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Republicans on the Senate Communications Subcommittee argued that the government should not limit the ability of AT&T and Verizon to bid in the upcoming auction of airwave licenses.
The Justice Department's Antitrust Division has urged the Federal Communications Commission to use caps or limits to ensure that Verizon and AT&T do not buy up all of the spectrum licenses at auction. The agency warned that the industry giants could use the auction to kill off competition from Sprint, T-Mobile and regional carriers.
"I believe the Commission should not pick winners or losers among individual companies, but instead let all interested participants freely compete against one another in the open market," Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Commerce Committee's ranking member, said during the Subcommittee hearing on the state of wireless communication. "To achieve success, it is critical that there be widespread all-inclusive participation in the auction," said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), a subcommittee member. Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) worried that restrictions on participation would reduce the government's revenue, which he said is key to the auction. Delara Derakhshani, a policy counsel for the Consumers Union, warned that the auction won't benefit consumers unless it promotes competition. "The two largest providers of wireless services today are positioned to dominate the auction unless the government puts in place appropriate rules," she testified.
There was general agreement at the hearing that the wireless industry needed more spectrum, including unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi, but how much of it would be coming from broadcasters was less clear. Steve Largent, who heads CTIA: The Wireless Association, said that one answer was to "coerce" some of the 70% of usable spectrum from the government. He said he hoped the Federal Communications Commission could get back its target of 120 MHz from broadcasters, but was not at all sure that would happen.
Republicans push for unrestricted airwave auction Senate Panel Agrees on Need for Spectrum (Broadcasting&Cable)
Having the Internet with you on the go is so essential, that in four years, Americans will be more likely to have a mobile Internet device than wired home broadband, forecasts a new report.
This year, consumer spending on Internet-connected smartphones, tablets and other devices will surpass home broadband service fees for the first time, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' "Entertainment & Media Outlook 2013-2017" report. In four years, nearly 286.7 million in the U.S., or 87% of the population, will have mobile Internet devices, while about 85% of homes will have broadband. Mobile Internet access spending will top $54 billion in the U.S. this year, compared with $49.6 billion in home Internet spending, the consulting firm estimates in the report, out today. In 2012, home Internet spending ($46.5 billion) slightly outpaced mobile ($44.5 billion).
On the Internet, mobile outpacing home broadband
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it is banning imports of Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G after determining the devices violate a patent held by rival Samsung Electronics.
The ruling, issued in Samsung's patent lawsuit against Apple, could end Apple's ability to sell the older versions of the iPhone and iPad in the U.S. because they are assembled in China. The panel issued a limited import ban and a cease-and-desist order for AT&T models of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G, which are still made. IPhone 3GS and iPad 3G, which are no longer made, were also cited in the ruling. Apple says it plans to appeal. President Barack Obama has 60 days to invalidate the order.
iPhone 4 imports banned in US patent case Apple banned from selling some iPhones and iPads after Samsung patent win (CNNMoney)
Lots of different outlets are trying to project the size of the US e-book market and how fast it’s growing. In its annual “Entertainment & Media Outlook,” set to be released June 5, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that trade (consumer, not educational or academic) e-books will drive $8.2 billion in sales by 2017 — surpassing projected print book sales, which it thinks will shrink by more than half during that period. The total size of the trade book industry, PwC estimated, will be $16.1 billion by 2017 — smaller than it was in 2008, with e-books not quite able to pick up the slack as the print market shrinks. PwC also projects that e-books will make up 38 percent of all book sales — both trade and educational books — by 2017, from 16 percent today.
PwC: the U.S. consumer e-book market will be bigger than the print book market by 2017
[Commentary] Much has been made in the media over the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program, which helps make telephone service more affordable for poor families. Most of the media coverage, however, has been slanted and misleading.
Last month I testified at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on Communications and Technology titled “The Lifeline Fund: Money Well Spent?” My testimony provided a factual account of the history of the Lifeline program and the ways in which it is bettering lives today. Stories in the media of corporate abuse for profit have drowned out the stories of the very real people that use Lifeline as a tool to improve their lives and move away from government assistance. The vast majority of Lifeline recipients are grateful seniors, deserving veterans and folks who are going through the hardest times of their lives — facing job losses, illnesses, disability and family tragedies. Lifeline enables the most vulnerable members of our society with access to 9-1-1 emergency services, the cellular AMBER Alert notifications and the emerging wireless emergency broadcast system Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) that saved lives during Hurricane Sandy. For these people, Lifeline literally lives up to its name and must continue.
