Several major U.K. broadband providers have warned the BBC to contribute to the costs of streaming its TV programs over their networks or they will “pull the plug,” British media reported. Tiscali, Carphone Warehouse, and BT are among Internet service providers (ISPs) said to fret over how much bandwidth the BBC’s new iPlayer could tie up. The service lets viewers watch TV shows online on a seven-day catch-up basis, The Independent on Sunday said. The ISPs reportedly told BBC that they will consider traffic-shaping to ration iPlayer access. Internet players by Channel 4 and ITV could gobble more bandwidth, The Independent said. The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), reportedly has been asked to speak for industry on this issue, has no official position, its spokesman told us. But in ISPA’s January bi-annual newsletter, devoted to the issue of net neutrality, ISPA Council Chairman Jessica Hendrie-Llano said ISPs are looking at options for maintaining service quality in high bandwidth use situations, including prioritization of traffic or charging content providers for network access. But, she said, contracts between ISPs and content providers raise concerns about whether access to information will be constrained by financial relationships. The industry code of practice now advises ISPs not to block or filter any service to customers unless they get clear explanations for the action, Hendrie-Llano wrote. The European Commission is considering net neutrality in a review of the electronic communications regulatory framework. With Europe’s tendency to “to take a back seat” in the net neutrality debate, the BBC scenario or something like it was needed to bring it to the top of the Commission agenda, said StrategyAnalytics digital consumer practice analyst David Mercer, asking rhetorically ISPs plan on charging. If it’s to be end-users, ISPs will have to act uniformly or wind up with some providers competing with lower prices or even free services, rendering the exercise moot, he said. And such activity is likely to invite antitrust probes, he said. And charging content providers, moreover, likely will “stir up a hornet’s nest” of discord over access rights and neutrality issues bound to land in court, Mercer said. The “balance of power lies with net neutrality now,” he said: ISPs will have trouble making prioritization stick. One way or the other, he added, “the legal profession will do well out of any dispute.”
PEABODY, Mass. -- Boston Acoustics (BA), sporting a new logo and “Play Smart” tagline, plans January CES introduction of new tabletop radios under the Horizon sub- brand unveiled on a line of speakers at a media briefing Thursday. Bowing to consumers demanding iPod-like “personal expression” in their CE products, BA will let owners of Horizon speakers and tabletop radios buy replacement front grilles in any of eight colors. But the Horizon radio line won’t include a new HD Radio tabletop, since BA has scrapped plans to introduce a successor to its popular Receptor model.
The FCC can assure affordable phone service to areas near Indian lands by getting out of the way of state programs, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association said. The FCC asked for comments on how to target support to areas near, but not on, tribal reservations. “The Commission can best provide this support by continuing its stay of federal involvement and by allowing states to exercise their jurisdiction over consumers who qualify for Lifeline and Link-Up support and who reside off-reservation,” NTCA said.
International Launch Services will launch Inmarsat 4F3 in spring 2008, the companies said Tuesday. Inmarsat 4F3 will enable the mobile satellite services carrier to offer its Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) services, Inmarsat said. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Clearwire offered details about its partnership with Sprint Nextel in its second quarter earnings report Monday. Clearwire’s WiMAX operating regions will cover about 75 percent of the United States land mass and 40 percent of the population, the company said Monday. The area includes “central and northern California, the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountain region, portions of the midwest, most of the south, Alaska, Hawaii and portions of New York, Pennsylvania and Texas,” Clearwire said. Sprint Nextel will take responsibility for the rest of the country, it said. Clearwire expects to transfer subscribers and assets in three of its operating markets in the eastern United States to Sprint, as well as assets in several markets near completion or under development, it said. Sprint is expected to also transfer several markets to Clearwire, the smaller company said. As a result, Clearwire expects to cover 13 to 15 million people by year end, down from the 16 to 18 million it had expected before the Sprint deal. Clearwire still expects to end the year with 375,000 to 400,000 subscribers total, it said. Subscriber additions more than doubled in the second quarter, doubling revenue but increases the loss, Clearwire said. Clearwire added 41,000 subscribers, up 130 percent from last year, and Clearwire saw $35.5 million in consolidated service revenue, up from $15.4 million last year. But $145.8 million in infrastructure investment and subscriber acquisition costs drove losses to $70.2 million, up from $45.9 million in 2006.
