July 24, 2009 (Billions Invested In Broadband And Yet We Still Lag)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2009
Late July and there's still a full agenda of telecom policy events next week and next month -- change really has come to Washington. See http://www.benton.org/calendar/2009-07-26--P1W
INTERNET/BROADBAND
"Hundreds of Billions" Invested In Broadband And Yet We Still Lag Behind
Access to Broadband Networks: The Network Neutrality Debate
FCC Releases Broadband Data
Two studies point to explosive mobile broadband growth
Sandvine Upgrades Bandwidth-Management Platform
TELECOM
FCC Releases Local Telephone Competition Data
Some Skepticism Is In Order for Verizon's Offers
AT&T chief: iPhone won't be exclusive forever
See also: AT&T beats forecast on strong iPhone
Poor in Colorado may get free cell phones
Cash-strapped states raid 911 funds
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Hollywood dealmaking risks antitrust scrutiny
US minority-owned broadcasters
CONTENT
Disney CEO bullish on direct Web marketing to consumers
Radio Royalty Fight Moves To Senate
House Panel Revisits File-Sharing Security
Leahy Reintroduces Data Security Bill
Pandora's Back
JOURNALISM
Obama Complains About the News Cycle but Manipulates It, Worrying Some
Jon Stewart Most Trusted Newscaster in America
Tribune Co seeks court OK to pay execs bonuses
Take the profit motive out of news
Automating watchdog reporting
AP to Track Online Content Usage
Palin, Iraq Dominate Social Media
MORE ONLINE
Wait grows on OMB's regulatory review
Nielsen: Viewing Rebounds After Early Post-Analog Decline
Google spending more on DC lobbying
Genachowski Appointed FCC Defense Commissioner
Study: C-Level Execs Readying For Economic Recovery
Commerce and USDA Host Broadband Stimulus Workshop in Minnesota
Commerce and USDA Host Broadband Stimulus Workshop in Billings
Commerce and USDA Host Broadband Stimulus Workshop in Arkansas
Commerce and USDA Host Broadband Stimulus Workshop in Albuquerque
House Hearing on Transition to Smart Grid
Intel appeals $1.45 billion European antitrust fine
Korea Hits Qualcomm With Big Antitrust Fine
Is Apple Hiding Problems with Fiery iPods?
INTERNET/BROADBAND
"HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS" INVESTED IN BROADBAND AND YET WE STILL LAG BEHIND
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] Have we wisely invested in broadband infrastructure? We're a long way from universal broadband access in the US. Hundreds of billions of our dollars have gone to creating a broadband marketplace where competition is inherently limited (because of the high cost of deploying new networks) and very few people have access to world-class broadband. Daily wonders if it would have been smarter to concentrate on encouraging competition between services over a common infrastructure vs. between last-mile technologies.
http://benton.org/node/26618
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ACCESS TO BROADBAND NETWORKS: THE NET NEUTRALITY DEBATE
[SOURCE: Congressional Research Service, AUTHOR: Angele Gilroy]
As congressional policymakers continue to debate telecommunications reform, a major point of contention is the question of whether action is needed to ensure unfettered access to the Internet. The move to place restrictions on the owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet, to ensure equal access and non-discriminatory treatment, is referred to as net neutrality. There is no single accepted definition of net neutrality. However, most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network. Concern over whether it is necessary for policymakers to take steps to ensure access to the Internet for content, services, and applications providers, as well as consumers, and if so, what these steps should be, is a major focus in the debate over telecommunications reform.
http://benton.org/node/26624
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FCC RELEASES BROADBAND DATA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission released the final High-Speed Services for Internet Access report to be based on the old Form 477 data collection requirements. 1) High-speed lines, defined as connections delivering services at speeds exceeding 200 kbps in at least one direction, increased by 10% during the first half of 2008, from 121.2 million to 132.8 million lines in service, following a 20% increase, from 101.0 million to 121.2 million lines, during the second half of 2007. For the full twelve-month period ending June 30, 2008, high-speed lines increased by 32% from 101.0 million to 132.8 million (or 31.8 million lines) compared to a 55% increase, from 65.0 million to 101.0 million lines (or 36.0 million lines), in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2007. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/26617
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TWO STUDIES POINT TO EXPLOSIVE MOBILE BROADBAND GROWTH
[SOURCE: FierceBroadband, AUTHOR: Lynnette Luna]
Informa Telecoms & Media's newest World Cellular Data Metrics report indicates mobile broadband subscribers worldwide almost reached a quarter of a billion at the end of March with more than 225 million subscribers. The figure represented 93 percent year-on-year growth. Smartphones are contributing to a surge in mobile data traffic, Informa said. The spread of the iPhone continues to boost data usage for those operators that distribute the model with O2 reporting that 40 percent of its data traffic in the U.K. comes from the smartphone market. Meanwhile, Allot Communications released this week what is called its inaugural Global Mobile Broadband Traffic Report (GMBT), which indicates that worldwide mobile data bandwidth usage has increased by about 30 percent during the second quarter of 2009. Again, Asia leads the growth with 36 percent, while Europe posted 28 percent growth and the Americas recorded 25 percent.
