June 2010

Census Reports It Has Reached Almost All Households

As of Tuesday, 98 percent of the 47 million households that had failed to return their census questionnaires had been contacted by a census worker.

Presaging 2010 census results, Texas accounted for much of the nation's urban growth in the year ending July 1, 2009, according to census data released June 22. Four Texas cities — San Antonio, Fort Worth, Houston and Austin — were among the nine cities in the nation with the biggest numerical gains in population during the year beginning July 1, 2008. Over the period since 2005, Houston has led every other American city in growth and, with three other Texas cities, accounted for four of the six cities in the country with the greatest population gains. Frisco, Tex., north of Dallas, grew by 6.2 percent to 102,000 since 2008, the fastest rate of any city with more than 100,000 people in the country. Since the start of the decade, Frisco expanded from 33,000 people, an average annual growth rate of 204 percent, also the nation's highest. Detroit continued its decline, but by fewer than 2,000 to 910,920 since the year before, compared with 951,000 when the decade began, holding up better than some had expected.

New Orleans continued its comeback, growing by more than 18,000 in a single year to nearly 355,000, but still well below its nearly 455,000 before the city was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Most of the fastest-growing cities were in Texas, North Carolina, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona, although the recession appeared to have dampened the pace of that growth. Traditional magnets for retirees and job-seekers lost some of their attraction.

Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo registered declines, but Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Indianapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Boston; and Washington recorded gains. New York City grew by 45,000 people to 8,391,881, a growth rate of only 0.5 percent, but the largest one-year numerical gain of any city in the country. Chicago recorded its highest growth rate this decade as did Denver, Seattle and Washington.

FCC Announcement on Stakeholder Meetings on Broadband Reclassification

Since the D.C. Circuit's decision in the Comcast Internet-discrimination case more than two months ago, there has been a vibrant debate among stakeholders from all parts of the broadband community on the best path forward. Some stakeholders have shared their ideas with staff at the FCC, including ideas for legislative options. Senior FCC staff are making themselves available to meet with all interested parties on these issues. To the extent stakeholders discuss proposals with FCC staff regarding other approaches outside of the open proceedings at the FCC, the agency's ex parte disclosure requirements are not applicable. But to promote transparency and keep the public informed, the FCC plans to post notices of these meetings.

Public Knowledge Advises FCC To Reverse Meeting Secrecy

We are appalled at the idea put forward by the Federal Communications Commission Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus that there will be no disclosure (ex parte) requirements for meetings the FCC staff will hold on topics directly related to ongoing FCC proceedings.

To say, as Mr. Lazarus did, that 'other approaches outside of the open proceedings' would not be subject to disclosure requirements is simply not acceptable in any circumstance, must less in an Administration and an FCC which have promised new levels of transparency. Discussions of the authority of the FCC over broadband, or network neutrality can cover a wide range of topics at any given time, whether dealing with legislation or not. To have ideas put forward by advocates, whether corporate or public interest, kept from the public, is not the way this FCC should do business. The FCC is an independent regulatory agency and should conduct itself accordingly. It should render decisions on current docketed proceedings based on the record before it.

Verizon CEO Seidenberg: open to some compromises, not greater FCC authority over broadband

On June 22, Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg said that the company is willing to find a compromise on federal rules that would prevent it and other broadband Internet service providers from blocking or degrading traffic on their networks. But Verizon doesn't agree with a controversial proposal by the Federal Communications Commission to redefine those services as regular phone services.

"We are very concerned that, in attempting to address legitimate issues about access to the Internet, the FCC has proposed basically an unimaginative and overbearing set of rules that essentially tries to retrofit a new industry into an old framework and expand their regulatory reach well beyond what is necessary," Seidenberg said. "As we've said - and as we've demonstrated - communications companies will continue to work with the Commission and the other players in the Internet space to protect customers and ensure an open and robust broadband environment. The FCC's current course of action will really do little to achieve those objectives."

No solutions expected from FCC meeting with Web, broadband access companies

A meeting between senior Federal Communications Commissions officials and companies that provide Internet services and access to the Web, continued June 22 with no apparent solutions.

AT&T, Verizon Communications, Google, Skype and the chief of staff to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski met again for much of the day to negotiate a compromise on aspects of a net neutrality law that would prevent carriers from blocking traffic on their networks. Legislation on that issue would allow the FCC to carry out its goal for open Internet policies without having to move forward on a controversial proposal to assert its regulatory authority over broadband service providers. A source at the meeting said that while the parties all appeared to be attending the meeting in good faith, "There is still a long way to go. And having said that, there are many, many more stakeholders that need to be brought into the process. This is not a process that will lead to a final solution by any means."

FCC Eyes Broadband For Indian Reservations

Only 63 percent of all Americans have high-speed Internet connections. That's low compared with other countries. But when it comes to American Indians, the Federal Communications Commission estimates that fewer than 10 percent are connected.

