The FCC should move forward on a proposal to allow inflight broadband in the 14 GHz band, on a secondary basis, American Airlines said in a filing at the commission (http://bit.ly/13TOxac). “We believe that U.S. air travelers want to have in-flight broadband access that is equal to the level of access they have on the ground because broadband access via smartphones, tablets, e-readers, and laptops, is a critical part of their daily lives,” the airline said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau should adjust the Connect America Model cost structure to lower the support threshold for Alaska, Alaska Communications Systems told the commission in a letter Saturday (http://bit.ly/17f6KxY). The adjusted structure would reflect the presence of a subsidized competitor across “substantial” portions of the Alaska price cap service areas, ACS said. “This lower support threshold would enable the CAM more accurately to calculate the support levels required to achieve the Commission’s CAP Phase II goals in Alaska,” the telco said.
Free Press submitted a petition asking the FCC to deny several transactions related to the proposed $1.5 billion Gannett/Belo merger. It was signed by 1,046 people, according to a filing in docket 13-189 (http://bit.ly/15d8mU1). “These types of deals violate the letter and the spirit of the Commission’s local ownership limits,” said Free Press, referring to proposed transfers to Sander Holdings and Tucker Holdings of Belo stations in Louisville, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., St. Louis and Tucson. Gannett plans to continue to provide services to the stations after the transfer of control through sharing agreements (CD June 17 p15) -- arrangements Free Press called “covert consolidation tactics.” The reply comment period for the transactions ended last week (CD Aug 22 p5). The signatures on the petition are largely from people in the markets affected by the transactions, Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood told us in an interview Monday. It’s not clear whether petitions bearing a multitude of signatures carry more weight at the commission, but it’s “important” for the FCC to hear from people affected by its decisions, Wood said. The FCC Media Bureau and Gannett didn’t comment.
The FCC Media Bureau said Unity Broadcasting is apparently liable for a $12,000 fine for failing to timely file Children’s Television Programming Reports for its Class A TV station W18BL in Adamsville, Tenn. Unity also omitted information regarding violations from its renewal application, the bureau said in a notice of apparent liability (http://bit.ly/17fdGuM). The bureau also claimed that Campbellsville University in Kentucky is apparently liable for $3,000 concerning the same violation (http://bit.ly/1785E97). The bureau also adopted a consent decree with Bruno Goodworth Network regarding licenses of 10 stations that are to be assigned to OTA Broadcasting. The stations failed to timely file Children’s Television Programming Reports, it said in an order (http://bit.ly/18WaBiD). The Pennsylvania stations included WBGN-CD Pittsburgh, WNNB-CD Beaver and WJMB-CD Butler, it said. FCC records indicate the stations “had periods of silence during which requests for authority to remain silent were filed with but not granted by the commission,” it said. Seven of the stations “either had incomplete and/or incorrect certifications as to continuing eligibility for Class A Television status,” the consent decree said. The bureau also granted the application to assign the station licenses to OTA, it said.
The percentage of U.S. adults who don’t use the Internet on at least an occasional basis was 15 percent in May, down from 30 percent five years ago, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project said Monday. The latest result of Pew’s tracking survey on U.S. Internet use showed a majority of that growth resulted from adults using mobile devices and work computers to use the Internet, Pew said. About 70 percent of U.S. adults now have a broadband connection at home, while 3 percent of U.S. adults still only use a dial-up connection for Internet use. That percentage was 10 percent five years ago, but has remained at 3 percent since Pew conducted its August 2011 survey. The percentage of U.S. adults using broadband first surpassed the percentage using dial-up in Pew’s March 2005 survey (http://bit.ly/17Yggn6).
LTE is being deployed more rapidly than any previous wireless technology and in the face of potential spectrum shortfalls the wireless industry is struggling to keep on top of growth, says a new report by Rysavy Research, commissioned by 4G Americas. “Major developments this past year include not only 3rd Generation (3G) ubiquity, but rapid deployment of 4th Generation (4G) networks; deepening smartphone capability; tablets outselling laptops; and ever more sophisticated approaches for addressing data demands, which continue to grow unabated,” the report said (http://bit.ly/12EOqMW). The wireless industry is trying to keep up through a variety of approaches, including use of more efficient technology, denser deployments, small cells, self-configuration, self-optimization and offload, the report said. “Despite the industry’s best efforts to deploy the most efficient technologies possible, overwhelming demand is already leading to isolated instances of congestion which will become widespread unless more spectrum becomes available in the near future,” the report said. “Wi-Fi is playing an ever more important role as a means to increase data capacity. Innovations include tighter coupling to mobile broadband networks, automatic authentication and network selection and more secure communications.”
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Wireless Glue Networks, a machine-to-machine (M2M) platform data provider. The patent -- U.S. Patent No. 8,488,624 -- covers “a method for achieving cross network communication among multiple devices communicating on different protocols in a highly flexible and extensible manner,” Wireless Glue Networks said Monday. That method allows legacy systems to connect despite using different object models, and is useful in a variety of M2M applications, the company said (http://prn.to/1dhS9Gi).
Baltimore should “think twice” before investing in a municipal broadband project, said Seth Cooper, Free State Foundation research fellow, in a blog post Monday (http://bit.ly/14VYleT). The city’s decision to hire a consulting firm to explore how to expand city-owned broadband infrastructure is similar to “several ambitious and much-hyped attempts by local governments to insert themselves into the broadband business,” said Cooper. These projects have turned into “financial debacles” where the local government budgets are “squeezed, requiring local taxpayer-funded bailouts,” he said. “The surplus of good intentions by local governments can’t overcome the deficits saddling local taxpayers when pie-in-the-sky muni broadband projects go south.” Cooper said he recommends local governments reduce regulatory barriers to entry for competing platforms by “streamlining processes for franchising agreements, rights-of-way, and infrastructure site permits.” Instead of taxpayers, the competitors should shoulder the risk of financing advanced broadband networks, said Cooper.
Content from the Tennis Channel will be featured on the National Cable Television Cooperative’s TV Everywhere package just in time for the 2013 U.S. Open, said NCTC in a news release Monday -- the first day of the tournament (http://bit.ly/17YO8R2). NCTC members that offer their subscribers Tennis Channel will be able to provide the network’s live stream on NCTC’s authenticated streaming service, WatchTVEverywhere, and such streaming will continue after the tournament, said the co-op. The WTVE platform now includes more than 50 major programming services, it said.
Cox Communications customers now have access to nearly 150,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in cities across the U.S., said the cable ISP in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/19I0qiJ). Customers with the company’s preferred, premier, or ultimate high speed Internet services can access hotspots located strategically “in high-traffic areas,” said Cox. It said the hotspots are available by a “collaboration of cable companies across the country,” and more hotspots are expected to be added before the end of year as the “integration with other cable operators continues."