http://benton.org/node/26616
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SANDVINE UPGRADES BANDWIDTH-MANAGEMENT PLATFORM
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Sandvine has enhanced its Fairshare system -- used by Comcast and other providers to manage congestion on broadband networks -- to blend the ability to control bandwidth consumption based on both user activity and application types. The Fairshare Traffic Management 2.0 platform, which became generally available in June, is able to manage network access using both application and subscriber-usage data. For example, for a time-sensitive application such as live video streaming, Fairshare 2.0 can be configured to ensure subscribers accessing video don't get their connections ratcheted down.
http://benton.org/node/26615
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TELECOM
FCC RELEASES LOCAL TELEPHONE COMPETITION DATA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission released new data on local telephone service competition in the United States. Twice a year, all incumbent local exchange carriers (incumbent LECs) and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) are required to report basic information about their local telephone service, and all facilities-based mobile telephony providers are required to provide information about their subscribers, pursuant to the FCC's local telephone competition and broadband data gathering program (FCC Form 477). [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/26614
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SOME SKEPTICISM IS IN ORDER FOR VERIZON'S OFFERS
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] When Verizon Wireless decided it would be amenable to changing the ground rules by which it lets other cellphone companies serve their customers who travel through Verizon (called "roaming"), notice how it made the announcement. And when Verizon decided to loosen its grip ever so slightly on the exclusive deals it has with cellular phone manufacturers, notice how that announcement was made. Both were done in letters to Capitol Hill, to influential members of Congress. When a major company makes such an announcement in letters to Congress, be aware. Be very aware. Those letters are intended as much for show as they are for anything substantive. They are part of a little game of "Let's Make A Deal," in which Congress and [insert special interest here] are the contestants and judges. The public's involvement, or even welfare, can be minimal.
http://benton.org/node/26626
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AT&T CHIEF: IPHONE WON'T BE EXCLUSIVE FOREVER
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Ina Fried]
It's not realistic to believe AT&T will have an exclusive on the iPhone forever, CEO Randall Stephenson said Thursday. "There will be a day when you are not exclusive with the iPhone," Stephenson said, speaking at Fortune's Brainstorm: Tech conference here. However, he declined to get into details on the company's negotiations with Apple. The issue of whether--and more likely when--AT&T loses the exclusive on the iPhone has become a major issue for the company and its investors.
http://benton.org/node/26612
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POOR IN COLORADO MAY GET FREE CELL PHONES
[SOURCE: Denver Post, AUTHOR: David Migoya]
Thousands of low-income Coloradans reliant on public assistance could get a free cellphone under a plan before the state Public Utilities Commission. If approved, the plan by TracFone Wireless in Miami would make Colorado the 17th state it has settled into with free cell service for the indigent, a form of wireless welfare that proponents say taps into one of the last untapped markets for the telecom technology. The program is a twist on Lifeline, a long-standing federal subsidy that provides low-income families with a break on their land-line telephone bill in order to ensure emergency 911 service. In Colorado, it's called LITAP — the Low Income Telephone Assistance Program — and is available to anyone receiving aid from any of six welfare funds: Colorado Works Assistance (TANF), Supplemental Security Income, LEAP, Aid to Needy Disabled, the Old Age Pension Fund and Aid to the Blind. Statewide, about 65 percent of those eligible participated in Lifeline last year. The money — more than $800 million in subsidies were paid last year for low-income phone service across the country — comes from the Universal Service Fund, a tax on all telephone lines. Of that amount, Coloradans received nearly $3.2 million in low-income subsidies. TracFone's subsidized program, called Safelink Wireless, gives users at least 68 minutes of free cell service each month — in Colorado, it would be 83 minutes — and unlimited access to 911 service even if the minutes are used up.
http://benton.org/node/26611
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CASH-STRAPPED STATES RAID 911 FUNDS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Peter Svensson]
More than $200 million collected from cell phone users for upgrades to the 911 system has been diverted in the last two years to plug state budget holes, keep campaign promises and, in at least one case, buy police uniforms. Dispatchers say the diversion of money comes at the expense of improvements that would give crime and accident victims more opportunities to reach responders. Someone who has been kidnapped, for instance, may not be able to talk but might be able to quietly send a text message or a photo. Cell phone subscribers in nearly every state pay anywhere from 20 cents to $1.50 a month for what is described in their bills as 911 improvements. In some states, the AP analysis found, less than half that money is actually going to help emergency dispatchers keep pace with the features of smart phones. As states hammered by the recession look around for new ways to balance their budgets, the 911 money is tempting.
