February 26, 2015 (Happy Internet Innovation Freedom Day)
Dori Maynard, Who Sought Diversity in Journalism [links to web]
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015
Welcome to “Internet Innovation Freedom Day” (but it will be delayed for an hour so DC can navigate an inch of snow) ;-)
There’s more than the FCC meeting on today’s agenda – see https://www.benton.org/calendar/2015-02-26
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Schedule Change - FCC Open Meeting Thursday, February 26, 2015 - public notice
Talking Heads Skew Net Neutrality Debate
Net neutrality: Five things to watch for as the FCC votes
FCC on brink of broadband transformation
House Communications Subcommittee Examines Impact of FCC’s Network Neutrality Decision
Chairmen Upton and Chaffetz Statement on Chairman Wheeler’s Refusal to Testify - press release
FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly’s Remarks Before WISPAmerica 2015 - speech [links to web]
For five years, FCC Commissioner Clyburn held firm in network neutrality fight
Limited High-Speed Internet Choices Underlie Net Neutrality Rules
What the Net Neutrality Battle Means for Entrepreneurs [links to web]
Los Angeles Is the Home of the Open Internet - LA Mayor Eric Garcetti op-ed [links to web]
Sen Thune Concerned About Title II Impact on ITU
Consumer Federation of America: FCC Chairman Wheeler Proposal Appears Spot On [links to web]
David Olson and Net Neutrality in Portland, Oregon [links to web]
AT&T, Verizon Set to Clash With FCC Over Mobile-Web Regulations [links to web]
Comcast chief warns on new Internet rules [links to web]
Cablevision CEO Plays Down Business Effect of FCC Proposal [links to web]
For Netflix, One Net Neutrality Issue Remains Unclear
Net neutrality victory is civil rights history in the making - op-ed
Mobile phones aren't rotary phones - Mobile Future op-ed
Title II: A new way to collect fees on broadband - AEI op-ed [links to web]
FCC effort to regulate Internet ignores history of past failures - Scott Wallsten op-ed [links to web]
Fox News Adopts GOP Smear Attempt On Net Neutrality, Dubbing It "Obamanet" [links to web]
Testimony of NTIA Assistant Secretary before Senate Hearing "Preserving the Multistakeholder Model of Internet Governance" - [links to web]
Want Fiber? Do more to get it, Google exec tells cities [links to web]
Huawei/ Far Lane Deal Targets Rural Broadband [links to web]
PRIVACY/SECURITY
Presidential Memorandum -- Establishment of the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center - public notice
Citing encryption, FBI lobbying to keep phone metadata spying powers [links to web]
Arms Control for a Cyberage - editorial [links to web]
House Democrats raise alarms on White house privacy plan [links to web]
Clinton is looking for a middle ground on encryption that experts say doesn’t exist [links to web]
Privacy Group Files FTC Complaint Against Samsung’s Voice-Operated TVs [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
FCC should create a 40 MHz reserve for 600 MHz auction, public interest groups urge
Charting a Course to Carrier-Grade Wi-Fi [links to web]
FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly’s Remarks Before WISPAmerica 2015 - speech [links to web]
As 4G demand balloons, here come the "super" base stations [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
California Public Utilities Commission holds Comcast hearing
DIVERSITY
Diversity: Tech companies need new strategies - op-ed [links to web]
Dori Maynard, Who Sought Diversity in Journalism, Dies at 56 [links to web]
Vivek Wadhwa, Voice for Women in Silicon Valley, Is Foiled by His Tone [links to web]
TELEVISION
FCC Seeks Comment for Report Required by the STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014 - public notice [links to web]
Comcast’s NBCUniversal Calls for Better Audience Measurement [links to web]
The Near-Death Experience of Linear Television - op-ed [links to web]
Cord-Cutting Has ‘Accelerated Markedly’: Craig Moffett [links to web]
Local broadcast TV’s integral role in American culture - TVfreedom.org op-ed [links to web]
CONTENT
Pandora Dealt Setback in Turtles Lawsuit [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai’s Remarks at the 12th Annual NG9-1-1 Honor Awards Gala to Celebrate Heroes and Leaders in 9-1-1 - speech [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
Apple Ordered to Pay $533 Million for Patent Infringement in iTunes [links to web]
Google Plans New Headquarters, and a City Fears Being Overrun [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Putin’s propagandists prime Russians for fight [links to web]
Europe Wants the World to Embrace Its Internet Rules [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
FCC Library Invites Technology Manufacturers and Service Providers to Showcase their Tablets, Telephones and eBook Readers - public notice [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
SCHEDULE CHANGE FCC OPEN MEETING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The time for the February Open Meeting of the Federal Communications Commission is rescheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The prompt and orderly conduct of the Commission’s business requires this change and no earlier announcement was practicable. And there could be an inch of snow! But the brave FCC vows to carry on!
