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UK telecommunications operator BT Group PLC snapped up ESPN's U.K. and Irish television channels business, boosting its soon-to-be launched pay-TV sports offering.
ESPN, which is owned by Walt Disney, will be left with only a digital media presence in the region. BT is looking to bulk up its pay-TV offering, BT Vision, with the launch of its own-branded TV sports channels by the summer. With the deal announced, BT will operate at least one-ESPN-branded channel as part of its sports offering on BT Vision. The rest will be rebranded BT Sports. ESPN showed 23 live Premier League soccer matches a year from 2010 to 2012, but after May 2013 it will no longer have any U.K. soccer-league rights. A spokesman for the U.S. cable-sports network said ESPN decided to sell its U.K. and Irish TV channels businesses for several reasons, including the loss of live Premier League soccer matches, BT's move into sports content, intense competition from incumbents in the sports broadcasting space, including BSkyB, PLC and the British Broadcasting Corp.
ESPN Sells U.K. Channels to BT
Reply comments were being filed on the transition to all-IP networks, including AT&T's request that it be allowed to test regulation-lite, all-IP zones and USTelecom's request that given the competition from those IP services, incumbent LECs should no longer be considered dominant as providers of switched-access service. In both cases the idea is to reduce regulation in the face of a changing technology.
The Internet Innovation Alliance, which comprises tech companies building and deploying broadband networks -- Corning, AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent -- not surprisingly said in its filing that AT&T should be permitted to beta test all-IP service. "To continue expanding the array of social and economic benefits for American business and consumers, the Commission should ignore the call of entities seeking to expand legacy regulations in an all-IP world," IIA says. Public Knowledge does not join the call for light touch regulation. "[T]he FCC should remember that even though the technology is changing the needs of the American people do not," said senior VP Harold Feld. "A framework that serves the interests of consumers is the best way to evaluate proposals for the future of our communications infrastructure."
FCC Collects Comments on IP Transition
[Commentary] As the debate surrounding the technological transition of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to an all-IP network continues, it’s becoming fairly obvious that the guardians of the phone network need to handle this transition by establishing fundamental principles to guide our country’s policies moving forward.
Public Knowledge filed reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the FCC to do just that. Already, many different stakeholders have submitted specific requests to the FCC to either keep or eliminate particular rules. Even at this early stage, we’re seeing unanticipated complications pop up, like Federal Aviation Administration service providers’ reliance on the traditional network, concerns for alarm systems that are geared to work on the existing infrastructure, and the need for the new IP-based phone networks to continue to improve access for users with hearing disabilities. There will likely be many other examples of uses that depend upon the current network infrastructure in particular ways that have until now flown under the radar, and we must be ready with a framework that can handle those surprises. A single, principled framework would also help the Commission evaluate the proposals of all of the many parties in a deliberate, coherent way. That way, instead of just arbitrating between the wish lists of the many companies involved in this transition, the Commission can actually move forward based on affirmative principles that reflect the fundamental values of our national communications policies.
The FCC Needs a Framework for the Phone Network Transition First
House Republicans were not big fans of the Obama Administration's broadband stimulus grants and loans, and a new Congress has not changed anything. That includes an ongoing investigation into overbuilding claims levied by Mediacom, according to committee staffers.
According to the majority staff memo for the Feb. 27 oversight hearing on broadband stimulus funding, the House Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee is currently investigating allegations by Mediacom that the Lake County (MN) government is using $66 million to overbuild Mediacom, and was able to do so by submitting inaccurate information. A representative of the project was not available for comment at presstime. Of course, Republicans were critical in general of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), but the House Communications Subcommittee leadership, which is holding an oversight hearing on the funding this week, was particularly focused on the chances for overbuilding, waste, fraud and abuse in the $7 billion program.
House Republicans Take New Aim at Broadband Subsidies Millions Said to Be Wasted on U.S. Broadband Expansion (Bloomberg)
Samsung Electronics and Google together have stemmed Apple's dominance in smartphones, but there is new tension in their partnership.
