Lauren Frayer

As crews rush to restore basic telephone and Internet services to areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, some executives, academics and analysts are urging a more ambitious approach: Make New Orleans and the surrounding areas super-connected communities, with advanced services that surpass what is available anywhere in the country, if not the world. With many poles and wires reduced to sticks and spaghetti, cell towers down, miles of streets still flooded, and parts of the region uninhabitable for the near future, these experts see the perfect opportunity to deploy new systems that otherwise might be too expensive or disruptive to build. The result, they say, could be a bonanza of higher technology at lower prices for businesses and consumers, more robust emergency-responder systems and an ability to provide high-speed Internet access to poorer segments of the population often left off of the information highway. "The area ought to be a beacon for 21st-century communications in the United States," said Rey Ramsey, chief executive of One Economy Corp., a nonprofit organization that helps bring high-speed Internet service to inner-city communities. "We ought to go state of the art, and state of the art with a purpose."
(requires registration)

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will propose a new Public Safety/Homeland Security Bureau to "coordinate public safety, national security and disaster management activities within the FCC," he said at the FCC meeting in Atlanta. "The Bureau will develop policies and rules to promote effective and reliable communications for public safety, national security and disaster management," he said. The new Bureau will have responsibility for: (1) Public safety communications, including 911 centers and first responders. (2) Priority emergency communications. (3) Alerts to U.S. citizens. (4) Continuity of government operations. (5) Infrastructure reporting and analysis during emergencies. (6) Disaster outreach. (7) Communications infrastructure protection. (8) Network interoperability and reliability. (9) Network security. The FCC also will provide $211 million in universal service funding to the disaster area, Martin said. "We will work through 4 existing programs to provide this support," Martin said: (1) The Low Income Program will help those who have been cut of to reestablish their communications lines. (2) Using FEMA disaster assistance, the FCC will provide support for wireless handsets and packages of 300 free minutes for hurricane survivors. Those eligible for FEMA disaster assistance also will be eligible for FCC assistance to pay for reconnecting to networks as the affected area is rebuilt. (3) Through the Rural Health Care program, the FCC will support the region’s emergency health care services, doubling discounts on telecom service from 25% to 50%. (4) Via the E-Rate program, the FCC will help reconnect Gulf Coast region schools and libraries. "We will treat schools and libraries struck by the hurricane at the highest level of priority (90%) for Funding Year 2005 and 2006," Martin said: "The Commission can authorize $96 million in E-rate funds for the approximately 600 schools and libraries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama hit by the hurricane."
(Not available online)
See FCC release: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-261096A1.doc
* Martin Proposes New Public Safety Bureau
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6257329?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* FCC Eyes USF To Aid In Katrina Relief
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-TUCL1126826735143.html
* FCC Hopes to Learn From Effort to Rebuild
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR200509...
(requires registration)
* FCC Seeks Crisis-Response Changes
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112682715676642336,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
* F.C.C. Chief Offers Plan to Get Phones to Hurricane Victims
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/business/16phone.html
(requires registration)
* FCC plans $211M to rebuild communications
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050916/katrinafcc16.art.htm

On Thursday, the FCC held an open meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, hearing from telecom industries affected by Hurricane Katrina. Devastation of the Gulf Coast spurred unusual collaboration among competing communications firms, and sometimes put the FCC in odd roles, such as helping to guard a broadcast station's fuel deliveries. The most emotional testimony came from Gulf Coast area broadcasters, who told of workers wading into alligator-laden swamps to fix generators and of Clear Channel helping to keep Entercom's all news WWL(AM) on the air. Diane Newman, operations dir. of Entercom's WWL(AM) in New Orleans, said her station's joint operation with Clear Channel to broadcast from Baton Rouge was an "unprecedented cooperation between broadcasters." Speakers touched on familiar issues. Hearst-Argyle TV News Vp Fred Young said the Gulf Coast situation made him wonder how there could be push for early return of analog spectrum. During a crisis like this, it's important that all viewers get information, he said. Willis Carter, first vp of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, said more action is needed by government agencies and Congress to protect public safety. Carter told of harrowing experiences as he visited dispatch centers in affected areas. Employees often were living in the centers, working with damaged towers, low fuel and an inability to communicate. He said he saw "devastation and despair" in all of them. Speakers praised the FCC's speedy approval of waivers that legitimized some cooperative efforts, also describing how FCC personnel filled unusual roles, such as finding government security forces to protect employees working in communications facilities. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin used the forum of the meeting to reveal plans to help communications firms and customers and better prepare for the future: 1) Creation of an FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau; 2) Directing $211 million in relief to affected areas through universal service support, working through existing programs such as the high-cost program and E-Rate; and 3) Creation of a panel of public safety and communications industry experts to study Katrina's impact on the communications infrastructure and suggest ways for the FCC to improve disaster preparedness, network reliability and first responders communications.
(Not available online)
See also:
* Bigger Was Better in Katrina, Suggest Media Execs
It was Big Media companies' interconnectedness, vast resources and creative partnerships (the latter may have been called collusion in other circumstances) that helped provide vital local information during Hurricane Katrina's strike and aftermath, several broadcasters told the FCC Thursday.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6257351?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

