August 2011

Additional Questions About Lifeline/LinkUp

Based on the current record in its Lifeline/LinkUp proceeding, the Federal Communications Commission has identified four issues in particular that merit further inquiry: designing and implementing a Lifeline/Link Up broadband pilot program to evaluate whether and how Lifeline/Link Up can effectively support broadband adoption by low-income households; limiting the availability of Lifeline support to one discount per residential address; revising the definition of Link Up service, as well as the possible reduction of the $30 reimbursement amount for Link Up support; and improving methods for verifying continued eligibility for the program. The FCC seeks further comment focused on these areas.

Comments are due August 26; reply comments are due September 2.

2011 E-Rate Capped at $2.29 Billion

The E-rate program funding cap for funding year 2011 is $2,290,682,250.

The FCC’s rules require an adjustment of the E-rate program’s annual cap based on the gross domestic product chain-type price index (GPD-CPI) measure of inflation. The new cap represents a 0.9% inflation-adjusted increase from funding year 2010’s $2,270,250,000 cap. The FCC began indexing the annual funding cap to inflation in 2010 to allow the E-rate program to keep pace with the changing telecommunications needs of schools and libraries

FCC's Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has appointed members to the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council.

The members represent a mix of viewpoints from public safety organizations; Federal, state and local government agencies; the communications industry; organizations representing Internet users; utility companies; public interest organizations; and other experts. Chairman Genachowski has designated Glen F. Post III of CenturyLink as Chair of the Council. The Council is a Federal Advisory Committee that will provide recommendations to the FCC regarding best practices and actions the Commission can take to ensure the security, reliability, and interoperability of communications systems.

On March 18, 2011, pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the FCC renewed the CSRIC charter for a period of two years, through March 18, 2013.5 Under the charter, CSRIC’s duties may include:

Developing and recommending best practices and actions the FCC can take that promote reliable 9-1-1, E9-1-1, and Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) service.
Determining and making recommendations on whether and how NG9-1-1 can be extended to other N-1-1 services to ensure their reliability and cost-effective deployment.
Identifying and recommending to the FCC a set of best practices to make communications networks, including broadband networks and VoIP systems, more secure, resilient, and defendable from Internet-based attacks.
Developing recommendations for actions the FCC could consider to promote the development of a broadband-based, next generation alerting system that leverages advanced technologies and the Internet, including social media platforms, to distribute emergency alerts and warnings to the public.
Identifying and recommending to the FCC actions to improve the functioning of the national security/emergency preparedness priority services programs: Government Emergency Telecommunications Service; Telecommunications Service Priority; and Wireless Priority Service.
Making recommendations with respect to such additional topics as the FCC may specify.

Members:

Dr. Edward Amoroso, AT&T
Robert Azzi, Sprint Nextel Corp.
Donna Bethea-Murphy, Iridium Satellite LLC
Bill Buchholtz, Texas 9-1-1 Alliance
Uma Chandrashekhar, Telecommunications Industry Association
Lynn Claudy, National Association of Broadcasters
Doug Davis, Hypercube Telecom, LLC
Timothy Defoggi, Indian Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Jack Doane, National Association of State Chief Information Officers
Donna F. Dodson, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Craig Donaldson, Intrado
Dr. Brian K. Done, Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, U.S. Department
of Homeland Security
Dr. Stuart Elby, Verizon Communications
Andy Ellis, Akamai Technologies
Chris Fischer, North East King County (WA) Regional Public Safety Communication Agency
Laurie Flaherty, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, U.S. Department
of Transportation
Dr. Brian Fontes, National Emergency Number Association
James Fowler, NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications
Barry Lee Greene, Internet Systems Consortium
Brenton Greene, Telcordia Technologies
Thomas Hanson, Charlottesville (VA) Regional Emergency Communications Center
Hon. Maureen Harris, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
Jennifer Hightower, Cox Communications
Christian Hillabrant, T-Mobile USA
Christopher Homer, DIRECTV
Brett E. Jenkins, ION Media Networks
Rodney Joffe, NeuStar, Inc.
Brett Kilbourne, Utilities Telecommunications Council
Elisa Kim, E911 Institute
Stephen Malphrus, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
Danny McPherson, Verisign
Susan Miller, Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions
Brian Oliger, WTOP Radio, Washington, DC
Michael O’Reirdan, Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group
Alan Paller, The SANS Institute
Damon Penn, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Jacqueline Randall, State of Washington E911 Program Office
Rod Rasmussen, Internet Identity
José Luis Rodriguez, Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network
Robert Ross, CBS Broadcasting Inc.
William Sagel, Major County Sheriffs Association
Stephen Schmidt, Amazon.com
Richard Shockey, SIP Forum
Bill Smith, PayPal
Dr. Dorothy A. Spears-Dean, Virginia Information Technologies Agency
Craig Spiezle, Online Trust Alliance
Maurice Tosé, TeleCommunication Systems, Inc.
Daniel A. Traynor, Tennessee Valley Authority
Dr. Christian Vogler, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access
John P. Wick, Jr., Syniverse Technologies
Steven Wisely, APCO International
Karen Wong, California Technology Agency

