ACUTA Legislative/Regulatory Update

March 27, 2013

Welcome to the “ACUTA Legislative/Regulatory Update,” a monthly electronic newsletter summarizing Federal regulatory and legislative developments of interest to information communications technology (ICT) professionals in higher education. This membership benefit is provided monthly to all named representatives of Institutional, Corporate Affiliate, Associate and Emeritus members. This update covers the period from February 8th through March 8, 2013.

“ACUTA Legislative/Regulatory Update” is based primarily on information provided to the ACUTA Legislative/Regulatory Affairs Committee by attorneys Kenneth D. Salomon of Thompson Coburn, LLP and J.G. Harrington of Dow Lohnes Government Strategies LLC, law firms located in Washington, DC with extensive ICT and media expertise. A copy of the full text of this Dow Lohnes update is also available at http://www.acuta.org/wcm/acuta/pdf/leg_0313d.pdf   

**We encourage you to forward this Update to other interested parties within your institution, such as legal counsel, governmental relations staff, security officers, and Chief Information Officers.**

Are there additional people on your campus who would benefit from regularly receiving the monthly Legislative/Regulatory Update and other ACUTA publications?  Member institutions may now name as many individuals to their membership roster as desired.  All new representatives will receive the same membership benefits enjoyed by our current members, including access to members-only sections of the ACUTA website; subscriptions to the ACUTA Journal, eNews, and Legislative/Regulatory Update; and access to the new online ACUTA Community.

To add members to your college or university’s ACUTA roster, contact the primary voting member for your institution and ask that they contact Joanie Profitt or Amy Burton.  Both Joanie and Amy can also be reached at the ACUTA office, (859) 278-3338, and can assist with any changes to membership rosters.

Regulatory and Policy Sessions at the 2013 ACUTA Annual Conference

Be an invaluable resource to your institution and keep up with the rapidly changing legislative/regulatory issues that will directly affect your campus at the ACUTA Annual Conference, April 14 – 17 in San Diego. The advice and information you can gain from these sessions would be an excellent ROI on your conference attendance. Some of the highlights are shown below, but please note that additional regulatory sessions are under consideration:

Congressional Developments Impacting Higher Ed Technology

Educational breakout

·         Ken Salomon (Partner – Thompson Coburn LLP) provides government relations and public policy representation to clients, including telecommunications, broadband, commercial and public broadcasting, privacy, higher education and distributed learning. Ken previously was a Partner with DowLohnes, LLC, was Deputy Chief Counsel of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration,and he held several legal positions at the FCC.

ACUTA's legal and legislative counsel will brief members on telecom issues that are being considered by Congress. These might include licensing to make the 700 MHz broadband network fully interoperable, spectrum reallocation, Congressional efforts to reform FCC processes, wireless taxes, and Internet piracy. The presenter will also touch upon issues that interest other higher education and technology associations.

Regulatory Developments Impacting Higher Ed Technology

Educational breakout

·         J.G. Harrington (Partner - Dow Lohnes PLLC) counsels the law firm's telephone, mobile communications, cable television, broadband and new technologies clients on federal and state regulatory issues and works with other clients to address issues that arise in their interactions with service providers and regulators.

ACUTA's legal and legislative counsel will brief members on telecom issues that are being considered by the FCC and other regulatory agencies. These might include net neutrality, regulation of VoIP, unauthorized charges, cramming, carrier mergers/acquisitions, the national broadband plan, Universal Service Fund and Intercarrier Compensation Rules, bill shock guidelines, FERPA, and Next Generation E911

CONGRESS

Congressional activity accelerated in February, focused in part on the confirmation process of several of President Obama’s cabinet nominees.  Legislative activity picked up as well on several fronts, notably immigration reform, gun control, and reactions of Democrats and Republicans to the President’s February 12 Executive Order for “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity,”  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/‌executive-order-improving-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity

·         The focus on cybersecurity increased in Washington, not only in reaction to the Executive Order, but also in the face of several reports of Chinese government coordinated cyber-attacks on numerous US companies.  The President told Congress in his February 12 State of the Union address “America must . . . face the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks.”  Since the last report, the White House has called on Congress to pass legislation to address areas beyond the President’s existing authority and said it will send Congress priorities for legislation.  These are expected to include incentives for businesses that adopt voluntary standards and liability protections for those sharing information.  However, the two parties remain split over whether the federal government should set critical infrastructure cybersecurity standards.  This divide scuttled attempts to pass a bill at the end of 2012.

·         The chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. McCaul (R-TX) said on February 13 that a cybersecurity bill was one of his top legislative priorities and followed up by introducing the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2013 (H.R. 756) on February 15.  The bill is designed to advance cybersecurity research, development, and technical standards. 

·         On February 17, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rogers (R-MI) said that the Executive Order may make passage of legislation easier: “The executive order takes pressure off the Senate and will allow us to get agreement on a voluntary information sharing bill that will solve 90 percent of the most sophisticated cyber threats that we face.  The executive order tones down the political rhetoric that was caught up in election year politics.”  Rogers and the Committee Ranking Democrat, Rep. Ruppersberger (D-MD) introduced a bill on February 13 that would protect companies that share information on cyber threats.  Their bill passed the House in April 2012 but died in the Senate.  On March 1, Chairman Rogers said that he plans to complete talks with the White House and privacy advocates by April and move to a markup.

·         The Senate Commerce and Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Committees held a March 7 joint hearing on “The Cybersecurity Partnership Between the Private Sector and Our Government: Protecting our National and Economic Security.”  Chairman Rockefeller (D-WV) of the Commerce Committee said  “We simply cannot afford to wait any longer to adequately protect ourselves.  This hearing will provide valuable insight into the threats we face and the defenses we need to implement.”  Chairman Carper (D-DE) of the HSAGR Committee added that “While the President's Executive Order on cyber security was an important step, bipartisan legislation is still critically necessary to address this serious security threat.”  Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano and National Institutes for Standards and Technology (NIST) Director Gallagher testified.  The GOP v. Democratic divisions that prevented passage of legislation (i.e., the role of the federal government in protecting mostly private owned networks, liability, etc.) last year resurfaced at the hearing notwithstanding the fact that Senators of both parties embraced the severity of new foreign threats.  Nevertheless, Chairmen Carper and Rockefeller predicted that legislation will pass in 2013.

·         NIST on February 26 issued a request for information to survey existing industry cyber practices and solicit industry feedback (https://www.federalregister.gov/‌articles/‌‌2013/02/26/2013-04413/developing-a-framework-to-improve-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity).   NIST is charged under the Order with establishing voluntary critical infrastructure cybersecurity standards.

·         The House Judiciary, Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees have scheduled cybersecurity hearings for March 14.  The House Science Committee will also markup two cyber-related bills that day.

Content Protection

The chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, former Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, in a February 15 speech (http://www.mpaa.org/Resources/dbd96563-f4e3-409e-a644-2c11546582d3.pdf) said that protecting both free speech and intellectual property content is required for a greater digital future.

* * *You can watch more content than ever, through more channels, and the quality of the movies and TV shows is outstanding.

This is why it’s so crucial that we protect this content from theft.  Because consumers deserve to enjoy first-generation versions of their favorite films—not secondhand, pirated films-of-films shot and recorded inside a movie theatre on a mobile phone.

We must strike a balance between the desire for a free and open internet and the protection of intellectual property.  The future cannot be about choosing one over the other—between protecting free speech OR protecting intellectual property—it must be about protecting both.

We can and must have an Internet that works for everyone, and we can and must have protection for the creative industry’s genius that intellectual property represents.

