July 6, 2011 (AT&T/T-Mobile Fine Print)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2011
A look at the agenda http://benton.org/calendar
AT&T/T-MOBILE
The AT&T/T-Mobile Fine Print - analysis
Arizona Corporation Commission Approves AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
Black Broadcast Associations Support the AT&T—T-Mobile Merger [links to web]
Bridging rural America to the economic mainstream - op-ed
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
NTIA's Strickling to Plug Incentive Auctions
Verizon details 'usage based' data plans [links to web]
Phone Data to Give a Picture of Traffic Shutdown in Los Angeles [links to web]
LightSquared gets $265M as the FCC weighs its fate [links to web]
Gigabit satellite service may be a fat pipe dream - analysis
911 to Nowhere [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Sens. Warner, Kerry urge FCC to close gaps in broadband coverage
Broadband Grants Give Critical Funding To Help Libraries Fulfill Their Mission
Maryland sees its moment in cybersecurity [links to web]
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Internet Envy 2.0 for 'Old Media' [links to web]
Google, Microsoft sued over map technology [links to web]
ACCESSIBILITY
Getting People with Disabilities Back to Work
TELEVISION
Why Do Some Local TV Stations Have Political Beat Reporters When Most Don't? - op-ed
Study Finds Most Reluctant To Cut Cable Cord [links to web]
ESPN Acquires Exclusive Wimbledon TV Rights [links to web]
Local Radio and TV Are Significant Contributors To The Gross National Product [links to web]
TV viewers in Randolph County want to escape the clutches of the Atlanta market [links to web]
JOURNALISM
Innovation Key to Funding Nonprofit News
CONTENT
Anti-Piracy Bill Could Hurt Online Advertising
'Like' it or not, sharing tools spur privacy concerns [links to web]
Food ad guidelines cause backlash [links to web]
ESPN Acquires Exclusive Wimbledon TV Rights [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS/AGENDA
Vonage's Lefar Tapped for President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee - press release [links to web]
FCC's July 12 Agenda - press release
STORIES FROM ABROAD
These headlines presented in partnership with:
South Africa's Rulers Face Off Against Newspapers [links to web]
One in 10 homes miss UK broadband target [links to web]
China wants to own part of Facebook [links to web]
Telstra Combines Retail, Sales Teams After Agreement on New Fiber Network [links to web]
Analysis blames North Korea for cyberattack on South Korea [links to web]
UK seeks stronger cyber laws to fight attacks [links to web]
China's Baidu, Microsoft to cooperate in search [links to web]
Finnish Regulator Permits Mobile Network Tests in 800Mhz Spectrum [links to web]
Australian ISPs Impose Voluntary Filters [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
The Rising Cost of At-Home Tech - op-ed [links to web]
iPad brings new connection to lawyers, clients [links to web]
Internet Explorer market share continues to sink [links to web]
AT&T/T-MOBILE
THE FINE PRINT
[SOURCE: Tales of the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] The AT&T/T-Mobile deal comes with its own set of fine print. AT&T and its allies make all kind of promises about how the deal will encourage mobile broadband and create jobs ‘n stuff, while the actual Federal Communications Commission filings have all kinds of wonderfully crafted (from a legal perspective) fine print that explains all the limitations on these promises. Alas, AT&T doesn't do nearly as good a job with the helpful "*" for fine print on it’s advertisements for approving A&T/T-MO as it does on its regular advertisements. I want to especially point this out to all the state governors that have supported the merger based on the advertising implying that the mighty AT&T lion is going to go all Aslan and spread broadband and jobs after it devours the sickly gazelle that is T-Mobile. Based on the fine print, you have as much chance of seeing rural broadband deployment and job creation as the average AT&T iPhone user in San Francisco has of connecting a call and enjoying “unlimited downloads”* (*subject to bandwidth cap, phases of the Moon, and wicked packet-intercepting gremlins).
benton.org/node/80631 | Tales of the Sausage Factory
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ARIZONA BACKS AT&T/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Arizona Corporation Commission has approved the AT&T/T-Mobile deal in that state without a hearing. The commission, which is Arizona's version of a Public Utility Commission but with more expanded powers, recommended that AT&T's proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile be approved, saying that it does not adversely affect customers or prevent either company from providing "safe, reasonable and adequate" service. Beyond that, the commission concluded that the benefits the two companies said would result from the deal "are important to the continued and future quality of telecommunications services to Arizona consumers." Those include higher quality service in the state, alleviation of the "impending spectrum crisis," expansion of fourth-generation wireless, including a 300% increase in geographical coverage and service to un-served and under-served rural areas.
