February 2013

Broadband Breakfast Club: FCC’s Mobile Broadband Agenda

Ruth Milkman, chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, took the opportunity in a recent speech to discuss the concept of “more” within the context of the FCC’s mobile broadband agenda – the FCC’s focus on getting more broadband to more people in more places – while continuing to foster a robust, competitive marketplace. Recent data suggests that wireless data consumption will grow 9-fold over the next four years. The FCC is working hard to meet the spectrum challenges this growth presents.

[The full text of Chief Milkman’s speech and slides (which include some compelling data), as presented at a Broadband Breakfast Club event hosted by BroadbandBreakfast.com on Tuesday February 19, 2013, are at the link below.]

GM to Wire Cars With 4G, Putting Web in Dashboard

General Motors is escalating the battle over in-car connectivity with a plan to transform its vehicles into virtual smartphones armed with the fastest data speeds in the market.

The auto maker will begin wiring its 2014 models sold in the U.S. and Canada with 4G mobile broadband technology, one of the first auto makers to do so. A vehicle owner would select a subscription package and connect to the Internet or WiFi at speeds that are 10 times faster than current market offerings. The 4G feature will be offered across GM's Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel and Vauxhall brands. The feature could usher in a slew of new options for the vehicle's center console screen and for video viewers in the backseat.

New York Officers Who Interfere With Airwaves Face Punishment

The police radio is an officer’s lifeline to the rest of the patrol force. A hoarsely shouted call for a 10-13, code for an officer needing assistance, will summon waves of uniformed backup. But police officers have occasionally turned to the radio for more sophomoric pursuits, using it to heckle fellow officers and commanders.

There are officers who will whistle or quack like a duck to show their disdain for whoever preceded them on the airwaves. But the more common expression of disapproval, within the New York Police Department, involves a practice known as “keying the microphone,” or “stepping on someone” — essentially tying up the channel by repeatedly pressing the talk button. It is a dangerous practice that could unintentionally silence an officer’s sudden call for help. The threat of punishment has not deterred everyone.

Telecom CEOs: US regulators better than Europe

The CEOs of AT&T, Vodafone and Telefonica — three of the world's largest cellphone companies — had some rare words of praise for U.S. regulators, saying they're doing better than their European counterparts in promoting faster wireless data networks.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told an audience at Mobile World Congress, the world's largest cellphone trade show, that the U.S. government's practice of selling phone companies large swathes of space of the airwaves for perpetual use was helping encourage companies, including AT&T, to build out large networks using the latest "LTE" technology. By contrast, many European countries lease out space on their airwaves for eight- to 15-year terms. The perpetual licenses in the U.S. gives phone companies the incentive to invest, Stephenson said. The large, contiguous slices of spectrum the U.S. sold in its latest auctions make it easy to build fast networks, he added.

Europe Carriers Said to Prepare Demand for More M&A Freedom

Europe’s telecommunications companies are preparing to ask the European Commission to allow more mergers within individual countries in exchange for their backing for the regulator’s push to develop a regional market, according to people familiar with the matter.

The European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association, which represents 37 carriers, plans to submit a proposal to the European Union’s Brussels-based executive arm in the coming weeks that outlines the need to reduce fragmentation in fixed-line and wireless markets, said the people, asking not to be identified because the plan is private. ETNO, also based in Brussels, is of the view that three national wireless network operators and two fixed-line carriers are the maximum that domestic markets can sustain in the long term, the people said. The group is working on hiring an external consulting firm to help operators make their case, they said.

Mobile operators challenge Google and Apple

Eighteen of the world’s largest mobile operators from Telefónica to China Unicom have backed a new mobile operating system from Mozilla Firefox aimed at eroding Apple and Google’s smartphone dominance.