There should be no confusion. For the more than two million Americans whose jobs depend on the motion picture and television industry “free and open” cannot be synonymous with “working for free.”

To protect IP, and the openness and freedom of the Internet, we must together innovate our way through these challenges. Fortunately, Silicon Valley and Hollywood are making some progress on this front.

This is somewhat of a softening of MPAA’s position last year when it tried to push the Stop Online Piracy and Protect Intellectual Property Acts through Congress.  That overly aggressive protection legislative stimulated a coordinated service blackout by about 7,000 web sites, led by Wikipedia.  The blackout generated tremendous news coverage and user opposition to the legislation.  The bills were quickly pulled in the face of massive emails and calls to Members of Congress in opposition.  However, the drive against “piracy” continues.  The House co-chairs of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Schiff (D-CA), sent a letter in mid-February to Members of the House encouraging them to join the Caucus and warning that many sectors of the economy are at risk due to “large-scale illegal trafficking” of “copyrighted works such as first-run movies and books.”

Internet Radio Fairness Act

The head of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) attacked the expected reintroduction of the Internet Radio Fairness Act and Pandora’s efforts to change the standard royalty rate during a March 6 appearance at Duke University.  He said the bill was a “crippling blow for musicians.”

Social Network Passwords

As reported in last month’s report, Reps. Engel (D-NY), Schakowsky (D-IL), Grimm (R-NY), Ellison (D-MN), Tonko (D-NY) and Pingree (D-ME) introduced the Social Networking Online Protection Act or SNOPA.  On February 18, Senator Blumenthal (D-CT) said that he intended to reintroduce the Password Protection Act.  This measure would bar employers from demanding access information, including passwords, to the online accounts of employees and job applicants.  Blumenthal said that he would work with the House sponsors to “make sure that we are literally on the same page in terms of what we’re doing.”  While Blumenthal acknowledged that these bills went nowhere last Congress, he said that “The growing number of state proposals is one sign of a pressing need for federal measures that provide a standard. The business community would rather have a uniform national approach than a crazy quilt of different laws in different states, especially when it comes to employment by national employers.”

Do Not Track

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Rockefeller on February 28 reintroduced  his bill from the last Congress to prohibit companies from gathering personal information from Internet users if they explicitly opted out of collection. The Do-Not-Track Act of 2013 (S. 418) would only allow data to be collected if it were used to help the site function.

Cellphone Unlocking

There is growing bipartisan momentum to legalize cellphone unlocking to enable owners of devices to switch it to the wireless carrier of their choice.  The Librarian of Congress ruled last year that the “No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title” provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) required that customers must obtain their carriers’ permission to unlock their phones, even if their contracts have expired.  The White House endorsed unlocking in early March after receiving more than 114,000 online petition signatures (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/‌response/its-time-legalize-cell-phone-unlocking). On March 4, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy (D-VT) said that he wants to pass enabling legislation.  On March 5, Senator Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Wireless Device Independence Act of 2013(S. 467) that would amend the DMCA to specify that consumers may unlock their devices.  Senators Klobuchar (D-MN), who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy Consumer Rights, Lee (R-UT) and Blumenthal (D-CT) took a different approach in their March 7 bill (S. 481).  It gives the FCC authority to require cellphone companies to allow unlocking. Others supporting unlocking include Senator Wyden (D-OR) and Reps. Eshoo (D-CA), Issa (R-CA), Chaffetz (R-UT) and Polis (D-CO), and FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel called the White House statement “Terrific.”

Spectrum

The Senate Commerce Committee is planning a closed door session to look at the use of spectrum by the military, intelligence, and federal law enforcement agencies.  Chairman Rockefeller said in mid-February that “We need spectrum.  We need it for the D-block – we need it for all kinds of purposes.  There are some agencies that may have more spectrum than they need.”

Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act

In March 5 speech to the National Association of Broadcasters, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), said that while a “clean reauthorization  of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) would be best, he would not be surprised if the bill is expanded.  Hatch noted that cable companies would like an expansion of the compulsory copyright license that permits satellite operators to import distant TV station signals that would enable cable operators to continue carriage of a broadcast signal during retransmission consent impasses.  Additionally, satellite operators would like to be able to import less-than-distant signals in markets that straddle states.  Also speaking at the NAB, Commissioner Rosenworcel echoed Sen. Hatch, saying that STELA could become a vehicle for a revision of the Telecommunications Act.

Hearing on Broadband Stimulus Grants

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a February 27 oversight hearing on the $7 billion in broadband grants and loans made by NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service under the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Subcommittee Chairman Walden (R-OR) and Committee GOP staff clearly focused the hearing on fraud, waste and abuse in the programs.  Republicans honed in on allegations that some of the awards resulted in overbuilding in areas already served by broadband and on improper purchasing practices by an NTIA grantee in West Virginia that received a $126.3 million award.  The Department of Commerce Inspector General and the West Virginia Legislative Auditor found that the grantee allegedly used an illegal, non-open bidding process to purchase Cisco routers for its project.  They also questioned whether less expensive routers might have sufficed.  Another project highlighted was alleged overbuilding by NTIA grantee EAGLE-Net in Colorado.  Chairman Walden said that "Promoting broadband is a laudable goal.  But there are many laudable goals.  From what we know now, the government has spent millions on equipment it did not need and on stringing fiber to areas that already had it."  Rep. Barton (R-TX) questioned whether the broadband programs were needed in the first place: “When 220 million Americans have access to broadband in their homes and on their iPhones and iPads, 96 percent of the country has access in some shape, form or fashion, it really calls into question why we need the program.  It’s not that it’s a bad program. It’s not that it’s even a wasteful program.  But is it a necessary program when this weekend we’re going to have sequestration kick in and it’s going to cut $85 billion and if you believe President Obama the sky is falling?”

          NTIA Administrator Strickling told the Subcommittee that as of the end of 2012:

·         86,000 miles of broadband infrastructure was deployed or upgraded;

·         almost 12,000 community anchor institutions (schools, hospitals, libraries, community centers, public safety providers, etc.)           were connected to high speed broadband Internet service;

·         600 interconnection agreements were entered to leverage or interconnect these networks;

·         40,000 workstations in public computer centers were installed in 20% of the nation’s libraries;

·         9.9 million hours of technology training was provided to 2.8 million users;

·         520,000 new broadband subscribers were generated; and

·         4,000 new jobs were funded each quarter for the past five quarters and enabled those who took digital literacy training to           secure “thousands more.”

The RUS Administrator said that of $2.33 billion in grants and $1.9 billion in loans, 297 were for broadband infrastructure, four for satellite broadband service support, and 19 for technical assistance, mostly for tribal communities.  He said that 38 grants were terminated, and $266 million returned to the Treasury, all 19 technical assistance awards had been disbursed, 86% of the satellite broadband program was disbursed, and 116 projects of the broadband infrastructure projects have been completed and are partially operational.

Advancing America's Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act

Rep. Lummis (R-WY) introduced the Advancing America's Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act (H.R. 967) on March 5.  The bill would amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 to support information technology and networking research.  Section 105 would create a University/Industry Task Force  under the authority of the Director of the National Coordination Office “to explore mechanisms for carrying out collaborative research and development activities for cyber-physical systems, including the related technologies required to enable these systems, through a consortium or other appropriate entity with participants from institutions of higher education, Federal laboratories, and industry.”  The Task Force would

(1) develop options for a collaborative model and an organizational structure for such entity under which the joint research and development activities could be planned, managed, and conducted effectively, including mechanisms for the allocation of resources among the participants in such entity for support of such activities;

(2) propose a process for developing a research and development agenda for such entity, including guidelines to ensure an appropriate scope of work focused on nationally significant challenges and requiring collaboration and to ensure the development of related scientific and technological milestones;

(3) define the roles and responsibilities for the participants from institutions of higher education, Federal laboratories, and industry in such entity;

(4) propose guidelines for assigning intellectual property rights and for the transfer of research results to the private sector; and

(5) make recommendations for how such entity could be funded from Federal, State, and non-governmental sources.

