The Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition asked the FCC not to consider stations’ audience size or “enterprise value” when setting prices for spectrum, said a letter to the Wireless Bureau released by the EOBC Monday. “Stations participating in the auction are selling spectrum to be reallocated for wireless,” wrote EOBC Executive Director Preston Padden. “They are NOT selling broadcasting businesses.” Representatives of the EOBC met with bureau staff on April 4 to discuss how spectrum prices will be set, and came away unsure what the bureau’s plans were, it said. “The Coalition urges the Commission to clarify, at the earliest opportunity, that it will not weigh or ’score’ a station on any basis other than its preclusive effect on repacking other stations,” said Padden. He said the commission’s consideration of other factors is “driving away from the auction the very stations most likely to otherwise consider surrendering their spectrum.”
The Internet Defense League (IDL) launched what it called a “Week-of-Action” campaign Monday to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), IDL said in an email blast Monday. IDL includes Mozilla, WordPress, Reddit, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Demand Progress, Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge. EFF described the campaign in a blog post (http://bit.ly/14RSlaY). Demand Progress was founded by Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide earlier this year after being prosecuted under the CFAA for the unauthorized downloading of scholarly articles. The campaign -- www.fixthecfaa.com -- asks supporters to contact their members of Congress, “call for the defeat of” a House Judiciary Committee draft bill that would “expand and harshen” the CFAA (CD March 27 p5) and “call for reforms to the CFAA that would protect innovators and Internet users by clarifying that terms of service violations are not tantamount to federal crimes.” After Swartz’s suicide, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., introduced Aaron’s Law, which would decriminalize terms-of-service violations.
To pass the 149,000 households in the Kansas City area without connecting any homes, Google will spend $84 million as part of the first phase of its Google Fiber buildout, Bernstein Research estimated in a Monday paper. The potential cost would break down to $38 million in Kansas City, Kan., and $46 million in Kansas City, Mo., the researchers said. The Missouri side of Kansas City has a higher density of households, where cost per home would be about $500 versus about $674 on the Kansas side of the border, they estimated. Google will spend another $10 million to connect about 12,000 households on the first day of service, the report estimated. Google is planning an announcement in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, widely speculated to be about the next Google Fiber deployment, as a grassroots Google Fiber Austin Texas blog has already begun documenting (http://bit.ly/ZdqZVY). Google did not comment.
Bring on the broadband policy dialogue, Gig.U Executive Director Blair Levin, a former FCC official who helped manage the creation of the National Broadband Plan, told FCC Chief of Staff Zachary Katz this week in a note. “I understand sources at the Commission think my analysis of the Universal Service Reform efforts were off base,” Levin wrote, referring to his keynote speech at the Wisconsin Public Service Commission broadband symposium last week, a critical take on the FCC’s USF reform that prompted a strong FCC defense of its policies (CD April 5 p10). “As I have expressed before, I would be happy to talk with anyone at the commission about that but moreover, I would propose a public session, at which Commission could illuminate me and the public on what I got wrong and at which I would have an opportunity to respond, including, if I got something wrong, to amend my remarks,” he said. “I think such an event would be very valuable to the public and to the next Chair, whoever she or he would be. I also think it would be fun.” The FCC declined comment.
The FCC International Bureau accepted for filing an application from DirecTV for authority to launch and operate a geostationary orbit satellite. The proposed satellite, DIRECTV KU-45W, would provide fixed satellite service, including direct-to-home services, the bureau’s Satellite Division said in a public notice. DirecTV intends to provide the services through the satellite from 45.2 degrees west using certain bands including 10.95-11.2 GHz, 11.45-11.7 GHz and 11.95-12.2 GHz, it said.
Alpine Electronics launched a TuneIt sound tuning app for iPhone and Android smartphones, it said Monday. The app, which also offers Facebook notifications, works in conjunction with Alpine’s new, $230 CDE-147BT CD receiver with advanced Bluetooth wireless technology. The app takes detailed sound tuning settings -- that previously would have been adjusted only via a one-line display from the receiver -- and makes them “easily adjustable through an intuitive and interactive graphical user interface” on the smartphones, Alpine said. Up to 100 different sound settings can be made and saved with the app, allowing users to create various settings for use with specific types of music, it said. The smartphone only needs to be connected via USB when downloading the settings onto the CD receiver, it said. Other features of the receiver include full Pandora Internet radio control from Android and iPhone smartphones that Alpine said allows users to create new Pandora stations and bookmark songs for later purchase. The receiver’s rear USB port allows for high-speed USB connection to music libraries stored on an iPod, iPhone or USB drive, it said. Basic control of iPhone apps is also available via the receiver’s App Direct Mode that displays available metadata on the CDE-147BT’s screen, it said.
LightSquared retained former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt as a strategic consultant. Hundt will not act as a lobbyist on behalf of the company, a spokesman said. The wholesale satellite capacity company is awaiting FCC action on its proposal to share spectrum at 1675-1680 MHz (CD Oct 1 p20).
Philippine Airlines deployed Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband connectivity service. The service will give passengers the choice to call, text, tweet, email and surf the Internet as they fly across Philippine Airlines’ extensive network in Asia Pacific, Australasia and the U.S., Inmarsat said in a press release (http://bit.ly/Y83uNO). The airline can offer its passengers GSM telephony and Wi-Fi Internet access with SwiftBroadband through a contract with OnAir, Inmarsat said. Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir will be retrofitted on Philippine Airlines’ Airbus A330-343 and Boeing B777-300ERs starting in May, Inmarsat said.
Broadband Radio Service and Education Broadband Service spectrum should both be included in the commission’s spectrum screen as it evaluates the Sprint/SoftBank/Clearwire transaction, Verizon Wireless said in meetings with top FCC officials, including Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman. Sprint wrongly claims that deal is not the right place to add additional BRS/EBS spectrum to its screen, Verizon said in a Monday ex parte filing. “Sprint and Softbank can’t have it both ways -- contending on the one hand that control of this spectrum is a key pro-competitive benefit of the transaction, while simultaneously arguing that the Commission should ignore this spectrum in its competitive review,” Verizon said.
Sprint Nextel’s proposed purchase of the remaining 49 percent of Clearwire it doesn’t already own has “some degree of strategic importance to SoftBank,” which wants to buy 70 percent ownership of Sprint, Standard & Poor’s said Monday. Clearwire is building a TD-LTE wireless network in the 2.5 GHz band, which is compatible with SoftBank’s own TD-LTE network in Japan, Standard & Poor’s said. “We believe Clearwire’s large spectrum position in frequencies similar to that of Softbank’s will have some potential value for Softbank in equipment and technology development,” Standard & Poor’s said. “Additionally, a Sprint-Clearwire combination could help improve the ecosystem for wireless devices on a TD-LTE network, potentially reducing related handset costs for Softbank.” Standard & Poor’s said it will continue to monitor Sprint’s bid for Clearwire, as well as a competing bid by Dish Network (http://bit.ly/16JjJ7C).