BENTON’S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016
Today’s Event: Legal Considerations in Building Broadband Public-Private Partnerships, CLIC webinar: https://www.benton.org/node/234460
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Remarks of Gigi Sohn on Lifeline and Broadband Adoption – speech
FCC’s Lifeline expansion could see changes before vote
Thousands Support Expanding Lifeline to Broadband in Petitions Submitted to FCC – public notice
Learning from the FCC’s Lifeline Broadband Pilot Projects – Technology Policy Institute research
FCC Chairman Wheeler Writes to Reps Upton and Pallone Regarding the Open Internet Order
NSF to Fund Up to $10 Million of US Ignite Gigabit R&D
Verizon’s fiber network will expand—after three-state sale to Frontier [links to Benton summary]
FCC Chairman Wheeler’s Response to Rep. Ruiz Regarding the Transaction Between Frontier and Verizon [links to Benton summary]
Rep Blackburn Slams FCC Over Set-Tops, Preemption [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
4 Democratic Reps Back Charter-TWC Merger
FCC Chairman Wheeler’s Response to Rep. Ruiz Regarding the Transaction Between Frontier and Verizon [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Big Data is Watching: Growing Digital Data Surveillance of Consumers by ISPs and Other Leading Video Providers – CDD Report
Homeland Security Committee Chairman McCaul: After Brussels, Congress must act on encryption [links to Hill, The]
Intel, Fortinet, launch cybersecurity initiatives [links to San Jose Mercury News]
FBI Clash With Apple Loosed a Torrent of Possible Ways to Hack an iPhone [links to New York Times]
The iPhone hack that could help the FBI get a terrorist’s files [links to CNNMoney]
Pentagon Cut Off Access to Personal E-Mail to Fight Mailicous Messages [links to nextgov]
ADVERTISING
Pressure from Democratic Reps hasn’t swayed FCC on political ad disclosures
A Look Back at Hal Riney, the Ad Giant who Helped Re-Elect Ronald Reagan [links to AdAge]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Speaker Ryan Criticizes Tone of GOP Primaries [links to Hill, The]
Presidential Race Is One of TV’s Biggest Hits [links to Associated Press]
NPR Puts Political Reporters Through ‘Trump Training’ for Hostile Events [links to Wrap, The]
CNN on campaign 2016: We have ‘more access to both parties than any other channel’ [links to Washington Post]
Dating App Tinder introduces ‘Swipe the Vote’ [links to Hill, The]
App Connects Voters with Short Polling Lines in Texas’ Collin County [links to Government Technology]
A Look Back at Hal Riney, the Ad Giant who Helped Re-Elect Ronald Reagan [links to AdAge]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AT&T launches international Wi-Fi Calling [links to Verge, The]
Zero rating: a boon to consumers, or a net neutrality nightmare? – analysis [links to Benton summary]
Wireless Carriers Offer Free Calls and Texts To Belgium After Attacks [links to Fortune]
Smartphone Streaming Survey: 81% of Smartphone Users Stream Video [links to telecompetitor]
TELEVISION
ABC Stacks the Deck in Battle for Streaming Rights [links to Variety]
Nielsen Adds Info on Connected-TV Devices [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
RADIO
Keynote Remarks of FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai at the Hispanic Radio Conference[links to Federal Communications Commission]
SURVEILLANCE
Idaho mom who sued Obama over illegal surveillance loses at appellate court [links to Benton summary]
TRANSPORTATION
Op-ed: This U.S. City Is Subsidizing Uber — Here’s Why [links to Revere Digital]
JOURNALISM
Blendle Wants to Sell You Journalism on the Web, One Story at a Time [links to Revere Digital]
Op-Ed: Why Hulk vs. Gawker Is not About Privacy vs. Free Speech [links to Huffington Post]
HEALTH
Lawmakers: Who Safeguards Health Care Data From Cyberthreats? [links to nextgov]
LABOR
Incentives – and pressures – for US workers in a ‘knowledge economy’ [links to Pew Research Center]
DIVERSITY
Media Has One Of The Worst Gender Wage Gaps Of Any Industry, Says Glassdoor Study [links to International Business Times]
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
Don’t Act Surprised by How Net Neutrality Rules Were Written – Blair Levin op-ed
POLICYMAKERS
Commerce Sec Penny Pritzker Announces Kiersten Todt as Executive Director of Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity – press release [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Google and Obama Administration Connect Over Cuba
Ministers plan to make universal broadband a ‘must-have’ in UK
Angola’s Wikipedia Pirates Are Exposing the Problems With Digital Colonialism [links to Benton summary]
Journalist Jailed in Eastern India Over Social Media Post [links to New York Times]
Vietnam: 2 Sentenced Over Blog Posts [links to Reuters]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
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GIGI SOHN ON LIFELINE AND BROADBAND ADOPTION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler proposal to modernize the Lifeline program and refocus it on making broadband service affordable for low income consumers. Here’s some concerns we’re hearing:
First, we have an obligation to focus the Lifeline program on broadband. While mobile voice will continue to be a supported service, afterDecember 1, 2019, it will have to be bundled with data to be Lifeline-eligible. Our firm belief is that voice service will continue to be an important part of Lifeline. But we also believe that low-income Americans must have access to broadband as well if they are to participate fully in today’s society. To give Lifeline providers time to adjust, we will phase down support for stand-alone mobile voice over a multi-year period. We plan to eliminate the subsidy for stand-alone mobile voice starting on December 1, 2019, although the Commission will examine the market in mid-2019 to determine whether there needs to be an adjustment. We believe that three years will be enough time for the market to adapt and for promising technologies to develop, and that by the end of 2019, there will be affordable bundled mobile voice and data plans that meet, and hopefully exceed, Lifeline’s minimum service standards. But again, if that is not the case, the Commission has a safety valve by which it can examine how the market has evolved between now and 2019, and preserve a subsidy for stand-alone mobile voice if it’s deemed necessary.
