Tag: Broadband

Yesterday, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) jointly announced the terms and conditions of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). As you’ll recall, BTOP is a $7.2 billion program, authorized by Congress under the Stimulus Act, which aims to increase the speed, affordability and adoption of broadband Internet services in America. In the latest episode of “5 Minutes With Harold Feld,” Harold celebrates RUS and NTIA’s announcement, while noting that the terms and conditions of the program bring both good and bad news for proponents of progressive broadband policy.

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“The data to be collected from the broadband maps authorized under the stimulus legislation should provide a wealth of information for consumers and policymakers.

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“We are pleased that the requirements for the broadband grant program include strong non-discrimination and interconnection conditions so that some lawful Internet content and applications are not favored over others. These conditions will help consumers and create vitality in the services created by the program.

“We are also glad to see strong disclosure requirements for practices or methods carriers might employ to allocate capacity among different applications or providers.

“We have some reservations about the ability of carriers to offer so-called ‘managed services.’ The point of the stimulus program is to ensure widespread access to the broadband Internet.

With up to $350 million in federal stimulus funds allocated for broadband mapping, an organization called Connected Nation is racking up the frequent flying miles in an effort to capture the lion’s share of the money.

Connected Nation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit organization that represents the interests of the telephone and cable industries in broadband mapping by obtaining contracts from states to do the work while also protecting the “confidentiality” of deployment information that may be deemed “proprietary” by the companies supplying the information In return, Connected Nation charges up to millions of dollars for mapping and, in some occasions, to organize local teams to assess demand.

From Austin to Boise, Honolulu, Oklahoma City and even up to Wasilla, Alaska, and many points in between, Connected Nation has pitched its services to state governments, with impressive results in either setting up t

After months of waiting, the Senate confirmed two key members of the Obama communications and technology team: new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) director Larry Strickling (his official title is Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information). And not a moment too soon.

Here is what is facing the new leaders right now: NTIA (along with the Rural Utilities Service) is expected to issue its “Notice of Funds Availability” imminently for the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus money, and that “NOFA” will include the rules for applying for the grants, as well as the conditions (like non-discrimination) with which a grantee much comply.

Time Warner and Comcast have announced a new pilot program for their TV Anywhere initiative. The 5,000 customers in the pilot will get access to cable programming content not otherwise available online — as long as they prove they subscribe to a subscription video service — or “MVPD” — like cable or FIOS. (MVPD stands for “multichannel video programming distributor” and means anything that sells you a whole bunch of cable channels.

There is a lot of talk and concern these days in the halls of Congress and at both the FCC and the FTC about how to promote greater broadband and wireless phone competition.

PK’s own Art Brodsky appeared on NPR’s On the Media program this past Friday. The segment featured Mark McElroy of Connected Nation—which has several contracts to map broadband facilities—describing his organization’s mapping methodology and their need for secrecy in sources; and a rebuttal by Art, who argues that the secrecy is used to skew the numbers in order to protect choice markets for the large telecomm incumbents who sit on Connected Nation’s board.

You can listen to the segment, and read a transcript, here: http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2009/06/19/04

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“We are very pleased that the Senate Commerce Committee acted so quickly to approve the nominations of Julius Genachowski to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and Robert McDowell to serve another term as commissioner.

“We look forward to the full Senate confirming the nominees quickly. The issues awaiting Commission action are too important to be delayed any longer.”

Sometime back, I warned that the deal between ESPN360.com and Verizon would have consequences in terms of internet fragmentation. Now, the American Cable Association, which represents small cable operators (who often have very different concerns from their larger cousins in the National Cable Telecommunications Association) is complaining that Disney wants to charge them for access to ESPN.com.

Note, this does not mean put stuff behind a pay wall and charge viewers. It means replicating the cable model and charging the ISP on a per-subscriber basis.