[González is the vice president of policy and legal affairs for the National Hispanic Media Coalition]
Setting the record straight on the FCC Lifeline program
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) approved resolutions proposed by its new General Manager, Bill D’Agostino, to give FirstNet the funding and organizational structure it needs to advance its mission to build a nationwide, public safety broadband network for first responders.
D’Agostino outlined for the Board an organizational plan for FirstNet, identifying senior management positions that he intends to fill. As full-time employees are hired, many of the functions being performed by Board members and temporary consultants will be transitioned over to FirstNet staff. “FirstNet is entering a new phase as we work to stand up this organization,” said Board Chairman Sam Ginn. “I’m confident that Bill is taking us in the right direction and look forward to getting these critical staff on board as expeditiously as possible.”
D’Agostino is currently undertaking a review process of the terms and conditions on new contracts. The budget resolution approved today would increase authorized spending to $20 million and commitments (obligations) to $50 million for FY 2013, subject to the Board’s approval of the acquisition strategy. D’Agostino said the budget increases are critical to enable FirstNet to grow its outreach teams to continue the relationship building and state and local outreach that was begun through the three regional workshops held with states so far. He also said the funding was important to permit FirstNet to continue to work with the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) public safety projects, which are currently negotiating spectrum lease agreements with FirstNet.
FirstNet Board Approves Budget and Organization Structure
Offering relevant information in open, machine-readable formats may be the most important thing government can do to keep the public informed during a natural disaster, Google and other technology leaders told members of Congress.
When a natural disaster such as 2012’s Hurricane Sandy hits, federal, state and local government agencies are often the best source for trusted information about the storm’s path or the location of shelters and other services. People in the path of those storms, however, are much more likely to seek information on Google and other private sector platforms. Google received about 15 million queries for Sandy-related information in the days before, during and after the storm, Matthew Stepka, vice president of the tech giant’s social impact arm Google.org told members of the House Homeland Security Committee’s panel on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications. That compares with about 740,000 visitors to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Sandy pages, 71,000 visitors to the main governmentwide Sandy page at USA.gov and about 2.8 million visitors to a governmentwide widget that directed visitors to five main lines of government information about Sandy, according to a lessons learned report on the superstorm and social media released by the Homeland Security Department.
Google Tells Feds How to get Emergency Info to the Top of Search Results Google: Lack of open standards hampers information sharing in disasters (The Hill)
Consumers are just as interested in purchasing digital content from Pay TV providers as they are from Over-The-Top (OTT) content providers, challenging “the prevalent notion” that OTT content providers are preferred over broadcast Pay-TV operators when consumers purchase digital movies and TV series episodes, according to market research from CSG Systems International. Surveying 1,200 U.S. consumers ages 18-65, CSG found that 71% of consumers are willing to buy content from an OTT provider, while 70% are willing to buy from their Pay TV provider, according to CSG’s “U.S. Pay TV and Digital Content” report.
CSG: Consumers Equally Willing to Buy Content from Pay TV and OTT Providers
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ministers agreed to strengthen the organization’s cyberdefenses but differed about how much NATO should do to protect smaller allies from potentially devastating hacking attacks.
Defense ministers from the 28 allies agreed that NATO's cyberdefense capability should be fully operational by October, extending NATO protection to all of the dozens of computer networks owned and operated by the alliance. They have also agreed to establish rapid reaction teams to help protect NATO's own systems. NATO members agree that the organization’s priority must be to defend NATO's own computer networks, since these are the systems used to coordinate military operations among the allies.
NATO boosts cyber defenses but members differ on its role
[Commentary] The federal antitrust case over collusion and price-fixing in the e-book industry entered what will likely be its final chapter on June 3, with opening statements in court from the Department of Justice and Apple — since all of the accused publishers have already settled. And while Apple is undoubtedly going to make an impassioned defense of its innocence over the next few weeks, the fact is that the DoJ has what amounts to a slam-dunk case: no matter how you look at it, the company colluded with publishers to keep e-book prices high. In fact, the government’s case is so compelling that the judge in the trial has already said she thinks it will prevail, despite Apple’s protests to the contrary. In pretrial comments, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said she believes the government “will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case will confirm that.”
Why the Apple e-book trial should be over already: The DoJ has an open-and-shut case Apple Accuses DOJ of Unfairly Twisting Steve Jobs’s Words (WSJ) Apple, U.S. come out swinging as e-book trial gets underway (LA Times) Apple calls e-book price fixing case “bizarre,” says DOJ is being unfair (ars technica)