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House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), subcommittee member Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) sent a letter to the Department of Commerce’s Inspector General Todd Zinser to applaud plans to audit the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s stimulus grant awarded to EAGLE-Net and request the IG gather additional information to assist the committee’s examination.
The committee has been conducting rigorous oversight of the Obama Administration’s $7 billion broadband stimulus program to examine allegations of waste and overbuilding. In February, the subcommittee held its fourth hearing on the broadband spending and committee leaders recently requested the Government Accountability Office conduct additional oversight of loans and grants in an effort to protect taxpayer dollars. In a letter to the Commerce IG, the members wrote, “The award —at $100.6 million, one of the largest broadband grants under the ARRA — has been a source of controversy. The grant to EAGLE-Net Alliance, originally made to the Colorado Centennial Board of Cooperative Educational Services and subsequently transferred to EAGLE-Net, has been criticized for overbuilding existing infrastructure rather than delivering service to unserved communities.”
House Republicans Welcome IG Audit of EAGLE-Net, Request Additional Information on Controversial $100 Million Stimulus Grant
Older Adults Technology Services developed a $250,000 pilot program which will bring iPads, computer training and home Internet service to 100 seniors over the next year.
It is a program of the AARP Foundation, an AARP-affiliated charity, and is being administered in Washington (DC) by Family Matters of Greater Washington, a social-services organization. The initial recipients, most of whom live in Ward 2, will attend classes twice a week for six months to learn how to use the Internet, Skype, email and social-media platforms such as Facebook. Fifty more will begin classes in July. Comcast is providing discounted Internet service, and Netgear is donating modems. The goal of the program is to combat the isolation that can set in as seniors retire and their close friends and family members die, lose touch or move away.
Program teaches seniors how to use the Internet
Federal Communications Commission Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake shot down the idea of syncing the rollout of a next-generation television standard and the pending spectrum auction and subsequent channel repack to a crowd of broadcast engineers in Washington.
Lake, the keynote speaker at the 2013 Advanced Televisions Systems Committee annual meeting, said all members of the FCC are determined to have a spectrum auction as quickly as possible, adding he doesn't believe that ATSC 3.0 — the next-generation and non-backwards compatible television standard — can be completed and deployed on the commission’s aggressive timetable. "We do perceive a crunch for spectrum coming," Lake said to about 100 people at the Ronald Reagan Center. "We encourage the ATSC to work as fast as they can, but feel it's unrealistic to think the incentive auction would slow down and wait for it to be done." The FCC has said it wants to complete a spectrum auction and channel repack in 18 months.
Lake: FCC Won’t Delay Auction for ATSC 3.0
The battle between billionaires to take over US wireless carrier Sprint Nextel escalated as the heads of SoftBank and Dish Network pressed their cases.
SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said his proposed $20 billion takeover of Sprint would allow the combined company to bring a pricing advantage to the U.S. wireless market and let Sprint continue its unlimited data plans. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen, meanwhile, said that Dish's U.S. spectrum assets were a valuable part of its bid. He said that one of Sprint's big problems is "national coverage," and that Dish's spectrum gives Sprint "additional capacity to make the build-out for coverage much more inexpensive."
Dish's Ergen, SoftBank's Son Press Cases for Sprint Dish and SoftBank trade blows over Sprint (FT)
Addressed petitions seeking a waiver of the rule requiring Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) providers to ensure that equipment and software used in conjunction with their service have a default setting of captions off
Misuse of Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities
New technology and new thinking are helping African literature leapfrog the high costs of traditional publishing and reach new readers across the continent. As e-readers boom in popularity in the West, African publishers are stretching their reach with the help of a device millions already have in their pockets: their cellphones. Mobile internet now accounts for well over half of all web traffic in some African countries, and it is expected to grow 25-fold on the continent in the next four years, according to the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association, an industry organization.
A 'novel' idea for spreading literature in Africa: The cellphone
The Federal Communications Commission took action to expand the availability of in-flight broadband connectivity to airline passengers. The FCC proposes to establish an air-ground mobile broadband service, using a ground-based network to communicate with planes, by taking advantage of technical innovations to expand sharing of certain spectrum among users.
Expanded availability of in-flight Wi-Fi will help meet demand from travelers to connect to a full range of communications services while flying in the contiguous United States. More options for in-flight broadband are likely to increase competition, improve the quality of service, and lead to lower prices. Improved connectivity benefits business and leisure travelers alike in their desire for ubiquitous broadband access to keep in touch with work, family, and friends while flying. The FCC proposes to establish this air-ground mobile broadband service as a secondary allocation in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, the same band used by satellite companies for Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) uplinks on a primary basis and by certain Federal services on a secondary basis. The service would be required to protect primary FSS in the band from harmful interference and to coordinate with other users in the band. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) proposes technical rules to assure that the service’s operations will not cause harmful interference. It also seeks comment on licensing rules by which the FCC would license the service in either two 250-megahertz blocks, one 500-megahertz block, or some other spectrum block size. The Notice proposes to award these licenses by auction.
FCC Proposes to Expand the Availability of In-Flight Wi-Fi Statement (Chairman Genachowski) Statement (Commissioner Clyburn) Statement (Commissioner Rosenworcel) Statement (Commissioner Pai) Julius Genachowski's FCC Swan Song: Get Faster Wi-Fi on Planes (The Wrap)
The Federal Communications Commission took steps to advance the U.S. commercial space launch industry by proposing to improve commercial access to spectrum used for communications services required for controlling, monitoring, and tracking launch vehicles.