Second, minimum service standards for voice and data will ensure that Lifeline is not a second-class service, while ensuring that it is still affordable. The Lifeline order the Chairman circulated sets the following minimums: for fixed broadband Internet access, the minimum speed is 10 Mbps down and 1 up and the minimum data allowance is 150 GB. For mobile voice, the minimum is unlimited minutes, and for mobile data, the minimum data allowance starts at 500 MB on December 1, 2016 with increases to 2GB by December 1, 2018. Finding the right balance between robust service and affordability is difficult, and we continue to talk to a variety of stakeholders on this issue. Our goal, which I know that you share, is to allow low-income Americans to take full advantage of the myriad opportunities access to broadband brings while ensuring that service remains within their reach. But that objective is unlikely to be fulfilled unless we provide incentives for carriers to offer meaningful broadband to low-income communities.
Third, states will continue to play a critical role in the Lifeline Program. Aside from moving the program to broadband, the single most important thing the proposed order does, in my opinion, is streamline the process for becoming a Lifeline provider to make it more attractive for new entrants. Chairman Wheeler’s mantra, “competition, competition, competition,” is just as relevant and important in the Lifeline context as in any other. The more we can encourage competition for Lifeline service, the more prices will decrease and service quality and quantity will increase. More competition can also help us create a Lifeline marketplace where we don’t have to choose between affordability and robust broadband service that also includes voice. But this new nationwide Lifeline Broadband Provider category does not eliminate the states’ role in the Lifeline Program. It simply gives a new entrant a choice in how it becomes a designated Lifeline provider.
Fourth, the budget will limit the impact on ratepayers while at the same time provide a safety valve to protect society’s most vulnerable. The proposed order sets a budget of $2.25 billion, indexed to inflation, which is sufficient to allow for increased participation generated by support for broadband service. The safety valve is triggered when spending reaches 90% of the budget. If that occurs, the Wireline Competition Bureau must notify the Commission and prepare an analysis of the causes of spending growth, followed by Commission action within 6 months. With this process, we can responsibly manage growth in the program without creating waiting lists or denying anyone service. Like the minimum service standards, a budget is all about balance. While we do expect that there will be more demand for Lifeline as it becomes a broadband program, we don’t expect that growth to be precipitous – remember, only about 30% of Lifeline eligible consumers take advantage of the program today. So, the proposed budget leaves room to meet increased demand, while also giving the Commission a mechanism to monitor and control spending to ensure the program is using ratepayer dollars efficiently and wisely.
benton.org/headlines/remarks-gigi-sohn-lifeline-and-broadband-adoption | Federal Communications Commission | Multichannel News
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LIFELINE PLAN COULD CHANGE BEFORE VOTE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn signaled that there could be late changes to the planned overhaul of Lifeline, the FCC’s phone subsidy program for low-income Americans. Commissioner Clyburn said is sympathetic to concerns from the wireless industry and she will help make changes if the regulations do not strike the right balance. "My office has been inundated with concerns about the call for minimum standards, particularly for mobile voice," she said. "But the strongest part of the FCC’s process, one that is the envy of regulators from across the globe, is that our process enables parties to give and receive feedback. If parties believe that the current proposal doesn’t strike the right balance, I have been clear from the beginning that I am open to taking appropriate adjustments, and I plan to live up to that promise." Commissioner Clyburn would not say whether she has proposed any specific changes. She said nothing is "set in stone" and noted she is still in "listening mode." The FCC’s plan sets a number of minimum service standards on the speed of Internet and the data allowance of smartphone plans. By December, the FCC will also require Lifeline providers of simple voice-only cellphone service to offer unlimited-minute plans. By 2019, Lifeline will transition completely away from wireless voice-only service. The wireless industry has lobbied hard over the past few weeks against the December change to require unlimited minutes. They argue that the $9.25 per month Lifeline subsidies would not fully cover the price of unlimited plans currently on the market, meaning that some low-income families would not be able to cover the extra cost.
