There is widespread competition in the special access marketplace, regardless of what Sprint Nextel says, Verizon argued in a letter to the FCC Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bntobs). Sprint last month rebutted Verizon’s claims that Sprint’s use of high-capacity services from other competitors proves the existence of a competitive marketplace (CD Sept 14 p12). “Sprint cannot and does not deny that it awarded Network Vision bids to dozens of providers,” Verizon wrote. “There are competitors in the marketplace willing and able to provide alternatives to ILEC special access.”
Thursday’s vice presidential debate in Danville, Ky., was to mark the end of the first Reddit bus tour, which went across parts of the country promoting an open Internet and discussing a range of policies that affect the Internet and technology industries, including the social news company. The tour began at the presidential debate in Denver last week, and focused on cities in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri to “highlight the stories of startups, organizations and local governments that are doing important things to create jobs and help the economy” using the Internet, Reddit General Manager Erik Martin told us. The tour’s organizers “wanted to go through the heartland” to show that innovation and the use of online tools like social media to build businesses is happening everywhere, he said. The tour has encountered entrepreneurs, Martin said, including Local Motors, which uses an “Internet powered business model” to design cars with collaborators across the world, and a St. Louis company that built a brick-and-mortar jewelry shop after its founders met online and sold jewelry through Etsy. While the goal of the tour is to “highlight what we're trying to protect,” Martin said, “we're not focusing too much on any specific policies.” Instead, he said, the tour’s town-hall like discussions have touched on policies ranging from trade negotiations, patent reform and immigration reform to industry policies, such as data caps imposed by Internet providers. One common topic of these discussions has been preventing legislation that would hinder the ability of the Internet to “provide a level playing field for small businesses,” Martin said: “We're threatened by any undue regulation,” like the failed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which Reddit and its users heavily protested earlier this year. Martin said the SOPA debate was eye-opening for many in the technology and Internet industries. Many entrepreneurs who had focused on building their businesses rather than getting involved with politics “realized that’s not enough and that we have to get involved,” Martin said, including himself. Because of SOPA, many people for the first time read a bill’s text and analysis and contacted their federal legislators, Martin said, which is “good for the country no matter what side of the issue you're on.” Reddit is hoping to capture that grassroots energy again during a yet-to-be-scheduled day where Reddit and Internet users lobby their state and federal representatives. “Everything regarding” the day of grassroots advocacy “is still in the works, but in general I think it will include” meeting with state legislators and visiting congressional district offices, Martin said. “We're definitely planning on doing this,” he said, adding, “it may be an international thing.” Like the scheduling, the goals of the potential day of Internet advocacy haven’t been specified. “The community will collectively figure that out,” Martin said.
Internet advertising revenue reached $17 billion in the first half of 2012, an all-time high for the industry and 14 percent higher than the $14.9 billion reported during the first half of 2011, said an Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) study prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (http://xrl.us/bntopz). According to the study, mobile ad revenue increased by 95 percent from $636 million in the first half of 2011 to $1.2 billion in the first half of 2012, while search ad revenue increased by 19 percent from $6.8 billion in the first half of 2011 to $8.1 billion in the first half of 2012. Display ad revenue rose slightly, reaching $5.6 billion in the first half of 2012, up 4 percent from $5.3 billion in the first half of 2011. In a statement, IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg said the report “points to the ad-supported internet ecosystem as a critical driver of the U.S. economy.” The report was released Thursday (http://xrl.us/bntopg).
By 2016, operators will lose $54 billion a year in SMS revenue because of social messaging services on smartphones, more than double the $23 billion operators expect to lose by the end of 2012, research firm Ovum said in a forecast report Thursday. Operators must collaborate with handset manufacturers if they are to remain “relevant and competitive” in the messaging industry, Ovum said. Social messaging is not a short-term trend, and the number of over-the-top (OTT) players that threaten the operators’ position has increased rapidly, Ovum said. “Operators need to understand the impact of social messaging apps on consumer [behavior], both in terms of changing communication patterns and the impact on SMS revenues, and offer services to suit,” said Neha Dharia, consumer telecoms analyst at Ovum, in a news release. Europe and Asia-Pacific-based operators will be most affected by increased OTT messaging activity, Ovum said, noting that prominent social messaging brand WhatsApp has seen its penetration levels increase in the Netherlands and Singapore. Smaller players like textPlus and Pinterest will cause further disruption in the messaging space, Ovum said. “OTT players are changing consumers’ messaging preferences, and the pressure they are exerting on operators’ messaging services is forcing them to offer increased SMS bundles and to experiment with messaging pricing models, further dampening revenue growth,” Dharia said. Operators are looking to the Rich Communication Suite (RCS) platform to improve their standing in the messaging industry, but it is not expected to reach the mass market before 2014, Ovum said. In the meantime, operators will need to rely on innovative pricing strategies, partnerships and launching operator-branded messaging services to keep up, Ovum said (http://xrl.us/bntoj6).
Frontier Communications has invested $37 million in Oregon since acquiring Verizon properties in 2010, the telco said. “As a result, the Oregon Public Utilities Commission has released all but $400,000 of the more than $15 million in funds put into escrow by Frontier as a condition of approval of the acquisition,” the company said (http://xrl.us/bntohd). The same scenario happened in Washington, the telco said. The company invested $40 million there since acquiring the Verizon landline assets, and the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission subsequently released $25.6 million in funds from escrow, it said (http://xrl.us/bntog9). Releasing those funds is “confirmation” of Frontier’s broadband commitments, it said in news releases on the two states Wednesday.
Intelsat signed agreements with two leading media companies in Bulgaria for use of its transponders for digital terrestrial television (DTT) and high-definition programming distribution. The National Radio and Television Stations Management, the sole DTT operator in Bulgaria, will use capacity on Intelsat 12 at 45 degrees east “to contribute content to its terrestrial towers for DTT services launching soon in Bulgaria,” Intelsat said (http://xrl.us/bntoip). Bulgarian Telecom also signed an agreement involving capacity on Intelsat 12 to add high-definition programming to its DTH platform, Intelsat said.
Eutelsat plans to launch a new satellite in 2015 to expand satellite broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa. Eutelsat 8 West B will be manufactured by Thales Alenia and launched into the 8 degrees west position, Eutelsat said in a press release (http://xrl.us/bnrdkk). It will have 40 operational Ku-band transponders and introduce a C-band mission to 8 degrees west, “with 10 operational transponders connected to footprints covering the African continent and reaching west to South America,” Eutelsat said.
Forty rural Alaskan communities received high-speed terrestrial broadband Internet in 2012, General Communication Inc. said Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bntods). The company launched its service in 16 new communities in the first week of October, 24 communities earlier this year, and lists 25 communities expected to receive broadband in the future. The $88 million TERRA-Southwest network offers “more than 400 miles of fiber-optic cable and 13 new microwave towers” and touts download speeds eight to 16 times faster than alternatives, GCI said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comments on a petition by Verizon Select Services Inc. to discontinue “TDM-based interstate long distance private line services” in all 50 states, a public notice said (http://xrl.us/bntosy). VSSI describes its private line services as long distance point-to-point communications channels offering voice, video and data services at DS-3 bandwidth and below, the notice said. VSSI said it plans to discontinue those services “because demand is declining as the marketplace moves to next generation technologies,” the notice said. Comments objecting to the application are due Oct. 25 in docket 12-298.
The Business Software Alliance has re-branded itself as BSA/The Software Alliance, it said Thursday. The move reflects an alignment of its operations around advocacy initiatives and expanded antipiracy programs, and highlights the growing benefits of software to every aspect of modern life, it said.