The FCC proposed several alternatives for making available spectrum for use during commercial space launches. This proposal is a first step towards enabling commercial space launch operators to directly acquire licenses needed for use during launches, using well-defined application and coordination processes. The FCC also sought comment on future spectrum requirements of the commercial space industry, including what other spectrum needs may be important as the commercial space sector continues to develop.
The FCC also took action to facilitate the use of commercial satellite services by U.S. government agencies. Specifically, to advance the goals of the National Space Policy, the Commission sought comment on two alternative proposals to provide Federal earth stations that communicate with non-Federal Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) and Mobile-Satellite Service (MSS) space stations interference protection identical to that afforded to non-Federal earth stations communicating with the same FSS and MSS space stations.
FCC Takes Steps to Make Spectrum Available for Commercial Space Launches and Facilitate U.S. Government Use of Commercial Satellite Services Statement (Chairman Genachowski) Statement (Commissioner Clyburn) Statement (Commissioner Rosenworcel) Statement (Commissioner Pai)
The Federal Communications Commission has released its Report of the top subject areas of consumer inquiries and informal complaints received and processed by the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) during the fourth quarter of calendar year 2012.
During the fourth quarter of 2012, the overall number of inquiries for the top four reported inquiry categories increased by nearly 1% from the number received and processed by CGB during the previous quarter, from 13,074 during the third quarter of 2012, to 13,190, as described below. The number of Cable and Satellite Services inquiries decreased by more than 15%, from 1,661 to 1,400, due to a decrease in inquiries regarding Service, Satellite Television Extension & Localism Act, Over-the-Air Reception Devices, Programming, and Billing and Rates issues. Inquiries regarding Billing and Rates issues constituted more than 34% of the inquiries in this category during the fourth quarter. The number of Radio and Television Broadcasting inquiries decreased by more than 12%, from 2,608 to 2,271, primarily due to a decrease in inquiries concerning Digital Television issues. Wireless Telecommunications inquiries increased by more than 19%, from 1,720 to 2,059, with an increase in the number of inquiries regarding License Information, Tower, and Service issues. Wireline Telecommunications inquiries increased by more than 5%, from 7,085 to 7,460, with Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) matters constituting more than 58% of the fourth quarter inquiries in this category.
During the fourth quarter of 2012, the overall number of informal complaints in the top five reported categories increased by more than 4% from those received and processed during the third quarter of 2012, from 75,453 to 78,608. Bundled and VoIP Service-related complaints decreased by more than 9% this quarter, from 1,931 to 1,747. Cable & Satellite Services complaints increased by more than 67%, from 1,675 to 2,799, primarily due to an increase in complaints regarding Programming issues. The number of Radio and Television Broadcasting complaints increased by more than 104%, from 2,714 to 5,544, due to an increase in complaints regarding Programming – General Criticism issues. Wireless Telecommunications complaints increased by nearly 3%, from 29,221 to 30,090, with TCPA-related complaints comprising the bulk of the complaints in this category. Wireline Telecommunications complaints decreased by more than 3%, from 39,912 to 38,428, with TCPA-Other Issues, Do Not Call List and Unsolicited Faxes constituting the top categories of such complaints. These three subcategories, combined, constituted over 94% of the Wireline complaints in the reported subcategories during the fourth quarter.
Quarterly Report of Consumer Inquiries and Informal Complaints for Fourth Quarter of Calendar Year 2012 Released Top Consumer Issues (Subject Category Reference Guide) FCC (Summary of Top Five Consumer Informal Complaint Subjects) FCC (Summary of Top Four Consumer Inquiry Subjects)
We’ve been building a YouTube partner program since 2007 that enables content creators to earn revenue for their creativity. We’ve watched them build amazing channels that have made YouTube into a news, education and entertainment destination 1 billion people around the world cannot do without. Today, there are more than 1 million channels generating revenue on YouTube, and one of the most frequent requests we hear from these creators behind them is for more flexibility in monetizing and distributing content. We’ve been working on that and wanted to fill you in on what to expect.
Starting today, we’re launching a pilot program for a small group of partners that will offer paid channels on YouTube with subscription fees starting at $0.99 per month. Every channel has a 14-day free trial, and many offer discounted yearly rates. For example, Sesame Street will be offering full episodes on their paid channel when it launches. And UFC fans can see classic fights, like a full version of their first event from UFC’s new channel. You might run into more of these channels across YouTube, or look here for a list of pilot channels. Once you subscribe from a computer, you’ll be able to watch paid channels on your computer, phone, tablet and TV, and soon you’ll be able to subscribe to them from more devices. This is just the beginning. We’ll be rolling paid channels out more broadly in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners. And as new channels appear, we'll be making sure you can discover them, just as we've been helping you find and subscribe to all the channels you love across YouTube. Just as the partner program empowered creators to take their channels to the next level, we look forward to seeing how this great community of creators moves ahead with a new way to reach the fan communities that made their channels a hit. You’ll be hearing more from us, and them, as we get creator and user feedback and build out this exciting offering.
New ways to support great content on YouTube YouTube’s Pay Channels Include ‘Sesame Street’ and Mixed Martial Arts (NY Times) YouTube launches its paid subscription channels with select partners (paidContent.org) YouTube, World's Largest Video Portal, Launches Paid Channels (The Wrap) YouTube Launches Subscription Offering (AdWeek)