November 2015

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

JUDGE CALLS FOR NSA TO HALT PHONE RECORDS PROGRAM
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
US District Court of the District of Columbia Judge Richard Leon called for the Obama Administration to immediately halt its controversial collection of Americans’ phone records, mere days before the contested program is set to end. In his ruling, Judge Leon doubled down on his assertion that the National Security Agency (NSA) program likely violates the Constitution and warned that “the loss of constitutional freedoms for even one day is a significant harm.” Nov 9’s ruling comes nearly two years after he initially called the NSA program “almost Orwellian,” and slightly less than three weeks before it is scheduled to end. As such, the decision “is perhaps the last chapter in the judiciary’s evaluation of this particular program’s compatibility with the Constitution,” he wrote. “It will not, however, be the last chapter in the ongoing struggle to balance privacy rights and national security interests under our Constitution in an age of evolving technological wizardry.” Ultimately, the legal process makes it unlikely that the NSA will have to reverse course before the program is set to end later in Nov. But civil liberties advocates nonetheless greeted the decision as a major victory that could be used to spur additional legal takedowns of US spying programs.
benton.org/headlines/judge-calls-nsa-halt-phone-records-program | Hill, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

PRIVACY

SUPREME COURT PASSES ON CLOSELY WATCHED CELLPHONE PRIVACY CASE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
The Supreme Court declined to take up a closely watched case over whether police need a warrant to obtain records about people’s locations based on their cellphones, the latest chapter in an ongoing debate about how privacy laws apply to evolving technology. The decision by the nation’s high court to pass on the case, Davis v USA, comes as a blow to privacy advocates who had pressed the justices to overturn an appeals court’s determination that a warrant is not necessary for the searches. As is typical, the Supreme Court did not offer any justification in declining to take up the case. Earlier in 2015, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared that police did not violate the Constitution when they obtained 67 days' worth of records about the location of Quartavious Davis based on his cellphone calls. Based in part on those records, Davis was convicted earlier in 2015 of seven armed robberies over the course of two months in 2010. The records list the various cellphone towers that picked up the Florida man’s phone calls and served as a rough proxy for his location over the period of time surrounding the robberies. Police obtained roughly 11,000 location records about Davis from his wireless service provider, MetroPCS, amounting to one every 8 minutes. In his opinion supporting the 9-2 decision in May, Judge Frank Hull compared the records to security camera footage, which “does not belong to Davis, even if it concerns him.”
benton.org/headlines/supreme-court-passes-closely-watched-cellphone-privacy-case | Hill, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

OWN A VIZIO SMART TV? IT'S WATCHING YOU
[SOURCE: ProPublica, AUTHOR: Julia Angwin]
TV makers are constantly crowing about the tricks their smart TVs can do. But one of the most popular brands has a feature that it’s not advertising: Vizio’s Smart TVs track your viewing habits and share it with advertisers, who can then find you on your phone and other devices. The tracking -- which Vizio calls “Smart Interactivity” -- is turned on by default for the more than 10 million Smart TVs that the company has sold. Customers who want to escape it have to opt-out. In a statement, Vizio said customers’ “non-personal identifiable information may be shared with select partners … to permit these companies to make, for example, better-informed decisions regarding content production, programming and advertising.” Vizio’s actions appear to go beyond what others are doing in the emerging interactive television industry. Vizio rivals Samsung and LG Electronics only track users’ viewing habits if customers choose to turn the feature on. And unlike Vizio, they don’t appear to provide the information in a form that allows advertisers to reach users on other devices. Vizio’s technology works by analyzing snippets of the shows you’re watching, whether on traditional television or streaming Internet services such as Netflix. Vizio determines the date, time, channel of programs -- as well as whether you watched them live or recorded. The viewing patterns are then connected your IP address - the Internet address that can be used to identify every device in a home, from your TV to a phone.
benton.org/headlines/own-vizio-smart-tv-its-watching-you | ProPublica
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

WHAT DO WE WANT BROADBAND COMPETITION TO ACCOMPLISH
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Blair Levin]
[Commentary] On October 30, Blair Levin delivered a speech, Achieving Bandwidth Abundance: The Three Policy Levers for Intensifying Broadband Competition, to an Internet Society conference. This week, we're providing excerpts of the speech. The highest priority for government broadband competition policy, Blair writes, ought to be to lower input costs for adjacent market competition and network upgrades. In short, we want competition to help move us from today’s world, where the dominant business model is how to allocate bandwidth scarcity, to the world we need, which is competition over who can best deploy bandwidth abundance.
https://www.benton.org/blog/what-do-we-want-broadband-competition-accomp...
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

