Witnesses for Thursday’s House Communications Subcommittee hearing on FirstNet are FirstNet Board Chairman Sam Ginn, FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky, Ohio Chief Information Officer Stu Davis, Harris Corp. Chief Technology Officer-Radio Frequency Communications Dennis Martinez, New Mexico Department of Information Technology Cabinet Secretary Darryl Ackley, and Dereck Orr, National Institute of Standards and Technology program manager-Public Safety Communications Research Office of Law Enforcement Standards. The hearing will be at 10:30 a.m. in 2121 Rayburn. The subcommittee majority memo included significant background on FirstNet and a section titled “Controversy Remains.” It described “several controversies” and shaken confidence in network leaders, citing transparency concerns that began plaguing FirstNet earlier this year. “Considerable uncertainty exists among stakeholders with respect to the cost, coverage, design, and the timing of the network deployment,” the GOP memo said (http://1.usa.gov/1hV9bgv). “FirstNet has acknowledged that it ‘fell short on answers to timing and business model questions’ in its outreach. While FirstNet continues to work to improve its communication, the lack of such fundamental information, if unresolved, could undermine the ability of a State to make an informed decision to opt-out of the FirstNet [radio access network] plan, or worse, compromise public safety’s confidence in the ability of FirstNet to deliver and sustain a truly nationwide public safety broadband network."
Inmarsat is helping Telecom Without Borders restore communication platforms to a hospital in the Philippines following a typhoon that hit there this month. Inmarsat’s broadband global area network service “will enable hospital staff to collaborate with medical teams on a national scale and provide coordinated health support to the thousands of victims seriously injured,” it said in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1aEdoia). Since the typhoon, “Inmarsat has been prioritizing satellite traffic to and from the Philippines,” it said. Telecom Without Borders also supplied the company’s IsatPhone Pro satellite phones to Philippines government officials to help improve communications capabilities, Inmarsat said.
Thuraya started VIPturbo Module, which lets product developers accelerate development timelines and lower costs for new satellite terminals. Developed by SRT Wireless, VIPturbo Module is being used “to develop terminals for the maritime, land mobile and aeronautical markets,” Thuraya said in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/19DKGun). It supports circuit-switched voice, fax, standard IP and other platforms, it said.
A Technology Policy Institute study on NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (CD Nov 15 p16) mischaracterizes the purpose of BTOP, wrote John Windhausen, Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition executive director, Monday (http://bit.ly/HXpngV). The authors of the TPI paper (http://bit.ly/IeHUFn) describe the BTOP program as a “rural subsidy,” but the program is not rural or a subsidy, said Windhausen. The principal purpose of the BTOP infrastructure program was to provide high-capacity middle mile broadband services to community anchor institutions across the country, not just in rural areas, he said. That’s different from the Broadband Initiative Program administrated by the Rural Utilities Service that was focused on connecting rural residential customers to last-mile broadband, he said. BTOP provided a one-time investment in “long-lasting” broadband infrastructure that “expands the reach of broadband services across many underserved geographic areas that previously suffered from an inadequate level of broadband capacity,” said Windhausen.
EU lawmakers dealt a blow to European Commission plans for a single European telecom market Tuesday. In a report (http://bit.ly/1hUMLMs) responding to the EC “connected continent” telecom overhaul proposal, the European Parliament Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee recommended major changes that one commentator said could delay review of Europe’s e-communications regulatory framework until 2018. The completion of a digital single market “is a process that needs to move up a gear” and the EC proposal is an important step in that direction, wrote rapporteur Pilar del Castillo Vera, of the European People’s Party and Spain. But del Castillo said some of the proposed measures “should be subject to a deeper, structured public consultation” and thorough prior assessment of their expected impact, and should therefore be included in the next review of EU e-communications rules. Key ITRE proposals included: (1) Doing away with EC plans to tackle excessive roaming charges through voluntary agreements by abolishing retail rates for voice, SMS and data as of July 2016. (2) Facilitating spectrum trading and harmonized leasing for wireless broadband. (3) Calling for extensive public input before creating a complex system allowing telecom companies to provide services across the EU. Del Castillo also said she believes enshrining the concept of an open Internet into law is crucial, and that openness “means accessible for all, individuals, and businesses.” Her draft report recommended that ISPs should not only have to meet users’ basic needs, but should also be allowed to meet “more specific user demand” such as broadcasting via IPTV and videoconferencing, and to develop their own services and innovations. While the EC net neutrality provisions are in line with current practices on reasonable traffic management, and there’s nothing in EU law that bars agreements among end-users and ISPs on specialized services, the provisions of the overhaul regulation must ensure transparency and nondiscrimination, she said. Del Castillo said she supports the EC proposal, but she decided to introduce some clarifications on net neutrality. The draft report “breaks to pieces” Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ plans for single market reform, wrote independent telecom consultant Innocenzo Genna on his radiobruxelleslibera blog (http://bit.ly/1bAW7nS). Most of the EC proposals are either deleted or postponed to an ad hoc revamp that would take place after the 2014 parliamentary elections, he said. It’s clear that the European Parliament, despite its commitment to vote on telecom reform in April 2014, “does not intend to bring Kroes’ proposal to a real conclusion under the current legislature,” he said. Instead, it’s setting a roadmap for future review of the EU e-communications directives, he said. Genna pointed to several good things about the ITRE report, including its deletion of proposed EC veto powers and its call for spectrum licenses to be for 30 years or longer. French citizens’ advocacy group La Quadrature du Net, however, slammed del Castillo for ignoring numerous criticisms against the EC’s “unacceptable” net neutrality proposals. Kroes’ text creates huge loopholes by explicitly allowing undue commercial discrimination via traffic prioritization, La Quadrature said. If the European Parliament lets Kroes’ text go through without amending its net neutrality provisions, the only beneficiaries will be dominant telecom operators, it said.
