The FCC said it plans to give the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) information that E-rate applicants submitted in FCC Form 471 Item 21, along with funding request number (FRN)-level data from the Universal Service Administrative Co.’s (USAC) Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review classifications, in response to an IMLS request. Form 471 Item 21 provides “a narrative description of products and services for which discounts are sought, as well as line item detail and the cost associated with the products and services,” the FCC said in a Friday public notice. USAC’s PIA reviewers determine each FRN based on the predominant service or requested product involved, such as voice services, the FCC said. The commission said it “recognizes that this disaggregated, filer-specific data” should generally be exempt from public disclosure, but said it can disclose such information to IMLS because it’s a federal agency. IMLS said in its request that it’s using the data for policy research, to identify national library and museums’ needs and to measure how federal programs affect both institutions. IMLS said it would maintain the data’s confidentiality by restricting access to a minimal number of staff members, and plans to refer any Freedom of Information Acts requests to the FCC. Affected parties have until April 28 to protest IMLS’s request. The FCC said if it does not receive any oppositions by that time, it will disclose the data to IMLS (http://bit.ly/RvIaoX).

The FCC said it plans to give the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) information that E-rate applicants submitted in FCC Form 471 Item 21, along with funding request number (FRN)-level data from the Universal Service Administrative Co.’s (USAC) Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review classifications, in response to an IMLS request. Form 471 Item 21 provides “a narrative description of products and services for which discounts are sought, as well as line item detail and the cost associated with the products and services,” the FCC said in a Friday public notice. USAC’s PIA reviewers determine each FRN based on the predominant service or requested product involved, such as voice services, the FCC said. The commission said it “recognizes that this disaggregated, filer-specific data” should generally be exempt from public disclosure, but said it can disclose such information to IMLS because it’s a federal agency. IMLS said in its request that it’s using the data for policy research, to identify national library and museums’ needs and to measure how federal programs affect both institutions. IMLS said it would maintain the data’s confidentiality by restricting access to a minimal number of staff members, and plans to refer any Freedom of Information Acts requests to the FCC. Affected parties have until April 28 to protest IMLS’s request. The FCC said if it does not receive any oppositions by that time, it will disclose the data to IMLS (http://bit.ly/RvIaoX).

"Would it be possible to get Professor Sweeney?” asked a panelist at the White House’s March 17 workshop on big data at New York University (WID March 19 p2). An audience member had just asked a question about how individuals -- both professional and nefarious -- could access encrypted data. The panel turned to recently-appointed FTC Chief Technologist Latanya Sweeney, data anonymity researcher on leave from Harvard University, who was merely an observing audience member. “I don’t want to put her on the spot,” said the panelist, Microsoft Principal Researcher Kate Crawford. “But Latanya Sweeney has written many papers on precisely how people get access to big data."

Would it be possible to get Professor Sweeney?” asked a panelist at the White House’s March 17 workshop on big data at New York University. An audience member had just asked a question about how individuals -- both professional and nefarious -- could access encrypted data. The panel turned to recently appointed FTC Chief Technologist Latanya Sweeney, data anonymity researcher on leave from Harvard University, who was merely an observing audience member. “I don’t want to put her on the spot,” said the panelist, Microsoft Principal Researcher Kate Crawford. “But Latanya Sweeney has written many papers on precisely how people get access to big data."

Advocates for public, educational and governmental access channels bemoaned what they view as a scarce mention of a commitment to providing access to PEG channels in Comcast’s proposal last week to the FCC to buy Time Warner Cable for about $45 billion. Offering PEG channels in HD and through VOD are some of the options that Comcast should commit to offering subscribers, said PEG officials. Comcast’s FCC filing laid out the benefits to consumers it plans if the transaction is approved (WID April 9 p5). Some have said Comcast does more for PEG than other cable operators, in part because of conditions it agreed to in 2011 to win FCC approval to buy control of NBCUniversal.

Advocates for public, educational and governmental access channels bemoaned what they view as a scarce mention of a commitment to providing access to PEG channels in Comcast’s proposal last week to the FCC to buy Time Warner Cable for about $45 billion. Offering PEG channels in HD and through VOD are some of the options that Comcast should commit to offering subscribers, said PEG officials. Comcast’s FCC filing laid out the benefits to consumers it plans if the transaction is approved (CD April 9 p5). Some have said Comcast does more for PEG than other cable operators, in part because of conditions it agreed to in 2011 to win FCC approval to buy control of NBCUniversal.

While AT&T and other telephone companies have been seeking deregulation from states to avoid having to provide costly and increasingly unprofitable landline service (CD March 19 p12), Maine’s primary telco is taking a different tact. FairPoint Communications is asking the Public Utilities Commission for a $67.6 million-a-year public subsidy to continue providing landline. The company is also asking $2-a-month increase for residential and business landline customers.

Telcos, carriers, libraries and states gave the FCC “focused comment” this week in response to the Wireline Bureau’s request for more specific suggestions on how to modernize the E-rate fund (WID March 7 p11). Every comment we reviewed agreed on the need for administrative streamlining. Otherwise, blanket agreement was hard to come by, with differing opinions on potential elimination of support for voice-only services and on whether encouraging consortium purchasing or bulk buying is the best way to go. The wireless industry encouraged the commission to consider the role wireless services might play in any E-rate transformation. Fiber is not always the answer, said carrier allies. The Urban Libraries Council called for a separate “L-Rate” fund dedicated to libraries, which in many cases face different connectivity challenges than schools do.

Telcos, carriers, libraries and states gave the FCC “focused comment” this week in response to the Wireline Bureau’s request for more specific suggestions on how to modernize the E-rate fund (CD March 7 p16). Every comment we reviewed agreed on the need for administrative streamlining. Otherwise, blanket agreement was hard to come by, with differing opinions on potential elimination of support for voice-only services and on whether encouraging consortium purchasing or bulk buying is the best way to go. The wireless industry encouraged the commission to consider the role wireless services might play in any E-rate transformation. Fiber is not always the answer, said carrier allies. The Urban Libraries Council called for a separate “L-Rate” fund dedicated to libraries, which in many cases face different connectivity challenges than schools do.

Price-cap carriers could be required to build broadband capable of delivering 10 Mbps downstream as part of Phase II of the Connect America Fund, according to a further NPRM on circulation, said agency and industry in interviews Monday. That proposed speed requirement is more than double the 4 Mbps downstream requirement specified in the original 2011 USF/intercarrier compensation order. An order and FNPRM are tentatively scheduled to be voted on at the FCC’s April 23 meeting, the agency said last week (http://fcc.us/1eajJaE).