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What happens when the "bundle" begins to unravel? The question is taking on intense importance for the cable-TV business, which for decades has forced customers to subscribe to groups, or bundles, of channels—whether they wanted them or not. Now pay-TV executives—as well as its customers—are openly pondering a world where the bundle no longer reigns, even though such a scenario could be years away.
"People should be able to build what they want and get what they want," said Bartees Cox, a spokesman for consumer group Public Knowledge. "Without the 'take it or leave it' requirements of bundled programming packages at a wholesale level, cable companies could tailor smaller and lower-priced packages that could offer flexibility and have great appeal to specific interests and audiences," said Charlie Schueler, spokesman for Cablevision. Giving consumers the right to pick and choose could be costly for the big entertainment companies. While some pay-TV executives say that full "a la carte'" could be overwhelming for viewers, others say that such an offering would be "the dream" but not practical, considering the reality of relationships with entertainment companies.
Imagining a Post-Bundle TV World
MetroPCS Communications Inc.'s largest shareholder, hedge fund Paulson & Co., plans to vote its 9.9% stake against the planned acquisition of the wireless carrier by Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA.
In a letter to the MetroPCS board, manager John Paulson argued the deal's structure is unfair to shareholders and that the company could get a more attractive alternative offer, but added that the fund could support a restructured deal. Paulson joins another hedge fund, P. Schoenfeld, which has reported a stake of about 2.3%, in opposing the deal. P. Schoenfeld has filed a proxy to solicit other investors to join its position, but it remains unclear if the opposition can get enough support to affect the deal. A MetroPCS spokesman said Thursday that the board continues to back the current offer. A spokesman for T-Mobile reiterated a prior statement by Deutsche Telekom that it is committed to the terms of the merger and "will enforce its rights under the definitive agreement with MetroPCS."
Paulson Opposes T-Mobile Bid for MetroPCS
[Commentary] Newly sworn-in Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel survived a bitter confirmation process. For weeks, those opposed to his nomination fixated on comments he made more than a decade ago. Although Mr. Hagel’s road to the Obama cabinet was focused on the past, his tenure in office will focus on preparing the military for the threats of the future. Cybersecurity is one area that will demand his attention.
A recent National Intelligence Estimate concluded that the United States is the target of a massive cyber-espionage campaign that experts estimate costs US businesses tens of billions of dollars per year. Secretary Hagel must guide the Department of Defense through a few key challenges to better secure the nation’s cyber networks.
His focus at the Pentagon should be on these four key areas.
- The status of US Cyber Command
- Developing a cyber workforce
- Improving the cyber capabilities
- Establish rules of international behavior
[Matthew Rhoades is the director of legislative affairs at the Truman National Security Project and the Center for National Policy]
4 ways Chuck Hagel can improve cyber security
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller said the U.S. government and private industry need to forge a collaborative working relationship to successfully combat the growing number of cyber threats facing the country.
Mueller said the government needs industry as a partner because it boasts security expertise and also creates the technology used to defend computer systems and networks from attacks. "Today, the private sector is the essential partner if we are to succeed in defeating the cyber threat," Mueller said during a speech at the RSA cybersecurity conference. But the FBI chief also acknowledged that there are obstacles to forming strong public-private partnerships. He said intelligence-sharing efforts about cyber threats are one of the main areas that need to be improved and that the recent cybersecurity executive order issued by President Obama would help with the process.
FBI Director: Private sector help 'essential' to combating cyberattacks
Following an online uproar over a law banning the unlocking of cell phones, the Federal Communications Commission will investigate whether the ban is harmful to economic competitiveness and if the executive branch has any authority to change the law.
The “ban raises competition concerns; it raises innovation concerns,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Chairman Genachowski isn’t sure what authority he has, but if he finds any, given the tone of the conversation, it’s likely he will exert his influence to reverse the decision. “It’s something that we will look at at the FCC to see if we can and should enable consumers to use unlocked phones.”
