Gogo partnered with Glympse to allow airline passengers to share their location using mobile devices, laptops or tablets while in flight. Passengers can access the Glympse Inflight feature from the Glympse smartphone app “or via the web browser on their laptop or tablet device at http://inflight.glympse.com,” Gogo said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1b65wqz). The person receiving the Glympse message from the Gogo-enabled flight “can view the plane’s current movement and status, including speed and a continually updated arrival time,” it said. After users turn off their devices, Glympse will continue to update their location throughout the duration of the flight, Gogo said.
The House Communications Subcommittee plans hearings on the 5 GHz spectrum band and on FirstNet this month, as expected, it said in a notice Wednesday (http://1.usa.gov/1798hmE). The 5 GHz spectrum hearing will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn. Witnesses are Cisco Chief Technology Officer Bob Friday, Toyota Info Technology Center Principal Research Manager John Kenney, Comcast Senior Vice President-Business Development Tom Nagel, and Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. The FirstNet hearing will be the week of Nov. 18, the subcommittee said, without specifying witnesses, day, time or location. “Members will receive a status update from FirstNet and private sector entities that are working to improve the connectivity, reliability, and security of this nationwide public safety network,” the notice said. “Members will review other emergency communications technologies to better understand how their development can improve the capabilities of first responders across the nation.” In a statement, subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., emphasized the need to efficiently use taxpayer dollars in building the public safety network and that the FirstNet board and stakeholders move forward and “keep pace with continuing technological innovation.”
Entertainment apps that will be available on the PS4 at launch in the U.S. Nov. 15 will include Amazon Instant Video, Epix, Hulu Plus, Netflix and Redbox Instant by Verizon, said Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) Thursday. Other apps that will be available that date are Sony Pictures Television’s Crackle, Crunchyroll featuring Japanese anime, NBA Game Time, NHL GameCenter Live, Vudu and YuppTV that SCEA said features more than 150 Indian TV channels live on demand. Those are in addition to Sony’s Music Unlimited cloud-based streaming music service offering more than 22 million songs, and its Video Unlimited service, said SCEA. Epix will offer subscribers access to more than 3,000 titles on demand, including The Avengers, Skyfall and The Hunger Games in HD, Epix said in a separate news release. The ability to stream full movies and concerts on the PS4 is included as part of the Epix premium subscription service available through cable, satellite and other distributors, it said. The Epix app will be available to PlayStation Network members in the U.S. as a free download, it said. Epix is a joint venture of Viacom, its Paramount Pictures division, MGM and Lionsgate, and is available to more than 30 million U.S. homes through distribution partners including Charter Communications, Cox Communications, Dish Network, Mediacom Communications, NCTC, Suddenlink Communications and Verizon FiOS, said Epix.
Level 3 Communications is increasing its content delivery network (CDN) with new points of presence in Europe, Asia, Middle East Africa and Latin American by the end of 2013, said the company in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/19HBKIx). CDN revenue grew 37 percent from the third quarter of 2013, compared to the same quarter in 2012, said Level 3 from its quarterly earnings report.
The FCC proposed to approve 13 TV translator and low-power TV applications for filing. The commission proposed approving new construction permits for Nexstar Broadcasting, Coachella Communications, Oregon Trail Broadcasting and others, the commission said in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1hQkyDZ). “These applications are not mutually exclusive with other LPTV and TV translators.” Petitions to deny the applications may be filed within 30 days of the Nov. 7 release of the public notice, it said.
Eutelsat signed an agreement with an Algerian broadcast company for capacity on the Eutelsat 7 West A satellite. The contract opens access for Telediffusion d'Algerie to Eutelsat’s flagship 7/8 degrees west video neighborhood “that broadcasts the largest line-up of television channels across the Arab world to homes equipped for direct-to-home satellite reception,” Eutelsat said in a news release (http://bit.ly/17aZelc). The channels will be available to viewers across the Maghreb and north and west Africa, it said. “Reach will be extended to the whole of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf with the launch in 2015 of the Eutelsat 8 West B satellite."
Clarification: KBM Group Chief Privacy Officer Brooks Dobbs is “very, very supportive” of developing a tracking preference expression (TPE) specification that could work with multiple compliance documents, he said (CD Nov 7 p7). The World Wide Web Consortium is currently hosting a series of Do Not Track talks, working to develop a TPE specification followed by a compliance specification. Brooks is concerned the DNT working group is developing a TPE that would work with only one compliance specification, he said. “What I worry about [is] if you railroad through a foundation that only fits one house above it and say, ‘We might discuss having any house above it’ -- you're not leaving yourself open to it,” he said. “We need another option -- which isn’t being pursued and people are probably too tired to start afresh on.”
Communications Daily won’t be published Monday, Nov. 11, in observance of the federal Veterans Day holiday. Our next issue will be Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Nexstar Broadcasting reached “a definitive agreement” to buy Grant Co. and its seven TV stations for $87.5 million, Nexstar said in a press release Wednesday. As part of the transaction, Nexstar will sell one of the Grant stations to Mission Broadcasting, which will, “upon consummation of the transaction, enter into local service agreements with Nexstar,” it said. Grant owns two stations in Roanoke, Va., two in Quad Cities, Iowa, two in LaCrosse, Wis., and one station in Huntsville, Ala., it said. Mission will buy Fox affiliate KLJB in Quad Cities, it said. After the transaction, Nexstar’s “portfolio of stations that it owns, operates, programs or to which it provides sales and other services will increase to 102 stations in 54 markets reaching approximately 15.5 percent of all U.S. television households,” it said. The purchase price for the seven stations “represents a low 5 times multiple of the expected average 2013/2014 broadcast cash flow of the acquired stations after giving effect to anticipated operating improvements and synergies,” Nexstar said. “Upon completing all announced transactions, we will own or provide services to multiple stations in 36 of the 54 markets where we will operate,” said CEO Perry Sook.
NARUC commissioners will vote at the group’s annual meeting this month on a resolution adopting a white paper on federalism and telecom. The paper and the corresponding resolution released Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1hNKrV8) update a 2005 resolution that recommended the states and the FCC share jurisdiction over key aspects of communications services. The commissioners discussed the draft paper in a heated debate at NARUC’s summer meeting in Denver (CD July 25 p12). Much has changed since the 2005 resolution, with Internet Protocol-enabled services, texting and computer-based calling entering the market to compete with wireline and wireless services, said the paper. The new resolution says that modern, efficient, affordable and reliable communications services are critical to the “preservation of the public health, safety and welfare.” The resolution said states, the FCC and industry need to work collaboratively to ensure the quality and availability of communications at affordable prices even as carriers “continue to evolve and undergo technological transition.” Originally, the task force wrote “IP-related services,” but some of the commissioners did not think the “change from IP to TDM services will stay in place in some states,” Sherry Lichtenberg, National Regulatory Research Institute principal, told us. “Changes to the underlying structure of the network or technology used to carry information do not change the need for reliable, robust, affordable and ubiquitous communications services that are universally available and reasonably comparable regardless of location,” said the draft resolution. Any new federal legislation should recognize that the states are “well positioned to understand the availability of communications services in their own jurisdictions, to respond quickly to customer concerns, and to provide input on competitive issues and service problems,” said the resolution. The Federalism Task Force members worked well together to complete the paper and the resolution, said Lichtenberg. “We wanted to find talking points that could work with their legislatures, Congress and the FCC to move forward with policy,” she said. The commissioners will also discuss separate resolutions on slamming and privacy at their annual meeting.