benton.org/headlines/schedule-change-fcc-open-meeting-thursday-february-26-2015 | Federal Communications Commission
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TALKING HEADS SKEW NET NEUTRALITY DEBATE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Anne Flaherty]
Here's a look at some of the questionable rhetoric in the "net neutrality" debate:
THE CLAIM: "President Obama's plan marks a monumental shift toward government control of the Internet." — Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai.
THE FACTS: It's a shift for sure, but the Federal Communications Commission hasn't proposed regulating Internet content or controlling access to websites. The question is how to regulate Internet service so providers don't block or slow web traffic for financial gain.
THE CLAIM: FCC Chairman "Wheeler has chosen to ignore the unprecedented Internet innovation, investment and job creation that have all thrived without government intervention and regulation." -- Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), a member of the House Commerce Committee, in a Feb. 19 statement.
THE FACTS: It is true that the Internet has flourished and is lightly regulated compared with other industries. It's also true that this exponential growth occurred under a system in which broadband providers mostly agreed not to discriminate against Web traffic.
The CLAIM: "There will be no rate regulation" of Internet service. — FCC Chairman Wheeler.
THE FACTS: Under Wheeler's plan, broadband providers won't have to get their rates approved ahead of time by the FCC. But the law would allow the FCC to step in if charges were "unjust or unreasonable." The law also allows the FCC to investigate consumer complaints.
THE CLAIM: "No tariffs or new taxes." — FCC Chairman Wheeler.
THE FACTS: Wheeler's plan won't apply new fees or taxes. The Internet Tax Freedom Act bans taxes on Internet service, and that law should still apply even if the FCC reclassifies the Internet as a telecommunications service under Title II.
THE CLAIM: The FCC plan "represents a stunning reversal of the policies of the Clinton and Bush administrations." It will backtrack on "decades of bipartisan agreement to limit Internet regulation." — Former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell in an opinion article in The Wall Street Journal.
THE FACTS: The question of Internet "fast lanes" is far more pressing for President Obama than it ever was for Presidents Clinton or Bush. In 2000, only 3 percent of American households had broadband access, compared with 70 percent by 2013, according to the Pew Research Center. It wasn't until President George W. Bush's second term, in 2005, that YouTube became available and video services like Netflix became more popular. By the time the FCC voted in 2008 against Comcast for throttling Web traffic
benton.org/headlines/talking-heads-skew-net-neutrality-debate | Associated Press
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FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera]
Here are five things to watch for at the Federal Communications Commission’s Feb 26 open meeting:
How many times will "Title 2" and "legal uncertainty" be mentioned? (Public interest advocates are encouraged to play Innovation Bingo not wonky drinking games. It is way too early in the day and you have press releases to get out still.)
Look for protesters
How biting will FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai be in opposing the regulations?
How does FCC Chairman Wheeler defend his proposal?
Don't ignore the community broadband proposal.