The Task Force’s findings and recommendations are to be sent to Congress within a year of enactment.

FCC Chairman

It remains unclear whether, but more likely when, FCC Chairman Genachowski will leave the Commission.  However, names of possible successors are circulating.  One of the more recent names mentioned (on February 22) is Tom Wheeler, notwithstanding pressure on the President to name the Commission’s first female chair.  Wheeler is well-respected in the communications industry where he served as head of the National Cable Television Association and CTIA-The Wireless Association.  He was a major Obama fundraiser in 2008 and led the 2009 Obama-Biden Transition Team’s Agency Review Working Group focused on science, technology, space and arts agencies.

The leading female contenders are sitting Democratic Commissioners Clyburn and Rosenworcel.  Other female candidates are said to be Susan Crawford, a former Special Assistant to the President for Science, Technology, and Innovation, Karen Kornbluh, Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Catherine Sandoval, a professor Santa Clara University Law School and a California Public Utilities Commission member.

Other names in circulation include Larry Strickling of NTIA; Blair Levin, architect of the National Broadband Plan; Scott Harris, General Counsel and Senior VP of NeuStar, Inc.; Jason Furman, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Principal Deputy Director of the National Economic Council; Thomas Power, Deputy Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Steven VanRoekel, the U.S. CIO.

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a March 12 FCC oversight hearing with all five Commissioners testifying.  Issues expected to be raised by the Senators are the E-rate program, FirstNet, and consumer rights in the wireless sector.

NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN

The following are the most significant actions to implement the National Broadband Plan since our last report:

·         On February 12, the FCC announced that its reforms of the Lifeline program, which provides assistance to low income households for voice telephone service, are “on track” to save an additional $400 million by the end of 2013 and $2 billion by the end of 2014.  The FCC press release is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_‌Releases/‌‌Daily_Business/2013/db0212/DOC-318892A1.pdf.

·         On February 15, the FCC released its third report on broadband speeds.  The report found, among other things, that service providers are delivering speed levels more consistently, with speed levels at peak demand periods of 97 percent of advertised speeds; that speed levels are increasing, with an average speed of 15.6 Mbps, up from 14.3 Mbps in the last report; and that speeds for satellite-delivered services have increased significantly.  The press release on the report is available at http://‌transition.‌fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0215/DOC-318964A1.pdf and the full report is available at http://www.fcc.gov/measuring-broadband-america.

·         On February 20, the FCC adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking that proposes rules to open up 195 MHz of spectrum in the 5 GHz band for new Wi-Fi devices.  The FCC has suggested that the new spectrum could support speeds up to 1 Gbps.  Comments and reply comments on the proposed rules are due 45 and 75 days, respectively after notice is published in the Federal Register.  The press release on the notice is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/‌2013/‌db0220/DOC-319025A1.pdf and the notice itself is available at http://transition.‌fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0220/FCC-13-22A1.pdf.

FCC

FCC Adopts Order on Wireless Signal Boosters

On February 20, the FCC adopted its first order addressing the permissibility of wireless boosters.  Under the order, new technical standards will apply to consumer boosters.  Although use of boosters will require consent from the user’s wireless provider, all of the major wireless providers have agreed to consent to the use of any boosters that meet the technical standards.  The order also adopts new rules for “industrial boosters,” which can be deployed only with the involvement of wireless providers and for boosters used with private radio systems.  Existing boosters are not grandfathered under the new rules, but can be operated with permission from the customer’s wireless provider.  The press release on the order is available at http://transition.fcc.‌gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0220/DOC-319023A1.pdf and the order itself is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/‌db0220/FCC-13-21A1.pdf.

FCC Holds Second Hearing on Resiliency and Reliability

The FCC held its second field hearing on resiliency and reliability on February 28 at the NASA Ames Research Center in southern California.  The hearing addressed potential network technologies and power solutions to improve resiliency; and the potential to use apps and social media to enhance communications.  The full agenda is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/‌Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0226/DA-13-289A1.pdf, and the Commissioners’ statements at the hearing are available at http://www.fcc.gov/events/second-national-hearing-network-resilience-and-reliability, which also will have video of the hearing in the near future.

FCC Reports to Congress on Next Generation 911

On February 27, the FCC released a report to Congress on the appropriate legal and regulatory framework for next generation 911 services.  The report, required by the Next Generation 9-1-1 Advancement Act of 2012, makes the following recommendations:  (1) Congress should create incentives for states to become early adopters of next generation 911; (2) State-level next generation 911 rules should be encouraged, but there should be a national-level backstop in case states do not adopt rules; (3) Congress should promote national standards; (4) Congress should promote development of location technologies for all end user devices; (5) Congress should support establishment of national security and routing databases; and (6) Congress should act to assist in the elimination of legacy 911 regulation at the state level while providing incentives for next generation 911 deployment.  The report is available at http://‌transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0227/DOC-319165A1.pdf.

FCC Releases Report on Wireless Spectrum

On February 26, the FCC released a report comparing the availability of wireless spectrum in the U.S. to spectrum availability in other countries.  In general, the report indicates that the U.S. has available spectrum resources that are comparable to (or more expansive than) those in other countries, but that there are significant efforts to increase spectrum availability around the world.  The report is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/‌Daily_‌Business/2013/db0227/DOC-318485A1.pdf.

Other Regulatory Issues

FCC Recharters Communications Security Council

On February 11, the FCC announced that it was rechartering the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council, which has provided advice to the FCC on these issues.  In connection with the rechartering of the council, the FCC also announced that it is seeking nominations for the committee, which are due on March 20.  The public notice making these announcements is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/‌2013/‌db0212/DA-13-173A1.pdf.

First Meeting of Technology Transitions Policy Task Force Announced

On February 12, the FCC announced that the first workshop of the Technology Transitions Policy Task Force will be held on March 18.  The task force will be making “recommendations to modernize” the FCC’s policies, principally in connection with telecommunications services.  At the workshop, the task force will be reviewing information on “the evolution in network protocols, including from TDM to IP; the replacement of copper networks with fiber; and the shift from wireline services toward greater use of wireless services.”  The workshop will be streamed live.  The announcement of the workshop is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/‌Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0212/DA-13-192A1.pdf and the streamed video will be available at http://www.fcc.gov/live.

Office of Engineering and Technology Authorizes White-Spaces Databases

On March 1, the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology announced that it had authorized approved white-space database systems to provide data to unlicensed devices operating in the television white spaces nationwide.  Database operation previously had been limited to some states on the East Coast.  The public notice also noted that venues that use unlicensed wireless microphones can register with the databases to avoid interference from white spaces devices.  The public notice is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/‌2013/‌db0304/DA-13-322A1.pdf.

Workshop on Gigabit Community Networks Set

On March 4, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau announced that it would be holding a workshop on gigabit community broadband networks, to be held on March 27 at the FCC’s offices.  The workshop is a follow-up to Chairman Genachowski’s January announcement of a Gigabit City Challenge, described in last month’s report.  Details of the agenda will be released closer to the date of the workshop.  The press release announcing the workshop is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0304/DA-13-322A1.pdf.

