March 2014

INTERNET/BROADBAND

COMCAST EXTENDS NATIONAL BROADBAND ADOPTION PROGRAM FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES
[SOURCE: Comcast, AUTHOR: Press release]
Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen announced the company will continue Internet Essentials indefinitely -- beyond its initial three-year commitment. Internet Essentials is Comcast’s broadband adoption program for low-income families. The company also announced more than $1 million in grants to dozens of non-profit organizations across the country to create Internet Essentials Learning Zones. The grants are part of a multi-faceted Gold Medal Recognition Program for communities that have done the most to help close the digital divide. These networks of non-profit partners will work together to enhance public Internet access and increase family-focused digital literacy training. They will be established in communities in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Fresno, Miami, and Seattle, among others. In addition to the grants, Internet Essentials-eligible families in the Gold Medal-recognized communities who are not currently customers can receive six months of complimentary Internet service if they apply and are approved for the program by March 18th, 2014. benton.org/node/175731 | Comcast | Revere Digital | Multichannel News | AdWeek
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THE ESSENTIALS OF CONNECTIVITY
[SOURCE: Comcast, AUTHOR: John Horrigan]
This report explores how homes that have recently signed up for Comcast’s Internet Essentials service travel the path to becoming engaged online users. It does this in a unique way: an in-depth survey of 1,969 Comcast IE users who signed up for the service in the latter part of 2013. The survey found that the population of IE customers is relatively poorer, more Latino, more female, and somewhat better educated than the population at-large without broadband at home. Top research findings include:
Institutions are important drivers in encouraging non-broadband users to adopt broadband.
98% of families said they signed up for Internet Essentials because their kids needed it for school.
83% said their child’s school expected that students have online access at home.
Training makes a difference in how people engage with the Internet.
48% say the most helpful way to learn new things is to teach themselves through reading or online videos.
29% took advantage of in-person or online training resources and these users are more likely to say the Internet helps their kids with school work, how they access government services, and look for or apply for jobs.
Broadband adoption programs are an important resource for economic advancement.
62% said they needed Internet service to look for or apply for jobs.
57% said the Internet helped them “a lot” or “somewhat” for job searches.
[Horrigan is head of research for the FCC’s National Broadband Plan and a former research director with Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project]
benton.org/node/175730 | Comcast
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TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONS PROGRESS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Julie Veach]
In January, the Federal Communications Commission’s unanimously adopted Technology Transitions Order kick-started the process for a diverse set of experiments and data collection initiatives focused on how consumers are affected by the historic technology transitions that are transforming our nation’s communications networks. Just one month later, providers and members of the public are accepting the FCC’s invitation to participate in that process. For example, AT&T filed a proposal for service-based experiments that would explore the transitions to wireline and wireless Internet Protocol-based services in its wire centers in Carbon Hill (AL) and the other in West Delray Beach (FL). The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau then issued a Public Notice seeking public comment on AT&T’s proposal. The Bureau sought comment on a service-based proposal filed by another entity, Iowa Network Services. There also is much enthusiasm around the targeted rural broadband experiments that the Technology Transitions Order authorized.
[Veach is Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau]
benton.org/node/176198 | Federal Communications Commission
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DRONES VS BALLOONS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Rolfe Winkler]
Facebook is in advanced discussions to buy Titan Aerospace , a New Mexico-based maker of solar-powered drones, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Titan’s drones, which are still in development, are expected to be able to remain in flight 12 miles high for up to five years, offering a potential solution for beaming broadband to areas that don’t have it. A deal could further Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to connect more of the world. Google has its own plan to beam Internet from high up in the earth’s atmosphere, using balloons that would float in the stratosphere. The balloons are part of Project Loon, which is being developed by Google’s skunk works lab, Google X. Google also has another initiative, Project Link, building fiber optic networks to help local Internet service providers deliver faster connection speeds. The first test of the Project was launched in Kampala, Uganda. Use of high-altitude aircraft, whether balloons or drones, can work as a method to deliver Internet service, said Patrick Egan, a former flight officer for the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. He says tests performed by the military have demonstrated as much. But there are big technical hurdles to overcome. High-altitude balloons can navigate the atmosphere by riding different parts of the jet stream. But ground-based pilots have to vent gas to steer them, and that gas can’t be recaptured, limiting the amount of movement, Egan said. Drone aircraft, meanwhile, have to be very light to stay in the air for long periods, limiting their payloads. They must also avoid turbulence that can cause wear and tear.
benton.org/node/176197 | Wall Street Journal
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

