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FCC Changes Phone Policy
February 7, 2012 by admin
Filed under Smartphones
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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has approved an overhaul to its Lifeline program, which subsidizes telephone service for economically disadvantaged people. The goals are to save money and allow the subsidy to be applied toward broadband service.
The FCC on Tuesday voted to make several changes to the program, including the launch of a $25 million pilot program to use Lifeline for broadband. The pilot program will solicit proposals from broadband providers starting this year, the FCC said. Under the changes approved by the commission, recipients of Lifeline subsidies could use the money for bundled services, including voice and broadband packages.
In addition, the FCC set a 2012 savings target of $200 million for the program, which costs about $2.1 billion a year, and the commission will create a national Lifeline database to prevent multiple telecom carriers from receiving program support for the same consumer. Critics of the program have complained that there’s significant abuse, with recipients getting subsidies for multiple phone and mobile lines.
The FCC will also create an eligible database, using government data, focused on verifying recipients’ initial and ongoing eligibility for the program. The database should reduce the potential for fraud and cut red tape for both recipients and carriers, the FCC said.
Commissioners set a goal of saving up to $2 billion over the next three years, but Commissioner Robert McDowell, a Republican, said he doubted the FCC can achieve that goal. McDowell questioned the “assumptions and models” FCC staff used to predict the savings.
Nevertheless, McDowell voted to approve the changes. The changes will help Lifeline better fulfill its purpose of helping low-income U.S. residents stay connected, he said.
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Google Launches Politics Page
January 10, 2012 by admin
Filed under Around The Net
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Google has launched a political hub site to help the voting public get information, discuss issues and track candidates’ popularity.
On Monday, Google launched an election site designed to not only offer users information but also to give them a chance to provide feedback on the candidates and the issues.
“From the nineteenth century’s pamphlets to the twentieth century’s TV ad revolution, our elections have always been shaped by how we communicate and consume information,” wrote Eric Hysen, a member of Google’s politics and elections team, in a blog post. “Just in time for the Iowa Caucuses, we’re launching an election hub where citizens can study, watch, discuss, learn about, participate in and perhaps even make an impact on the digital campaign trail as it blazes forward to Tuesday, November 6, 2012.”
The election site went live just in time for the Republican caucuses in Iowa. It’s was a pivotal day for the six GOP candidates campaigning in Iowa, with each trying to emerge as an early frontrunner.
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White House Threatens Net Veto
The executive office of U.S. President Barack Obama stated Tuesday that the White House strongly opposes passage in the Senate of a resolution that could impact the equal availability of the Internet to all classes of users.
The resolution introduced in the Senate disapproves a rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission in December on the net neutrality issue, and states that it should have “no force or effect”.
If the President is presented with the resolution, S.J. Res. 6, which would not safeguard the free and open Internet, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto it, the administration said.
The FCC Report and Order adopted the rule that fixed broadband providers may not unreasonably discriminate in transmitting lawful network traffic”. A “no blocking” rule states that fixed broadband providers may not block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices. Mobile broadband providers are also prohibited from blocking lawful websites, or block applications that compete with their voice or video telephony services.
The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed in April a Republican-backed resolution disapproving the FCC rules, and asking for their roll back.