Genachowski Statement on Mobile Phone Unlocking

Reacting to the decision by the Librarian of Congress that mobile phone unlocking no longer would be exempt from sanctions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (discussed above), FCC Chairman Genachowski issued a statement on March 4.  In the statement, he said that the decision “raises serious competition and innovation concerns,” and that the FCC is “examining” the issue to determine whether the FCC, wireless providers or others should act to address the decision.  He also suggested that Congressional action might be appropriate.  The statement is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0304/DOC-319250A1.pdf.

FCC Issues High-Cost Universal Service Reconsideration Order

On February 27, the FCC released an order addressing petitions for reconsideration of its 2011 high-cost universal service reform decision.  This order focused on support provided to small carriers that set their rates using the rate of return methodology.  While it made some minor changes to the rules, it left the most important reforms, including limits on recovery of administrative costs and the overall $250 per line per month limit on support, in place.  The order is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0307/FCC-13-16A1.pdf.

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For telecom, it's all about IP

March 15, 2013 | By Anna-Maria Kovacs

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) Technology Transitions Policy Taskforce is having its first meeting on March 18. The workshop will consider various topics around the final transition to IP, including network capabilities, adoption and evolution. One suggestion that has received considerable support in the comments so far is that the process should protect consumers by including a few pilot trials to ensure that any issues that might surface do so within a limited and safe environment. The Taskforce workshop could not be more timely or welcome.

Communications companies have reported year-end 2012 results, and it is becoming ever-more obvious that communications is all about IP.  Wired or wireless, descended from traditional telephony or from cable, consumer- or business-targeted, the focus is on IP.

For businesses, IP is the bright spot.  Despite the economy, companies as diverse as Akamai, AT&T (NYSE: T), Cbeyond (Nasdaq: CBEY), Cogent (Nasdaq: CCOI), Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Level 3 (NYSE: LVLT), tw telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) grew their IP-based services. What is even more encouraging, all of these companies justly boast about their investments in their IP-networks--adding fiber, connecting more buildings to their backbones with fiber, adding data centers, enhancing security.

For example, Cbeyond's March 2013 investor presentation describes "our all-IP network," over which the company provides cloud services to small and mid-sized businesses. It plans to spend $35 to $40 million to light 1,000 buildings, using fiber leased from Zayo and FiberLight.  Cogent's 10K describes the company as "a leading facilities-based provider of low-cost, high speed Internet access and Internet Protocol, or IP, communications services."  It explains that its network's costs are low and its reliability high because the "network is optimized for IP traffic" rather than "built as overlays to traditional circuit-switched telephone networks." tw telecom's year-end investor presentation describes the company as a leader in Ethernet services, with fiber networks spanning 29,000 route miles with roughly 18,000 fiber-buildings, more than 4,000 of them added in 2012.

Not surprisingly, this is a highly competitive market, served by telcos, cable companies and competitive carriers (CLECs). Vertical Systems Group, which tracks the U.S. business-Ethernet market, has published its 2012 year-end Leaderboard. It showed that the market grew 24 percent in 2012. While AT&T and Verizon split about 40 percent of the market, six additional companies are listed as leaders with shares between 10 percent and 4 percent. Roughly 30 other companies share the rest of the market.

Consumers are also benefiting from the IP-migration. Wireless carriers are deploying LTE, the IP-based 4G technology that offers broadband speeds described by RootMetrics as "lightning fast." Their recent survey shows AT&T's maximum LTE speed at 58 Megabits per second (Mbps), Verizon's at 49 Mbps and Sprint's at 33 Mbps. But even their average speeds of 19, 14 and 10 Mbps, respectively, are between four and 15 times faster than non-LTE speeds, and they are competitive with the speeds to which most consumers of fixed broadband subscribe, per the FCC's recent "Internet Access" report.

Particularly for those consumers who rely primarily on wireless to access the Internet, the rapid deployment of LTE is likely to become a huge advantage. That deployment is advancing rapidly. Verizon now offers LTE to 273 million Americans, i.e. 87 percent of the U.S. population. AT&T offers it to 170 million now and plans to bring it to 300 million, i.e. 95 percent, by the end of next year. Sprint has it in 58 cities now and promises to have it in nearly 230. T-Mobile's merger with MetroPCS was motivated in large part by the desire to match the rest.

IP is also critical to consumers on the wired side. Cable broadband, which is based on IP carried over hybrid-fiber-coax, is available to 93 percent of homes. According to J.P. Morgan, the major cable companies had 38 million subscribers at the end of 2012. Cable has also taken a quarter of the consumer voice market with its voice-over-IP service.

Also according to J.P. Morgan, there were 34 million telco broadband subscribers at the end of 2012. Many of them still use the low-speed DSL with which the telcos entered this market. But the telcos are catching up. Verizon's FIOS is available to 15 million homes, with the buildout largely complete, and 5.5 million consumers use its service. Given that broadband penetration is under 70 percent of homes passed, Verizon's roughly 37 percent penetration of homes passed represents an approximately 50 percent share of its market.

Roughly half of AT&T's 16.4 million broadband customers have migrated from DSL to U-verse, which carries IP over hybrid-fiber-copper. It has been a rapid migration--two years ago, only 3.3 million customers used U-verse broadband and at year-end 2012, 7.7 million did. Even more encouraging, AT&T has committed about $3 billion to increase its U-verse coverage to 8.5 million additional customer locations. Like FIOS, U-verse is an effective competitor to cable. AT&T has about 50 percent share in the markets in which it offers U-verse. On the other hand, in markets in which it only offers DSL, its share is only 38 percent. CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) has also begun to invest in fiber-to-the-node.

Thus, the recent alarm in the press that the telcos might disappear from the consumer broadband market is fallacious. The concern about a cable monopoly is based on statistics that conflate all telco broadband, ignoring the gains of FiOS, U-verse and other fiber-based networks. Yes, DSL is losing subscribers, but the networks in which the telcos are investing are gaining.

But the mistake is more fundamental than just a matter of looking at the wrong statistics. It encourages regulatory policies that are highly destructive to investment, and thus damaging to consumers.

It is not by accident that the cable industry--which enjoys minimal regulation, has never been obliged to share its network with competitors at regulated prices and has never been forced by regulators to operate an obsolete network alongside its IP-network--got ahead of the telcos. Neither is it an accident that technology transitions occur with remarkable speed in the wireless industry, which is also lightly regulated and free to adopt new technologies at will.

Nor is it surprising that the telcos--which are heavily regulated, forced into various forms of price-regulated network-sharing and forced to operate their Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) networks alongside their IP networks--are now in catch-up mode. They did not begin their investment in FiOS and U-verse till they were confident that fiber, hybrid-fiber and the related electronics would be free of unbundling. But even to this day, their deployment continues to be hobbled by the demand that they waste capital on the POTS network fewer and fewer customers want.

To their credit, all the FCC commissioners are trying to encourage both broadband deployment and adoption. Indeed, Chairman Genachowski has challenged all states to develop gigabit communities. If the United States is to become a gigabit nation, it must resist those who urge it to remain a kilobit nation. It is time to complete the IP transition.

Microsoft pins Hotmail, Outlook outage on hot data center

by Lance Whitney  March 14, 2013 6:04 AM PDT

The glitch that took down Outlook and Hotmail on Tuesday was caused by a temperature spike in a Microsoft data center.

Outlook and Hotmail users can blame the recent outage on an overheated data center, Microsoft says.

On Tuesday at around 1:30 p.m. PT, the two online e-mail services suffered a service disruption, rendering them inaccessible to many users. Microsoft started to bring them back online the rest of the day and on into Wednesday. But access wasn't fully restored until 5:43 a.m. yesterday, according to the company.

