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December 2016

Altice USA Bows Low-Cost 30-Meg Broadband Service

Altice USA took the wraps off of Economy Internet, a low-cost broadband service for eligible families and seniors in the operator’s Optimum systems covering portions of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Altice USA is offering the new, cap-free tier, which delivers up to 30 Mbps downstream, for $14.99 per month, plus in-home Wi-Fi via a free “smart router,” access to the operator’s Optimum Wi-Fi network of more than 1.5 million hotspots, and up to three email accounts.

The rollout comes a more than five months after Altice closed its acquisition of Cablevision Systems in June. Tied in, Altice had committed to introduce the low income broadband option throughout the Cablevision service territory. That commitment is referenced in the Federal Communications Commission order allowing the deal, and, in June, the New York State Public Service Commission approved the agreement with conditions that included a pledge that included the low-cost broadband option.

Jared Kushner Might Now Be Our Best Hope for World-Class Internet

[Commentary] Those who urge progressive tech policy have no more ideas than anyone about how the surprise results of the 2016 election will affect the issues about which they care the most. But in one area, I see reason for hope.

Donald Trump and his colleagues are reportedly warming to the idea of an infrastructure bank, although we don’t have much information about how that bank would operate. An infrastructure bank or banks could nudge the country fully into the digital era as well as generate a host of new occupations. Jared Kushner, the soft-voiced, influential son-in-law of the President-elect, will understand these suggestions. (I respect Kushner; I met with him a few times to discuss connectivity issues in New York City.) After all, he and his team launched WiredScore.com, which labels commercial buildings across the country on the basis of their connectivity. He knows that where there are uncompetitive markets for data services, businesses suffer. It’s Kushner’s role as a developer that should make it particularly easy for him to understand the need for open, multipurpose, do-it-once infrastructure that forces competition into markets where it has withered.

[From Nov 23, 2016]

[Susan Crawford is the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a co-director of the Berkman Center.]

The Orwellian nightmare for policy wonks is coming

[Commentary] I’m not going to sugarcoat this: For policy experts, the next four years of the Trump Administration will be a waking nightmare. This is for two reasons. The first is that President-elect Donald Trump’s team has few if any policy wonks. The second is that this puts the average policy wonk in a no-win situation.

But, what if the Trump Administration turns out to be pretty good at governing? Trump has spent the past year and a half defying most political experts and winning the greatest natural experiment in American political history. What if he and his team prove to be better at governing than wonks expect him to be? What if it turns out that the country is already trending in a very positive direction and even the federal government can’t screw that up? Or what if disruption by inexperienced policy principals is just what the bureaucracy needs?

[Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University]

President Obama Taps Level 3's Storey for Advisory Committee

President Barack Obama has signaled his intention to nominate Jeffrey Storey, president of Level 3 Communications, to the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

The President only has a few more weeks in office, but that is not stopping him from trying to fill numerous positions on the way out. Storey has been president and CEO since 2013 and was president/COO before that. He has also had senior executive positions with Cox—he was a founding member of Cox Business Services—and Southwestern Bell. Also being nominated to the advisory committee are John Donovan, group president of AT&T Technology and Operations, Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix; and Peter Altabef, president and CEO of Unisys.

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