PRESIDENT OBAMA CHAMPIONED CHEAP, FAST, CITY-RUN INTERNET. HIS ADMINISTRATION WON'T.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
Regulators may have to wage an uphill legal battle if they want to use federal powers to nurture small, city-run broadband projects. The Justice Department said that it won't be helping the Federal Communications Commission fight a couple of key lawsuits on municipal broadband, in a possible indication of trouble ahead for the FCC. The government's lawyers said they wouldn't be taking a position on the cases, which target a controversial decision by the FCC to strike down state limits on public Internet service in two states, Tennessee and North Carolina. It's not unheard of for the Justice Department to bow out of a case involving a federal agency. But its decision this time is unusual, many policy analysts say. The Obama Administration has vocally supported city-run Internet initiatives, and urged the FCC to take action on the matter. And the Justice Department is already supporting the FCC in another high-profile lawsuit on Internet policy involving network neutrality. "We don't know for sure, but my best guess is that the DOJ, quite rightly, is concerned about the lawfulness of the FCC's preemption action," said Randolph May, president of the conservative-leaning Free State Foundation and a former FCC lawyer. Others said that the FCC's decision to preempt those state laws falls outside the Justice Department's traditional area of expertise, which could explain its decision to bow out this time.
benton.org/headlines/president-obama-championed-cheap-fast-city-run-internet-his-administration-wont | Washington Post | B&C
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

COMCAST, CORD CUTTING AND THE RISE OF BROADBAND DATA CAPS
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Bill Snyder]
At a time when consumers stream more video and more movies than ever before, Comcast wants to limit the amount of data its broadband customers can use. Customers in some states, mostly in the Southeast, will soon have data caps of 300GB a month, and the new pricing model may go national before too long. Comcast isn't eager to discuss the changes, which are, in effect, price increases. However, its Data Usage CAP FAQ page lists affected cities in about a dozen states. Starting Dec. 1, customers in the affected markets face 300GB monthly usage caps, with $10-per-50GB overage fees. Comcast wants you to believe the issue is about network congestion and "fairness," but its offer of unlimited data for an extra $30 to $35 a month -- depending on the city -- belies that claim. If congestion was really the issue, it would make no sense for Comcast to let some customers use as much data as they want. Cord cutting is a national, not regional, phenomenon so it seems likely that the company will eventually go national with its new pricing policy. In fact, a Comcast executive said in 2014 that he expects the company to roll out "usage-based billing" -- in other words, data caps -- to all of its customers within five years
benton.org/headlines/comcast-cord-cutting-and-rise-broadband-data-caps | ComputerWorld
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

WITH DATA CAPS ON THE RISE, THE FCC MUST CONSIDER COMPETITIVE IMPLICATIONS
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: John Bergmayer]
[Commentary] Many people have been "cutting the cord"-- cancelling their cable TV subscriptions -- and watching more video online. Usually, however, their broadband provider is the same company that used to be their TV provider. Cord-cutters tend to use broadband more than non-cord-cutters, so large cable companies that want cord-cutters to start paying them more again have hit on a solution: just charge more for broadband. Of course, the idea that some users should pay more than others is not objectionable. Broadband providers have offered different speed tiers for years. The question is what the secondary effects are of a usage-based model, and how the level at which any data caps are set can affect this. For instance, a data cap that is too low can discourage certain kinds of usage, including online video, backup services, and streaming games. A data cap is also harder for users to conceptualize, while the difference between "fast" and "slow" Internet is widely understood. Thus, usage-based billing and data caps raise a host of issues, which is why the Federal Communications Commission should act on Public Knowledge's years-old request for the FCC to investigate why caps are being set (for example, whether they are anticompetitively designed to prevent further customers from cutting the cord, or just to raise revenue), and the level at which they are set. More broadly, cable broadband providers are only able to raise their rates in ways both blatant and hidden without losing customers because they do not operate in a competitive environment. Unless we can address that fundamental problem, the FCC must ensure that broadband providers do not take advantage of their market power to impose unfair broadband billing practices.
benton.org/headlines/data-caps-rise-fcc-must-consider-competitive-implications | Public Knowledge
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

