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March 5, 2007
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

ALLTEL IS CALLING POTENTIAL BUYERS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dennis K. Berman dennis.berman@wsj.com, Dionne Searcey and Amol Sharma]
Alltel has stepped up efforts to sell itself to carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel, as the wireless company tries to chart a new future. In recent weeks, Alltel has made overtures to AT&T, and the San Antonio-based telecom giant has been willing to entertain the possibility. AT&T remains skeptical about a combination because of potential antitrust problems, technology-integration issues and Alltel's stock-market capitalization, which Friday stood at nearly $22 billion. Verizon and several private-equity firms also have considered buying the nation's fifth-largest wireless operator by subscribers. Overall buyer interest is said to have been lukewarm, but the efforts are in their earliest stages. Potential buyers could be put off as rumors potentially push Alltel's stock too high, people familiar with the matter said. It's also a difficult time to conduct a sale. Sprint, for instance, has had discussions but the talks aren't expected to advance very far because of Sprint's troubles integrating its own merger from 2005.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117305739038926521.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117305739038926521.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

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March 5, 2007
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

CALIFORNIA OKs STATEWIDE-FRANCHISE RULES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the rules under which video franchises will be issued on a statewide basis -- an action that was cheered by new providers such as Verizon Communications but derided by consumer groups and municipalities. Cities including Los Angeles asserted that the wording of the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act meant that cities could retain rights to renew pacts with incumbents. But the PUC commissioners rejected that argument, stating that the legislature meant for the state agency to be the sole regulator of video providers. The PUC commissioners also said the agency would only regulate in areas specified under the new state law. Incumbent cable operators with expired franchises may apply for statewide authority Jan. 2, 2008. They can also apply for franchises for areas they don't currently serve. The PUC also clarified that operators with franchises that will expire between now and Jan. 2, 2008, can indicate their intent to seek state franchising, which will trigger an automatic extension of their current operating agreement.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6421022.html?display=Breaking+News

CALIFORNIA, WI-FI STATE
[SOURCE: GigaOM]
[Commentary] California is witnessing an aggressive push by its cities and counties to go Wi-Fi. Article includes a list with links to current projects.
http://gigaom.com/2007/03/02/cali-wi-fi/

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6421022.html?display=Breaking%20News

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March 5, 2007
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

STUDY FINDS CONGRESSIONAL WEB SITES "DISAPPOINTING"
[SOURCE: Government Technology 2/26]
A new report card on congressional Web sites from the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) says the overall quality is "disappointing" with over a third of the congressional Web sites earning a substandard or failing grade. There was also recognition and praise for the best Web sites on Capitol Hill with the announcement of the winners of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Mouse Awards. Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, The 2006 Gold Mouse Report: Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill evaluated 615 Congressional Web sites including those of all Senate and House members and Delegates, committees (both majority and minority sites) and official leadership sites. Key findings include: 1) Senate offices are doing somewhat better than House counterparts; 2) House committees performed better than Senate committees; 3) Republican sites performed better than Democratic sites; 4) Almost half (49.1 percent) of Member sites do not give sufficient information on contacting the office regarding a problem with a federal agency; 5 ) Only 26.4 percent offered guidance on the best ways to communicate with their offices; 6) Only 11.4 percent of House and 5 percent of Senate Web sites posted their office hours; and 7) 32.0 percent do not have links to sponsored or co-sponsored legislation. Of the ones that do, 13.7 percent did not reference the most current session of Congress.
http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php?id=104062&utm_source=g...

http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php?id=104062&utm_source=gten_0702…

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In the US, broadband access is most limited in the poorest regions

.

Seven of the ten states with the fewest high speed lines per capita are also among the ten poorest states in the country (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, and West Virginia). Six of these same states are among the ten with the fewest Internet users per 100 residents

(Measured in Gross State Product per capita. {New Mexico, also in the bottom 10 in high speed lines per capita, is the 11th poorest state measured by GSP per capita.} Source: FCC, as of June 30, 2005, and US Census Bureau, October 2005. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Source: “Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2003”, US Census Bureau, October 2005.)

Broadband costs in the U.S. remain high

.

American consumers pay 10 to 25 times more per megabit than users in Japan. Also, average speed of broadband in the U.S. has not increased in the past five years; consumers in France and South Korea have residential broadband connections 10 to 20 times higher than in the U.S. Further, the official FCC definition of broadband (at least 200 kbps in one direction) is considered outdated and inadequate by many experts.
(Heather E. Hudson. The Future of Universal Service Fund Support for Organizations:
Schools, Libraries and Rural Health Care Providers. Benton Foundation. January 2007.)

Due to the E-Rate, more than 90% of classrooms in rural, high-minority and low-income school districts now have Internet conne

ctions
After 10 years of E‐Rate support, more than 90% of classrooms in rural, high‐minority and low-income school districts now have Internet connections, allowing them to leverage
modern communication tools to support student achievement. An additional 2,800
private schools have also received support from the E‐Rate to support educational
goals.
(E-Rate: 10 Years of Connecting Kids and Community by Education and Library Networks Coalition and the national Coalition for Technology in Education and Training. February 2007.)

March 2, 2007
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

"I can say I feel that a nondiscriminatory Internet is very important for a society based on the World Wide Web. I think that the communications medium is so important to society that we have to give it a special treatment."
-- Sir Tim Berners-Lee

http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/5006

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