SPRINT CHAIRMAN SEEKS US PUBLIC SUPPORT ON T-MOBILE DEAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mayumi Negishi]
Masayoshi Son, the head of SoftBank and chairman of Sprint, doesn’t take no for an answer without a fight. US antitrust officials have made statements both in private and in public opposing Sprint’s plans to acquire smaller rival T-Mobile US. But the indefatigable Son now plans to appeal directly to the US business community and policy makers to convince them that consolidation in the US telecommunications industry would be a good thing, according to a person familiar with the matter. Son plans to make a presentation to the Chamber of Commerce in Washington on March 11 on the state of America’s wireless industry, global competition, and on the role played by ultra-fast wireless broadband in driving innovation, commerce and education, according to an e-mail invitation. “Every time I make a business trip to the US, I am reminded how terrible connections are there,” said Son. “The US has one of the world’s highest mobile fees,” and the principles of competition aren’t working, he said. AT&T and Verizon Wireless command more than two-thirds of the US industry’s customers and take in nearly all of its profits.
benton.org/node/175724 | Wall Street Journal | BusinessWeek
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SOFTBANK’S INVESTMENT IN SPRINT MAY HAVE BEEN A BAD BET ON CONSOLIDATION
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Colin Gibbs]
[Commentary] Masayoshi Son continues to lobby both the US business community and regulators aggressively to convince them that further consolidation among mobile carriers would be good for competition. Son is right that Verizon and AT&T continue to dominate the market, and Sprint certainly faces some big challenges if it is to develop a world-class LTE network that would help even the playing field. But regulators are clearly doubtful that any merger between the two smaller tier-one carriers would be a good thing for consumers, and I believe T-Mobile’s recent series of successfully disruptive moves has proven that a lesser carrier can be a formidable challenger. Son’s persistence indicates SoftBank’s investment in Sprint may have been based on an assumption of a merger between the two US operators. If that’s the case, it may prove to be a costly mistake.
benton.org/node/175741 | GigaOm
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TELEVISION

PAY-TV'S 'REFORM' GAMEMANSHIP BAD PLAY FOR RURAL AMERICA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jess Peterson]
[Commentary] US ranchers, farmers and residents across rural America depend on reliable and continual access to broadcast television news and programs. Access is critical to maintain connection with not only the greater international and national scope of news and information, but also local and regional news outlets. From weather and agriculture reports to major news and sports, local TV is at home on the range and on the farm. Members of the US Cattlemen’s Association value broadcast TV and support the efforts by local TV stations to receive fair compensation from the cable and satellite companies. The large cable and satellite companies maintain strong profit margins by packaging free local TV with cable programs and retransmitting it as a component of their paid for TV packages. Like any producer in a supply chain, it makes sense that these local TV stations be properly compensated for their services. Maintaining the “retransmission consent” provision secures funding for the local news and public affairs programming upon which so many of our rural citizens rely. Local TV connects America, plain and simple. Often times it’s the sole communications infrastructure connecting rural and urban communities. High-speed broadband and wireless cell phone coverage is still very limited in rural America. Local TV remains a steady, easy and accessible source for agriculture news, markets, and emergency communications regarding fires, flood and weather. Congressional action that undercuts the value of the production chain is never the right course of action. [Peterson is executive vice president of the US Cattlemen’s Association]
benton.org/node/175726 | Hill, The | B&C
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CONTENT

