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FCC Hammers Comcast For Deception and Unreasonable Internet Practices

WASHINGTON, August 1 – The Federal Communication Commission’s enforcement action against Comcast can be seen either as a limited response to a company’s deceptive practices, or a sweeping new venture by the agency into regulating internet policy.

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News Analysis

WASHINGTON, August 1 – The Federal Communication Commission’s enforcement action against Comcast can be seen either as a limited response to a company’s deceptive practices, or a sweeping new venture by the agency into regulating internet policy.

In ruling against Comcast on Friday, the agency ordered the company to “disclose the details of its discriminatory network management practices,” “submit a compliance plan” to end those practices by year-end, and “disclose to customers and the [FCC] the network management practices that will replace current practices.”

At issue in the decision was whether Comcast had engaged in “reasonable network management” practices when it delayed and effetively blocked access to users of BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer software program.

Although BitTorrent had already settled its complaints with Comcast, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that FCC action was necessary because the complaint had been brought by Free Press and Public Knowledge, two non-profit groups. The FCC did not impose a fine.

Martin said that he viewed the agency’s decision to punish the cable operator as a quasi-judicial matter: a “fact-intensive inquiry” against a specific company that it found to have “selectively block[ed]” peer-to-peer traffic.

That interpretation would make the FCC action more limited. A statement by AT&T Senior Vice President Jim Cicconi – that “the FCC decided to handle the matter on its own unique facts, setting a wise precedent for dealing with such complaints on a case-by-case basis” — supported that interpretation.

On the other hand, Martin acknowledged that the order against Comcast did set a precedent for future action against other network operators. And he said that the agency had authority to hear and resolve any such complaints of network neutrality violations.

Net neutrality generally refers to legislation or regulation that would bar Bell companies and cable operators from expediting the internet delivery of favored business partners’ content – or blocking the content of rivals. The issue has become a political hot potato in the general election.

The ability for the FCC to become the venue for such future complaints would suggest a more sweeping interpretation of the action. On a Friday conference call, pro-Net neutrality advocates pushed that view, calling it a “bellweather case” and or, as Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said, “a landmark decision.”

A Net neutrality critic at the Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF), a free-market think tank, called the decision “quite intrusive.”

In asserting that it had jurisdiction over Comcast and its practices, the FCC declared that it will “exercise its authority to oversee federal Internet policy in adjudicating this and other disputes regarding discriminatory network management practices.”

“In second-guessing reasonable network management techniques (with no notice or guidelines in place) that benefit the overwhelming number of broadband subscribers in America, the FCC has inexplicably elevated the interests of a few bandwidth hogs over everyone else,” said Klye McSlarrow, CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

In a statement, a Comcast spokeswoman said the company was grateful that the commission did not impose a fine, but raised “significant due process concerns” with the decision.

The Republican Martin teamed up with the commission’s two Democrats in favoring an order against Comcast. The other two Republicans dissented, and signaled the concern that the FCC would become a forum for technical engineering disputes that it was not competent to resolve.

All three Republicans, including the dissenting Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell, emphasized the need for greater transparency about network and speed tier management by carriers.

“I must also stress the importance of disclosure and transparency by all internet providers,” said Tate. “Consumers must be able to know what they are paying for and getting. Comcast must do better.”

Of the two ways to look at the decision — sweeping or limited — Martin’s own statements emphasized the narrower reading of the FCC’s action. He and the agency emphasized consumer-focused concerns raised by Comcast’s behavior.

“Would you be OK with the post office opening your mail, deciding they didn’t want to bother delivering it, and hiding that fact by sending it back to your stamped ‘address unknown – return to sender?’” Martin asked. “That is exactly what Comcast was doing with their subscribers’ internet traffic.”

The six “findings” articulated by the Friday speech at the agency dealt extensively with the allegedly invasive, intrusive and deceptive aspects of Comcast’s “deep packet inspection.” (See findings here.)

The fact that no fine was levied against Comcast was a sign, Martin said in an interview, of the agency’s cautious approach.

Martin also argued that the FCC’s action was necessary to forstall legislation requiring Net neutrality. “Failure to act here” — in a case where Comcast has exhibited so much bad faith, Martin said — “would have reasonably led to the conclusion that new legislation and rules are necessary.”