Microsoft's status page confirmed that the problem was repaired but offered no details as to the cause. Now the company has revealed the source of the glitch in a blog from Arthur De Haan, a vice president of test and service engineering for Windows Services.

On Tuesday, Microsoft updated firmware in a data center that stores certain parts of Hotmail, Outlook, and SkyDrive. This update is performed on a regular basis and usually runs smoothly. This time it failed, triggering a rapid and huge rise in temperature in that data center.

The spike in heat caused certain safeguards to kick in for many of the servers in that location. Those safeguards apparently cut off access to Hotmail and Outlook mailboxes and prevented any automatic failover that would've kept the services up and running. After the safeguards came on, a Microsoft team stepped in to try to restore access.

Why did the problem take so long to fix?

"Based on the failure scenario, there was a mix of infrastructure software and human intervention that was needed to bring the core infrastructure back online," De Haan said. "Requiring this kind of human intervention is not the norm for our services and added significant time to the restoration."

De Haan also said that Microsoft is working hard to make sure this type of problem doesn't happen again. But Outlook and Hotmail have been hit by other issues this year.

In January, mobile users of the two services were unable to access their e-mail for several days. In late February, Outlook.com was inaccessible to some users.

Microsoft is phasing out Hotmail in favor of Outlook and is in the process of moving Hotmail users to their new Outlook.com accounts.

Google shakeup: Chrome head Sundar Pichai takes over Android

A surprise announcement: Andy Rubin is out as the longtime leader of Google's Android efforts.

by Charles Cooper  March 13, 2013 10:00 AM PDT

Andy Rubin is out as the leader of Google's Android efforts.

"Andy's decided it's time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google. Andy, more moonshots, please!" CEO Larry Page wrote in a blog post this morning.

Rubin is handing the reins to Sundar Pichai, a nine-year Google veteran who is the senior vice president for Chrome and Apps. This move may be an indication that Android and Chrome OS will grow closer together, as they compete with Apple's iOS and Mac OS and Windows.

One possibility is allowing Android apps to run on the Chrome OS by integrating Android's Java-like programming framework with Chrome OS. At the launch of the Chromebook Pixel this past month, Pichai said it would be premature to discuss that possibility.

Rubin came to Google in August 2005, when the company acquired his mobile software startup, Android Inc.

Following is the full release from Page:

Sergey and I first heard about Android back in 2004, when Andy Rubin came to visit us at Google. He believed that aligning standards around an open-source operating system would drive innovation across the mobile industry. Most people thought he was nuts. But his insight immediately struck a chord because at the time it was extremely painful developing services for mobile devices. We had a closet full of more than 100 phones and were building our software pretty much device by device. It was nearly impossible for us to make truly great mobile experiences.

Fast forward to today. The pace of innovation has never been greater, and Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world: We have a global partnership of over 60 manufacturers; more than 750 million devices have been activated globally; and 25 billion apps have now been downloaded from Google Play. Pretty extraordinary progress for a decade's work. Having exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of for Android--and with a really strong leadership team in place--Andy's decided it's time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google. Andy, more moonshots, please!

Going forward, Sundar Pichai will lead Android, in addition to his existing work with Chrome and Apps. Sundar has a talent for creating products that are technically excellent yet easy to use--and he loves a big bet. Take Chrome, for example. In 2008, people asked whether the world really needed another browser. Today Chrome has hundreds of millions of happy users and it is growing fast, thanks to its speed, simplicity and security. So while Andy's a really hard act to follow, I know Sundar will do a tremendous job doubling down on Android as we work to push the ecosystem forward.

Today we're living in a new computing environment. People are really excited about technology and spending a lot of money on devices. This is driving faster adoption than we have ever seen before. The Nexus program--developed in conjunction with our partners Asus, HTC, LG and Samsung--has become a beacon of innovation for the industry, and services such as Google Now have the potential to really improve your life. We're getting closer to a world where technology takes care of the hard work--discovery, organization, communication--so that you can get on with what makes you happiest...living and loving. It's an exciting time to be at Google

Windstream being investigated for overpromising broadband speeds

Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) is facing an investigation from the Governor's Office of Consumer Protection in Georgia for allegedly misleading customers about the broadband speeds it can deliver.

As reported by a local Atlanta CBS network affiliate, a retail employee in Dawsonville told an undercover photographer that the telco can deliver Internet speeds of up to 24 Mbps. The employee guaranteed that they could deliver service no slower than 6-12 Mbps to customers.

However, Mark Creekmore, a Windstream customer that runs a business out of his home, told a different story.

"I have to tell my customer I am sorry, but my Internet connection right now is not usable," he told CBS.

Creekmore said that he thinks any Windstream customer in Georgia who is having a poor experience should file a complaint with the Consumer Protection agency.

The timing of this report comes as the Georgia Senate voted down the controversial H.B. 282 bill, which would have put in place more barriers for towns and cities to build their own municipally-run broadband networks. Windstream and AT&T (NYSE: T)--two of the state's largest telecom providers--were the big proponents of the bill.

A Windstream spokeswoman said that they are aware of the speed issue and are doing what they can to provide higher speeds.

"We're asking our customers to be patient with us because we're on it," Bettye Willis, a regional vice president at Windstream, told the CBS station in Atlanta.  "We understand that they have issues and we're working to upgrade their network."

Dolphin Blowing Air-Core Vortex Rings (An amazing piece of physics)

Vision scientists: Experienced and accomplished in brain activity mapping

By Denise A. Valenti, OD, FAAO

President George H. W. Bush declared the 1990s to be the “decade of the brain.” More recently President Barack Obama mentioned in his inaugural address what is expected to be a decade-long, nationwide initiative to fully map the brain. Vision scientists are already far along with such an endeavor. The “decade of the brain” saw substantial gains in our ability to map neural processing, and neuroscientists in the field of vision achieved groundbreaking results in our understanding of retinal neural circuitry.

Dr. Charles L. Zucker is one such scientist who has been mapping connections — when one considers the retina an extension of the brain — for two decades. He was awarded the Cogan Medal as a promising young scientist by ARVO in 1999. Vision clinicians and researchers have been involved in brain mapping for well over a century when one considers the structural relation of retina and functional visual field. With current and emerging technologies, we are now in position to achieve mapping retinal cells, axonal pathways and brain interface.

President Obama stated during his 2013 address: "Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy — every dollar. Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock answers to Alzheimer’s."

The project, known as the Brain Activity Map (BAM), would benefit our understanding of healthy and diseases brains. Very little is known of this project, and more information is expected to be revealed by the White House as early as March, according to an article in The New York Times. The piece reveals that the project will include federal agencies and private foundations; among them might be the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Science Foundations, Howard Huges Medical Institute, Kavli Foundation and the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. The overall initiative is expected to be organized by the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

During the Sixth Kavli Futures Symposium in January 2012, previous discussions of a large-scale coordinated effort to use and develop technology to map cells and functional connectivity of the entire brain resulted in a paper in the June issue of Neuron. The publication and the authors may have been the inspiration and motivation spurring the current administration’s interest in a thorough understanding of brain connectivity and processing. Dr. Rafael Yuste, M.D., Ph.D., is the corresponding author; Neuron, June 2012. The paper discusses what is being called "connectomics." Dr. Sebastian Seung of MIT and professor of computational neuroscience describes a connectome as "a map between neurons inside a nervous system."

One of the current accomplishments of connectomics is the complete mapping of the neural connections of a piece of mouse retina. This involved imaging a section of retinal tissue with an estimated 1,000 neurons. With more than 13,000 images, it took more than two years to reconstruct the circuitry. However, technology and techniques are evolving, allowing for greater efficiency.