A recently released University of Connecticut survey says large corporate enterprises believe the proposed $16 billion SBC Communications/AT&T and the $8.5 billion Verizon Communications/MCI mergers will have a "strong negative impact" on pricing, innovation, quality of service and levels of competition in the business telecom marketplace. UC's Center for Survey Research and Analysis (CSRA) ­ commissioned by the Alliance for Competition in Telecommunications (ACTel) that opposes the "mega-mergers" ­ says it interviewed 100 telecom managers random-sampled from Fortune 1000 companies "to candidly assess the attitudes of America's largest businesses on the impact of the proposed mergers." The CSRA survey, "Views of The Proposed AT&T/SBC and MCI/Verizon Mergers: From the Perspective of Fortune 1000 AT&T and MCI Customers," was conducted from July 21 to Aug. 22. Of the companies interviewed, 79 percent were AT&T customers and 49 percent were MCI customers. "The most damning aspect of the survey findings is that these fears are expressed by AT&T's and MCI's own customers. This should be a wakeup call for policymakers ­ the marketplace is not happy with these mergers," says Heather Gold, senior vice president of government relations at competitive carrier XO Communications (a leading member of ACTel).

News Corp. is considering the sale of all its smaller stations -- representing a quarter of its station portfolio -- for as much as $800 million. Such a deal would relieve News Corp. of assets that aren't crucial to its high-margin, big-reach strategy, cut down on overhead, and simplify its operations. The targets are all Fox O&Os outside the top 25 markets. But “small” by News Corp.’s standards doesn't mean they’re all small towns. Included in the potential sale: Kansas City, Mo. (the 31st-largest TV market), Milwaukee (No. 32) and Salt Lake City (36).

[Commentary] Of all the indecency fines levied by the FCC in radio in the years 2000-03, a full 96% were imposed against four of the nation's largest radio-station ownership groups: Clear Channel, Viacom, Entercom and Emmis. Yet those companies owned only 12% of the total radio stations, with a 48% recent share of the national radio audience. In contrast, the 88% of the nation's radio stations not owned by these four station groups, with a combined national audience share of 51%, were responsible for just 4% of FCC indecency violations. The data also show a repeated pattern: Following the elimination of ownership limits in 1996, a local station would be sold to a large station-ownership group, which then eliminated local content and replaced it with an edgy/raunchy show that it produced in another market, causing the station to receive an FCC indecency fine for the first time in its history.
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

Operators are experiencing delays in their attempts to transfer ownership of Adelphia Communications Inc. systems to Time Warner Cable in California, where regulators say they need more information before approving the transactions. Local officials use the transfer process to resolve lingering operating issues and Adelphia has a lot of baggage. For example: Fern Taylor, chief of telecommunications franchising for Los Angeles County, which has 13 sizable Adelphia franchises, said officials there want to conclude negotiations over franchise-fee audits before approving a transfer to another operator.
(requires subscription)

Local telecom regulators converge in Washington this week for the annual National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors conference amid challenges to their power as the Bells push for national video franchising. A number of bills before Congress this session would crop the authority of local regulators, but NATOA leaders say such measures have sprung up before. NATOA President Coralie Wilson said change in the regulatory landscape is inevitable, but called it a "cheap shot" to say cities are the stumbling block to deployment of advanced services. Concerning rights of way she reminded, "One of the things that people forget is the public rights of way are in my front yard. You can't have the FCC or the state Public Utilities Commission managing it." Congress should recognize that as new services roll out technical and consumer issues will persist: "Who do these folks call if they have a billing problem? Is the FCC going to take these phone calls? I don't think so." Local governments want Congress to give such issues serious consideration before passing laws, she said. Public, educational and government (PEG) access channels have been a key tool for local governments, said Wilson, and they are under threat. SBC and Verizon have been pushing at the state level to eliminate not only local franchising but also support for PEG, she said. "They appear to be pursuing that goal at the federal level" as well, she said. "I hope that we will be able to impress upon leaders in Washington how important it is to preserve PEG."
(Not available online)
For more info on the NATOA conference, see:
http://www.natoa.org/bottom_frameset.html?go=conference