FCC To Investigate Cell Phone Unlocking Ban
[Commentary] Newspapers may not be the radioactive investments they were a few years ago, but they're still not attracting droves of buyers. Still, regulators at the Federal Communications Commission insist on limiting the pool of potential newspaper acquirers.
The FCC does this through the so-called “cross-ownership” ban that prohibits the owner of a broadcast television station from owning a newspaper in the same market. While the FCC is moving to loosen the ban, even the proposed revision will keep some major players from bidding for newspapers. This is a potential problem for Tribune Co., which confirmed that it's shopping its nine newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune. Recently released from Chapter 11, the company has decided to focus on its television properties, which include WGN-TV/Channel 9 here in Chicago. While a number of parties are said to be interested in the papers, one of the biggest potential buyers might have trouble completing a deal under the cross-ownership ban. News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, owner of Dow Jones & Co. and the Fox broadcasting network, would love to get his hands on the Tribune papers. But his ownership of the Fox outlet in Los Angeles might disqualify him as a purchaser of Tribune's Los Angeles Times.
Some argue the cross-ownership ban promotes local news coverage and minority ownership of broadcast stations. They note that both have declined as the broadcast industry consolidated over the past quarter-century. If this is the goal, I don't see how it justifies limiting who can own a print newspaper. In fact, it can have the opposite effect on local news coverage by weakening the newspapers that provide so much of it. It's time for the cross-ownership ban to go the way of the teletype machine.
FCC should let everybody — even Murdoch — chase papers
[Commentary] The objections to cameras in the Supreme Court seem pretty frail when compared with the public's right to know. Take the concern that TV might encourage lawyers to showboat. Doing so runs the risk of alienating the justices. Would lawyers really rather brandish their acting chops than win their cases? Then there's the possibility that news outlets would use snippets and sound bites in a misleading way. Well, that's a risk we run with having a free press. The same thing could easily happen in a news account for a newspaper or website.
Supreme Court should rethink ban on cameras
Thousands of people across the United States are expected to turn off their smartphones and other electronic devices for 24 hours to observe the National Day of Unplugging.
Part of the Sabbath Manifesto, the campaign is designed to get people to slow down in an increasingly hectic world, an idea inspired by that most un-Microsoft of documents, the Old Testament. In short, God rested on the seventh day -- and so should you. And like the Jewish Sabbath, the National Day of Unplugging begins Friday at sundown, according to event spokeswoman Tanya Schevitz.
Thousands expected to 'unplug' for a day
More than two-thirds of British adults use the Internet every day, twice the proportion who did so just six years ago, with usage highest among the youngest age group.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 33 million adults accessed the Internet daily in 2012, up from 16 million in 2006. Use of the Internet for telephone or video calls has also risen much faster than expected, with 32 percent of adults using it for that purpose in 2012, four times the 8 percent rate forecast in 2007. Use of mobile devices to access the internet to access the Internet is also rising sharply, with 51 percent of adults using portable or hand-held devices, up from 24 percent just two years ago. These devices are most popular with the youngest adults – 87 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds reported they use a mobile phone or smart book for online access.
UK Internet use doubles in six years
Europe's largest telecommunications operators are in a standoff with antitrust officials over how to consolidate their hypercompetitive industry.
At a conference this week in Barcelona, European officials met behind closed doors with a group of CEOs from companies including Vodafone Group, Deutsche Telekom AG, Telefónica SA and France Télécom. According to people who were present, the CEOs made their case for less regulation and more consolidation—particularly within individual countries. Operators argued in the meeting that Europe's fragmented market, a patchwork of 27 countries each with its own telecom regulator, has created an unsustainable situation of shrinking consumer prices and revenue even as usage of their networks skyrockets. They contend that without the creation of a single telecom market under a singular regulator with harmonized frequencies, Europe will increasingly lag behind other parts of the globe in modernizing its telecom infrastructure, and some companies could fail.
Europe's Telcos Press Deals