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tektonikshift
LarryM99
The sad thing is that they are backing off on Cablecard just as a pretty decent ...
FCC chairman under fire at Web 2.0
Rick Merritt
11/17/2010 5:08 PM EST
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission came under fire for not accomplishing enough in an interview at the Web 2.0 Summit. Julius Genachowski argued the agency has made strides in his 22 months in office but said more work lies ahead.
"There's a sense of disappointment things have not moved faster," said John Heilemann, a columnist for New York Magazine, interviewing the FCC chairman.
"I don't think the facts support that—we've gotten a lot done and have a lot more to do," said Genachowski.
He noted the release of new 700 MHz spectrum "ought to give us the next generation of Wi-Fi and more" including new wireless municipal networks. He also cited work easing the job of putting up new cell towers and getting right-of-way.
"These things tend to seem boring and geeky, but it’s the blood and guts of building out our networks," Genachowski said.
The FCC has yet to complete work on releasing more spectrum, especially from analog TV channels. It also aims to shift the definition of universal service programs from a focus on telephony to broadband. In addition, the agency has yet to set rules for carriers on open Internet access, known as Net neutrality.
"For many people [Net neutrality is] one of the greatest causes for concern that things are not getting done," said Heilemann, echoing concerns of telecom systems makers.
The decision in a court case brought by Comcast that challenged the FCC's authority to set rules about Internet access as one factor that has "complicated things," Genachowski said. He also gave a mix of praise and blame to ad hoc industry negotiations such as the agreement between rivals Google and Verizon on Net neutrality.
"The idea of people on opposing sides coming together is a great thing [but] I would have preferred they didn’t do it when they did because it slowed down some other processes that could have led to a resolution," said Genachowski.
The recent election of more Republicans to Congress should not further slow progress on the issues, said Genachowski who was appointed by President Barack Obama. The kinds of issues the FCC needs to work with Congress on "should not be partisan," he said, noting a proposal for incentive auctions for broadcast spectrum and the transition in universal service policy.
The FCC chairman said the U.S. needs such improvements in telecom policy to become more competitive with other countries. He noted one study in which the U.S. ranked lowest among 40 countries in its rate of improvement in key areas such as broadband availability. "That’s what scares me," Genachowski said.
"You read about how Applied Materials decided to move its CTO and [related] operations to Beijing," he added. "The question we all need to ask ourselves is how many companies move their CTOs overseas before we have a crisis," he said.
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LarryM99
11/17/2010 5:30 PM EST
It's not just a question of the speed at which things are getting done. The telcos and cable companies seem to be getting their way on a number of issues to the detriment of the public good. Net neutrality access issues, white space utilization, and municipal Internet access all seem to be going the way of the guys with the big checkbooks. Powell's FCC made it a point to understand and own these types of issues. These guys seem quite willing to spend all of their time 'studying' the issues while the current ISPs wall in their gardens and the US falls further behind.
Larry M.
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Frank Eory
11/17/2010 7:38 PM EST
The FCC is always under fire from somebody, either for doing too little or doing too much. But I agree with you on one thing Larry -- I also liked Powell's FCC.
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junko.yoshida
11/17/2010 10:42 PM EST
Interesting. What aspects of Powell's FCC was attractive to you guys? I actually liked Reed Hundt's FCC a lot. While some may put him in a category of "doing too much," it was exciting to cover the FCC chairman who had vision and was ready to fight all the time.
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LarryM99
11/17/2010 11:14 PM EST
I went to a talk that Powell gave here at UCSD while he was chairman. I had been curious because of some of the highly technical papers that I had been seeing concerning the changes in spectrum management which was the basis of the current white spaces. At that talk he said that when he got there he surveyed the FCC and was appalled at the large number of lawyers and small number of engineers. He set out to reverse that ratio. He also showed a refreshing idea that he should be serving the public good rather than the policy needs of political contributers. How can you not be impressed by that?
Larry M.
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Bert22306
11/18/2010 5:52 PM EST
Michael Powell's FCC intelligently got the digital TV conversion to happen. He used the reclamation of the 700 MHz spectrum as the motivation, he mandated digital receivers in TVs and recording devices, *and* he included the cable and DBS subscribers among those who were no longer using analog OTA TV. So that the 85 percent criterion could be met quickly. Michael Powell also tried to get the cable companies to figure out a standard digital cable interface, so that digital TVs and recorders could incorporate digital cable tuners. He tried to encourage that to be done on a voluntary basis, since the government has little control over these walled gardens. Of course, the walled gardens saw to it that any such consumer-friendly ideas would be stalled as long as possible. In my book, Powell was by a long shot the best FCC Chairman we've had in recent history. Reed Hundt learned as he went along, but he allowed too many self-interested parties to introduce noise in the circuit, until finally he figured it out, toward the end of his tenure.
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Frank Eory
11/18/2010 5:58 PM EST
Powell understood that the DTV transition was not only about the TV broadcasters, and unlike most FCC chairmen, he didn't inherently despise the cable TV industry.
The FCC regime of Powell's successor, Kevin Martin, instituted the CableCard mandate for all cable STBs, adding a huge cost burden at zero added value for all cable operators and subscribers. At least Genachowski's FCC has backed off on that senseless mandate.
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Frank Eory
11/18/2010 6:13 PM EST
Good to hear from you again Bert. Wow, we must've both been typing at the same time!
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LarryM99
11/18/2010 6:32 PM EST
The sad thing is that they are backing off on Cablecard just as a pretty decent implementation is finally available. I've been using the Ceton InfiniTV 4 card for a couple of weeks now, and I am very impressed. I'm going to save enough on my cable bill in less than a year to pay for it. That doesn't mean that the interface can't be improved upon, though.
Larry M.
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rick.merritt
11/18/2010 3:38 PM EST
Powell gave Tivo a huge endorsement when he said he was a user, seemed like a fun guy.
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tektonikshift
11/18/2010 7:24 PM EST
Junko,
You are right, Reed Hunt was the most progressive of the recent FCC chairmen.
-Tek
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