Broadband healthcare networks improve the quality and reduce the cost of delivering care in rural areas, said an FCC Wireline Bureau staff report evaluating the commission’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program (http://xrl.us/bnkkye). The report found that the RHCPP, which supports 50 active projects in 38 states, “provides fertile ground to help the Commission determine how best to reform the existing rural health care program, which provides ongoing support for telecommunications and Internet access services.” The report also found that consortium applications for funding are more efficient than applications by individual entities; bulk buying and competitive bidding are “a powerful combination” because they can yield higher bandwidth, lower prices, and better service quality for the pilot projects; and most healthcare providers lack the technical expertise to manage their own broadband networks. “The majority of Pilot projects have created successful broadband networks by purchasing broadband services from a third party, rather than constructing and owning their own broadband facilities,” the report said.
Last week’s Asia-Pacific Telecommunity meeting did not end with a formal set of proposals for the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), potentially damaging the region’s influence in the lead-up to the conference, said David Gross, former State Department international communications and information coordinator. But the general consensus coming out of the meeting bodes well for the U.S. position on whether the conference, led by the ITU, should adopt controversial proposals to change how the Internet is regulated, he said. Gross said he attended the Asia-Pacific meeting in Bangkok as chair of the Ad Hoc World Conference on International Telecommunications Working Group, which represents 15 major multinational telecom and Internet companies.
Orbcomm Q2 revenue increased 51 percent from the year-ago quarter to $16.3 million, and service revenue increased 38 percent to $12.4 million. It added 26,000 subscribers to its satellite machine-to-machine communications service, it said Thursday (http://xrl.us/bnj3mq). The company had 715,000 subscribers ending the quarter, compared to 606,000 at the end of Q2 2011. Orbcomm said it plans to ship its Generation 2 satellite to Cape Canaveral “to be attached to a Falcon 9 rocket and launched in October.”
Sirius XM added about 622,000 subscribers in Q2, a 38 percent increase from the year-ago period and making last quarter its strongest yet for subscriber growth since the deal creating the company in 2008, said CEO Mel Karmazin. Despite the subscription price increase this year, the company has benefited from stable conversion of people with new autos -- who got the satellite radio service for free and then decided to subscribe after the free period ended -- and stable churn of existing customers leaving, he said Tuesday during on an earnings teleconference.
Q2 sales from continuing operations at Sinclair increased 38 percent from a year earlier to $220 million, the company said. Profit increased 62 percent to $30.1 million due to higher sales. Sinclair said it expects Q3 sales from continuing operations of $223.1 million to $228.1 million, which would mark a 50 percent increase from the same period in 2011. A windfall of political ad sales is expected to account for most of the boost. The company also said it increased its quarterly dividend to 15 cents per share. Shares gained 13 percent Wednesday.
Crown Media Q2 sales increased 14 percent from a year earlier to $86.7 million, the company said. Higher ad sales at its Hallmark Movie Channel helped results, it said. Profit fell 38 percent to $13.5 million on higher income tax provisions. Crown Media stock rose 9.3 percent Friday.
The overall number of consumer inquiries to the FCC decreased in Q2 2012 by nearly 21 percent from the previous quarter, from nearly 18,000 to just over 14,000, while the number of informal complaints was down about 2 percent from 89,210 to 87,883 from the quarter before, the FCC announced Friday (http://xrl.us/bniepm). The largest number of inquiries about cable and satellite services was related to billing and rates, making up more than 38 percent of the inquiries during the second quarter. Radio and TV broadcasting inquiries were down due to a decrease in questions about programming issues. Complaints were down everywhere except in wireline telecom, which saw an 11 percent increase from 36,000 to 40,000. Most of the complaints regarded the Do Not Call List, unsolicited faxes, and telemarketing.
Verizon Communications formally requested a meeting with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in response to a press release the two unions released Thursday (http://xrl.us/bnhke5) asking the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to step in to assist in labor contract negotiations. The unions were unhappy at the length of time the contract negotiations have taken -- more than a year, they said in their release. Verizon declined the request to proceed to mediation Thursday afternoon. “We have been in contact with the parties,” a FMCS spokesman confirmed, although he said he couldn’t comment further due to the service’s confidentiality agreements. “The Unions’ issuance of a press release tying its suggestion of mediation to distorting the Company’s bargaining position strongly suggests that the proposal was simply one more effort to erect an obstacle to bargaining rather than negotiate an agreement,” wrote Verizon Senior Vice President-Labor Relations Lawrence Marcus in a letter to CWA regional Vice President Chris Shelton late Thursday. “It is extremely disappointing that the unions refused to make themselves available today to receive a proposal from the Company and continue bargaining regarding a number of issues. It is also disconcerting that the North unions [representing employees in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, a Verizon spokesman clarified] have failed to make any proposals this week although the ball is in your court regarding almost all issues.” Marcus asked Shelton to meet Friday at 10 a.m. so Verizon can “present another comprehensive proposal,” as he wrote in the letter. The unions had alleged “Verizon management continues to insist on drastic cuts in benefits and employment security,” the unions said Thursday. Marcus disagrees with the CWA assessment of Verizon greed and points out that two months ago Verizon “proposed continuing job security protection for the 38,000 associates who are presently covered provided that the Company received some relief relating to movement of work and people,” his letter said. CWA Communications Director Candice Johnson said she didn’t know details of any meetings Friday morning but described “regular bargaining sessions” that haven’t produced results. “Frankly, why wouldn’t Verizon want to try something that could help produce a contract?” Johnson told us. “That’s in everyone’s interest.”
ST-Ericsson projected Q3 sales will be “flat” with sales in Q2 due to the economic crisis and the “industry environment.” Q2 sales for the joint venture of STMicroelectronics and Ericsson grew 19 percent from Q1 to $344 million, but were down from $385 million in Q2 last year. Last quarter’s loss widened to $318 million from $221 million in Q2 last year. The revenue growth over Q1 reflected a “significant ramp of volumes” of the company’s NovaThor platforms shipping to “major customers,” ST-Ericsson said. CEO Didier Lamouche said the company ramped up the NovaThor ModAp platform with Samsung and Sony Mobile Communications and also “added several new Chinese key players.” The Xperia go smartphone became the fourth phone this year from Sony Mobile Communications to use the NovaThor platform, ST-Ericsson said. The company is “advancing” toward breakeven and “sustainable profitability,” Lamouche said. Q2 inventory declined by $38 million to $171 million, the company said. Two new Panasonic Eluga smartphones for the Japanese market use ST-Ericsson’s “power efficient” Thor M5780 thin modem, while a new Sharp Aquos smartphone is based on the power-efficient Thor M5730 and is shipping now in Japan, ST-Ericsson said.
Failure to reauthorize the U.S. SAFE WEB Act of 2006 would have severe, negative implications for Internet commerce, Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., warned Thursday during a hearing of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, which she chairs. Mack said she will introduce legislation this week reauthorizing the act for another seven years. Without action, the act is set to expire Dec. 22, 2013. An FTC official also urged Congress to reauthorize the law.