Technology exists to image retinal neural tissue in vivo; without harm to the tissue or host. With such tools allowing imaging of human tissue — normal and diseased &mdash we have already gained ground in achieving connectome models. When one considers the ability to see retinal tissue and structures when using state-of-the-art imaging such as Optical Coherence Tomography and Adaptive Optics and how we can now relate structure to function with complex visual field or retinal function using electrodiagnostic technology, it is not far-reaching to appreciate that the same structure function aspects can also be applied to tissue and cells up stream — in the brain. The precise retinotopic relationship follows throughout the visual system and throughout the brain. We now have ever-increasing accuracy in retinotopic mapping1, and we are able to more accurately track a cell originating in the retina to its connections in the brain.

Given how much of the brain is taken up by visual processing and activity that originates in the brain, it is essential that those studying such function and structure have an active role in the BAM Initiative. Dr. Jose-Manuel Alonso of the State University of New York College of Optometry has been actively mapping the brain visual pathways — also since the “decade of the brain” — and he and his colleagues have been productive in their contributions to the field. Using a lesion-disease model with glaucoma as the lesion in the optic nerve neural tissue, early corresponding brain loss can now be identified using structural and functional MRI techniques.2

Dr. Denise A. Valenti is a residency-trained, low-vision/blind-rehabilitation optometrist with additional education and expertise in the field of age-related neurodegenerative diseases with the emphasis on Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Her research has included the study of imaging of retinal neural tissue using Optical Coherence Tomography and functional assessment of neural processing in the visual system using Frequency Doubling Technology. Dr. Valenti provided direct clinical care for more than 25 years and currently is active in research and consultation related to vision, aging, neuroprocessing and cognitive functions.

References

1. Garway-Heath, D., et al., Mapping the visual field to the optic disc in normal tension glaucoma eyes. Opthalmology, 2000. 107: p. 1809-1815.

2. Gupta, N. and Y. Yucel, Brain changes in glaucoma. European Journ of Ophthal, 2003. 13: p. S32-S35.

EoC takes center stage at COMPTEL Spring 2013

March 11, 2013 | By Sean Buckley

Ethernet over Copper (EoC) is the talk of the town at this year's Spring COMPTEL event, and FierceTelecom is addressing this service trend in its latest special report, EoC makes a new dent in the Ethernet market.

In this report, we look at how ILECs and CLECs are delivering EoC to business customers they can't reach with fiber yet.

A number of the large ILECs, particularly CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) and Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN), and a host of CLECs such as XO, MegaPath, Cbeyond, TelePacific, Integra, Alpheus and Spirit, are all delivering various flavors and speeds of EoC. All of these providers have been aggressively expanding their respective EoC footprints and speed tiers into existing and new markets.

On the expansion front, CenturyLink, Megapath and XO have arguably been the most aggressive. CenturyLink has expanded their EoC footprint into 700 COs, while XO and MegaPath now provide the service in 485 and 690 COs, respectively.

At the higher end of the speed spectrum, XO and TelePacific now offer 100 and 220 Mbps EoC services. Of course, the delivery of the higher speeds is predicated on the distance a customer's building is from the nearest Local Serving Office (LSO). However, most of the players have told us that the real sweet spot in terms of speed is around 10 to 20 Mbps.

Regardless of the momentum these players have made with EoC, CLECs face various regulatory challenges such as ILEC copper retirement and AT&T's (NYSE: T) call to bolster the telecom industry's migration from TDM to all IP-based networks.

In January, AT&T petitioned the FCC to hold TDM-to-IP migration trials, a move that has drawn mixed reactions from telecom industry groups. While the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) in January filed comments in support of AT&T's petition, Free Press and COMPTEL have filed comments criticizing the company's efforts.

Last week, COMPTEL filed its own comments on copper retirement with the FCC, outlining how the regulator needs "to take expedited action to update its copper retirement rules to preserve and promote affordable broadband over copper."

In addition to our new EoC report, FierceTelecom is on hand at the Spring COMPTEL event covering all of the relevant news and trends taking place at the show.

During the show today, I will be moderating a panel on EoC called "A Key to Network Evolution: Trends in Ethernet over Copper" at the Aria Hotel in Pinyon Ballroom 3. We hope to see you there.--Sean

SaaS, CRM to Drive IT Software Spending Through 2014: Gartner

By Nathan Eddy  |  Posted 2013-03-06

As economic pressures increase and other factors come into play, organizations have also expressed interest in cloud computing.

Greater adoption of on-premises software licenses and software as a service (SaaS) will drive a modest increase in worldwide software spending through 2014, according to a survey by IT research firm Gartner. However, the report also noted that regions with higher IT maturity, such as North America and Western Europe, expect lower or no budget increases over the next two years.

Developing countries with immature IT infrastructure, such as Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, will experience the largest budget increases in software spending, and survey respondents indicated that their top three application software investment initiatives for 2013 are CRM, ERP and office and personal productivity tools.

"Results from the survey indicate that software spending will increase modestly worldwide through the 2014 budget year, with new software sales (on-premises) and SaaS driving this increased spending," Hai Hong Swineheart, a research analyst at Gartner, said in a statement. "However, significant regional differences in priorities and drivers will require vendors to pursue market-specific strategies."

Virtualization infrastructure software, ranked as the third-highest priority for increased spending, continued to grow, with most organizations moving toward 70 percent virtualization (especially in North America) within the next several years. The survey also revealed that CRM has edged past ERP as the top application

Survey results indicated that while companies increasingly perceive the mobility of their workforce and trends like bring your own device (BYOD) adoption as a strategic advantage, there is growing awareness of the damage security breaches cause. As a result, security software tops the list of infrastructure software investment priorities, which are also being driven by the evolution of new threats and changes in working practices.

Assessing third-party security and defining how to securely communicate are also becoming critical factors for businesses. The survey indicated that more and more organizations are accepting the need to have more open connectivity with business third parties.

Organizations have expressed overwhelming interest in cloud computing and other options that externalize IT as economic pressures increase and other factors come into play, such as resource limits and skill shortages. The survey found that interest in software as a service/public cloud is significantly higher in North America than in other regions, with more than 60 percent of respondents increasing their budget in SaaS/public cloud within the next two years.

"It's very clear that mature regions are focusing on public cloud computing, while emerging regions are focusing on private cloud computing," Swineheart said. "This could be due in part to an immature telecommunications infrastructure in some emerging countries while data security is a persistent concern related to public cloud services among our clients in developing-region enterprises."

Verizon slaps new $5 fee on its DSL subscribers

March 6, 2013 | By Sean Buckley

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is once again putting a damper on its DSL subscriber base by imposing a new $5 fee on the service at a time when it has been shifting much of its attention to its wireless networks.

Although the service provider has been migrating a growing base of what it calls its "chronic" copper customers, or those who have three truck rolls per year on their service, to fiber-based FiOS, the expansion of the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network is being focused on existing markets and meeting any remaining franchise agreements.

To soften the blow, Verizon said in an e-mail that it values its customers for their loyalty, adding that it has to increase the rates to maintain upkeep on its DSL networks.

"We hope you understand that to maintain our broadband networks, from time to time we need to increase our rates," Verizon said in an e-mail to customers. "Your monthly rate will increase from $23.99 to $28.99 (not including additional services or taxes and surcharges) and will be reflected on your bill within the next two months. The new rate will remain in effect for one year."

This latest rate increase follows a move last year by the telco to stop selling standalone, or what is called "naked" DSL, to consumers last April. Although the new rule does not affect existing users, any new customer or an existing naked DSL customer who wants to make a change to their account, including upping their connection speed, will be required to purchase a voice line.