Google executives worry that Samsung has become so big—the South Korean company sells about 40% of the gadgets that use Google's Android software—that it could flex its muscle to renegotiate their arrangement and eat into Google's lucrative mobile-ad business, people familiar with the matter said. Now, as top executives from the world's mobile industry gather in Barcelona, Google is meeting with other companies in hopes that their Android devices can keep Samsung's leverage in check by providing legitimate competition, the people said. The Internet-search company is hoping new Android devices from manufacturers such as HTC and Hewlett-Packard can challenge Samsung, they said.
Samsung Sparks Anxiety at Google
Last week, a fierce debate erupted over a range of social networks and in the media about a story we posted on Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s new decree that employees at the Silicon Valley Internet company would no longer be able to work from home.
In a sometimes awkwardly worded internal memo I posted from Yahoo HR head Jackie Reses, the company rolled out the new rule — pushed through by Mayer — which requires that Yahoo employees who work remotely relocate to company facilities by June 1. “Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home,” read the memo to employees. “We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together.” The goal of Mayer to cure what ails Yahoo: Reviving a moribund and enervated workforce that has struggled to innovate and excel over many years. One of the many problems has been the liberal use of work-from-home policies that have been woefully mismanaged to create a culture that is simply not energized. But, unless I am reading the memo wrong, the ban is not just limited to those who have arrangements to work from home full time — which number in the hundreds — but also employees who take one or two days a week at home.
Survey Says: Despite Yahoo Ban, Most Tech Companies Support Work-From-Home for Employees As Yahoo ends telecommuting, others say it has benefit (USAToday)
Speculation has long been swirling around who might replace Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. But hold the phone — all that sturm and drang may be for naught. It looks like he’s staying put for a bit.
Yes, technically, Genachowski’s term expires June 30. But by law, he can remain until Congress leaves town at the end of 2014. Signs that he’s sticking around include a planned appearance at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in April, and his continued interest in the FCC’s plan to buy back television licenses and auction the spectrum to wireless providers, something we’re told Chairman Genachowski feels ownership of.
FCC chair Genachowski looks to stay put
The RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco starts Feb 26 with a panel that will examine recent developments in the Obama administration's cybersecurity policy. White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Eric Rosenbach and former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will participate in the afternoon panel. Daniel will likely face questions about how long it will take the government to implement the measures in the order and whether companies will actually participate in the voluntary program. The looming $85 billion in sequestration cuts set for March 1 will also likely be brought up for discussion among the government panelists.
Obama's cyber chief to discuss executive order
Did your kid rack up charges on Apple’s app store without your permission? You may be in luck: the company says it will pay to settle a lawsuit over so-called “bait apps,” which are games that can be downloaded for free but then charge for “game currency” like virtual goods or play money. Under the terms of the settlement, Apple will offer a $5 iTunes credit to those who claim that a minor bought in-game items without their knowledge or permission. If the amount in question is more than $5, Apple will offer a credit for that amount. If the amount in question is over $30, an Apple user can claim a cash refund.
Apple settles lawsuit over apps aimed at kids — will pay $5 iTunes credit or cash
Do you expect that your email communications are private? That police, for example, need the OK from a judge before they dig through your email or the GPS data transmitted by your phone? Most people says David Lieber, the privacy policy counsel for Google, would think yes. But for the most part, they would be wrong.
Lieber was speaking at a panel discussion about privacy in the Internet age at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice in Washington. "As users become more aware of where the law is versus where their expectations are, they'll become more interested," Lieber said. And they'll demand action from their elected officials. At the heart of the discussion was the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a 1986 law that still controls modern communication and allows for authorities to read electronic communication with only a subpoena. But Lieber as well as Laura Murphy, of the ACLU, argued that Congress needed to act to make the standards for searching email clearer as well as uniform.
In Discussion About Internet Privacy, It Comes Down To Expectation Versus Reality