IANA TRANSITION REPORT
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: ]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration provides quarterly reports on all aspects of the proposed transition of the US government’s stewardship role over the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. This fourth report covers activities from July 1, 2015 to September 30, 2015. The multistakeholder community continues its efforts to develop a plan for the transition of NTIA’s stewardship of the IANA functions. The IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG), established to compile and ultimately submit a consolidated transition plan to NTIA, received the protocol parameters and Internet numbering related proposals in January 2015. The Cross Community Working Group (CWG) on naming-related functions released its third draft proposal in June 2015. The proposal was approved by the CWG chartering organizations (ccNSO, gNSO, SSAC, and GAC) during ICANN’s June meeting in Buenos Aires. The ICG has since drafted a consolidated proposal incorporating input from the three primary functions working groups and conducted a public consultation on the draft, which concluded on September 8. Approximately 150 comments were submitted on the draft consolidated proposal, reflecting a wide cross section of the broad, global, multistakeholder community. The ICG met face to face in Los Angeles on September 18 and 19 to review and discuss the comments received, and posed questions and/or requests for clarifications from the operational communities. The ICG requested responses from the community by mid-October to allow the ICG time to prepare for the ICANN 54 meeting in Dublin scheduled for October 18-22.
benton.org/headlines/fourth-quarterly-report-transition-stewardship-internet-assigned-numbers-authority | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

GOVERNMENTS HAVE GONE TO WAR ON INTERNET FREEDOM
[SOURCE: American Enterprise Institute, AUTHOR: Mark Jamison]
[Commentary] The Internet has been doing too good of a job promoting freedom, international cooperation, and the exchange of ideas. So much so that governments around the world are fighting back. That appears to be the bottom line of a recent survey by Freedom House. Its Freedom on the Net 2015, the fifth in its annual series on government policies and Internet freedom, found that Internet freedom is on the decline in most parts of the world. The survey scores governments on their practices for removing content from the Internet, arresting and intimidating people for what they put on the Internet, surveillance, and undermining encryption and anonymity. Countries are then classified as Free, Partly Free, or Not Free. Most of the 65 countries (representing 88 percent of the world’s Internet users) surveyed for the 2015 report experienced decreases in freedom since joining the survey. What can be done to reverse this decline in Internet freedom? One strategy is to protect Internet governance from political control. Some of the worst offenders of Internet freedom – namely Russia and China – are leading efforts to make governments the only legitimate stakeholders in Internet governance. The Obama Administration has been a strong supporter of Internet freedom, but has drawn criticism for being weak on Internet governance. Furthermore, the US badly needs a coherent strategy for protecting freedom. We have been unable to resolve how to protect citizens from crimes and terrorism while at the same time protecting their privacy. Also, we lack clarity on the division of roles of government and the private sector with respect to cybersecurity. Lastly, the US must establish credibility with other countries and their citizens. Rightly or wrongly, the Snowden revelations have damaged the reputation of the US government and US companies, resulting in activities on the part of many countries to construct barriers to cyber commerce with the US.
[Mark Jamison is the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida]
benton.org/headlines/governments-have-gone-war-internet-freedom | American Enterprise Institute
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

COMCAST SAYS IT PUBLICLY OUTLINED ITS USAGE-BASED PRICING PHILOSOPHY BACK IN 2012
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Daniel Frankel]
As Comcast continues to face criticism over its usage cap tests, the company said none of the policies are new or secret. In fact, a company representative said that Comcast outlined its usage-based pricing philosophy back in May 2012 in a company blog post. The post, written by Cathy Avgiris, at the time executive VP and GM of communications and data services for Comcast Cable, was written as Comcast suspended a 250 GB hard cap on data usage. It outlined the usage-based pricing strategy and trials the company is currently conducting in a handful of markets. "We are going to trial improved data usage management approaches comparable to plans that others in the market are using that will provide customers with more choice and flexibility than our current policy," Avgiris said. "We'll be piloting at least two approaches in different markets, and we'll provide additional details on these trials as they launch. But we can give everyone an overview today." The purpose of the data-usage limit, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said, has always been to "create a more fair approach, where the heaviest data users pay a little more and the light data users get to pay a little less. It means the heavier data users will pay a little more for us to re-double capacity on our network every 12 to 18 months."
benton.org/headlines/comcast-says-it-publicly-outlined-its-usage-based-pricing-philosophy-back-2012 | Fierce | Comcast 2012 blog post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

