September 2011

Does blocking AT&T’s merger hurt the future of mobile broadband?

[Commentary] Regulators face a quandary. They can preserve choice and competition in the wireless market by banning any future operator mergers, but then they risk saddling consumers with mediocre networks. Or they can allow consolidation, creating the massive networks the Administration so craves. But then regulators would risk creating an elite cadre of mega-operators that could use their new economies of scale and pricing power to maximize profits instead of fueling the mobile broadband revolution they were supposed to birth. Opposing the AT&T-T-Mobile merger seems like a no-brainer to most, but the reality is much more complex.

Google Goes Big With Its Hulu Bid

Hulu’s corporate owners are currently mulling bids from three would-be buyers: Amazon, Yahoo, and the Dish Network. And then there’s Google.

The search giant has also made an offer for the video site, but it seems to be playing a different sport than the rest of its peers: Rather than bid on what Hulu’s owners have offered for sale, Google has proposed a different acquisition, on a larger scale. Yahoo, Amazon and Dish are all expected to offer between $1.5 billion and $2 billion for Hulu, in exchange for the free video site, its subscription service and the rights to exclusive content for at least two years. Google seems to want something much more than that, and is willing to pay much more to get it. If you want to speculate, you could imagine Google asking for access to more content, for a longer period of time, and perhaps offering up a couple billion dollars more.

Telcos to FCC: 706 Report Should Conclude Reasonable/Timely Broadband Rollout

Phone companies told the Federal Communications Commission that they thought broadband was being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner, and said the FCC should think so, too.

That came in comments on the FCC's upcoming eighth annual 706 report on broadband deployment. Last spring, the FCC released its seventh 706 report on broadband deployment, saying for the second time in a row that it was not being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner and pointing to its figures that over 20 million people did not have access to high-speed broadband and over 100 million did not subscribe, saying both were signs of failure to meet the deployment standard. The report did say progress had been made, but not enough. A failing grade allows the FCC to take steps to advance that deployment, which it is pushing as key to public participation in the digital future. In comments phone companies argue that the results of that collection should be different from the previous report.

Government Must Reveal Cellphone Tracking, Court Rules

The federal government must release information about how and when it uses cellphone data to track criminal suspects, a US appeals court ruled, saying the public's interest outweighs any privacy concerns, CNN reports.

The American Civil Liberties Union declared victory in the decision, one of several involving technology such as GPS that can be used to track the movements of people using smartphones, laptop computers and other devices. "The disclosure sought by the plaintiffs would inform this ongoing public policy discussion by shedding light on the scope and effectiveness of cellphone tracking as a law enforcement tool," the three-judge District of Columbia panel said in a 35-page ruling. "It would, for example, provide information about the kinds of crimes the government uses cell phone tracking data to investigate."

In A Post-9/11 World, TV Is Still King

[Commentary] So while we supposedly live in a post-9/11 world, we actually live -- still -- in a post-JFK world. Ever since the Kennedy assassination, and despite the rise of competing media, television has been our primary source for information in a crisis. And the coming days will prove it again: we'll soon be awash in 9/11 retrospectives, but almost certainly nothing will surpass the power of the ones we see on our television screens.

FCC's Copps at News Literacy Project Kickoff

On September 6, Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps delivered remarks at the News Literacy Project (NLP) launch of its Washington (DC) expansion at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School.

NLP brings seasoned journalists into middle school and high school classrooms, where they give students the critical-thinking tools to appreciate the value of quality news coverage and to encourage them to consume and create credible information across all media and platforms. At E.L. Haynes, one of Washington’s most highly regarded charter schools, NLP will work with teacher Eliza Ford to introduce the project’s original curriculum to two eighth-grade classes and about 50 students. Commissioner Copps called it a "big deal" because it brings something really important to the school, and it’s big because "it’s something important for this democracy of ours -- important to each of us as citizens and as decisionmakers for the future of our nation."

Iranian Internet users were victim to spying: report

About 300,000 Internet users in Iran have been spied on last month by one or several hackers who stole security certificates from a Dutch IT firm, a report presented by the Dutch government said.

Using a stolen certificate the hacker, or hackers, monitored people who visited Google.com, could steal their passwords and could obtain access to other services such as Facebook and Twitter, said Dutch IT firm Fox-IT, which wrote the report. A certificate guarantees that a web surfer is securely connected but a stolen certificate enables a hacker to pretend a web surfer is securely connected to a website without the surfer knowing he is being monitored.

Finland to Review Mobile Operator License Conditions

The Finnish government has started a consultation on reform of the country's various communications regulations, and the mobile operator licenses. The purpose of the reforms is to eliminate overlapping and to make content of regulations more concise and up-to-date.

"Approximately ten laws will be gathered to form an information society arc. In part, this work will consist of transferring technical sections and moments. However, the most important objective is to ensure functional communications markets," Kaisa Kiuru, Finland's Minister of Housing and Communications stated. The law reform will take several years to complete.

Baidu prepares mobile operating system

Baidu, China’s largest online search company, took the first step towards launching a mobile operating system as it seeks to extend its dominant position in the Chinese market to the growing mobile phone segment. The company announced a software platform, Baidu Yi (meaning ‘easy’), which allows consumers fast and easy use of search-related functions on mobile devices. The current version of the system is based on Google’s Android open source software, but “it is possible that we [will] launch our own operating system in the future,” said Wang Jing, vice-president.

Sprint Files Suit to Block Proposed AT&T and T-Mobile Transaction

Sprint Nextel brought suit against AT&T, AT&T Mobility, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile seeking to block the proposed acquisition as a violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the District of Columbia as a related case to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) suit against the proposed acquisition. Sprint’s lawsuit focuses on the competitive and consumer harms which would result from a takeover of T-Mobile by AT&T.

The proposed takeover would:

Harm retail consumers and corporate customers by causing higher prices and less innovation.
Entrench the duopoly control of AT&T and Verizon, the two "Ma Bell" descendants, of the almost one-quarter of a trillion dollar wireless market. As a result of the transaction, AT&T and Verizon would control more than three-quarters of that market and 90 percent of the profits.
Harm Sprint and the other independent wireless carriers. If the transaction were to be allowed, a combined AT&T and T-Mobile would have the ability to use its control over backhaul, roaming and spectrum, and its increased market position to exclude competitors, raise their costs, restrict their access to handsets, damage their businesses and ultimately to lessen competition.

Benton

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