http://benton.org/node/26628
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
HOLLYWOOD DEALMAKING RISKS ANTITRUST SCRUTINY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sue Zeidler]
As media giants band together to reinvent themselves in the digital age, potentially sharing everything from online video sites to DVD distribution, they have to be careful not to raise antitrust hackles. Hollywood has long butted heads with competition regulators, dating all the way back to the 1940s when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled studios had too much control over the distribution of their own content and forced them to sell movie theaters. Dealmaking is expected to heat up in the entertainment industry as studios experiment with various ventures and partnerships to tackle tumbling DVD and advertising sales. Some media watchers believe recent collaborations to bring TV programing to the Web -- such as Hulu.com and "TV Everywhere" -- have the potential to raise regulatory eyebrows, resurrecting the issue of "vertical integration."
http://benton.org/node/26610
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US MINORITY-OWNED BROADCASTERS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR:]
[Commentary] Many petitions for aid from the US Treasury threaten to set disturbing precedents but few beat the plea from a group of minority broadcasters. Joined by several influential Democratic congressmen, the largely Black and Hispanic lobby insist that its status makes it difficult to attract investment but that, aside from short-term recessionary pressures, local radio and television broadcasting is fundamentally healthy. Neither contention seems accurate.
http://benton.org/node/26629
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CONTENT
DISNEY CEO BULLISH ON DIRECT WEB MARKETING TO CONSUMERS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Gina Keating]
Walt Disney Co chief Robert Iger said on Wednesday advertising will rapidly grow more sophisticated as media firms begin tracking consumer preferences and selling the data on to advertisers. But Iger warned that privacy concerns may come to the fore with the growing ability of Web ads to monitor individual preferences and target surfers with custom ads. Iger has warned that fundamental changes now underway in the broadcast and cable industries may permanently cut TV advertising sales and prices, leaving traditional media companies looking for ways to make up that revenue when the economy recovers. The executive told the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference that media companies can pump up online sales volumes by either selling consumer information or by marketing directly to consumers based on individual tastes.
http://benton.org/node/26609
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RADIO ROYALTY FIGHT MOVES TO SENATE
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
The battle over legislation that would end a longstanding royalty exemption afforded to AM and FM radio will move to the Senate early next month with an August 4 hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers introduced the legislation, which would bring traditional broadcasters in line with Internet, cable and satellite platforms that pay performers for their works. The Recording Industry Association of America, SoundExchange and the American Federation of Musicians are carrying the torch for that effort while the National Association of Broadcasters has fought hard against the measures.
http://benton.org/node/26608
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HOUSE PANEL REVISITS FILE-SHARING SECURITY
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will wade back into the debate over inadvertent file-sharing over peer-to-peer networks next Wednesday. The panel has scheduled a hearing that will focus on how popular platform LimeWire and other services could endanger citizens and jeopardize national security. Lime Group Chairman Mark Gorton, Tiversa CEO Robert Boback and Progress and Freedom Foundation Senior Fellow Thomas Sydnor are scheduled to testify. The committee held similar hearings in July 2007 and four years earlier. After the 2003 hearing, the P2P industry adopted a voluntary code of conduct to prevent inadvertent disclosures of sensitive information.
http://benton.org/node/26607
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LEAHY REINTRODUCES DATA SECURITY BILL
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is reintroducing legislation intended to better protect citizens' personal information. The bill would increase criminal penalties for identity theft involving electronic data and criminalize intentional or willful concealment of a security breach. Chairman Leahy said passage of the measure, which would pre-empt a patchwork of state data breach laws, is among his top legislative priorities.
http://benton.org/node/26606
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PANDORA'S BACK
[SOURCE: TheBigMoney, AUTHOR: Gabriel Beltrone]
The history of Internet radio has been a series of unfulfilled promises and near-death experiences. Everyone can see the appeal of streaming music online, but the industry has long seemed precarious. That's partly because the business model has never been obvious, and in recent years it looked as if copyright crackdowns would make the business financially impossible. But two weeks ago, large webcasters and the record industry reached a compromise that seems as if it will provide the Internet radio industry with enough breathing room to survive. Does this mean that Pandora-the largest of the independent webcasters-will now triumph? As you probably know, Pandora streams personalized Internet radio to desktops and smartphones alike. Its biggest competitors include Last.fm-which provides comparable "find music like the music you like" services and is safe in the hands of old-media CBS-and Yahoo's Launchcast (also now run by CBS), which isn't as customizable. In part because it never hooked up with a big company, Pandora's decade-long struggle to survive has been the most apt symbol of the ups and downs of Internet radio.