BOULDER TO LIGHT UP FIBER OPTIC NETWORK
[SOURCE: Daily Camera, AUTHOR: Alex Burness]
Boulder (CO) has hired Maryland consultant CTC Technology and Energy to explore the feasibility of municipal broadband, and to weigh community demand for other, smaller-scale Internet service enhancements. The city is home to a 100-mile high-speed fiber optic network that has long gone unused, but last November more than 83 percent of voters supported a ballot measure that gave the city authority to provide its own broadband service to the public, or to partner with private companies to expand access to the city network. That enabled the city to move forward with free public Wi-Fi in the downtown Civic area, but that is just one of many Internet-related projects Boulder can explore. Members of the City Council have indicated they aren't interested in starting up a fully city-operated broadband utility as Longmont (CO) has. But there could be great potential to make use of all that fiber mileage in the local business community, Boulder Information Technology Director Don Ingle said. At two community meetings, CTC and the city will solicit feedback on the network's potential in the private sector and beyond.
benton.org/headlines/boulder-light-fiber-optic-network | Daily Camera
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

NEXT CENTURY CITIES MAKES DIGITAL INCLUSION AWARDS
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Next Century Cities announced Digital Inclusion Leadership Awards to six city government initiatives aimed breaking down barriers to Internet adoption. Next Century Cities, launched in 2014, aims to further the deployment of high-speed broadband networks through city-led initiatives. Awards were made in two categories – Digital Inclusion Best Practices and Most Promising New Plan. Two overall winners were selected in each category and a third winner in each category was recognized for an innovative approach. Programs typically target seniors, school children, unemployed, female heads of household, low-income households, non-English speaking households and people with disabilities. The winners for Digital Inclusion Best Practices were: The City of Seattle’s (WA) Technology Matching Fund (TMF); The City of Philadelphia’s KEYSPOT program; Davidson (NC) program Eliminate the Digital Divide (E2D). The winners for Digital Inclusion Leadership were: The Unlocking the Connection program created by the Housing Authority of the City of Austin (TX); Tech Goes Home Chattanooga (TN) (TGH CHA); and Washington's (DC) Mobile Tech Lab.
benton.org/headlines/next-century-cities-makes-digital-inclusion-awards | telecompetitor
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

CYBERSECURITY

THE CYBERTHREAT UNDER THE STREET
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kate Murphy]
Since Nov 2014 there have been 16 so-called fiber cuts in the San Francisco (CA) Bay Area. According to the FBI, someone or some group has been going through manholes to sever fiber optic cables that supply telecommunications to large sections of the region, which is home to technology companies, academic institutions and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, overseer of the nation’s nuclear weapons. Following each incident (usually occurring late at night and involving two or three separate fiber cuts) residents couldn’t make land or mobile calls, not even to 911, or send texts or e-mails. Hospital records in some instances were inaccessible. Credit cards and ATMs didn’t work. And forget about Googling, watching Netflix or remotely turning on a coffee maker. When we talk about the Internet, we talk about clouds and ether. But the Internet is not amorphous. You may access it wirelessly, but ultimately you’re relying on a bunch of physical cables that are vulnerable to attack. It’s something that’s been largely forgotten in the lather over cybersecurity. The threat is not only malicious code flowing through the pipes but also, and perhaps more critically, the pipes themselves. Most worrisome are the throughways and junctures that handle enormous amounts of Internet traffic. It would be as if a major interstate highway or crucial interchange were closed and all the traffic was forced onto side streets. There would be gridlock, and some of those side streets might collapse under the weight.
benton.org/headlines/cyberthreat-under-street | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

