Technology Daily

Technology Daily Quotes Michael Calabrese on TV White Space Debate

Communications — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:36:00 -0500

House lawmakers in both parties are stepping up pressure on the FCC to permit technology companies such as Dell, Google, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft to harness vacant broadcast spectrum in order to expand wireless, high-speed Internet access.

In a Tuesday letter to the agency, Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Nathan Deal, R-Ga.; Jay Inslee; D-Wash., Mike Rogers, R-Mich.; and Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., urged the FCC to resolve any remaining technical issues and release final rules in a few months. All six lawmakers sit on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

At a Wednesday press briefing sponsored by the Wireless Innovation Alliance, a new organization promoting the use of so-called "white space," Inslee said federal guidelines are needed. ...

In September, broadcasters held a press conference to warn that their historic switch to digital could be jeopardized by handheld devices operating simultaneously in TV bands.

The FCC is sorting out the competing claims.

But Michael Calabrese, vice president of the New America Foundation, which has concluded that interference concerns are overblown, noted that Philips, a major TV manufacturer, is among the white-spaces proponents.

"Every time there's a technological breakthrough, there's always worries" about interference with incumbent uses, he said, noting that the FCC… more

Wireless Future Program's Report Backs Claims of White Spaces Coalition

Communications — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 03:35:00 -0400

...In a Sept. 10 letter, the National Association of Broadcasters endorsed FCC efforts to permit white spaces to be used for offering wireless broadband to stationary gadgets in rural areas. But it reiterated that mobile devices operating in the band would wreak havoc with DTV signals and make it impossible for affected parties to pinpoint the causes or locations of the interference. Following the briefing, broadcasters headed for the FCC and Capitol Hill to appeal directly to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the other four agency commissioners and lawmakers.

"They're simply wrong on all accounts," responded Scott Blake Harris, counsel to the White Spaces Coalition [a corporate consortium advocating for unlicensed white spaced devices.] The group's members also include Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Philips Electronics. "These devices can be used successfully and will be used successfully," he said, adding, "The spectrum does not belong to the broadcasters and they are not licensed to use it." Harris downplayed the FCC's findings, insisting that the agency demonstrated that at least one prototype works effectively and that sensors can be calibrated to avoid interference. His claims were backed by a report issued Monday by the New America Foundation...

New America Foundation's Wireless Future… more

Technology Daily Reports on New America's Spectrum Auction Event

Communications — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 06:54:00 -0400

On a Friday with Congress out of session, the New America Foundation packed a Senate hearing room for a panel discussion on what seemed to be a specialized topic -- the next spectrum auction at the FCC. But the issue could affect how most consumers and companies communicate via high-speed Internet.

Panelists including representatives from Google, Public Knowledge, and the Media Access Project are calling for a fundamental change in the auction rules for how the FCC allocates spectrum.

The FCC is poised to issue rules on its 700 megahertz spectrum auction, which must take place by Jan. 28. The auction is expected to raise between $10 billion and $20 billion. It is considered especially valuable airwave real estate because it's better than WiFi or cellular phone spectrum because it can penetrate trees and buildings...

For the complete article, please visit the Technology Daily website.

To learn more about this event, please click here.

Technology Daily Highlights New America Paper on Net Neutrality

Communications — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:19:00 -0500

(Tuesday, February 27) The network neutrality debate that has focused for the past two years on maintaining an open Internet is expanding to a new battlefield: wireless mobile services. In a newly released paper, Columbia University Law School Professor Tim Wu sounded the alarm about the ability of consumers to use devices of their choosing on cellular networks now limited to proprietary equipment. Wu emphasized that the FCC's "Carterfone" rules, which let consumers connect various gadgets to wired telephone networks, do not apply in the wireless arena. "These controls continue to affect innovation and the development of new devices and applications for wireless networks," he wrote... "In the United States, there are over 200 million mobile subscribers, and mobile revenues are over $100 billion," Wu wrote in "Wireless Net Neutrality," which was published by the New America Foundation, a nonprofit public policy institute. "As the industry and platform mature, the wireless industry warrants a new look..."

For the complete article, please visit the Technology Daily website.

Michael Dannenberg on Bush's Education Rules in Technology Daily

Communications — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:22:00 -0500

In Tuesday's State of the Union address, President Bush proposed adding a science component to the five-year-old education law that currently focuses on mathematics and reading proficiency. The 2002 education law, known as the No Child Left Behind Act, requires educators to ensure that every student read and do math at grade level or above by 2014.The science measure is one of several enhancements that the president said he wants rolled into the reauthorization of the law. Bush said such improvements could link education to the competitiveness agenda he proposed during last year's State of the Union speech."Because we acted, students are performing better in reading and math, and minority students are closing the achievement gap," Bush said. "Now the task is to build on the success. ... We can make sure our children are prepared for the jobs of the future and our country is more competitive by strengthening math and science skills...""Most of President Bush's State of the Union education proposals are old and come off the shelf," said Michael Dannenberg, director of the New America Foundation's education policy program.He said "the freshest idea in the Bush education agenda" rests… more

J.H. Snider on US-Mexico Spectrum Agreement in Technology Daily

Communications — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:37:00 -0500

The United States and Mexico signed a spectrum-sharing agreement to support the operations of commercial entrepreneurs expected to deploy advanced wireless services along the U.S.-Mexican border, the State Department announced Friday.

Under the deal, senior telecommunications officials from both countries agreed to support emergency responders and other state and local public-safety organizations. The goal of the agreement, which was reached Nov. 8, is to facilitate reliable border communications that work across jurisdictions...

Some companies already have bought the rights to the licenses to use the commercial spectrum. Under a congressional mandate, the FCC must auction all designated spectrum by Jan. 28, 2008. The agreement was forged under a 1994 U.S.-Mexico framework agreement covering terrestrial, non-broadcasting radio communication services. The FCC in the United States and Mexico's Ministry of Communications and Transportation and its Federal Telecommunications Commission are responsible for the implementation of the protocol...

James Snider, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, said "this whole treaty assumes that the digital TV transition really will happen in February of 2009, but this doesn't necessarily have to happen," as financial and policy issues remain...

For the complete article, please visit the Technology Daily website.

J.H. Snider on Regulating VoIP in Technology Daily

Communications — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:56:00 -0500

Canada's federal government has overruled a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision to regulate Internet-based telephone service, a top Canadian official confirmed this week.

Ottawa's government "has decided to change the CRTC's decision on VoIP -- voice-over-Internet protocol phone service," Industry Minister Maxime Bernier said in a speech Wednesday at The Economic Club of Toronto. "More specifically, we are telling the CRTC to start deregulating 'access independent' VoIP services. These are the telephone services you get through a broadband Internet connection. Barriers to entry in this market are very low."

Bernier defended the decision by saying, "In a competitive sector, there is no reason to regulate some companies while others can offer the services they want at the prices they want..."

J.H. Snider, a wireless expert at the New America Foundation, said the decision is a positive move for competition but failed to address "that if you still have a monopoly for broadband services, you can discriminate against VoIP..." For the complete article, please visit the Technology Daily website.