The cost of building compared with the return is one of the reasons American Indian communities have a long history of neglect when it comes to basic infrastructure. To help change that, at least for broadband, the FCC announced the appointment of Geoffrey Blackwell to lead its initiatives on American Indian affairs. Many tribal communities around the United States are in remote, rural areas. Humboldt County, Calif., is home to several tribes — among them the Karuk. In the small community of Orleans, Calif., the Karuk make up a quarter of the population of just under 1,000 people. The tribe's IT officer, Chris Kleeman, says they even have a hard time getting phone service. "We lose our regular telephones, including 911, hundreds of times each year," Kleeman says. Last July alone, they lost phone service about 250 times, he says. The telephone lines here can go down for hours, which puts the safety and the lives of residents at risk, says Roberta Kurgiliatti, who works for the volunteer fire department. Kurgiliatti recalls two major fires. In one, she says, the house burned to the ground because the homeowners couldn't call for help.

White House CTO Pledge Report on Innovation, Investment (updated)

White House Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra told the Senate Commerce Committee June 22 that he would have a report within 60 days on the impact of the Recovery Act funding on investments, innovation and access to capital. That would include more than $7 billion that is being handed out in broadband grants and loans through the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture.

The cable industry has registered its problems with the broadband grant program. National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow called it a disaster, saying billions were going to duplicate deployment and overbuild his members.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) pushed Chopra for that impact report, saying it was important to find out the effect of that money on access to capital.

Citing the FCC's National Broadband Plan, Sen. Mark Udall (D-NM.) asked whether the US should come up with a national innovation plan including identifying government policies that block innovation, as well as seeking those that promote it.

Chopra aslo said the Obama administration is focused on fostering innovation in the health information technology and clean energy sectors in hopes they will drive the economy for years to come. Chopra said the administration is investing in the building blocks of innovation through research and development grants and contests aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship. He also suggested previous administrations placed less emphasis on innovation, which is why the U.S. is now lagging other developed nations in some areas.

"My humble opinion is this has to be a priority of the administration. I don't want to render judgments on past priorities, but structurally our president has made this a key priority," Chopra said.

FCC Says AT&T Can Buy Verizon Wireless Licenses

The Federal Communications Commission approved AT&T's $2.35 billion purchase of wireless licenses from Verizon Wireless.

The FCC said the transaction didn't raise competitive concerns and that the voluntary conditions proposed by AT&T were "likely to result in transaction-specific public interest benefits." FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated an order in early June to approve the deal and the agency's five commissioners unanimously approved the deal this week. The agency's approval of the license transfer was expected although the agency's review of the deal took almost a year, frustrating some AT&T executives.

Only FCC Commissioner Michael Copps released a statement. He opposed Verizon's purchase of Alltel which triggered the sale of the licenses. "The Order we adopt now takes an important step to help restore at least some level of competitive balance through the implementation of Verizon Wireless' divestiture of certain licenses and associated businesses, as required by the Department of Justice, to AT&T," said Commissioner Copps. "Absent these divestitures, consumers in large parts of the country would have inevitably experienced less competition, higher prices and lower quality of service."

FCC Denies Qwest's Phoenix Request

Noting the benefits of competitive markets for promoting investment and protecting consumers, the Federal Communications Commission released an order denying Qwest's request that the current pro-competition policy status quo be changed in the Phoenix (AZ) market. This outcome is consistent with previous FCC denials of similar petitions in 2007 and 2008.

In reviewing Qwest's petition, the Commission applied a data-driven and economically sound "market power" analysis to determine whether Qwest had shown that the competition policies governing traditional telephone services in Phoenix were no longer necessary. While the Commission found that Qwest failed to demonstrate that it no longer had market power for the relevant services in Phoenix, the agency acknowledged the significant growth of wireless and residential cable voice services. Moving forward, the FCC indicated that stronger evidence of lack of market power in future proceedings could result in a different outcome.

Consistent with the FCC's goal of encouraging competitive markets that can create jobs, fuel economic growth, and offer innovative services for consumers, today's Order provided more predictability about the review process by offering guidance to future petitioners regarding the kinds of data and analysis that will support relief. Simultaneous with release of the Order, the Wireline Competition Bureau released a Public Notice seeking comment on the application of the Qwest-Phoenix framework to two pending proceedings on remand from the D.C. Circuit, one from Verizon regarding six metropolitan areas and another from Qwest regarding four metropolitan areas, as well as future similar requests.

Connected Nation and State Broadband Mapping

As a part of an effort to make a comprehensive, national map, states are mapping broadband coverage and options available in their states. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act requires the National Telecommunications and Information Association to have the national map of broadband coverage publicly available by February 2011. This initiative has spurred billions of grant dollars to organizations mapping their states.

Connected Nation is the private-public partnership organization providing the mapping technology and guidance to the state efforts. Brian Mefford, CEO of Connected Nation, said, "In today's digital world, being connected to the Internet is critical to preserving and improving lifestyle. Whether you live in a rural or an urban area, broadband gives you the opportunity to work from home, take online classes, and market your products - all of which have an impact on the local economy." Thus far, most of the states are being mapped through ESRI's BroadbandStat mapping systems, which were funded by NTIA grants. Connect Michigan, Connect Minnesota, Connect Nevada, Connect South Carolina, Connect Texas, Connect Alaska, and Connect Iowa are the entities responsible for collecting their state's data and producing the maps.

Benton

Search