FCC SIDES WITH HOT SPOTS, AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY FEELS A CHILL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Martha White]
Fed up with Internet charges that can range into six figures, more meeting planners are instead using mobile hot spots to connect at conferences and conventions. But their efforts have at times been stymied, when the venues have electronically blocked the transmissions. The Federal Communications Commission has recently been intervening in this high-tech game of cat and mouse. The FCC proposed a $718,000 fine against MC Dean, the company that provides Internet services at the Baltimore (MD) Convention Center, over accusations that the company blocked Wi-Fi hot spots, as well as a $25,000 fine against Hilton Worldwide Holdings for what the agency called “apparent obstruction of an investigation” into Wi-Fi blocking. In 2014, the FCC fined Marriott International $600,000, then issued a warning in January that blocking hot spots in hotels and “other commercial establishments” was illegal. In August, the agency levied a $750,000 fine against Smart City Holdings, a company that manages Internet services in 28 convention centers. Consumers have a right, the FCC said, to use hot spot technology like smartphones and wireless routers like MiFi without interference. In response, the hospitality industry has countered that the FCC has overstepped its authority and has given poor guidance about how companies are allowed to manage their Internet connectivity. Wi-Fi networks created by hot spots, industry officials contend, are less secure and can interfere with their in-house networks.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-sides-hot-spots-and-hospitality-industry-feels-chill | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

TELEVISION

FRESH ON THE SCREEN: HOW TV IS REDEFINING WHO WE THINK OF AS 'AMERICAN'
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Jeff Yang]
[Commentary] Currently in development for future seasons are programs like "Eat Pray Thug", rapper Himanshu Kumar Suri's show about a hip-hop musician who returns home to Queens to live with his immigrant parents; "Pre-Madonna", Nisha Ganatra's comedy reflecting on her childhood as an Indian-American girl growing up in Chicago; an as-yet-untitled immigrant family reminiscence from rapper Nicki Minaj; and a sitcom adaptation of Japanese tidyness guru Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. These new shows arrive just as the political conversation around immigration seems angrier and more strident than we've seen in generations. But there's reason to believe that this rhetoric is merely the final flare-up of nativism and xenophobia before a greater opening of both minds and borders. Because television has always been a critical indicator of shifting American sentiment. When a social issue makes it to prime time -- working women, single mothers, the right to choose, LGBT equality -- it generally means that the phenomenon is on the verge of attaining mainstream acceptance.
[Jeff Yang is a columnist for the Wall Street Journal Online and the father of Hudson Yang, star of ABC's "Fresh Off The Boat"]
benton.org/headlines/fresh-screen-how-tv-redefining-who-we-think-american | National Public Radio
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

STUDY: REPACK COULD TAKE MORE THAN DECADE
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
Repacking the TV band following the incentive auction in 2016 could take up to 11 years and cost as much as $3 billion, far longer and costlier than earlier estimates, according to a new study commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters and submitted to the Federal Communications Commission on Nov 6. Those estimates are the study's worst case, presuming that the FCC, in clearing 84 MHz of TV spectrum, buys up to 249 stations and has to repack -- that is move to new channels -- as many as 1,200 stations. The best case is if the FCC buys some 450 stations in clearing 120 MHz and has to repack only 800 stations. In that scenario, it would take eight years to move the channels at a cost of $2 billion. The new estimates run counter to current government policy based in part on the 2013 FCC-commissioned Widelity Report. The FCC is giving stations just 39 months after the auction to move to their new channels, and Congress has earmarked just $1.7 billion of the auction proceeds to reimburse broadcasters for the move. In a letter to the FCC being filed Nov 9, NAB asked the FCC to reconsider the hard deadline for the station repack following the auction, saying "the Commission’s one-size-fits-all deadline is manifestly unreasonable." NAB also says it has shared its concerns about the timeline with the wireless carriers who will be moving on to that vacated spectrum after the auction.
benton.org/headlines/study-repack-could-take-more-decade | TVNewsCheck | Broadcasting & Cable
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

NBC STATIONS POST EQUAL TIME NOTICE ABOUT DONALD TRUMP'S 'SNL' GIG
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Ted Johnson]
“Donald Trump, a candidate for the Republican nomination for President in the 2016 national election, appeared without charge on NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ for a total period of 12:05 (12 minutes and 5 seconds) commencing at 11:39:11 PM ET on Nov. 7 and ending at 1:01:01AM ET on Nov. 8, 2015,” read a notice filed by NBC’s New York affiliate, WNBC TV. This triggers a seven-day window in which rival candidates can request equal time. They still have to show that they are bona fide candidates within the state in which “Saturday Night Live” was broadcast, and NBC doesn’t necessarily have to give them time within the same program. After Hillary Clinton appeared on “SNL” on Oct. 3, NBC stations gave notice that her guest spot lasted three minutes and 12 seconds. Larry Lessig, running for the Democratic nomination, requested equal time, but dropped out of the race before any agreement could be reached with the network.
benton.org/headlines/nbc-stations-post-equal-time-notice-about-donald-trumps-snl-gig | Variety | The Hill
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