benton.org/node/80596 | Broadcasting&Cable | National Journal
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BOUCHER ON AT&T/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Richmond Times-Dispatch, AUTHOR: Rick Boucher]
[Commentary] For rural America, broadband is the bridge to our nation's economic mainstream, but of today's 20 percent of the national population that lacks broadband access, the vast majority live in rural areas. Bringing high-speed Internet access to rural-broadband have-nots is today's greatest telecommunications policy challenge. Now a single means of meeting that challenge is at hand. AT&T has pledged that its merger with T-Mobile will result in broadband reaching more than 97 percent of the population within six years, connecting 55 million Americans who lack the service today. President Obama has set a national goal of universal broadband deployment, defined as reaching 98 percent of our population, within five years. Now one company alone, with approval of the pending merger, will almost enable that goal to be met, leaving a far smaller gap to be filled with government grants and loans and other private investment. It's the promise of far broader rural economic opportunity achieved with private investment that leads me to support the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. With the merger, wireless broadband with 4G LTE service will arrive in our rural regions, and it will arrive at speeds rivaling today's fastest wired connections. The achievement of bringing broadband service to communities that are the hardest to reach — whether in the mountains of Southwest Virginia or other remote areas of our country — will meet our greatest telecommunications challenge and bring new economic opportunity to millions of rural residents.
benton.org/node/80580 | Richmond Times-Dispatch
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
INCENTIVE AUCTIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
National Telecommunications & Information Administration chief Lawrence Strickling plans to put in a plug for incentive auction legislation at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on government spectrum use, while mirroring broadcasters requests that future spectrum needs of incumbent users be factored into the reclamation equation. According to a copy of his prepared testimony, Strickling will urge Congress to pass legislation granting the Federal Communications Commission authority to hold incentive auctions, which will compensate broadcasters for giving up spectrum for auction to wireless broadband, and use some of the auctions proceeds for a national interoperable emergency broadband communications network. "Importantly, it is critical that any spectrum reallocation legislation be feasible to implement and consistent with ongoing interagency work to find the most efficient and effective uses of our national spectrum resources." he says.
benton.org/node/80639 | Broadcasting&Cable
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SATELLITE INTERNET
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
Could satellites help provide the fat pipes needed to meet our mobile data demand? Eutelsat’s latest bird can deliver 70 gigabits per second that can be divided between uplink and downlink capacity. Tooway is a broadband provider that sells capacity on the Eutelsat’s satellite. A news from July 4 said that ASI, the Italian space agency, has licensed access to 10 spots covering Italy so it can deliver 10 Mbps down/4 Mbps up connections to government agencies inside Italy. Those speeds are nothing to scoff at, but if we’re going to get excited about faster satellite service there are a host of issues we need to be aware of when it comes to sending and receiving those signals and turning them into a service that can deliver Facebook or Netflix streaming on the go.
It’s a particularly relevant issue in the U.S. given that roughly 2 percent of the population can't get access to fast broadband because they are located in remote areas where it’s impossible or uneconomical to deploy wired or even cellular broadband. Satellite is a likely solution for that problem and next-generation birds such as what Eutelsat has deployed may be an option. But outside of the expense associated with building and launching a satellite (and acquiring the terrestrial backhaul), there are plenty of limitations associated with satellites as broadband pipes. 1) Latency, 2) Capacity, and 3) Devices.
benton.org/node/80592 | GigaOm
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
USF REFORM LETTER
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and John Kerry (D-MA) wrote to the Federal Communications Commission backing the agency's plan to shift the focus of the $8 billion Universal Service Fund (USF) from landline phone service to broadband coverage. "Broadband is no longer a luxury; it has become critical economic infrastructure for Americans," the senators wrote, adding their support to that of USF reform supporters from both sides of the aisle such as Rep. Lee Terry (R-Nebraska). The pair urges the FCC to require that all funds distributed through the proposed program to prioritize areas that lack broadband service at a baseline speed determined by the commission. They argue the baseline connection speed should be revisited annually to ensure it keeps up with consumers' needs.
benton.org/node/80637 | Hill, The
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BTOP AND LIBRARIES
[SOURCE: Library Journal, AUTHOR: Michael Kelley]
A key element in libraries' growing role in workforce development has been the expansion of broadband capacity through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). A number of librarians explained Saturday at the American Library Association's Conference in New Orleans that BTOP grants have provided the means to introduce critical new services and applications that their patrons want but which the libraries had been previously unable to provide because of limited bandwidth. "We are working to expand capacity, not just the physical capacity but also the training capacity, the capacity of libraries to support and educate their patrons in their communities," said Laura Breeden, the program director for public computing and broadband adoption at the U.S. Department of Commerce. "And were also supporting sustainable adoption projects, meaning working in communities with groups who are very much lagging on the tail end of the adoption curve because they are low income, because they are immigrants, because they are disabled, because they do not understand the benefits of the Internet or how they might use it," Breeden said. The Department of Commerce oversees the BTOP program though its National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which received $4.7 billion for broadband connectivity in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). NTIA's program specifically mentions libraries as entities eligible for funding, and the ALA has been encouraging libraries to explore their eligibility. (There also is a broadband program called the Rural Utilities Service within the Department of Agriculture for which libraries are eligible.) The BTOP program itself only received about $450 million of the NTIA program's funding. "I like to say we are 10 percent of the funding and 90 percent of the heartwarming stories," Breeden said.
