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Wheeler for FCC chair? Here’s reaction from public interest groups:
- "The Federal Communications Commission needs a strong leader -- someone who will use this powerful position to stand up to industry giants and protect the public interest," said Free Press president Craig Aaron. "On paper, Tom Wheeler does not appear to be that person, having headed not one but two major trade associations. But he now has the opportunity to prove his critics wrong, clean up the mess left by his predecessor, and be the public servant we so badly need at the FCC."
- “He can’t be pigeon-holed,” said Gigi Sohn, president of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge. “He’s had a wide variety of experiences and has worked with competitive companies as well as incumbents. I truly believe he will be independent and thoughtful…. He's also at a time in life where he's not looking for the next job. (That) will add to his independence."
Groups Already Weighing In on Wheeler Chairmanship
T-Mobile USA, the country's fourth-largest cellphone carrier, is set to complete its acquisition of MetroPCS after the stock market closes on April 30. No immediate changes are expected for customers of either company. However, T-Mobile plans to shut down MetroPCS's network over two years, which means MetroPCS phones will eventually stop working. T-Mobile will use the space freed up on the airwaves to boost its own coverage and data speeds.
T-Mobile to close MetroPCS deal
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has rewritten federal cybersecurity standards for the first time in nearly a decade to address evolving smartphone vulnerabilities and foreign manipulation of the supply chain, among other new threats.
The 457-page government computer security bible, officially called "SP (Special Publication) 800-53," was last revised in 2005. That was long before the rise of advanced persistent threats -- infiltrations that play off human failings to linger in systems until finding sensitive data. Agencies are not required to follow all the specifications, but rather choose among the protections that suit their operational environments, such as space in the case of NASA. To protect critical computer parts, the compendium recommends sometimes withholding the ultimate purpose of a technology from contractors by "using blind or filtered buys." Agencies also should offer incentives to vendors that provide transparency into their processes and security practices, or vet the processes of subcontractors. NIST broaches the controversial approach to "restrict purchases from specific suppliers or countries," which U.S. technology firms, even those who have been hacked, say might slow installations. The new guidelines also cover the challenges of web-based or cloud software, insider threats and privacy controls.
NIST Reworks Cyber Guidelines for the Hacking Era
The "industrial Internet" is the idea of connecting millions of machines--railroad cars, wind turbines, MRI scanners, you name it--to a network, extending today’s connectivity to factories, hospitals, buildings, and much else.
According to Jon Bruner it is "machines becoming nodes on pervasive networks that use open protocols." And, to many others, it is as a big a deal as the Internet itself: essentially completing a job that’s only half-finished with web sites, email, Twitter, and so on. "The same changes in software and networks that brought about decades of Silicon Valley innovation are now reordering the machines around us," Bruner, an editor at O’Reilly Media, says. For a sense of what these changes might mean, take a look at Bruner’s excellent (and free) recent report. He writes about how the industrial Internet might improve efficiency and system visibility (allowing managers, for example, to understand their power supplies, as well as what’s happening in the factory). He explores some possible problems, notably around security. And he runs through dozens of examples of how it could affect particular industries.
The Part Of The Internet You Don’t See Lets Machines Talk To Each Other—And Will Change The World The coming of the industrial internet (O’Reilly Radar)
Future Verizon services will be built on one of four “foundational platforms,” said Verizon Chief Technology Officer Tony Melone, addressing attendees at Genband Perspectives13 in Orlando. Those four platforms, he said, include the company’s 4G LTE network, FiOS, data centers operated under the Terremark name and the company’s global IP backbone.
Verizon’s LTE network now reaches 90% of the U.S. population and will match the company’s 3G footprint before year-end, Melone said. Also on tap for this year are LTE deployments in the AWS band. The company engineers its LTE network for an average of 12 Mbps under “loaded” conditions, he added. Melone also noted that Verizon currently spends about $16 billion a year on spectrum. Upcoming goals for the company’s wireless network include deploying voice over LTE and rich communications services (RCS). But Melone hastened to add that “We will be aggressive but we will also be smart.” Building a nationwide wireless network based on voice over IP is “not trivial,” Melone said, adding that the company will begin delivering such services over that network later this year or early next year.
Verizon CTO: Future Services Will be Based on Four Key Platforms
Two weeks ago, comments were filed in the Federal Communications Commission’s proceeding examining whether to adopt a more relaxed view of the foreign ownership provisions of the Communications Act.
While the Communications Act limits foreign ownership in communications licensees to 20% (or 25% of a licensee holding company), the Act also allows the FCC to allow greater foreign ownership if it would not adversely affect the public interest. In areas other than broadcasting, the FCC has routinely allowed ownership of more than 25% of a communications licensee, but the limit has been strictly enforced in the broadcasting world. Many of the comments filed in response to the FCC’s request made exactly that point - that in a multimedia world, why should a wireless company or a cable programmer be allowed to be foreign owned, while a competing broadcaster can't have foreign investors holding more than 25% of its equity? In what is perhaps a telling indication of where the FCC is going, the statements of three FCC Commissioners, in connection with a recent FCC decision to further streamline the approval process for alien ownership in excess of the 25% limitations in FCC-regulated areas other than broadcasting, suggested that the relaxation of the limits should also be extended to broadcasting.
A Change in the FCC's Broadcast Foreign Ownership Rules In the Near Future?
The Internet Society held a panel discussion on the state of competition in the U.S. broadband market. The discussion was informative, and the audience offered some great questions as well. Some highlights from the event…
- All panelists seemed to agree that there’s still a problem in America with low-income families lacking service. Various proposals were mentioned, including a school lunch-like program for low-income families with children, or making the Lifeline program technology-neutral and thus able to cover broadband or mobile service.
- In addition to the low-income access problem, the panelists also acknowledged that rural access remains scant in some parts of the US.
Internet Society Panel Focuses on Rural and Low-Income Broadband Access
Starting this week, all members of the U.S. Congress will have the opportunity to access enhanced features on their YouTube channels, including the ability to live stream video. If you’re a member of Congress and would like to know more, check out Dear Colleague letters issued by the House and Senate. Whether it’s to share a look into your daily work, broadcast speeches and meetings, or showcase events in your state or district, we can’t wait to see how you connect with your constituents.
Congress, now live on YouTube
Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins made waves by opining on the limited future of one of tech’s strongest growing device categories: tablets.
“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”
By 2018, tablets will be obsolete, says legacy smartphone company CEO
If the Federal Communications Commission limits the participation of either Verizon or AT&T in the upcoming spectrum incentive auctions, it could reduce the proceeds by as much as $12 billion (or 40%), which could mean there would not be enough money to pay for all the spectrum broadcasters give up. That is according to research released by the Center for Business and Public Policy at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.
The research was conducted by Robert J. Shapiro, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Coleman Bazelon. According to a spokesperson for Georgetown, it was funded by the McDonough School and not any outside company. The authors warn that a $12 billion shortfall -- from a potential $31 billion in proceeds with the big carriers participating to $19 billion without -- could mean that there might not be enough to build out the national interoperable public safety broadband network and pay the $2 billion in broadcaster re-packing costs and be able to pay for "the full amount [of spectrum] made available by the broadcasters." The research also indicated that if the wireless carriers were discouraged or prevented from bidding, their plan B would be deploying less efficient technologies that would ultimately cost consumers. They estimated that strategy could increase monthly bills by 9%.
Study: Limiting Incentive Auction Bidding Could Cost $12B The Economic Implications of Restricting Spectrum Purchases in the Incentive Auctions (Georgetown)