A number of key manufacturers of handsets have also committed to produce the first Firefox phones, including LG, ZTE and Alcatel One Touch. These will supply Telefónica, for example, which will begin selling the devices in Brazil, Colombia, Spain and Venezuela by the middle of this year. Further launches are planned in Europe and Latin America in late 2013 and 2014. Paul Jacobs, chief executive of Qualcomm which supplied the chips for the new devices, said the new platform was targeted at cheaper, high-volume production. This, combined with the operators’ plans to launch the phone in mostly emerging markets this year, suggests the new alliance is not seeking to topple Apple’s App Store and Google Play in the US and western Europe, rather prevent a similar situation as consumers in emerging markets trade up to low-end smartphones.

Watchdog eyes wholesale data price cuts

Ofcom, the UK’s telecoms watchdog has found that BT Group’s high speed network has “significant market power” in the £2 billionn a year wholesale data market and proposed swinging price cuts.

Ofcom said prices charged by wholesale data network providers – covering speeds above 1 gigabyte per second – to rivals to rent their superfast data networks, a market dominated by BT, should be cut by 11 per cent below inflation a year for the next three years. Ofcom said that cuts to these charges outside of London would lower the cost of data use for businesses, and ultimately flow through to consumers. Ofcom said the price of BT’s high-bandwidth wholesale leased line services should be capped in all areas around the UK, with the exception of London and Hull. London should be excluded from the caps due to heightened competition in the capital, whilst Hull’s telecoms systems are provided by KCom Group. But BT rejected the watchdog’s proposals, and suggested that the price curbs that are already in place were sufficient.

Songwriters, Playwrights Side With Authors Guild Against Google

Organizations representing songwriters, illustrators, playwrights and other writers are asking a federal appeals court to uphold an order allowing the Authors Guild to bring a class-action against Google for its book digitization project. The groups say in a friend-of-the-court brief that a class-action lawsuit is the only realistic means for many content creators to enforce their copyrights when their works are digitized without permission.

The organizations add that a ruling denying the Authors Guild class-action status could "encourage technology providers to simply take first, and worry about the consequences later." The coalition argues: "Without the ability to aggregate their claims against infringing technology providers, [we] fear that the exclusive rights that the copyright act promises will be illusory to all except the largest and best-heeled copyright owners." The groups to join in the friend-of-the-court brief include the Dramatists Guild, National Writers' Union, Romance Writers of America, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Songwriters Guild of America, and the Text and Academic Authors Association. They are asking the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold an order entered last year by U.S. Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin, who rejected Google's contention that copyright infringement requires case-by-case evaluation.

Power grid is vulnerable to cyber and physical attack

The National Research Council recently issued a 168-page report -- "Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System." It found the system to be highly vulnerable for two reasons.

Number one: The system is physically vulnerable, particularly the system's large high voltage transformers. Granger Morgan is one of the authors of the report. He says many of these transformers are at facilities in wide open spaces. "So a small number of people who knew what they were doing could do very large and very disruptive damage to the system." Repairing broken transformers could leave large numbers of people without power for weeks or even months.
The second vulnerability is to cyber attacks. "All the hype is about cyber attack," says Morgan. "But physical attacks can take the system down for weeks or months and it's almost impossible to see how you do that with cyber attack."

FCC Urged To Delay Ownership Review

Minority Media and Telecommunications Council President David Honig is recommending that the Federal Communications Commission put off a decision on whether to rein in broadcast joint sales agreements (JSAs) until at least 2014.

Under a controversial agency proposal said to be backed by the FCC’s Democratic majority, JSAs for which more than 15% of the advertising time is sold by the dominant station would have to be unwound within two years or the stations counted as jointly owned. Broadcasters say that the proposal, which is included in the agency’s long-pending media regulation review, could have a devastatingly negative impact on their operations. Honig wants the FCC postpone action on the JSA issue to reduce the heat being generated over the agency’s media ownership rule package. “It’s just to keep the thing less contentious than it already is,” Honig said. Honig also said the MMTC is planning to formally ask the FCC — perhaps as soon as Feb 25 — to hold off on a vote on its media ownership review proposals for at least a couple of months, while an MMTC-sponsored study looks into what impact FCC crossownership rules have on minority ownership. Honig said he had no idea what the study — which would be overseen by Mark Fratrik, VP for research at BIA Kelsey — would find, but could serve as the basis for FCC action.

Benton

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