30% Of U.S. Homes Have Net-Connected TV Device

Internet-connected TV sets are slowly growing -- now representing just 10% of all TV sets in U.S. TV homes -- with video game consoles the biggest Web-connect TV devices. Research from the Leichtman Research Group says 23% of U.S. TV homes have video game consoles that can get Internet video. Overall, it says 30% of U.S. TV homes at least one Net-connected TV device.

How The BBC Is Quietly, Confidently Shaping The Future Of TV

The BBC launched a whole new version of its iPlayer app, destined for connected televisions that sport an Internet connection. In essence this means the BBC has taken its TV content online, added on-demand features, advanced search powers, playability on multiple platforms both mobile and static, and then fed all of its lessons back into an app...for TVs.

The new BBC iPlayer app for TVs is aimed at those Netizens who've also bought a Net-connected TV because they like the interactivity, social networking, TV on-demand, email, weather reports and everything else that a "normal" TV can't offer. This is actually an enhancement of a system the BBC trialed on Virgin TV set-top-boxes back in 2008, with the new system being aimed at many more consumers and bringing a radically overhauled user experience with it. The result is a lot like navigating a terrestrial or cable-connected TV, in fact, with the ability to flip channels between the various BBC offerings for TV and radio, the option to narrow content down by category or featured content, and the list of favorites you've built.

The Cable TV Access Crisis

[Commentary] The public-access crisis in California was brought about by the 2006 passage of the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act (DIVCA), a bill that was heavily lobbied for by Comcast and AT&T.

According to the telecommunications industry, DIVCA was supposed to create jobs, increase competition and serve the public interest. Its actual effect was the exact opposite — cable companies eliminated jobs and ultimately faced less competition from the defunding of community television stations. As of 2009, similar bills had been passed in 25 states, with similar results. Since the mid-2000s, more than 100 PEG stations across the country have disappeared; cities like San Francisco and Seattle have cut as much as 85 percent of the PEG operations budget. City funding for public access has been entirely eliminated in Denver and Dallas; at least 45 such stations have closed in California since 2006-12 in Los Angeles, the nation's No. 3 media market, alone. As many as 400 PEG stations in Wisconsin, Florida, Missouri, Iowa, Georgia and Ohio are facing extinction as well. Moreover, according to a 2010 study by the Benton Foundation, these cuts have disproportionately affected minority communities. Adding insult to injury, AT&T and other cable providers have employed what's known as "channel-slamming": listing all public-access channels on a single channel or making them accessible only in submenus, which makes finding them difficult for viewers.

Lack of Innovation in LTE Pricing Models, Report Finds

Operators that offer high-speed mobile broadband technology LTE are failing to deliver innovative pricing models, according to Ovum. In a new report, the telecoms analyst firm claims that there is a lack of new and innovative LTE tariffs, which is a missed opportunity for operators given that LTE is a new service in the eyes of consumers.

