Data Services and retain and update price cap regulation for lower-bandwidth TDM-based Business Data Services to ensure that lack of competition does not unfairly harm commercial customers or the consumers who rely upon these services.

Video Description: The Commission will consider a Report and Order which addresses the amount of video described programming required to be made available to consumers.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Federal Communications Commission announced that she is inviting additional “pitch” submissions as a part of the upcoming release of the #Solutions2020 Call to Action Plan.

In Oct, academics, practitioners, and other thought leaders came to Washington (DC) to participate in Commissioner Clyburn’s #Solutions2020 Policy Forum. Invited participants each gave a three minute solutions-focused “pitch” followed by an audience Q&A session and a one minute closing statement aimed at addressing many of the toughest challenges facing the communications sector, including affordability, digital inclusion, and broadband-enabled healthcare. Pitch submissions should propose a specific solution to an issue facing the communications sector and be a maximum of 350 words in length. All submissions must be received by 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on November 28, 2016 and may subsequently be posted on the Commission’s website.

The Department of Justice sued DIRECTV and its corporate successor, AT&T, for acting as the ringleader of a series of unlawful information exchanges between DIRECTV and three of its competitors – Cox Communications, Charter Communications, and AT&T – during the companies’ negotiations to carry SportsNet LA, which holds the exclusive rights to telecast almost all live Dodgers games in the Los Angeles area.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that DIRECTV unlawfully exchanged competitively-sensitive information with Cox, Charter and AT&T during the companies’ negotiations for the right to telecast the Dodgers Channel. Specifically, the complaint alleges that DIRECTV and each of these competitors agreed to and did exchange non-public information about their companies’ ongoing negotiations to telecast the Dodgers Channel, as well as their companies’ future plans to carry – or not carry – the channel. The complaint also alleges that the companies engaged in this conduct in order unlawfully to obtain bargaining leverage and to reduce the risk that they would lose subscribers if they decided not to carry the channel but a competitor chose to do so. The complaint further alleges that the information learned through these unlawful agreements was a material factor in the companies’ decisions not to carry the Dodgers Channel. The Dodgers Channel is still not carried by DIRECTV, Cox or AT&T.

“As the complaint explains, Dodgers fans were denied a fair competitive process when DIRECTV orchestrated a series of information exchanges with direct competitors that ultimately made consumers less likely to be able to watch their hometown team,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Sallet of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Competition, not collusion, best serves consumers and that is especially true when, as with pay-television providers, consumers have only a handful of choices in the marketplace.”