In the early 1990s, consumer groups urged Congress to force cable systems to carry every TV station in the country. Despite a White House veto, "must-carry" became the law of land. Consumer lobbyist Gene Kimmelman worked hand in glove with the National Association of Broadcasters to pass the Cable Act of 1992. But in NAB's latest must-carry fight, Kimmelman is supporting cable, refusing to let nostalgia fog his quest for tactical advantage on Capitol Hill. Kimmelman, policy director for Consumers Union, thinks cable has the better side of the argument. Sharing his view are Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, and Mark Cooper, research director of the Consumer Federation of America. "It's baffling to us why Gene Kimmelman and Jeff Chester are siding with the giant cable cartels and against more local program choice for their constituents," NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said. Far from being inconsistent, Kimmelman said he looks at each issue individually and decides what's best for consumers, forming alliances that can produce results instead of frustration. "I'm not out to stun the world. I follow what I hope is a very consistent logic that doesn't necessarily fit with the conventional wisdoms of where the consumer people automatically are. At least, I feel I'm being consistent," Kimmelman said in a recent interview. Congress is expected to intervene this fall in connection with legislation ending broadcasters' transition to DTV. Because key lawmakers are as divided as the NAB and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association on multicast must-carry, it wouldn't be a shock to learn that the buck had been passed to the Federal Communications Commission. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin supports multicast must-carry. The consumer groups oppose multicast must-carry because they see it driving up rates for basic cable, the tier all subscribers must buy and where local TV signals must reside. Must-buy and multicast must-carry are not a recipe for stable cable rates, the consumer groups argue. The NAB claims that without multicast must-carry, local stations won't experiment with new digital services because the 15% of TV households that do not subscribe to cable or satellite is too small of an economic base for financing new and innovative programming. Without multicast must-carry, all viewers would lose the opportunity to access more news, sports and weather reports in addition to community affairs and Spanish programming, according to NAB. The public-service programming that TV stations are promising with multicasting, Kimmelman said, should already be airing on their primary analog service today -- which, he said, explains why he could justify supporting must-carry in 1992 but not multicast must-carry in 2005.
(requires subscription)

A coalition of media reform, consumer and public interest groups -- representing millions of Americans across the country -- issued the following statement in response to a draft telecommunications bill circulated by the House on Thursday:
The introduction of a House discussion draft of a telecommunications reform bill should be the first step in an open and transparent legislative process that involves the public in meaningful ways.
Telecommunications policy affects every American family in ways that determine their access to information, how much they pay for it, and even the quality and diversity of that information.
The undersigned groups, representing millions of Americans throughout the country, believe that Congress must hold public hearings throughout the U.S. and seriously listen to the needs and priorities of citizens.
Telecommunications legislation has for too long been negotiated behind closed doors with key industry heavyweights and major media conglomerates, which spend hundreds of millions of dollars on campaign contributions and lobbying in Washington.
The last major telecommunications bill enacted in 1996 largely reflected their priorities, and did not respond to the needs of the public. Since then, cable rates surged by more than 50 percent, local phone rates went up by 20 percent, and scores of media companies merged, denying consumers choice and competition, and depriving our democracy of diverse viewpoints. These mistakes should not be repeated. (See the Common Cause report at http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7bFB3C17E2-CDD1-4DF6-92BE-BD442989366... )
As it begins consideration of telecommunications reform legislation, Congress should make telecommunications policy based on a number of core values:
Equal access, regardless of race, income, ethnicity or location, to affordable, advanced telecommunications technologies;
The importance of ensuring that franchising agreements protect consumers, extend the benefits of competition to underserved communities, provide adequate compensation to local governments for use of public resources, provide for public access media, and flexibly address community needs;
The right of local governments to use broadband technology to serve their residents, particularly those with low incomes or in rural areas;
Enforceable guarantees that network owners will not interfere with content transmitted over the network or discriminate against any device, application or program run on the network;
Enforceable guarantees that unaffiliated, independent video programmers will have access to video platforms;
Locally owned, independent media outlets that provide a diversity of viewpoints;
Expanded allocation of valuable public airwaves for shared, open use by local communities, commercial innovators and individual citizens.
In the coming days and weeks, we will be pressing Congress on all these and related issues. The public can no longer be ignored in this crucial policy debate.
Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME)
Alliance for Community Media
Benton Foundation
CCTV Center for Media and Democracy
Center for Creative Voices in Media
Center for Digital Democracy
Chicago Media Action
Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting
Common Cause
Consumer Federation of America
Consumers Union
Free Press
Future of Music Coalition
Media Access Project
Media Alliance
Media Tank
National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
National Hispanic Media Coalition
New America Foundation
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc
Reclaim the Media
U.S. Public Interest Research Group