THE COMMERCE DEPARTMENT'S DIGITAL ECONOMY AGENDA
[SOURCE: Department of Commerce, AUTHOR: Alan Davidson]
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker is announcing at the Techonomy conference in Half Moon Bay (CA), the Commerce Department’s Digital Economy Agenda, focused around four key opportunities:
1) Promoting a free and open Internet worldwide, because the Internet functions best for our businesses and workers when data and services can flow unimpeded across borders.
2) Promoting trust online, because security and privacy are essential if electronic commerce is to flourish.
3) Ensuring access for workers, families, and companies, because fast broadband networks are essential to economic success in the 21st century.
4) Promoting innovation, through smart intellectual property rules and by advancing the next generation of exciting new technologies.
We understand that virtually every modern company relies on the Internet to grow and thrive. This agenda will help businesses and consumers realize the potential of the digital economy to advance growth and opportunity, at home and around the world. As part of our commitment, we are also in the process of creating a Digital Economy Board of Advisors so that government has a mechanism for getting regular advice from leaders in industry and civil society. We welcome your service and partnership.
benton.org/headlines/commerce-departments-digital-economy-agenda | Department of Commerce
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

COMPANY NEWS

ERICSSON, CISCO POOL TELECOM, INTERNET SAVVY IN WIDE-REACHING ALLIANCE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jens Hansegard]
Ericsson AB and Cisco Systems, two of the world’s biggest telecommunications-equipment providers, have clinched a broad technology and commercial partnership that stops short of a full-blown merger but covers cooperation from research and development to customer service. The two companies said Nov 9 they would team up across the board, including jointly working on a wide range of products used in wireless networks and Internet infrastructure as they face heightened competition from the €15.6 billion takeover of Alcatel-Lucent SA by Nokia Corp., expected to be formally launched later in Nov, and relentless rise of China-based Huawei Technologies Co. The alliance will help add $1 billion or more in annual sales for each company by 2018, Sweden’s Ericsson and US company Cisco said. It is an unusual move in such an intensely competitive climate where acquisition is the norm. And it could arouse political concerns on both sides of the Atlantic, where governments are eager to closely monitor suppliers of equipment regarded as highly sensitive for security and privacy reasons.
benton.org/headlines/ericsson-cisco-pool-telecom-internet-savvy-wide-reaching-alliance | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

STORIES FROM ABROAD

UK GOVERNMENT PROMISES ALL HOMES WILL HAVE LEGAL RIGHT TO 10MBPS BROADBAND BY 2020
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Mark Walton]
The United Kingdom government will introduce a "universal service obligation" for broadband that guarantees all UK residents have the legal right to an "affordable" connection, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged. By 2020, it's promised that residents will be able to request a connection of at least 10Mbps, and an Internet service provider will have to connect them no matter where in the country they live or work. "Access to the Internet shouldn't be a luxury, it should be a right -- absolutely fundamental to life in 21st Century Britain," said Prime Minister Cameron. "Just as our forebears effectively brought gas, electricity, and water to all, we're going to bring fast broadband to every home and business that wants it." The creation of a "universal service obligation" for broadband would put Internet access on the same essentials list as water, electricity, and gas, effectively making it a fundamental right for UK residents. The government will hold a consultation on how to achieve its broadband goals in early 2016.
benton.org/headlines/uk-government-promises-all-homes-will-have-legal-right-10mbps-broadband-2020 | Ars Technica
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

Benton

Search

Benton

Daily Digest

Analysis

November 2015

3 Lessons from the Top Techies Rebooting the Government

The Five Key Traits of a Successful Digital Government Strategy

NAB Taps FCC’s Alison Neplokh as VP, Spectrum Policy

Verizon's Shammo throws cold water on licensing Dish's spectrum

Dish's Subscriber Exodus Puts Pressure on Spectrum Strategy

The predictive power of Facebook in politics doesn’t really exist

Google makes Maps, driving directions available offline

Op-ed

Where does broadband competition come from?

November 10, 2015 (What do we want broadband competition to accomplish?)

What do we want broadband competition to accomplish?