benton.org/headlines/fccs-lifeline-expansion-could-see-changes-vote | Hill, The
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THOUSANDS SUPPORT EXPANDING LIFELINE TO BROADBAND PETITIONS SUBMITTED TO FCC
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Meredith Whipple]
Public Knowledge joined MAG-Net, Communications Workers of America, Color of Change, and OC Inc. in submitting more than 20,000 signatures to the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to expand its low-income phone subsidy program, Lifeline, to broadband Internet. The petitions will be added to the public record, which the Commissioners will consider before they vote on the Lifeline modernization proposal at the March 31 Open Meeting. Public Knowledge supports modernizing Lifeline to include broadband Internet as the new essential communications tool for the 21st century. Meredith Whipple, Digital Content Associate at Public Knowledge, said, "“We are pleased to see that thousands of people took action to ask the Federal Communications Commission to modernize the Lifeline program to support broadband Internet access. It is clear from this outpouring of support how essential broadband access is to people’s lives. In 1985, the Federal Communications Commission established the Lifeline program, which provided a discount on phone service for qualifying low-income Americans. In 2005, the program was updated to include wireless phones. In 2015, Lifeline is still a successful program for ensuring all Americans have the opportunities and security provided by essential communications services, like connecting to emergency services, jobs, and family members. Now, 30 years after the introduction of Lifeline, the addition of broadband access is a clear next step for the Lifeline program. Americans increasingly rely on broadband Internet for education, employment, health care, news and information, access to government and social services, commerce, and basic communications. However, for many Americans, broadband is simply not affordable. Modernizing the Lifeline program to include broadband Internet access will help millions of Americans stay connected, further closing the digital divide and supporting a thriving American economy. We look forward to the Commission’s decision on its Lifeline modernization proposal.”
benton.org/headlines/thousands-support-expanding-lifeline-broadband-petitions-submitted-fcc | Public Knowledge
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LIFELINE PILOT PROJECTS
[SOURCE: Technology Policy Institute, AUTHOR: Scott Wallsten]
Evidence from the Federal Communication Commission’s broadband Lifeline pilot studies demonstrate the difficulty of encouraging non-subscribers to join the network. Without careful attention to this issue, subsidies for broadband provided by the Lifeline program will likely go to those who already subscribe to broadband service, suggesting the program will do little to close the digital divide. After analyzing 14 experimental broadband Lifeline projects proposed by wireline and wireless broadband providers in 2013, this research shows:
The programs, restricted to those who had not subscribed for at least 60 days, had low participation rates. Overall, providers signed up less than 10 percent of the number of participants they had expected (except in Puerto Rico). These results demonstrate the difficulty of encouraging low-income people without connections to sign up even with large discounts, suggesting that subsidies are likely to go to people who already subscribe rather than working to close the digital divide.
Subscribers regularly choose plans offering speeds of less than 10 Mbps, which is the FCC’s current required minimum for rural broadband subsidies. "Because faster broadband typically costs more, higher minimum speeds are likely to blunt the (already likely low) beneficial effects of subsidies by increasing the price of eligible plans."
Subscribers generally expressed a preference to avoid digital literacy training classes, although those that did take the classes were somewhat more likely to continue to subscribe to broadband once the pilot programs ended. The results also suggest that digital literacy training should be studied further to evaluate which aspects of it are most effective.
benton.org/headlines/learning-fccs-lifeline-broadband-pilot-projects | Technology Policy Institute
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WHEELER LETTER TO REPS UPTON AND PALLONE RE: OPEN INTERNET ORDER
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
On March 14, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler responded to a letter from House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) regarding the Open Internet Order. Chairman Wheeler wrote, "I understand that the House Energy and Commerce Committee is about to markup HR 2666, the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act. There have been suggestions that the approach in this legislation is consistent with comments I made before the Senate Appropriations Committee [in 2015]. I want to state, respectfully, that it is not…[The] broad forbearance in the Open Internet Order was the basis of my comments to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Boozman asked if I objected to Congress prohibiting the Commission from rate regulation. I responded that if Congress wanted to ensure that a future Commission would be unable to unforbear, I would have no difficulty with it. What I said then remains true today. If Congress in its wisdom decides to make doubly sure that the forbearance in the Open Internet Order is the law of the land, that is Congress’s prerogative. But this bill does more than that. It would introduce significant uncertainty into the Commission’s ability to enforce the three bright line rules that bar blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization rules, as well as our general conduct rule that would be applied to issues such as data caps and zero rating. It would also cast doubt on the ability of the Commission to ensure that broadband providers receiving universal service subsidies do not overcharge their consumers. Finally, it would hamstring aspects of the Commission’s merger review process. I am committed to ensuring that forbearance today is forbearance tomorrow. But I write to make plain that this bill is not consistent with the views I expressed last year."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-wheeler-writes-reps-upton-and-pallone-regarding-open-internet-order | Federal Communications Commission
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