33 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981Copyright © 2015 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.The Telecom Digest for Mar 7, 2015
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| Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. - Dwight D. Eisenhower |
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| Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2015 11:59:30 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: ACA looking to go it alone ... Message-ID: <19cdbca3-1ad2-4e96-9949-6643349f8e76@googlegroups.com> ACA looking to go it alone as it pursues litigation against FCC on Title II plan By Daniel Frankel, FierceCable, March 5, 2015 American Cable Association president and CEO Matthew Polka said his trade group is looking into possible litigation against the FCC over its just-codified net neutrality regulations. But the trade group will not partner with any other entities in pursuit of legal recourse. "Litigation is a potential strategy for us," said Polka, speaking to reporters Wednesday's at the ACA's Summit gathering in Washington, D.C. (Beltway blog The Hill was among the outlets on hand.) Polka added, however, that the ACA, which represents small and mid-sized cable operators, is "looking at these issues on our own. We're not in concert with any other group." Trade groups like the ACA are still reacting to the Federal Communications Commission's vote last week to enact tough regulation on the Internet, treating it as a public utility. Like many issues, net neutrality has fractured across party lines. Also at the ACA's Summit Thursday, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, once again directed his ire over the regulations back to one of his party's least favorite individuals, the President. http://www.fiercecable.com/story/aca-looking-go-it-alone-it-pursues-litigation-against-fcc-title-ii-plan/2015-03-05?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal -or- http://tinyurl.com/pye5s2b Neal McLain ***** Moderator's Note ***** I get the impression that Mr. Polka's remarks were inteneded for consumption by the ACA's customers and not the general public. Bill Horne Moderator |
| Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2015 12:11:10 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: FCC staff recommends Telcordia over Neustar for LNP contract Message-ID: <ad422749-5255-4223-a191-1904831a7870@googlegroups.com> FCC staff recommends Ericsson's Telcordia unit win number portability contract away from Neustar. By Phil Goldstein, FierceCable, March 5, 2015 The FCC's staff recommended that Ericsson's Telcordia unit win a key government number portability contract, dealing a grievous blow to Neustar, which has administered the number portability system since 1997 and counts on it for about half its revenue. The recommendation, from the Wireline Competition Bureau, still needs to be approved by a vote of the agency's five commissioners, who can accept, reject or modify the FCC staff's proposal. At issue is which vendor is going to be the U.S. government's neutral and tested local-number-portability administrator (LNPA), which helps phone subscribers keep their numbers when switching carriers. http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/fcc-staff-recommends-ericssons-telcordia-unit-win-number-portability-contra/2015-03-05 -or- http://tinyurl.com/l57m7ow Neal McLain |
| Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2015 15:40:20 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Republicans' "Internet Freedom Act" would wipe out net neutrality Message-ID: <0e6b1f0a-f70e-449d-aad9-60ce6da5f728@googlegroups.com> Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, March 5, 2015 US Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) this week filed legislation she calls the "Internet Freedom Act" to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's new network neutrality rules. The FCC's neutrality rules prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or throttling Internet traffic, prohibit prioritization of traffic in exchange for payment, and require the ISPs to disclose network management practices. These rules "shall have no force or effect, and the Commission may not reissue such rule in substantially the same form, or issue a new rule that is substantially the same as such rule, unless the reissued or new rule is specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act," the Internet Freedom Act states. The legislation has 31 Republican cosponsors. Continued: http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/03/republicans-internet-freedom-act-would-wipe-out-net-neutrality/?utm_source=Ars+Technica+Newsletter&utm_campaign=61 ab8bb9ed-September_02_2011_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0adf3ee3d9- 61ab8bb9ed-62418905 -or- http://tinyurl.com/p43qwn5 Neal McLain |
| Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2015 21:40:46 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Robbing Peter, paying Paul: Streaming costs can add up Message-ID: <178488cb-8396-47c6-ab61-aeb878132f71@googlegroups.com> By Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle, March 6, 2015 Begin by looking at your monthly cable bill and multiplying it by 12. That's how much you pay for cable for a full year. One of the obvious benefits of dropping cable TV and getting your television/movie fix via streaming is that you spend a less money for at-home entertainment. As I wrote earlier this year, the annual savings can be substantial. Buying just the shows you want, or watching them via online services such as Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime, costs a lot less than paying for a big bundle of hundreds of channels you'll never watch. Cord cutters and cord nevers - those who have never had a cable subscription, and likely never will - are a small but growing number, and this week's news of HBO's $15-a-month streaming service and the addition of AMC to Sling TV may increase those numbers. But what is also becoming apparent is that, if you attempt to recreate the choices you have with cable TV, the amount you pay for streaming services can begin to approach a cable bill. But what is also becoming apparent is that, if you attempt to recreate the choices you have with cable TV, the amount you pay for streaming services can begin to approach a cable bill. In response to my blog post on Thursday about HBO Now, a colleague at the Mighty Houston Chronicle emailed this to me... Continued: http://blog.chron.com/techblog/2015/03/robbing-peter-paying-paul-streaming-costs-can-add-up/#29861101 =0 -or- http://tinyurl.com/lb6kkau And that price comparison doesn't include the cost of the internet connection. In response to Mr. Silverman's previous post I emailed him suggesting that he should include the cost of the internet connection for an apples-apples comparison. His response: he already had an internet connection before he dropped his cable TV subscription, so the cost of the internet connection was not part of the equation. I've gotten similar responses when I've tried to make this same point here on T-D: "I already have an internet connection so ... etc." Fair enough. But the fact remains that there are millions of citizens -- many of whom are cable TV subscribers -- who don't have fast internet connections. Some may have dialup, others may not even have that. For these folks, the cost of an internet connection would indeed be part of price of "cutting the [cable TV] cord." Using Mr. Silverman's figures: $64.25 = Total monthly cost of internet-delivered programming cited by Mr. Silverman's "colleague at the Mighty Houston Chronicle" (and not including the "delivery cost of the internet connection). $64.41 = "the average U.S. cable TV bill" cited by Mr. Silverman (including delivery all the way to the TV set or DVR). Add the cost of an internet connection capable of delivering video and the price comparison clearly favors cable TV. Neal McLain ***** Moderator's Note ***** Neal has been contributing to the Telecom Digest for twenty years now. Neal, thank you. Bill Horne Moderator |
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