COMCAST DEAL WON’T HARM NETFLIX’S BUSINESS MODEL
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Jeff Baumgartner]
While acknowledging that Netflix’s new transit deal with Comcast will result in some new incremental costs, those costs won’t be enough to alter the video streaming giant’s economic models, Netflix CFO David Well said. He said it was important for Netflix to do the deal because it ensured that Netflix subscribers who get broadband from Comcast will get a good experience over the long-term, noting that there were “some choke points around peak usage times” before Netflix inked the deal. “I think we’re somewhat caught in the middle in terms of being very oriented towards a long-term subscriber high quality of experience, and protecting the innovation on that front, down the road in terms of HD and other high quality high bandwidth uses of entertainment, but being mindful of the environment we’re in today,” he said. The Comcast deal “is an acknowledgment here that not all ISPs are created equally,” Well said. “We’re not going to be interested in doing something that’s going to meaningfully change the economics for us on that, but we are interest in doing things that, for the right set of economics, improve that subscriber experience long-term.”
benton.org/node/175725 | Multichannel News
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ELLEN'S OSCAR CELEB SELFIE A LANDMARK MEDIA MOMENT
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Bauder]
Ellen DeGeneres' celeb-studded selfie from the most-watched Oscars telecast in a decade was a landmark social media moment at a time online conversation is boosting television viewership and vice versa. It's also a murky example of what is or isn't product placement in a hyper-marketed world. Would the world's most retweeted photo have been shot by an iPhone if Samsung hadn't been a commercial sponsor of the Academy Awards? The Oscars are generally the most-watched TV event of the year after the Super Bowl. The ratings provide further evidence of how big event programming is a growth engine for broadcast networks, in large part because of fans watching the event and conversing with friends on tablets and smartphones. Twitter said that some 14.7 million tweets mentioning the Oscars or prominent actors and films were sent out during the telecast, and Facebook said there were 25.4 million interactions about the show. Social media was clearly a driving force and is why live events on networks "have become basically the currency," co-producer Neil Meron said. "What it's all about right now is creating a conversation, and social media allows for the conversation as it's happening," he said.
benton.org/node/175702 | Associated Press
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PRIVACY

REGUEST FOR INFORMATION ON GOVERNMENT “BIG DATA”
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Ted Wackler]
The White House is engaging with the public to consider the implications of ‘‘big data’’ (datasets so large, diverse, and/or complex, that conventional technologies cannot adequately capture, store, or analyze them), and focus on how the present and future state of these technologies might motivate changes in our policies across a range of sectors. This review will explore the way that ‘‘big data’’ will affect the way we live and work; the relationship between government and citizens; and how public and private sectors can spur innovation and maximize the opportunities and free flow of this information while minimizing the risks to privacy. Responses must be received by March 31, 2014 to be considered.
The White House is asking:
What are the public policy implications of the collection, storage, analysis, and use of big data? For example, do the current US policy framework and privacy proposals for protecting consumer privacy and government use of data adequately address issues raised by big data analytics?
What types of uses of big data could measurably improve outcomes or productivity with further government action, funding, or research? What types of uses of big data raise the most public policy concerns? Are there specific sectors or types of uses that should receive more government and/or public attention?
What technological trends or key technologies will affect the collection, storage, analysis and use of big data? Are there particularly promising technologies or new practices for safeguarding privacy while enabling effective uses of big data?
How should the policy frameworks or regulations for handling big data differ between the government and the private sector? Please be specific as to the type of entity and type of use (e.g., law enforcement, government services, commercial, academic research, etc.).
What issues are raised by the use of big data across jurisdictions, such as the adequacy of current international laws, regulations, or norms?
benton.org/node/175713 | White House, The
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March 2014

Former LA schools chief calls iPad program illegal

Verizon Wireless Plans to Triple AWS Deployment This Year to Ease Congestion

Digital publishers making profits out of print

US State Department: “Surveillance should not be arbitrary,” except when it is

March 5, 2014 (The Budget)

Early Progress in Efforts to Learn About the Impact of Technology Transitions

To Connect the World, It’s Drones vs. Balloons

CBS CEO Says Dish Deal 'Great Start' But Not Enough

Are Alt Weeklies Over?

There's No Need to End Saturday Mail Delivery