Clearwire offered details about its partnership with Sprint Nextel in its second quarter earnings report Monday. Clearwire’s WiMAX operating regions will cover about 75 percent of the United States land mass and 40 percent of the population, the company said Monday. The area includes “central and northern California, the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountain region, portions of the midwest, most of the south, Alaska, Hawaii and portions of New York, Pennsylvania and Texas,” Clearwire said. Sprint Nextel will take responsibility for the rest of the country, it said. Clearwire expects to transfer subscribers and assets in three of its operating markets in the eastern United States to Sprint, as well as assets in several markets near completion or under development, it said. Sprint is expected to also transfer several markets to Clearwire, the smaller company said. As a result, Clearwire expects to cover 13 to 15 million people by year end, down from the 16 to 18 million it had expected before the Sprint deal. Clearwire still expects to end the year with 375,000 to 400,000 subscribers total, it said. Subscriber additions more than doubled in the second quarter, doubling revenue but increases the loss, Clearwire said. Clearwire added 41,000 subscribers, up 130 percent from last year, and Clearwire saw $35.5 million in consolidated service revenue, up from $15.4 million last year. But $145.8 million in infrastructure investment and subscriber acquisition costs drove losses to $70.2 million, up from $45.9 million in 2006.
The North Carolina legislature gave final passage to a wireless bill streamlining municipal regulation of wireless tower construction. Under SB-831, sent to Gov. Mike Easley (D), municipalities must act on wireless collocation applications within 45 days and in a reasonable time on new tower applications, consistent with decision intervals for other commercial construction. Municipalities’ decisions must be based on public safety, land development or zoning considerations. Under this measure, they can consider esthetics but not market demand or service quality issues. Municipalities could ask applicants to evaluate whether their facilities could be collocated on an existing tower or other structure. Municipalities also would be prohibited from requiring wireless facilities be installed on municipal real estate or structures, but they could suggest such placement.
In May 2007, U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted to its Web site a notice announcing the phased enforcement of mandatory Automated Commercial Environment electronic manifest: Truck for advance cargo information purposes at all land border ports in Idaho and Michigan beginning August 6, 2007.
The following are documents which CBP updates frequently (weekly, monthly, etc.):
3M’s strong sales of safety and security products offset a decline in its CE components business as the company posted a four percent rise in Q2 profit to $917 million. Total sales jumped to $6.14 billion from $6.06 billion as revenue from display and graphics products, including optical film, increased to $1 billion from $913 million. 3M’s electro and communications segment overcame what Chief Financial Officer Patrick Campbell called a “sluggish CE market” to record a gain in sales to $693 million from $670 million. 3M markets a range of CE components including interconnects and EMI absorber, the latter being used in digital cameras and mobile phones to suppress radiated noise from electrical devices. A 10 percent sales decline in 3M’s interconnect business was offset by double-digit gains in electrical and communications products, Campbell said. The CE market for 3M’s products was “soft” during the quarter as customers worked off inventory, he said. 3M started production in April at a new optical film convertor plant in Poland that’s designed to service the LCD TV market in Europe. Sharp and LG.Philips LCD have assembly plants near the facility, company officials said. The plant, which reportedly cost $50 million to build and employs 100 workers, processes film produced at 3M plants in Alabama and Wisconsin. At the plants, the key has been to keep yields above price declines. The U.S. factories, which typically had 50 percent yields, benefitted from recycling materials, rather then dumping them in a land fill, CEO George Buckley said. Operating income in display and graphics increased to $352 million from $288 million a year ago, while those in electro and communications were flat at $132 million.