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  2. May 2016

May 2016

Public Knowledge Supports FCC Spectrum Sharing Notice, Urges FCC to Open Privacy and Cybersecurity Proceeding

The Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a public notice that seeks comment on testing spectrum sharing on the 5.9GHz band. These spectrum sharing tests would be set up between the auto industry’s vehicle-to-vehicle communications (“Dedicated Short Range Communications,” or DSRC) and Wi-Fi. Public Knowledge joins others in asking the FCC to allow devices to share this 75 MHz of much-needed spectrum on a non-interfering basis.

Harold Feld, Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge said, "For the last four years, the auto industry -- with the help of the Department of Transportation -- has fought to keep the brakes on addressing our Wi-Fi spectrum crisis. Finally, the FCC has jumpstarted this proceeding and demanded that the auto industry and DoT stop stalling and submit their claims about life and safety to an open, scientific testing process they cannot bias or suppress. Unfortunately, as Public Knowledge has investigated the planned deployment of DSRC technology over the last few months, it has become clear to us that installation of DSRC technology in cars would make consumers less safe. In particular, because car makers plan to use this 'life and safety' spectrum for mobile payments and other for-profit uses, DSRC will create new opportunities for cyberhackers and identity thieves. In the next few weeks, Public Knowledge will ask the FCC to open a new proceeding on DSRC to address these issues, regardless of the decision the FCC makes on the feasibility of opening portions of the DSRC band for spectrum sharing."

Will 5G Enable Wireless Replacement of Home Broadband and Disrupt FTTH?

Ever since the advent of 3G wireless, there’s been debate as to whether significant wireless replacement of home broadband service is possible. After all, wireless replacement of home voice service helped decimate the pure wireline voice business for many carriers. Will the same happen for home broadband and put ongoing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) investment at risk?

The latest candidate for possible wireless replacement of home broadband service is emerging in the form of 5G wireless. This latest wireless generation promises broadband speeds that are comparable to existing FTTH and cable broadband services, and far surpass a DSL broadband experience. Wireless gigabit speeds may be in reach from 5G. Recent comments from Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam adds intrigue to this discussion. “There’s a distinction between 5G in a fixed wireless environment versus a mobile environment,” said McAdam. “The use case for me that gets you over the hump on investing in the technology is the one that’s right in front of us right now and that’s a fixed wireless play.” McAdam went on to say that using 5G for fixed wireless, as a replacement for home or business broadband, may offer enough of a business case alone to justify Verizon’s investment in 5G. Any profits that come from 5G mobile would be “gravy” he said. Mobile 5G services aren’t expected to be reality until at least 2020.

Verizon’s Multi-Billion-Dollar Play To Take On Netflix, Amazon, Google and Facebook

It’s easy to pooh-pooh AOL, which telecommunication company Verizon bought in 2015 for $4.4 billion. The company operates in a murky territory somewhere between the platinum brands of the media elite and the digital content farms relentlessly driving clicks. But in AOL, led by Google ad-veteran Tim Armstrong, Verizon saw an opportunity to start assembling the makings of a new media empire capable of competing in the attention economy with the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Google, and even Facebook.

Never mind that Verizon had little to no experience in the content-creation domain; it owned the means to reach millions of customers via its broadband lines and wireless spectrum (it is the largest wireless provider in the United States), and imagined that it could drive additional revenue by exerting greater influence over the content and advertising layered on top of those capabilities. As incumbents in cable and telecom converge with Silicon Valley platforms, and Verizon is using its ample resources to claim strategic territory.

Quizzing the candidates leaves a secret paper trail

Questionnaires from interest groups are a staple of electoral politics. They’re used by unions and business interests and others across the political spectrum, from gun-rights and anti-abortion groups on the right to environmental and gay-rights groups on the left. The surveys can help sift a field of contestants as decisions are made about how to spend big campaign money.

The Service Employees International Union poured $14.3 million into California campaigns in 2014, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, and only a handful of Democrats were elected without the union’s support. By locking potential legislators into a position before they’re even elected, questionnaires may also influence policy-making in a way that excludes the public and raises ethical questions. Out of view from voters, they can create private covenants between soon-to-be public officials and the groups that will lobby them.

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