At that time, Verizon justified the voice line bundle requirement as a way to continue offering customers "competitively priced services" and to improve the user experience for new and existing users.

During Q4 2012, Verizon reported that it added 144,000 net new FiOS broadband subscribers, while losing 117,000 traditional High Speed Internet (HSI) DSL subscribers, ending the year with a total of 3.37 million DSL customers.

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10 Things Really Amazing Employees Do

Here are ten traits that any great employer should recognize and reward instantly.

As a longtime employer of dozens, I was always grateful to have good employees. It takes a lot to recruit and maintain top talent. Every once in a while special employees come along that just really seem to get it. They drive the entire company forward in ways that were unimaginable. Advancement and reward is never an issue for these rock stars because they understand the power of cause and effect, and only a worthy company can retain them and afford them.

Here are 10 things amazing employees seem to do effortlessly. Here's how to help your great employees be even more amazing.

1. Enthusiastically Learn All Aspects of Business

They understand they're part of something bigger and more worthwhile than just their job. They look to learn other areas of the business and be fluent in finance and management so they'll positively impact multiple areas of the company.

What you can do: Invest in material and seminars on business basics like accounting, marketing, and management so all employees have easy access to learn and grow.

2. Steward the Company

They treat the company as if it were theirs. They look to make prudent decisions about expenses and opportunities with the long-term future of the company in mind. They easily assess risk vs. reward, selflessly when making decisions.

What you can do: Be transparent in your business. The more you share your financials and philosophy, the easier it is for employees to make the right decisions.

3. Generate Viable Opportunities

You don't have to be in sales or marketing to help a company grow. Strong networkers from all divisions see company growth as a collective effort and constantly keep their eyes open for ways to more than pay for themselves.

What you can do: Make sure all your employees understand your value proposition and can easily identify opportunities. Then reward them openly for their efforts.

4. Resolve Issues Before They Are Issues

My favorite days running companies are when I notice positive change in procedure when I was totally unaware of the need for change. Amazing employees are always looking to improve systems proactively, and they do.

What you can do: Communicate a clear written vision of where the company is going and encourage initiative so people feel safe and empowered to make change.

5. Tell It Like It Is

Amazing employees understand that hiding bad news helps no one. They find kind ways to bring uncomfortable information to the surface, but they DO bring it to the surface. They tell people what's necessary before major damage is done.

What you can do: Foster an open communication environment where people are not only given permission to tell the truth, but also absolutely required.

6. Demonstrate High Standards, With Low Maintenance

I always feel relaxed when I can trust an employee to perform a task to the same high standards I would expect from myself. Not all can do this without constant attention or difficulty. Amazing employees quietly drive their own high standards.

What you can do: Set the example and the tone for high performance with minimal drama. Publicly reward those who can execute in the same manner.

7. Grow Themselves, and Others

They not only drive their own career but they inspire others to do the same. These employees lead by example in how to advance without creating animosity or resentment. They see and create their perfect future, and also bring others along.

What you can do: Encourage personal development and peer growth through dedicated group time and learning for career advancement.

8. Research, Apply, and Refine

No employer expects people to know everything. In this fast changing world, I choose employees who will learn over those who know. The best employee proactively explores options, takes action and then improves without direction from the top.

What you can do: Invest time in exploration and expansive thinking. Encourage people to explore deep visionary projects with time and reward for the findings.

9. Stimulate Happiness

Amazing employees aren't always sunshine and roses. They do know how to keep it real. But they understand the dynamics of people, stress, and the blend of work, life and friendship. They are self-aware and able to direct their own path that brings out their best with family, friends and career. They exude positive energy even in stressful times and share it around, making for a happier office.

What you can do: Create an environment where people can openly express themselves. Encourage them to work hard in fulfilling ways and achieve their dreams.

10. Facilitate Amazing Bosses

Amazing employees make me grow as an employer. They self-confidently get their value and help me get mine. They make me want to be worthy of working with somebody of such high caliber, without ever saying it directly of course.

What you can do: Make effort to genuinely show appreciation for any of the behaviors above so people feel their value and will grow to full potential. Then they will do the same for you.

An Inc. 500 entrepreneur with a more than $1 billion sales and marketing track record, Kevin Daum is the best-selling author of Video Marketing for Dummies. @awesomeroar

When it comes to big data, don't forget the network

March 5, 2013 | By Tim McElligott

Most of the focus in the big data marketplace has rightfully been on the storage, retrieval, analysis and security of information. But another important factor, especially when data is being shared across many entities, is the network that connects it all. The network got its share of attention recently as Mobile World Congress shed the light on mobile.

Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst at ZK Research, said in Network World that so far, big data has been a data center issue, but that the issues are bigger than that. It is now also a network concern.

Mobile operators already have capacity concerns, that's a given, Kerravala said. But with mobile applications really just beginning to come to market and making better use of location, presence and other data, the increasing "dependence on these devices increase and network performance becomes a key differentiator for mobile operators."

He said core networks will have to migrate to 40G and 100G backbones, which will present more challenges for analyzing all that network traffic when the spigots are opened up.

The rest of the mobile economy is counting on the reliability and real-time delivery of usage data to fuel their own strategic marketing and service delivery plans. If operators want to monetize their big pipes, they will have to respond with reliable service and data delivery.

Andy Huckridge, director of service provider solutions at Gigamon, echoed this sentiment in a statement about the company's mobile operator product announcement last week. He said "Big data is no longer a problem unique to enterprise data centers. Mobile carriers are now facing a deluge of traffic in their pipes, from an increasingly mobile workforce and the proliferation of smart devices and applications."

Gigamon introduced its Visibility Fabric architecture, which will facilitate a cost-effective solution for connecting single or multiple 40GB and 100GB pipes to 10GB and 1GB analytic tools. 

FCC's Genachowski: We'll investigate ruling on unlocked phones

March 4, 2013 | By Phil Goldstein

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the agency will look into a government ruling restricting consumers from unlocking their cell phones to see if it harms competition and whether the executive branch can do anything about it. As of now, a White House petition to rescind the ruling has received 114,244 signatures, well above the 100,000-threshold needed to trigger a White House response. The "ban raises competition concerns; it raises innovation concerns," Genachowski said at a recent TechCrunch CrunchGov event.

The petition, started Jan. 25 by OpenSignal co-founder Sina Khanifar, asked that "the White House ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind this decision, and failing that, champion a bill that makes unlocking permanently legal." Currently, if U.S. mobile customers want to unlock their handset and bring it to another carrier, they now need express permission from their current carrier to do so, according to a government ruling that went into effect Jan. 26. In effect, the Library of Congress, which governs copyright law, said that there is no copyright exemption for unlocking cellphones, making unauthorized unlocking potentially illegal.

Despite Genachowski's indication that the FCC will look into the ruling, it's not clear what he or the FCC can do since the Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office are part of the legislative branch, not the executive branch. Therefore, Congress would need to pass a law overturning the decision since the Obama administration cannot force the Library of Congress to do so. "It's something that we will look at at the FCC to see if we can and should enable consumers to use unlocked phones," Genachowski said. 

tw telecom's Intelligent Network

Verizon's Shammo: We'll convert 300,000 homes to fiber in 2013

March 4, 2013 | By Sean Buckley

Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) ongoing plan to migrate customers from its aging copper-based voice and DSL products to fiber-based FiOS will gain momentum in 2013 as it looks to reduce network maintenance costs on problematic copper lines.

