July 2009

FCC Seeks Comment on Access to Broadband Data

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on how to interpret and implement sections 106(h)(1) and 106(h)(2) of the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA). Since 2000, the Commission has collected basic service information from broadband service providers using Form 477. In 2008, the Commission adopted revisions to the Form 477, which would result in the collection of more detailed and granular data. At the same time, the Commission issued a further notice of proposed rulemaking, which, among other things, sought comment on the issue of how to provide Form 477 information to other broadband initiatives, including those undertaken by state agencies and public-private partnerships, and on how to preserve confidentiality when sharing the information collected on Form 477. Comments due Seven days after publication in the Federal Register; Reply Comments are due Twelve days after publication in the Federal Register. Contact: Jeremy Miller at (202) 418-0940

Comments on the Public Notice are due July 30, 2009, and reply comments are due August 4, 2009

Hey RUS: What Happened to Loan Guarantees?

When Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act back in February $2.5 billion was allocated to the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service to distribute as loans, grants, or loan guarantees to stimulate broadband deployment. When RUS released its Notice of Funding Availability a couple weeks ago it included the ability for rural broadband projects to apply for loans, grants, and loan/grant combos. This begs the question: whatever happened to those loan guarantees? Why didn't RUS listen to Congress and include them as an option? Why did RUS choose to ignore this important component of their funding toolkit? The short answer is likely because while RUS already has a loan guarantee mechanism in place no one's ever used it before for two primary reasons: the 80/20 guarantee isn't enough to entice private lenders to open their coffers, and it takes just as long to get approved for a guarantee from RUS as it does a direct loan.

Call for Network Neutrality Rules

The Federal Communications Commission should include Network Neutrality rules in a national broadband plan the agency is developing over the next seven months, thousands of US residents have told the FCC. With the public comment period for the FCC's national broadband plan closing Tuesday, comments continued to flow into the agency's Web site, with many people using a form letter from media reform group Free Press to ask the FCC to include Network Neutrality and open access rules in the plan. As of noon Tuesday, more than 9,700 comments had been filed with the FCC on the national broadband plan. "An open and accessible Internet is essential to America's future," says the form letter. "In crafting the national broadband plan, the Federal Communications Commission must protect Internet users from corporate gatekeepers who seek to keep prices high and speeds slow, limit access to content and stifle innovation and market choice. Net Neutrality must be a basic and enforceable rule of the Internet. The plan must also ensure that every American -- regardless of race, income or location -- can connect to broadband at prices everyone can afford."

CDT Files Reply Comments on FCC Broadband Plan

Center for Democracy and Technology filed a second round of comments in the FCC proceeding to create a national broadband plan. CDT emphasized that the broadband plan should expressly affirm key elements of the Internet's successful policy framework. CDT also offered responses to a variety of arguments raised by other commenters on topics such as nondiscrimination, network management, the regulatory treatment of wireless broadband, active ISP policing of copyright infringement, and the role of self-regulation in protecting user privacy.

ITIF Files Response Comments For FCC National Broadband Strategy NOI

As the FCC develops America's first national broadband strategy it will be important to focus on both broadband supply and demand as well as the presence of market failures within the broadband marketplace. Relying on markets alone will not meet our country's future broadband needs. Instead, to meet the goals for broadband coverage outlined by the FCC, targeted subsidies should be used to expand coverage and adoption beyond what the market will provide. In this FCC filing, ITIF discusses the policy and non-policy factors that affect broadband deployment and outlines an appropriate policy framework for a successful national broadband strategy.

NCTA Offers Comments On Broadband Plan

The Federal Communications Commission won't be able to get broadband to every American, or meet any other of Congress' goals, if its grand broadband plan discourages broadband investment. It also should not get bogged down in the openness debate. That was the message from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association in the second round of comments on that plan, which were due to the FCC by Tuesday night. The bottom lines for the cable group were deployment and adoption, and beyond that, the FCC should get out of the way and let the industry continue writing its broadband success story. NCTA pointed out that the folks doing the broadband investing had already ponied up hundreds of billions of dollars for broadband, saying that was one of "many successes" that the FCC "must acknowledge." Others included increasing speeds and a "thriving market" for applications.

Forcing the Net Through a Sieve: Why Copyright Filtering is Not a Viable Solution for US ISPs

Copyright filtering, the latest proposed "magic bullet" solution from the major music and movie studios and industry trade groups, poses a number of dangers to Internet users, legitimate businesses and US federal government initiatives to increase the speed, affordability and utilization of broadband Internet services. This whitepaper presents a number of reasons why the use of copyright filters should not be allowed, encouraged or mandated on US Internet Service Provider (ISP) networks. Among them: 1) Copyright filters are both underinclusive and overinclusive. 2) Copyright filter processing will add latency. 3) The implementation of copyright filters will result in a technological armsrace. 4) Copyright filters do not make economic sense. 5) Copyright filters will discourage investment in the Internet economy. 6) Copyright filters will harm free speech. 7) Copyright filters could undermine the safe harbor provisions that shield ISPs from liability. 8) Copyright filtering could violate the Electronic Communications and Privacy Act.

Streaming, not P2P, behind mobile broadband data usage surge

Tremendous sales of both smartphones and laptop data cards mean tremendous data surging through cell networks, and a new report says that mobile data growth grew 30 percent over the course of the second quarter 2009. But (for once) don't blame P2P. Allot, a vendor deep packet inspection (DPI) and other network monitoring gear, has just released its Global Mobile Broadband Traffic Report for Q2 2009, using data gathered from wireless network operators. It found that the most popular use for mobile data is HTTP browsing, though HTTP streaming is by far the fastest-growing (58 percent over the quarter).

Genachowski Names New FCC Leadership

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis and the Chief Economist, who will join the other senior staff in OSP. The announcements include: Chief Paul de Sa, Chief Economist Jonathan Baker, and Deputy Chief Zachary Katz. he also named Terri Glaze as director of the Office of Legislative Affairs. Last week, Chairman Genachowski announced four members of the senior leadership of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, who will join the other senior staff in WTB. The announcement includes: Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman, Senior Deputy Chief James Schlichting, Deputy Chief Renee Roland Crittendon, and Deputy Chief John S. Leibovitz.

President Obama to Nominate Hightower for Deputy Secretary, Department of Commerce

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Dennis F. Hightower to be Deputy Secretary, Department of Commerce. Hightower is a business executive with extensive global general management experience. His career spans the private and public sectors, including more than 30 years of experience in global marketing, strategic planning, operations and international general management. Most recently, Hightower was chief executive officer of Europe Online Networks S.A., a privately held broadband interactive entertainment company based in Luxembourg. From 1987 to 1996, Hightower was a senior executive of The Walt Disney Company, where he led multi-billion dollar enterprises as president of Walt Disney Television & Communications and president of Consumer Products, Europe/Middle East and Africa.

Benton

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