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  2. December 2015

December 2015

Municipal networks contribute to increased broadband coverage

Although Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries have made tremendous progress in recent years fostering the deployment of high-speed broadband networks, many challenges remain in terms of how to enhance and expand these networks in order to meet the growing demands of the digital economy.

A new report from the OECD examines experiences with municipal broadband networks in a number of countries including Australia, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Sweden, given its widespread use of municipal networks, is used as an anchor country for the analysis. The models and experience of the municipal networks in these countries have varied from being highly successful to not meeting expectations. In some cases, they have provided welcome competition by offering an alternative infrastructure or increased the geographical availability of advanced telecommunication services where none existed. Sometimes they have enabled retail competition by splitting the provision of infrastructure and services based on an open access approach. Proponents say they have contributed to cities and regions, as there are noticeable effects on social and economic developments in these locations, which the report explores. Overall, the report notes, municipal networks play a significant role in providing services for many people in OECD countries. As a result they are a viable and sometimes extremely effective way of supporting the objectives of local communities, addressing unmet demand and creating new opportunities for growth and prosperity in those communities, which otherwise would not be there.

American Television Alliance Presents FCC With Good Faith Wish List

The American Television Alliance has told the Federal Communications Commission that, as part of its review of good faith retransmission consent negotiations, it should prohibit blocking of Internet content, forced bundling and blackouts of "marquee" events. That came in comments filed at the FCC on Dec 1 on its congressionally mandated review of the factors it should consider in its "totality of circumstances" test for determining whether the negotiations are being conducted in good faith.

In addition to reviewing those, ATVA says the FCC is empowered to adopt new rules that restrict practices that it concludes fail that "totality of circumstances" good faith test. ATVA, whose members include cable operators, satellite operators, and others, say the FCC should also rely on labor laws when a multichannel video programming distributor has offered to "true up" payments when negotiations are concluded, and should use the public interest standard so that it takes into account the impact on viewers, not just parties to the negotiation. ATVA points out that the good faith standard is only found in labor law and retransmission negotiations rules, so that is the obvious place for the FCC to go for guidance.

Connect America Fund Revenue Impact: Major Carriers Could See $400 Million Annually

Within the next few years, the nation’s largest local telecommunication service providers could see their collective annual revenues increase by more than $400 million from new broadband build-outs funded through the Connect America Fund program. Companies likely to see the greatest impact are AT&T and CenturyLink, who could see annual revenues increase by $134 million and $140 million, respectively. Telecompetitor’s analysis assumes that about 50 percent of people in a CAF-funded area will take broadband service from the local carrier, increasing revenues from those customers by $20 per month.

Level 3 says ISPs should not be able to hide poor performance

Level 3 may serve as an intermediary between residential consumer service providers and content providers like Netflix, but it has told the Federal Communications Commission that traditional Internet service providers should provide information to consumers on broadband network performance. In a recent FCC filing, the service provider said that making information available to consumers on whether they are getting the same user experience as others in their community is important.

"Too few consumers have a real choice for broadband service at their home. But for those who do, disclosures should help them make that choice," said Level 3 in the filing. "Consumers should have access to data that tells them, for each provider, whether the provider offers consistent, high-speed performance to Internet broadly, or whether the provider offers inconsistent performance, with better connectivity to some resources than to others." Specifically, Level 3 said that ISPs should not be able to hide poor, inconsistent performance behind methodologies that provide a misleading "average" performance statistic.

New CDC Stats on Wireless Substitution

Preliminary results from the January–June 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that the number of American homes with only wireless telephones continues to grow. Nearly one-half of American homes (47.4%) had only wireless telephones (also known as cellular telephones, cell phones, or mobile phones) during the first half of 2015 -- an increase of 3.4 percentage points since the first half of 2014. More than two-thirds of all adults aged 25-34 and of adults renting their homes were living in wireless-only households. This report presents the most up-to-date estimates available from the federal government concerning the size and characteristics of this population.

Remarks of FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai on Receiving the 2015 Jerry B. Duvall Public Service Award

I am honored to accept the Jerry B Duvall Public Service Award...I also appreciate this opportunity to address the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies.

I look forward to reviewing Chairman Wheeler’s proposed resolution of the US Telecom forbearance petition in the coming weeks. And I hold out hope that the Federal Communications Commission will revise our aging telephone system rules in light of the new, competitive marketplace. Outdated regulatory roadblocks are bad for consumers, bad for infrastructure investment, and bad for our nation’s economic competitiveness. After all, networks don’t have to be built. Risks don’t have to be taken. Capital doesn’t have to be invested. When the FCC makes it less attractive for companies to connect the American people, those companies will find other places to put their money. And here is why, ultimately, all of this matters. The digital revolution is unleashing a tremendous amount of entrepreneurship and innovation. And the Internet is also putting people in charge of their own lives in unprecedented ways.

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