Speaking on Monday at the Deutsche Bank 21st Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference, Fran Shammo, CFO and EVP of Verizon, said the company is focused on playing up the broadband side of FiOS and the speeds that consumers can get with a Fiber to the Home (FTTH) connection.

"[Y]ou think about our copper to fiber migration, which we started last year where we did 200,000 homes, and this year we'll do 300,000 homes," he said.

The copper to fiber migration was accelerated in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy damaged a major portion of Verizon's copper-based facilities, particularly in New York City and in parts of New Jersey.

While Verizon will provide a similar rate and speed for any customer who migrates from copper to fiber, consumers have the option to upgrade to a higher speed when they are ready.

"As we move people from copper to fiber, we price them at the same rate, but then we give them the choice to upgrade that speed from 15 Mbps to 25 or 50 Mbps," Shammo said. "What we are seeing is that people are willing to pay for that additional speed so we can monetize that fiber network more."

On the consumer side of Verizon's wireline business, FiOS has continued to perform well. FiOS will be responsible for almost 70 percent of consumer revenue, and it has reduced losses of traditional landline phone customers to 3 to 4 percent.

At the end of Q4 2012, Verizon had a total of 5.4 million FiOS Internet and 4.7 million FiOS video connections, representing year-over-year increases of 12.6 percent and 13.3 percent respectively. FiOS customer ARPU was more than $150 in the quarter as consumers took higher speeds and bundled TV and voice services with FiOS broadband data services.

"We are starting to monetize the FiOS networks more through speed of the Internet and our content costs are growing around 3 to 4 percent while our competitors are at the 10 percent range," Shammo said. "There are a lot of things working in the FiOS favor, and FiOS on the consumer side will increase margin and increase profit."

However, Shammo said gains in FiOS will be offset by its new Redbox venture and its Digital Media Services, both of which will start generating a small amount of revenue this year.

In addition to the consumer markets, Shammo said the company is "looking at the FiOS backbone to deliver enterprise solutions," but he did not provide any details about what those plans are. 

Read more: Verizon's Shammo: We'll convert 300,000 homes to fiber in 2013 - FierceTelecom http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/verizons-shammo-well-convert-300000-homes-fiber-2013/2013-03-04#ixzz2Mb6jbvrq

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FTC responds to Google lobbying scandal

Luke Stangel

Mar 1, 2013, 12:57pm PST

The chairman of the FTC today responded to reports that Google partially paid for a banquet where he received an award, saying he didn’t know who the banquet’s sponsors were.

Bloomberg reports Google donated $25,000 to Common Sense Media, an advocacy group, which used the money to throw a party in April 2012 honoring FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.

At the time, the FTC was investigating Google for alleged antitrust violations. The government settled their investigation in January

In funding the party, Common Sense Media also took donations from Comcast, AOL and a charitable arm of Goldman Sachs.

Google is the tech industry’s largest lobbyist. In 2012, Google spent $18.2 million on Washington D.C. lobbyists, nearly twice the amount it spent in 2011.

tw telecom, Level 3 dominate the competitive Ethernet market

March 1, 2013 | By Sean Buckley

Competitive service providers, according to Vertical Systems Group's latest Ethernet Leaderboard, are finding their way into the hearts and minds of the business service market.

Taking a spot on the Competitive Provider Leaderboard are seven CLECs: tw telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC), Level 3 (NYSE: LVLT), XO, Cogent (Nasdaq: CCOI), Zayo, Reliance Globalcom and Integra.

The competitive Ethernet services market, according to Vertical Systems Group, is part of the broader Ethernet services ecosystem, which also includes incumbent providers and cable MSOs.

What stands out about the competitive Ethernet service market is that it includes a diverse landscape of players.

"We have a lot of different types as companies; they are not as homogenous as the cable companies or the incumbents," said Rosemary Cochran, principal of VSG, in an interview with FierceTelecom. "They came from different places with different models."

Insurgents take charge

Taking the top spot on the competitive provider Leaderboard is tw telecom, which took an early bet on Ethernet when most traditional service providers were still stuck on delivering traditional T1 and Frame Relay services. 

Already present in over 75 markets with a deep set of fiber assets, tw telecom has seen consistent Ethernet growth each quarter. In Q4 2012, the CLEC reported that data and Internet services revenues increased 4.6 percent sequentially to $197.8 million as the result of an increase in strategic Ethernet and VPN-based product sales.

One of tw telecom's differentiators is its one-to-many national Ethernet interconnection solution and Dynamic Capacity capabilities. The one-to-many feature enables other competitive providers to instantly expand their out-of-region Ethernet and network reach, while its Dynamic Capacity product allows existing customers to dial up bandwidth as needed.

"tw telecom is clearly the leader here," Cochran said. "The focus on building new capabilities like Dynamic Bandwidth and user-controlled network management has given them a boost on the Ethernet side."

Taking the number two and three spots are Level 3 and XO, although, Cochran noted, it's a "real dead heat between the two."Level 3 expanded its Ethernet and VPN service presence by acquiring Global Crossing, while XO built a greater metro Ethernet presence with a mix of fiber and Ethernet over Copper (EoC).

New stars rising

Outside of the top three Ethernet competitive providers is a group of rising stars that have been taking charge of growing opportunities through a mix of organic growth and targeted acquisitions.

One of the latest entries to rise in the competitive Ethernet market is Integra.

Initially focused on the SMB market, Integra expanded its presence in larger businesses via its ongoing fiber buildouts into new buildings complemented by a growing EoC footprint. As its appeal grows among larger customers as a solutions provider with various IP products, the CLEC rebranded itself as "Integra," dropping "Telecom" from its name.

Joe Harding, Integra's VP of marketing, said in a recent interview with FierceTelecom that 61 percent of Integra's customers bill $1,000 a month, while its fastest growing segment is multi-location customers that spend $5,000 a month.

In tandem with Ethernet, the service provider has been building out other new services, including managed security and wavelength services.

"Integra has had very strong growth and very price competitive serving the Western states," Cochran said.

Zayo, meanwhile, has been growing its retail Ethernet base through various acquisitions over the past seven years to increase its fiber footprint in key regions such as Washington, D.C. and Southern states.

One of the most significant and largest acquisitions it made was AboveNet, a competitive provider focused on providing higher end bandwidth solutions to market segments such as the financial industry and the research and education arena. This has had an effect on its retail Ethernet base.

By acquiring AboveNet, Zayo expanded its fiber footprint and service portfolio, and gained a set of sales people to sell retail services.

"Zayo is well positioned because they have picked up the AboveNet customer base, including financial companies," Cochran said.

Finally, Cogent and Reliance are making progress with their own focused Ethernet market methods.

Touting itself as the low-cost Ethernet provider, Cogent has been primarily focused on providing Dedicated Internet Access (DIA). Similar to other competitive providers, Cogent continues to enhance its reach, adding 35 new on-net buildings in Q4 2012, ending the quarter with a total of 1,867 on-net buildings.

"Cogent's portfolio is more focused on DIA and private lines and they stick to where their footprint is," Cochran said. "They are not going out and doing NNIs with those customers because that's not their focus, but they are growing."

While Reliance has been quiet on the marketing side, the service provider brings two benefits to business customers that have Ethernet needs: international reach for MNCs (multinational corporations), and U.S. Ethernet services assets it purchased from Yipes, one of the early Ethernet service providers.

"They have maintained a level there through what they bought through Yipes plus the multinational companies that need U.S. presence, just as AT&T and Verizon have multinational customers," Cochran said. 

Despite the differences of all of these players, the competitive telecom industry is filling the void for larger businesses to address the needs of both small and medium-sized businesses that feel underserved by traditional large telcos.