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-five-things-watch-fcc-votes | Los Angeles Times
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FCC ON BRINK OF BROADBAND TRANSFORMATION
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Brooks Boliek]
The Federal Communications Commission is about to usher in the most dramatic government intervention in the Internet in two decades -- heralding a liberal shift toward greater oversight of one of the nation’s most important economic engines. The Commission is expected to vote to approve FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s net neutrality plan, which will regulate broadband like a public utility to ensure all Web traffic is treated equally. And it is poised to encourage towns and cities to compete with the dominant telecom companies in providing Internet service to consumers. Taken together, the two moves represent a seismic shift in the relationship between the government and the companies that run the Internet -- and mark the biggest change to communications policy since the 1996 Telecom Act. “It’s a watershed change,” said Tim Wu, a Columbia Law School professor who’s been deeply involved in the debate and coined the term “net neutrality.” “The chairman is going big, and he’s basically resetting the board on broadband in this country and how the government thinks about it.” Along with net neutrality and protection of community-run networks, the FCC has been laying the groundwork for its Internet vision in other ways. The FCC approved a new official definition of “broadband,” increasing the threshold to 25 megabits per second for downloads from the previous 4 megabits. The agency called the old standard inadequate to evaluate high-speed Internet service, which today has to support to support a flood of data, voice services and video.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-brink-broadband-transformation | Politico
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HOUSE HEARING RECAP
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
The House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), discussed the implications of Federal Communications Commission action to regulate the Internet using utility-style regulations. A separate hearing on whether the White House inappropriately influenced the FCC’s plan was shelved after FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler refused to attend because he was busy overseeing last-minute negotiations on the FCC’s Order.
“Tomorrow, the FCC is expected to adopt an Order that may not ultimately provide net neutrality protections for American consumers; that might lay the groundwork for future regulation of the Internet; that may raise rates for the American Internet users; and that could stymie Internet adoption, innovation, and investment,” said Chairman Walden. Full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) added, “Whether intended or not, the FCC’s approach brings with it a host of consequences that have the potential to disrupt the Internet we have come to know and rely on.” Chairman Upton added, “A legislative answer to the net neutrality question will finally put to rest years of litigation and uncertainty. Let’s work to avoid those landmines and get this done here, in Congress, where policy decisions belong.”
Chairman Walden and Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) exchanged pleasantries. Robert McDowell, a former Republican FCC commissioner, co-wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal fearing that the rules could “trigger expanded jurisdiction of the Web” through international treaties, which could empower autocrats in Russia and China. Chairman Walden asked to enter McDowell’s op-ed in the subcommittee’s record, prompting eye-rolling from Rep Eshoo. Raising concerns about Internet censorship is “misinformed and irresponsible,” she said. The countries seeking to expand their power over the Web “are actively engaging in blocking their citizens’ access to information online, and that’s very important to have down in the record,” she added. “It’s not US policy -- it’s the stark opposite of it.” They also clashed over draft net neutrality legislation unveiled by Republicans this year that Rep Eshoo said prevents “follow-up” enforcement from the FCC by limiting some of its powers.
Recode’s Amy Schatz reports: The hearing followed an oft-used script. Republicans expressed disgust at the FCC’s proposal (the FCC vote “does not signal the end of this debate -- it is just the beginning,” warned Chairman Upton). Democrats defended their FCC counterparts (House members have “too much important work to do to have the same hearings over and over again,” said full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ)). Three witnesses blasted the proposed rules. One witness defended them. Rinse. Repeat.
The three were former-Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA); Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation; and Larry Downes, project director, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. Backing Title II was Public Knowledge president Gene Kimmelman.
Atkinson said the term network neutrality itself should be consigned to the dustbin of history. He said the Internet never has been neutral, and noted that traffic like real-time video needs to be prioritized over, say, e-mails, because where a millisecond is immaterial to the latter, it is by contrast crucial to the former. He said a rigid regulatory scheme like Title II did not fit the 'net both because of that rigidity and because of the legal and political uncertainty it produced. He suggested the FCC was attempting to fit the square peg of smart net policy into the round hole of Title II. Downes added his own metaphor in making the point that activists were already signaling they want to push the FCC toward the unbundling, last-mile access, build-out requirements and rate regulation (either before or after the fact), all of which the chairman has said would not apply under the new rules. Downes said that signaled that Open Internet rules were always the populist tail (or perhaps he meant "tale") that was wagging the shaggy Title II dog.
