BROADBAND
'Open Access' Isn't All That Open At AOL, Despite Regulatory Deals
Cable Operators Avoiding Regulatory Heat, Analysts Say
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Digital Divide Data Now Searchable
BROADCAST
TV Ratings System Getting Tech Upgrade
BROADBAND
'OPEN ACCESS' ISN'T ALL THAT OPEN AT AOL, DESPITE REGULATORY DEALS
Before the AOL Time Warner was approved, federal regulators demanded that
that AOL and Time Warner carry out 11 steps in opening up their cable lines
to small competitors. Small competitors were to have access to AOL Time
Warner's cable-TV lines, and control their own customer billing. So far,
only one company, New York Connects.net Ltd, has been able to offer service
after negotiating a deal with AOL Time Warner marked by high access costs
and an inability to bill New York Connects.net customer directly. The
regulations placed on cable companies were meant to be similar to phone
companies who are required to sell wholesale access to small Internet
providers. In reality, cable companies have been able to handpick their
competitors and Christopher Bogart, president and chief executive of Time
Warner Cable Ventures said, "This is for us, a joint offering of service, a
partnership with an Internet service provider...We're not in the wholesale
access business." Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Media
Education said the deals AOL Time Warner is making with small competitors,
"...makes a mockery of open access."
[SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Julia Angwin]
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1020637295188507120,00.html?mod=todays%5
Fus%5Fmarketplace%5Fhs)
CABLE OPERATORS AVOIDING REGULATORY HEAT, ANALYSTS SAY
Large cable companies such as AT&T Broadband and AOL Time Warner, Inc., have
been winning key victories to ease regulations on ownership, requirements to
share access, and consolidation. Legg Mason analysts Blair Levin and
Michael Balhoff have said, "Cable, like everyone else in the telecom/media
sector, faces a variety of challenges in a difficult economic climate...In
our opinion however, the challenges do not include a negative regulatory
climate." There have been some complaints from Congress about rising cable
prices and small ISPs have been concerned about anti-competitive activities
resulting from increasing consolidation and ownership deregulations.
Nonetheless, Credit Suisse First Boston analysts have stated that, "We
believe re-regulation is highly unlikely...We believe the next few years
under the Bush administration couldn't be better for cable."
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/3204369.htm
DIGITAL DIVIDE
DIGITAL DIVIDE DATA NOW SEARCHABLE
A new Web site, OnTarget is allowing educators, parents, administrators and
policymakers to compare how schools in districts and cities around the
nation. The data includes computer-to-student ratio, Internet access
statistics, and how computers are being used in the classroom. Barbara
Reeves, Director of Instruction Technology at the Maryland State Department
of Education says, "It's really interesting. When you make data public, you
don't know what the reaction will be. But rather than negative consequences,
we were able to use it in a timely way to make funding decisions based on
schools' needs...I've become a believer in data and data-driven decisions."
As an example of the power of data, $9 million in new technology funding
was approved in Prince George's County after the data was made public.
Maryland, Mississippi, and a dozen or so other states will be using the
OnTarget system by the end of the year. While it is helpful to have access
to the computer-student ratios, one of the most valuable uses of the
OnTarget system is discovering how the computers are used. Zucchini Dean,
information technology planner for the Mississippi Department of Education
Office of Technology said they use the software to gather data on computer
use. "People are saying things like...'You know, I really thought more of
the teachers were using e-mail, but it's just 30 percent.' This has given
them a chancel to see what training is needed."
[SOURCE: MSNBC, AUTHOR: Bob Sullivan]
(http://www.msnbc.com/news/747008.asp?cp1=1)
BROADCASTING
TV RATINGS SYSTEM GETTING TECH UPGRADE
The two major companies that produce television and radio ratings are
testing next-generation technology that would give advertisers the data they
need to decide where to spend their billions of dollars. The most promising
is the "portable people meter," a beeper-like device being developed by
Arbitron. It logs programming seen or heard anytime, anywhere by whomever is
wearing it. Nielsen Media Research is developing another measurement tool,
which attaches to individual television sets. Currently, national and local
television ratings are measured by Nielsen Media Research using electronic
devices supplemented four times a year by paper diaries. The new systems
could become essential as analog technology is replaced by digital
television, which splits channels into several distinct signals carrying
program information. "Digital changes the way television is transmitted, so
the channel-based measuring system goes away," said Nielsen spokesman Jack
Loftus. "Everyone is going to encoding, and the race is on to see whose code
is better."
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/05/06/people-meter.htm)
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