The FCC put out a call for technical papers on “the technical requirements, architecture, and operational parameters” of the proposed Spectrum Access System (SAS) in the 3.5 GHz band. The Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology scheduled a workshop on the topic for Jan. 14. “The primary goal of the Workshop is to seek public input on a minimum set of high level system requirements and functional parameters for the SAS,” the agency said (http://bit.ly/1b5IPoh). “The Bureaus request that interested parties submit papers discussing technical aspects of the SAS in advance of the workshop."
The copyright industry added $1 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2012, said an International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) study released Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1apvSnC). “Core copyright industries” employed almost 5.4 million workers, grew 4.7 percent at an “aggregate annual rate,” and totaled $142 billion in international sales and exports in 2012, said the study. To continue this kind of growth, “we need strong and modern copyright laws that take into account changes in technology and the continuing harm caused by copyright piracy, especially as legitimate digital distributors continue to emerge,” said Steven Metalitz of Economists Inc., which conducted the study for the IIPA.
Satellite broadband doesn’t have the speeds and price necessary to compete with wireline services, despite industry’s claims to the contrary, said Montana Public Service Commissioner Travis Kavulla at a NARUC panel Monday. The PSC recently surveyed broadband customers, and none of the satellite customers had anything positive to say about the service, he said. “We don’t have service at higher speeds yet, but as we continue to put up more satellites, we will see higher speeds in the coming years,” said Jennifer Manner, EchoStar vice president-regulatory affairs. Satellite broadband is “picking up steam” in rural and “exurban areas,” and satellite broadband has 1.3 million subscribers in the U.S., she said. “Subscribers are seeing our services as an important competitive alternative to fixed services.” Cable providers also consider satellite broadband services a “tool in the tool box” for regulators and policymakers to provide broadband in rural areas, said Rick Cimerman, NCTA vice president-state government affairs. “When it comes to getting broadband to all Americans, we need to consider satellite as an option.” Satellite providers such as Dish Network and DirectTV dominate the telecom market in terms of subscribers, said Cimerman. Satellite providers don’t dominate the two-way communication market, said Kavulla. “Satellites are not good to monitor time sensitive traffic. The reality is when you talk about the other pitfalls like latency, capacity and speed I would be surprised if anyone chose satellite over a good fixed broadband plan.”
Total U.S. local media ad revenue will rise to $151.5 billion by 2017, representing 2.8 percent annual compound growth, said a BIA/Kelsey news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/I1MJCj). It said local media and ad revenue for 2013 will be $132.9 billion, and are being fueled by increasing online ad revenue, which will jump from $26.5 billion in 2013 to $44.5 billion in 2017. Location-targeted mobile ad revenue is outpacing mobile ads as a whole and will increase from $2.9 billion in 2013 to $10.8 billion in 2017, the industry research firm forecast. It said overall mobile ad spending will increase from $7 billion in 2013 to $20.7 billion in 2017. “A slightly improving U.S. economy, positive outlook by investors, the 2014 elections and Olympics, as well as ad spending around the Affordable Health Care Act, which comes out of the local ad pie, will all contribute to increased local ad spending,” said BIA/Kelsey Chief Economist Mark Fratrik.
Amazon will launch on Friday its second original series, Betas, following the release of three episodes of its first original series, Alpha House, last Friday. Amazon said Alpha House was the most-viewed show on the website through the weekend. The Beta schedule will follow that of Alpha House, with the first three episodes available to all Amazon customers for free, and after that, a new episode will release every Friday, available only to Amazon Prime customers via Prime Instant Video. Written by Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard, Beta follows four friends in Silicon Valley attempting to find success with a mobile social networking app.