Kimmelman testified that “applying Title II to Internet access service will not impede carriers’ network investment. Tech investors and venture capitalists have been some of the most strident supporters of open Internet rules8 due to the importance of the virtuous cycle and the need to provide investors with confidence that the online services and edge providers they support will be free to compete and innovate with incumbent services without permission or payment to play.”
benton.org/headlines/house-communications-subcommittee-examines-impact-fccs-network-neutrality-decision | Benton Foundation | Recode | The Hill | Multichannel News | Public Knowledge
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CHAIRMEN UPTON AND CHAFFETZ STATEMENT ON CHAIRMAN WHEELER'S REFUSAL TO TESTIFY
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)]
We are deeply disappointed in Chairman Wheeler’s decision. As Chairman Wheeler pushes forward with plans to regulate the Internet, he still refuses to directly answer growing concerns about how the rules were developed, how they are structured, and how they will stand up to judicial scrutiny. After hearing from over four million Americans on such an important topic to our economic and cultural future, it's striking that when Congress seeks transparency, Chairman Wheeler opts against it. The last time a rule of this magnitude was voted on by the FCC, then-Senator Obama was motivated to call for transparency at the commission. We continue that call today. Reports as late as Tuesday suggest that changes in the proposed rules are still possible, with just hours left on the clock before the commission votes. So long as the chairman continues to insist on secrecy, we will continue calling for more transparency and accountability at the commission. Chairman Wheeler and the FCC are not above Congress. This fight continues as the future of the Internet is at stake.
benton.org/headlines/chairmen-upton-and-chaffetz-statement-chairman-wheelers-refusal-testify | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | MultichannelNews | The Hill | Broadcasting&Cable | LA Times | National Journal
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FOR FIVE YEARS, ONE FCC COMMISSIONER HELD FIRM IN NET NEUTRALITY FIGHT
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Just one member of the Federal Communications Commission who will vote on network neutrality on Feb 26 was on the FCC the last time it tackled the issue in 2010. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn took office in August 2009 and soon thereafter argued that the FCC should pass a far stronger version of net neutrality than it ultimately approved. She said that rules preventing broadband providers from interfering with Internet traffic should apply fully to wireless carriers and that the FCC should use its Title II authority to regulate broadband providers as common carriers. Julius Genachowski, the FCC Chairman at the time, ultimately pushed a plan that did not fully apply to wireless and relied on the commission's weaker authority under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act. Commissioner Clyburn voted in favor of the plan to get rules in place but made it clear she wanted a stronger net neutrality regime. Commissioner Clyburn prediction that using the FCC's weaker authority could lead to failure in court proved correct. This time around, Commissioner Clyburn wants to make sure strong rules are passed without relying on questionable legal grounds.
benton.org/headlines/five-years-fcc-commissioner-clyburn-held-firm-network-neutrality-fight | Ars Technica
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LIMITED HIGH-SPEED INTERNET CHOICES UNDERLIE NET NEUTRALITY RULES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
The case for strong government rules to protect an open Internet rests in large part on a perceived market failure -- the lack of competition for high-speed Internet service into American homes. The Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality approach makes sense, proponents say, because for genuine high-speed Internet service most American households now have only one choice, and most often it is a cable company. The new rules will not ensure competition from new entrants, ranging from next-generation wireless technology to ultrahigh-speed networks built by municipalities. Instead, strong regulation is intended to prevent the dominant broadband suppliers from abusing their market power. Technology, of course, can change quickly and unpredictably. So, analysts say, it is impossible to predict what the competitive landscape might look like in several years, or a decade from now. “But we are very unlikely to see any kind of broad-scale, national competitor to the incumbents in the near future,” said Kevin Werbach, a former FCC counsel and an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
benton.org/headlines/limited-high-speed-internet-choices-underlie-net-neutrality-rules | New York Times
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SEN THUNE CONCERNED ABOUT TITLE II IMPACT ON ITU
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) used a hearing on the US hand-off of domain naming system/IP address oversight to hammer on the Federal Communications Commission's Feb. 26 vote on Title II-supported network neutrality rules. Chairman Thune asked whether reclassifying Internet access as a telecommunications service would strengthen or weaken America's ability to keep the International Telecommunications Union from tariffing the Internet, as some ITU members have wanted to do. Ambassador David Gross, former US coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, said he was still waiting to see what the FCC was going to do and that the details would be important. But with that caveat, he also said that it has long been US policy under Democratic and Republican Administration's alike, that the ITU should have no jurisdiction over Internet-related issues. He pointed out that there has been an ITU contingent that says its scope is telecommunications, so that if the FCC does classify Internet as a telecommunications service, they will assert they do now have jurisdiction. He said that would make the job of his successors more difficult in insuring that the ITU does not seek jurisdiction.
