Archive
Consumer Alert: Using or Importing Jammers is Illegal
Consumer Alert: Using or Importing Jammers is Illegal
Source: Federal Communications Commission
In recent days, there have been various press reports about commuters using cell phone jammers to create a “quiet zone” on buses or trains. We caution consumers that it is against the law to use a cell or GPS jammer or any other type of device that blocks, jams or interferes with authorized communications, as well as to import, advertise, sell, or ship such a device. The FCC Enforcement Bureau has a zero tolerance policy in this area and will take aggressive action against violators.
Federal Communications Commission: Digital Textbook Playbook
Federal Communications Commission: Digital Textbook Playbook (PDF)
Source: Federal Communications Commission
The Digital Textbook Playbook is a guide to help K-12 educators and administrators advance the conversation toward building a rich digital learning experience. This Playbook offers information about determining broadband infrastructure for schools and classrooms, leveraging home and community broadband to extend the digital learning environment, and understanding necessary device considerations. It also provides lessons learned from school districts that engaged in successful transitions to digital learning.
This Playbook is the output of the Digital Textbook Collaborative, a joint effort of industry stakeholders, school nonprofit leaders to encourage collaboration across the ecosystem, accelerate the development of digital textbooks and improve the quality and penetration of digital learning in K-12 public education. The collaborative was convened by the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Education and builds upon the FCC’s National Broadband Plan and the Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan.
FCC — Genachowski Remarks on Reforming and Modernizing the Lifeline Program
Genachowski Remarks on Reforming and Modernizing the Lifeline Program
Source: Federal Communications Commission
Consistent with a number of Congressional directives to ensure modern communications are available to all Americans, the FCC administers a number of programs to help connect underserved populations – rural Americans, the hearing-impaired, children, and low-income Americans.
These are vital programs, grounded in a longstanding national commitment to the idea that essential infrastructure and platforms—electricity, highways, telephone service, and now broadband—should be available to all Americans, and that we all benefit from universal service.
We’ve put all of the programs we administer under the microscope – asking the tough questions, and reforming our programs to make sure they are efficient and fiscally responsible.
A program can be efficient and fiscally responsible and still be ineffective. That’s why we’ve also asked if programs need to be modernized to meet today’s needs. We found that we had inherited a series of programs that needed to be updated for the Internet age, and most also needed careful scrubbing to ensure they were carrying out their missions effectively and efficiently.
And so we’ve worked to reform and modernize our programs – rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, and ensuring that our programs are serving the right policy goals in today’s broadband world.
FCC — Bureau Dismissal Without Prejudice of AT&T’s Applications for Transfer of Control of T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Bureau Dismissal Without Prejudice of AT&T’s Applications for Transfer of Control of T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Source: Federal Communications Commission
From press release:
Given the overwhelming mass of competitive concerns raised in the Department of Justice suit against the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T, and the possibly even greater public interest harms identified in the FCC’s Staff Report, I welcome withdrawal of this application.
The competition concerns are well known and profound. A merged AT&T and T-Mobile would vest approximately 75 percent of the mobile market in two sets of hands. That type of consolidation—in a market already overly consolidated—deserves the close, hard look that our FCC staff has given it. The Staff Report finds, in great and compelling detail, that the transaction raises “significant competitive concerns” in the mobile market, and “substantial and material” questions about its competitive effects on roaming, wholesale, and resale services, backhaul, and handsets. The Staff Report further finds that the parties’ claim that this deal would lead to lower prices is flawed and over-estimates the benefits that would be passed on to consumers.
This agency’s charge under the Communications Act is to look at not just the competitive effects but also the broader public interest implications of an acquisition. Despite repeated claims that this transaction will be a significant job creator, the staff, after thorough review, could make no such finding. Here is something else worth highlighting: T-Mobile has built a business model targeting budget-conscious consumers. With lower-income consumers increasingly thinking of mobile as their only broadband service, and with no guarantee the new entity will continue to serve this population, many consumers may find themselves priced right out of broadband. That is not a direction the country can afford to go.
While I welcome withdrawal of this application, I would like to think we will no longer be expending significant FCC resources to examine this paradigm-shifting and complex transaction. I would hope the withdrawal is not a strategic gambit along the road to resubmission of this or a similar application in the months ahead. That would not strike me as a good route to travel. The significant resources the Commission has spent over these last seven months analyzing this proposed acquisition—and so many other consolidations that have come our way during my ten years here—would have been much better spent furthering the goals of competition, consumer protection and the public interest.
FEMA & FCC Unveil New Tip Sheet for Consumers on How to Communicate During Disasters
FEMA & FCC Unveil New Tip Sheet for Consumers on How to Communicate During Disasters
Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency and Federal Communications Commission
As part of National Preparedness Month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released new tips for consumers aimed at preparing them for major disasters when communications networks are more likely to be compromised or damaged. Nearly one month ago, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake and Hurricane Irene struck the East Coast. In the minutes and hours that followed, mobile networks experienced significant network congestion, temporarily making it harder for millions of people to reach loved ones and emergency services. This tip sheet aims to help prepare Americans about how to communicate with each other, and loved ones, in the event of another disaster.