Nicole McCormick, Ovum senior analyst and author of the report, commented: "We looked at the LTE pricing strategies of operators in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the US, and were disappointed with our findings. "LTE provides operators with the opportunity to experiment with new and innovative pricing models, which allows them to find the best way of deriving revenues from the premium service. "However, most operators have not grasped this opportunity. Instead, LTE tariffs in the regions Ovum analyzed are dominated by unlimited offerings and large data buckets, which can be problematic." According to the report, unlimited data plans for LTE can present significant problems for operators, especially if they are accompanied by a lenient fair usage policy.

Conservatives vs. Good Journalism: The Continued Contamination of The Washington Post

[Commentary] In last week’s column I examined the transparent attempt by conservative Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin to try to exploit her own false assumptions about the alleged Islamic identity of the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik to push a bigger budget for the Pentagon and The Post’s willingness to allow her ill-informed speculation/accusation to stand for a 24-hour period. The controversy has now expanded into Post Ombudsman Patrick B. Pexton’s column. In it, Pexton, while attempting to offer some context for the incident, ends up simply throwing up his hands and saying, in effect: “Conservative ‘opinion’ does not need to be true; it does not need to adhere to the traditional journalistic standards of this or any other conservative newspaper. It merely needs to keep conservatives happy.” Pexton’s defense of Rubin represents yet another step in the inexorable decline of a no-longer-great newspaper, under pressure not only from the collapse of its business model and reliance on the shady business practices of its parent company, but also its inability to stand up to conservative pressure groups seeking to “work the refs” and, in the process, undermine careful, truthful journalism.

AT&T Cracks Down on Free Tethering and Hotspots

AT&T is putting the boot down on customers who tether their smartphones or turn them into Wi-Fi hotspots without paying extra for the service.

9to5Mac heard from several readers who are being kicked off their unlimited data plans for using free tethering apps such as MiWi for jailbroken iPhones or PDANet for Android handsets. AT&T is reportedly sending notices to these customers, informing them their plans will switch automatically to a $45 per month DataPro plan on August 11. The carrier discontinued its $30 unlimited data plan last summer, but allowed existing subscribers to be grandfathered in. An AT&T representative wouldn't confirm the hard cut-off date to 9to5Mac, but did acknowledge that it's now cracking down on free tethering. The carrier started sending ultimatums to customers earlier this year, but with a lovely passive-aggressive tone. ("We've noticed your service plan may need updating," the letters began.) AT&T isn't the only carrier that's taking a hard stance against free tethering. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and AT&T have all strong-armed Google into hiding free tethering apps from the Android Market--but only on smartphones sold by those carriers.

T-Mobile "Direct Carrier Billing" Program Could Leave Consumers Vulnerable

Earlier this month, T-Mobile announced that it will soon launch a new service that will enable its customers to purchase digital content using their smartphone, PC, or tablet and bill it to their phone accounts. T-Mobile's announcement is just the latest development in emerging mobile payment services that raises concerns about whether consumers will be protected from fraud or merchant mistakes, according to Consumers Union.

According to T-Mobile, its "Direct Carrier Billing" service will enable customers to make purchases without "the need to manually enter credit card information." Instead, these purchases will appear on their monthly T-Mobile bill. Unfortunately, mobile payment charges that appear directly on a customer's cell phone bill don't enjoy the same statutory protections consumers currently get when making payments using a credit card or debit card. Federal law currently offers protection to consumers in the event that their credit card or debit card is lost, stolen or misused. Credit cards provide the strongest protections that help limit a consumer's liability, while debit cards provide some, but not all, of these protections. If mobile payment transactions are linked to credit cards or debit cards, then consumers are entitled to the same guaranteed federal protections that apply when a credit card or debit card is used directly in a transaction. Mobile charges linked to other forms of payment don't enjoy any of these legal protections. If the mobile payment charge appears on the customer's cell phone bill, the product might escape consumer protections entirely unless the contract provides them. Consumers Union's review of T-Mobile's current customer contract found that those protections were lacking.

Benton

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