benton.org/node/80588 | Library Journal
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ACCESSIBILITY
DISABILITIES, TECH AND EMPLOYMENT
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Rachael King]
Companies and advocacy groups are stepping up efforts to provide jobs for the rising number of unemployed people with disabilities. Even as the disabled workforce shrank by 423,000 to about 4.9 million in the two years through May, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities increased to 15.6 percent from 13.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which began tracking the data in June 2008. The unemployment rate for people with no disabilities dropped to 8.5 percent from 8.9 percent in that same period. When it comes to taking on people with issues such as vision or hearing loss, one challenge is that hiring managers may not understand what tools they'll need to work productively.
benton.org/node/80641 | Bloomberg | Bloomberg -- iPad
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TELEVISION
POLITICAL COVERAGE ON LOCAL TV
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Jason Salzman]
[Commentary] If you watch local TV news in different cities around the country, and I'm not suggesting you do so, you see that a small number of stations have political beat reporters, but most do not. Why? "Most stations where politics is a beat with dedicated reporter happen to be in places where politics is part of the culture," says Deborah Potter, who writes about television news for the American Journalism Review. "So stations in Des Moines, for example, Chicago, New Hampshire, New Orleans, places where politics is what makes the world go round." James Pindell, the political beat reporter for WMUR-TV in New Hampshire told me that's exactly why he's covering politics there. "My station is crazy about politics," he says. "It's the state sport. We spend a lot of time on politics. It's very much based on market." Pindell, who's on the board of the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, could not explain why a station in a place like Denver would cover politics so closely. Potter said a local TV news beat may be driven by the "passion of an individual reporter." "Unless you have some kind of huge story involving a particular person and particular issue are you ever going to say that's something that will get more people to watch," said 9News News Director Patti Dennis. "It's about being responsible. It's about all the things I believe a media organization is responsible for."
benton.org/node/80625 | Huffington Post, The
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JOURNALISM
INNOVATION AND NONPROFIT NEWS
[SOURCE: NetNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Michael Depp]
Nonprofit news sites, which have been turning out award-winning, in-depth reporting in markets across the U.S. in the last decade, have scratched out a growing niche within the Web news ecosystem. Some, such as ProPublica, have barreled into mainstream newsreaders’ consciousness, notching front page space in the likes of The New York Times and capturing Pulitzer Prizes along the way (ProPublica earned its second Pulitzer, for exposing how self-enriching Wall Street bankers helped worsen the nation’s financial crisis, earlier this year). Many others, such as The Voice of San Diego, have caught national attention by earning their investigative bona fides in local markets (the Voice picked up an award from Investigative Reporters and Editors for its exposure of misuse of city funds). These nonprofit sites have fast earned a reputation for hard-hitting, public interest reporting that digs deeper than many of their legacy media competitors (many of whom form content-sharing partnerships with them to enjoy some of their reportorial luster). But unlike ProPublica, which subsists on funding from billionaire mortgage bankers Herbert and Marion Sandler, most nonprofits, such as the Texas Tribune, have turned to innovative revenue streams to stay alive. Some produce content with syndication deals as their end game; others invest in student training programs and user membership schemes; most seek out legacy media partnerships for a kind of news symbiosis. All are learning one elemental rule: Even in the world of nonprofit news, you need to think entrepreneurially to survive.
benton.org/node/80598 | NetNewsCheck
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CONTENT
LETTER ON PROTECT IP ACT
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
A proposed anti-piracy bill pending in the Senate could make it difficult for online advertisers and credit card companies to continue doing business on the Web, warns a group of law professors. The Protect IP Act (S. 968), which recently cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, is aimed at sites "dedicated to infringing activities." The measure enables the Department of Justice to obtain orders prohibiting Internet service providers from putting through traffic to those sites' URLs. (Web users could still reach the sites by typing in their numerical addresses.) The Protect IP Act also provides for court orders forcing Google, Bing and other search engines to stop returning certain results. In addition, the proposed law would require credit-card companies and advertisers to stop doing business with sites that content owners allege are dedicated to infringement.
"Giving this enormous new power not just to the government but to any copyright and trademark owner would not only disrupt the operations of the allegedly infringing Web site without a final judgment of wrongdoing, but would make it extraordinarily difficult for advertisers and credit-card companies to do business on the Internet," the academics allege in a letter drafted by professors Mark Lemley of Stanford, David Levine of Elon and David Post of Temple.
benton.org/node/80634 | MediaPost
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POLICYMAKERS/AGENDA
FCC AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
On July 12, the Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting. The FCC will consider:
A Notice of Proposed Rule Making seeking comment on the impact of the Local Community Radio Act on the future licensing of low power FM and FM
translator stations.
A Notice of Proposed Rule Making designed to empower consumers to prevent and detect unauthorized telephone bill charges (“mystery fees” or “cramming”) by improving the disclosure of third-party charges on telephone bills.
A Report and Order enabling a more effective emergency response system by ensuring that 911 call centers continue to receive precise wireless E911 location information and a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to improve E911 location accuracy and reliability for existing and new voice communications technologies, including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
benton.org/node/80630 | Federal Communications Commission
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