“Between the East Coast earthquake, Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and wildfires in Texas and California, we have had a lot of powerful reminders lately that disasters can strike anytime, anywhere – and can often make it difficult for the public to communicate with friends, loved ones or emergency personnel,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “An important part of preparing for disasters includes getting ready for potential communications challenges, whether caused by power outages or heavy cell network congestion. These simple tips are easy for anyone to follow and could make a world of difference when it matters the most.”
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, “When disaster strikes, the ability to communicate is essential. However, power outages and other issues can interfere with the way people ordinarily communicate, making it harder to reach loved ones or emergency services. The FCC is committed to ensuring the public’s safety through the reliability of our nation’s communications networks. But there are also simple steps that consumers can take to prepare for a disaster as well as practical ways to better communicate during and after an event. I encourage all Americans to become familiar these tips and share them with friends and family.”
Quarterly Report of Informal Consumer Inquiries and Complaints for Fourth Quarter of Calendar Year 2010 Released
Quarterly Report of Informal Consumer Inquiries and Complaints for Fourth Quarter of Calendar Year 2010 Released (PDF)
Source: Federal Communications Commission
2010 Fourth Quarter Inquiries. During the fourth quarter of 2010, the overall number of inquiries for the top four reported inquiry categories increased by more than 84% from the number received and processed by CGB during the previous quarter, from 17,782 during the third quarter of 2010, to 32,894. The number of Cable and Satellite Services inquiries decreased by nearly 26%, from 2,614 to 1,922. Inquiries regarding Billing and Rates Issues constituted more than 53% of the inquiries in this category during the fourth quarter. The number of Radio and Television Broadcasting inquiries increased by nearly 37%, from 3,490 to 4,783. The bulk of these inquiries (more than 40%), pertained to broadcast programming issues. Wireless Telecommunications inquiries notably increased by more than 450%, from 3,282 to 18,311, with a substantial number of fourth quarter inquiries, related to Bill Shock (15,263). Wireline Telecommunications inquiries decreased more by than 6%, from 8,396 to 7,878, with Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) matters constituting more than 60% of the fourth quarter inquiries in this category.
2010 Fourth Quarter Complaints. During the fourth quarter of 2010, the overall number of complaints in the top four reported categories increased by 1% from those received and processed during the third quarter of 2010, from 47,947 to 48,469. Cable & Satellite Services complaints increased by nearly 9%, from 1,581 to 1,724. The number of Radio and Television Broadcasting complaints increased by more than 19%, from 2,611 to 3,116. Wireless Telecommunications complaints increased by more than 16%, from 18,064 to 21,076, with TCPA issues comprising nearly 51% of the fourth quarter complaints in this category. Wireline Telecommunications complaints decreased by nearly 12%, from 25,691 to 22,553, with TCPAOther Issues, Do Not Call List and Unsolicited Faxes constituting the top categories of Wireline complaints which, when combined, constituted over 86% of the Wireline complaints in the reported subcategories during the fourth quarter.
Local Information Programming and the Structure of Television Markets
Local Information Programming and the Structure of Television Markets (PDF)
Source: Federal Communications Commission
We analyze the relationship between the ownership structure of television markets and the amount of local news and public affairs programming provided in the market (at both the overall market and individual station levels). We find that commercial television stations that are cross-owned with major newspapers in the same market tend to air more local news programming, but that the station-level increase does not translate into more local news programming at the market level. Television-radio cross-ownership has a moderate (but statistically significant) positive impact on local information programming at the station level, and each additional in-market radio station controlled by the television station owner corresponds to additional local news minutes aired by the television station. However, local news programming at the market level is likely to be lower, as the scale economies enjoyed by the cross-owned stations are outweighed by the crowding out of local news programming on other stations. Multiple ownership (i.e., situations in which a single parent controls two or more stations in the same market) does not appear to impact the amount of local information programming at either the market or station level (though this result appears somewhat dependent upon model specification). But we do find that multiple ownership and broadband subscribership have a positive impact on the relative mix of local vs. national news programming.
15th Annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report
15th Annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report
Source: Federal Communications Commission
In this Mobile Wireless Competition Report, we present our findings regarding the state of competition in the mobile services marketplace, pursuant to Congress’s instruction in section 332(c)(1)(C) of the Communications Act. Promoting competition is a fundamental goal of the Commission’s policymaking. Competition has played and must continue to play an essential role in mobile – leading to lower prices and higher quality for American consumers, and producing new waves of innovation and investment in wireless networks, devices, and services.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Speech — FCC Chairman — “The Cloud: Unleashing Global Opportunities”
“The Cloud: Unleashing Global Opportunities” (PDF)
Source: Federal Communications Commission (Chairman Julius Genachowski)
The advent of cloud computing, with its ability to enable collaboration in ways no other technology has before, can multiply the benefits of a free and open Internet.
Consider that in the United States, the number of ads for full-time IT jobs focused on cloud computing grew more than 300 percent last year.
And the benefits of cloud computing and a widely available Internet extend as well to health care, education, and energy – improving quality of life, while also generating new markets and new businesses in each of those categories.
This can be true all over the world. Cloud computing is already a $68 billion global industry, and worldwide cloud adoption is expanding at roughly 17 percent per year, according to Gartner. European companies like Flexiant and Mvine in the U.K. and GreenQloud in Iceland are offering innovative cloud computing solutions.
The opportunities and benefits of cloud computing are not limited by geography. Nor are the challenges to unleashing its opportunities.