http://benton.org/node/26625
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JOURNALISM
OBAMA COMPLAINS ABOUT NEWS CYCLE BUT MANIPULATES IT, WORRYING SOME
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Peter Baker]
It has become his common lament. Challenged about difficulties with his economic or legislative programs, President Obama complains about the tyranny of "the news cycle," pronouncing the words with an air of above-it-all disdain for the impatience and fecklessness of today's media culture. Yet after six months in office, perhaps no other president has been more attuned to, or done more to dominate, the news cycle he disparages. President Obama has given roughly three times as many interviews as George W. Bush and held four times as many prime-time news conferences as Bill Clinton had by comparable points in their terms. The all-Obama, all-the-time carpet bombing of the news media represents a strategy by a White House seeking to deploy its most effective asset in service of its goals, none more critical now than health care legislation. But longtime Washington hands warn that saturation coverage can diminish the power of his voice and lose public attention.
http://benton.org/node/26630
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JON STEWART MOST TRUSTED NEWSCASTER IN AMERICA
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Megan Garber]
Time magazine recently asked its readers: "Now that Walter Cronkite has passed on, who is America's most trusted newscaster?" The options respondents were asked to choose among for the poll were...narrow -- Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, and Brian Williams -- and...Jon Stewart. Stewart won the thing in a cross-country landslide -- not only is the fact that the faux-caster is generally more trusted than his straight-laced counterparts a matter of cliché at this point, but his being the only non-network anchor of the bunch also likely stacked the odds in his favor while the others split the vote.
http://benton.org/node/26602
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TRIBUNE CO SEEKS OK TO PAY EXECS BONUSES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Phil Wahba]
Bankrupt newspaper publisher Tribune Co has asked a federal bankruptcy judge to approve its plan to pay bonuses to its top employees. The company, which publishes the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, is seeking permission to continue its incentive plan that calls for bonuses of tens of millions in 2009 to 720 management employees, including its top 10 executives, according to documents filed Wednesday in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. The incentive plan calls for paying up to $35 million in a pool, as well paying 23 leaders of key operations a total of $9.3 million and another $3.1 million in all to nine of its top 10 executives. A hearing on the request is scheduled for August 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
http://benton.org/node/26601
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TAKE THE PROFIT MOTIVE OUT OF NEWS
[SOURCE: guardian.co.uk, AUTHOR: Victor Pickard]
[Commentary] Advertising-supported journalism is dead. We should use this moment to restructure the media along more democratic lines. If we don't start rethinking the entire media system, and building the political will to change it, newspapers selling access for money may be the least of our worries.
http://benton.org/node/26600
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AUTOMATING WATCHDOG REPORTING
[SOURCE: Nieman Watchdog, AUTHOR: J.H. Snider]
[Commentary] Standardized smart data input and straight-forward, computer-programmed analysis will make conflicts of interest leap out at reporters. Rather than ending a golden age of watchdog journalism, new information technology may be offering us the opportunity to start one. But like putting a man on the moon, automating watchdog journalism requires more than just technology. It requires elected leaders motivated by a bold vision and the will to overcome many great obstacles; in this case, primarily political obstacles. Such leaders may be in short supply, but they are the ones who leave the greatest mark on history.
http://benton.org/node/26599
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AP TO TRACK ONLINE CONTENT USAGE
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Joe Strupp]
The Associated Press has taken the first move to protect its content online, with plans to create a news registry to tag and track all AP online content "to assure compliance with terms of use," according to an announcement following a board decision. "The system will register key identifying information about each piece of content that AP distributes as well as the terms of use of that content, and employ a built-in beacon to notify AP about how the content is used," it adds. "What we are building here is a way for good journalism to survive and thrive," Dean Singleton, chairman of the AP Board of Directors and vice chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group Inc, said in a statement. "The AP news registry will allow our industry to protect its content online, and will assure that we can continue to provide original, independent and authoritative journalism at a time when the world needs it more than ever." AP added that the registry would initially cover all AP text content online, and be extended to AP members in early 2010: "Eventually, it will be expanded to cover photos and video as well. AP will fund development and operation of the registry through 2010, until it becomes self-sustaining."
http://benton.org/node/26598
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PALIN, IRAQ DOMINATE SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
Blogs, Twitter and YouTube last week each led with very different stories, and none of them overlapped with the leading subjects in traditional media, according to the New Media Index by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. While the mainstream press attended to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, social media showed very little interest in the largely drama-free proceedings. There, Sarah Palin and Iran were the biggest topics along with a number of unusual stories on subjects such as manipulative cats, hungry robots and Twitter technology. In fact, of the top 10 stories in the traditional press last week, only one-the health care debate-also showed up among the leading stories in the blogosphere or on Twitter.
http://benton.org/node/26597
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Nice game, Mr. Buehrle.