benton.org/headlines/sen-thune-concerned-about-title-ii-impact-itu | Broadcasting&Cable
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ONE ISSUE REMAINS UNCLEAR
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Drew Fitzgerald]
The least settled issue in the government’s new net neutrality rules is the one that put the debate back on the front burner in the first place -- how much carriers like Verizon Communications can charge companies like Netflix to connect with their networks. New Federal Communications Commission rules are expected to be clear on what happens to traffic sent across Internet service providers’ networks: It can’t be blocked or sped up for a fee, and it will be governed by the same regulatory apparatus used to oversee telephone service. But they are far less clear on how much network owners can charge Internet companies to connect with them in the first place. While the rules would prevent Verizon from charging Netflix for faster service across its network, they will allow it to charge for higher-capacity connections at the front gate. The FCC is dipping a toe into regulating such arrangements by allowing companies to file complaints if they think they’re being treated unfairly. The commission will review the arrangements on a case-by-case basis to determine whether they’re “just and reasonable.” But it hasn’t signaled what sorts of terms might not clear the bar. Even that tentative move is putting the FCC in hotly contested territory.
benton.org/headlines/netflix-one-net-neutrality-issue-remains-unclear | Wall Street Journal
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NET NEUTRLAITY AND CIVIL RIGHTS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Rashard Robinson]
[Commentary] Network neutrality is a civil rights issue -- and it appears the Federal Communications Commission will soon implement real net neutrality protections, thanks in large part to civil rights activists. Media and communications technology has always been an important factor in activism, because it mediates how activists can communicate with each other and to the world. During the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s, organizers used phone trees and mimeographed pamphlets to distribute information and coordinate collective action. Black radio stations served as community bulletin boards and disseminated information about marches, police roadblocks, and voter registration. Today’s civil rights activists have a much more powerful tool at our disposal -- the open Internet. Our ability to be heard, counted, and visible in this democracy now depends on an open Internet, because it allows voices and ideas to spread based on their quality – not the amount of money behind them. In the wake of tragic and unjust police killings of unarmed black people in Ferguson, Staten Island, and across the country, young black people are using the Internet to organize in new ways. Organic, grassroots efforts like #IfIWasGunnedDown and #BlackLivesMatter are powerfully impacting the public conversation about race and the criminal justice system, and helping usher in a new era of progress and change. Multiple generations of civil rights leadership have come together to define net neutrality as a 21st century civil rights issue. If the FCC stands strong against desperate, last-minute attempts to undermine its work, its net neutrality rules will be seen by generations to come as a major civil rights accomplishment, setting the stage for the continuation and acceleration of movements for justice and equality.
[Robinson is executive director of ColorOfChange.org.]
