Inmarsat and Cisco formed an alliance aimed at delivery of advanced services over Inmarsat’s forthcoming Global Xpress network. Cisco will offer a satellite applications service delivery platform and a high-performance access network for Global Xpress, Inmarsat said in a press release on Monday (http://xrl.us/bntaco). Cisco also will develop a router for satellite network end-users “that will utilize not only the Inmarsat GX capabilities” but also Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network, it said. The Global Xpress network will provide Ka-band satellite service with mobile connectivity and is scheduled to launch globally in 2014, Inmarsat added.
DirecTV and CBS Corp. renewed their content agreements on carriage of Showtime, CBS Sports Network and Smithsonian Channel. The long-term deal also covers retransmission consent for CBS-owned stations, the companies said in a press release Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bns993).
Western Kentucky area code 270 is running out of numbers, the Kentucky Public Service Commission said Monday (http://xrl.us/bns93a). Two options are being considered for the diminishing 270 code, projected to expire by the first quarter of 2014, the PSC said. The state can overlay a new area code, 364, in the same territory or it can split the territory between 270 and 364, according to the commission. “An overlay would permit retention of all current 270 numbers, but would require 10-digit dialing for local calls,” the commission explained. “A split would retain seven-digit dialing for local calls, but would require both wireless and landline customers within about half the current area code to change their phone numbers.” The PSC plans six informational meetings on the area code exhaustion in late October and wants comments by Nov. 16. A PSC video explains the history and process of the proceeding (http://xrl.us/bns92d).
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission wants to hear by Oct. 26 “Statements of Position from interested persons” on the state’s telecom overhaul, the PUC said in an interim order Friday (http://bit.ly/RcHG0a). The commission spent the first week of October holding hearings on the overhaul and the last two months holding community meetings and accepting comments and reply comments. The overhaul’s central focus concerns cutting the Colorado high-cost fund, rulings of effective competition and how state regulation will address IP services.
The government should allow wireless companies to exchange information to help identify vulnerabilities and protect users from cyberfraud, 96 percent of information technology officials agree, according to a poll commissioned by CTIA (http://bit.ly/QIcIzH). The industry, not the government, is better equipped to define cybersecurity standards, 77 percent of respondents said, and 68 percent said industry and government should share information on threats and work together to define standards. The mobile industry was rated by 10.2 percent of respondents as excellent in addressing cybersecurity and offering solutions and 39.2 percent rated industry as good, while 39.6 percent said it was fair and 11 percent poor. The survey of 500 IT professionals was done by McLaughlin & Associates, a Republican polling firm, in July. The online survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case brought by local governments challenging the FCC’s 2009 wireless zoning shot clock order, after a challenge to the order was turned down by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January. The January decision (CD Jan 24 p4) had been considered a win for carriers, who sought the shot clock. The New Orleans-based circuit court rejected arguments by Arlington, Texas, that the way the order was developed was “arbitrary and capricious” and a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. That court also dismissed a second petition from San Antonio on the grounds that it was filed too late, so the court lacks jurisdiction. “We're very pleased with the [Supreme] court’s decision,” said Joseph Van Eaton of Best Best & Krieger, who represents several of the petitioners. “The outcome could have huge implications for local and state governments, which are dealing with increasing efforts by the telecommunications industry to push the federal government to interfere with basic local functions such as zoning, right-of-way management and compensation,” Van Eaton said. Van Eaton predicted the court would hear the appeal in January or February.
The Internet Protocol interconnection process has worked “quite well” without government involvement, and federal regulators should continue their hands-off approach, Verizon Assistant Vice President Link Hoewing said Friday on a webcast hosted by the Internet Society (http://xrl.us/bnsr84). The federal government has declined to regulate IP interconnection in part to encourage private investment, and “that’s worked,” he said, pointing to the billions of dollars invested in new Internet technologies and 4G buildout. Although there’s a “tendency” for people to think there “could be a strong role for the government” in mandating interconnection, disputes tend to work themselves out over time without it, he said. The hands-off approach encourages innovation, new processes and new business models, such as the rise of Internet exchange points that facilitate content distribution networks, he said. Verizon looks forward to Congress revisiting the 1996 Telecom Act, and giving companies the ability to share information about cyberattacks with each other on a real-time basis without facing liability issues, he said. Hoewing wants to make sure “we don’t get sued” because “we did the right thing.”
The Iowa Utilities Board denied the state’s consumer advocate request for civil penalties, in an order Friday (http://1.usa.gov/Rj2inQ). The consumer advocate complained about MCI Communications’ practices, after a customer in the state alleged “MCI had been adding charges to [one Iowan’s] local telephone bill for the past 11 years” wrongfully, the board said. “No reasonable ground for further investigation has been shown.” The board had reviewed records from the Iowan, the consumer advocate, MCI and the Iowan’s current provider CenturyLink. Much of the potential wrongdoing happened several years in the past, the board said. Civil penalties aren’t usually “warranted for isolated violations that result from inadvertent errors that are unlikely to be deterred as a result of the penalties,” it said. The board declined to continue investigation because it’s not in the “public interest” and will cost more money that likely won’t lead to civil penalties, it said.
YouTube users can now appeal claims that their videos infringe on copyrighted materials, the Google unit said last week (http://xrl.us/bnsr9k). According to a YouTube blog post, users have always been able to dispute infringement claims, but now can file an appeal with the video-sharing website. Once the appeal has been filed, the post said the owners of the copyrighted content can either release the claim or file a formal legal copyright notification. YouTube also updated its ContentID algorithm to identify which claims may be invalid, the blog said.
The iPhone 5 has given a significant lift to the U.S. cellphone accessory business, said Ben Arnold, NPD director-industry analysis, Friday at the company’s blog. Sales of iPhone accessories grew 29 percent in the two weeks following the launch of the latest iPhone from the two weeks prior to the launch, he said. The first full week after the launch was also the biggest week for total cellphone accessory sales year to date, he said. The average selling prices for iPhone accessories grew 17 percent compared to the two weeks following the iPhone 4S launch, he also said. That’s “further evidence that iPhone owners are spending more on products for their handsets,” he said. IPhone owners spend 28 percent more on accessories than the average smartphone owner, he said, citing NPD’s recent Mobile Phone Accessory Attachment Study. The trends are “great news for the iPhone accessory market, but indicative as well of the iPhone 5’s early appeal,” said Arnold. Eighty-six percent of iPhone owners buy some type of accessory for their handset, according to the study, making growth in aftermarket products “a decent barometer of device sales vitality,” he said. But he said “the pool of available new iPhone buyers is getting smaller, as the smartphone market matures.” As a result, “significantly expanding share -- either with new customers or converts from other platforms -- will become increasingly difficult with each new phone launch,” he said. There’s been conflicting opinions on how well the iPhone 5 launch has gone, he said. “We'll wait until Apple’s quarterly sales call later this month for the actuals, but if accessory sales are any indication, the iPhone 5 launch went just fine,” he said.