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-victory-civil-rights-history-making | Hill, The
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MOBILE PHONES AREN’T ROTARY PHONES
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jonathan Spalter]
[Commentary] It's a sad state of affairs for U.S. innovation policy when one has to explain the reason subjecting the supercomputers in our suit pockets to regulations written for rotary phones is a bad idea. And the mobile future dims for all of us when these painfully obvious proof points fall on deaf ears at the Federal Communications Commission. Yet this is where we stand. Internet giants like Amazon, Yelp and Netflix are popping Champagne corks celebrating the FCC's imminent decision to declare the nation's broadband infrastructure -- the crown jewel of our innovation economy--nothing more than a regulated utility, like the local gas, electric or water company. We all support an open Internet. Indeed, we all enjoy it today -- which begs the obvious question of why the White House and the FCC are so dead-set on such expansive new rules. That ringing sound? It's the 1960s calling. They want their rotary phones back. For consumers, our economy and American innovation, we shouldn't hesitate to hand them over.
[Spalter is chair of Mobile Future which represents technology and communications companies like AT&T and Verizon]
benton.org/headlines/mobile-phones-arent-rotary-phones | San Jose Mercury News
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PRIVACY/SECURITY
PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM -- ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CYBER THREAT INTELLIGENCE INTEGRATION CENTER
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: President Barack Obama]
President Barack Obama directed the Director of National Intelligence to establish the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC). The CTIIC will be a national intelligence center focused on “connecting the dots” regarding malicious foreign cyber threats to the nation and cyber incidents affecting US national interests, and on providing all-source analysis of threats to US policymakers. The CTIIC will also assist relevant departments and agencies in their efforts to identify, investigate, and mitigate those threats. In creating the CTIIC, the Administration is applying some of the hard-won lessons from our counterterrorism efforts to augment that “whole-of-government” approach by providing policymakers with a cross-agency view of foreign cyber threats, their severity, and potential attribution. The CTIIC will not be an operational center. It will not collect intelligence, manage incident response efforts, direct investigations, or replace other functions currently performed by existing departments, agencies, or government cyber centers.
benton.org/headlines/presidential-memorandum-establishment-cyber-threat-intelligence-integration-center | White House, The | White House fact sheet
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
FCC SHOULD CREATE A 40 MHZ RESERVE FOR 600 MHZ AUCTION, PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS URGE
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
A coalition of public interest groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to adopt a spectrum reserve of at least 40 MHz for the 600 MHz incentive auction, one of several rule changes they are suggesting aimed at helping smaller carriers acquire spectrum. In a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and his fellow commissioners, the groups said that the AWS-3 auction strengthened the position of AT&T and Verizon Wireless and that, now, smaller carriers need a leg up to compete. The groups also want the FCC to move quickly to free up the 3.5 GHz band for mobile broadband. The groups noted that the AWS-3 auction, which did not have any bidding restrictions, resulted in AT&T and Verizon securing 20 MHz of paired AWS-3 spectrum in most major markets, "and left the rest of the industry with only a smattering of paired blocks and 15 MHz of low-value, unpaired, uplink spectrum." The groups writing to the FCC included the Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation, Public Knowledge, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Engine, Center for Media Justice, Common Cause, the Writers Guild of America - West, the Institute for Local Self Reliance and the Benton Foundation.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-should-create-40-mhz-reserve-600-mhz-auction-public-interest-groups-urge | Fierce
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OWNERSHIP
CPUC HEARING
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Meg James]
Consumers took turns praising and blasting Comcast's proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable, which would make the combined company the dominant provider of cable TV and high-speed Internet service in California. The California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to vote March 26 on a proposed transfer of licenses currently held by Time Warner Cable. Comcast also would pick up customers served by Charter Communications in the Los Angeles region. At the hearing in San Francisco, four PUC commissioners listened as various parties, including members of the public, commented on the proposed deal. Already, an administrative law judge, who is advising the PUC, recommended that the commission approve Comcast's takeover -- but with a lengthy list of conditions. Suggested conditions include requiring Comcast to offer its $9.95-a-month Internet Essentials program to eligible low-income families within its proposed new service area. The company also would have to provide service to 45% of the targeted low-income homes within two years after absorbing Time Warner Cable systems.
benton.org/headlines/california-public-utilities-commission-holds-comcast-hearing | Los Angeles Times
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