Attempting to further restrict the scope of the decision, Martin said that the order does not address pricing, economic regulation, the requirement that carriers share their communications wires, or whether or not carriers may prioritize a particular class of software.

For example, cable operators could prioritize internet telephone service, so long as they didn’t discriminate against a competitor’s service at their expense of their own service.

By contrast, the pro- and anti-Net neutrality advocates emphasized the more seminal aspects of Friday’s decision.

“This is the Bush administration FCC saying that the FCC has the power to protect internet users,” said Public Knowledge’s Sohn, calling it “the most significant decision for the public interest” in 20 years.

Marvin Ammori, general counsel at Free Press, called the decision “bellwether case legally” because the FCC ordered Comcast not only to stop its deceptive practices, but to stop its unreasonable practices, he said.

“It is sweeping in that it is a process and a procedure that [the FCC] will follow” in future cases, he said.

Barbara Esbin, senior fellow at PFF, agreed that the decision was sweeping, but disagreed that it was a good outcome. “If the commission is correct, they have taken a very small step in a narrowly focused case against one operator,” she said.

“I don’t agree,” Esbin continued. “I think this is quite intrusive, and will create an unacceptable degree of uncertainty among companies and network engineers as to what is and is not permissible, and will require the FCC to continually make decisions on engineering practices in real time.”

Documents and Articles Referenced by this Article:

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing campaign for broadband data. As Editor and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media company advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.

Expert Opinion

Craig Settles: Believe in the Healing Power of Telehealth

Healthcare organizations are seeing telehealth as an opportunity to enhance connectivity with patients and improve healthcare outcomes.

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The author of this Expert Opinion is Craig Settles, who unites community broadband teams and healthcare stakeholders through telehealth

Listening to many politicians and National Telecommunications and Information Administration officials, you’d think “broadband” is practically synonymous with “telehealth.” So let’s go with it! Make telehealth front and center, the marketing hook of your NTIA Broadband Equity Access Deployment and Digital Equity Act grant applications.

Do a medical needs assessment of NTIA’s eight populations (target markets): 1) low-income urban dwellers, 2) rural communities, 3) Native American communities 4) veterans, 5) seniors, 6) people with disabilities, 7) those for whom English is a second language, and 8) the incarcerated. Low-income Americans have high rates of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other chronic conditions compared to higher-income Americans.

How many people would we help with telehealth and how many people would go home with a computing device? A marketing win-win – attack the disease, attack the digital divide.

By the numbers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 4 of 10 adults live with two or more chronic diseases. That’s 103.2 adult human beings. Imagine if we leveraged those $45 billions from NTIA, the thousands of all staff people, and the hosts of volunteers to treat, cure, or prevent chronic conditions?

In 2020, 1,603,844 new cancer cases were reported and 602,347 people died. About 695,000 people in the U.S. died from heart disease in 2021 and the disease costs us about $239.9 billion each year in 2018 and 2019. 37.3 million people have diabetes.

Many more millions suffer from and die from lung disease, strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, and kidney disease. What’s more, many these of chronic diseases are driven by unhealthy lifestyles – smoking, minimal physical activity, poor nutrition, and excessive alcohol use.

Make sure the numbers include the dramatic disparities. For example, African Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population, but twice as many die from strokes (100,000) as all other ethnic groups combined. Studies have found that Black people between the ages of 45 and 54 die of strokes at a rate that’s 3 times greater than their White counterparts. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of stroke. About three out of four Hispanics are overweight.

Telehealth making a difference: Gilda Radner’s legacy

Gilda’s Club Twin Cities, part of the Cancer Support Community global non-profit network providing free social and emotional support for those impacted by cancer, offers telehealth to medically underserved Minnesota urban and rural residents. The club partnered with telehealth firm Equiva and ISP Infinti Mobile to enroll members in the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, to sign them up for Internet access, and send them tablets preloaded with special content.

“CSC organizes the telehealth content in a way that makes sense for their constituents,” says Beth Strohbusch, head of marketing for Equiva. “Members learn about cancer treatment options, digital support groups, and free psychosocial services if members are having problems with depression.”

Strohbusch believes it’s not just hospitals and support groups pursuing broadband and telehealth. Healthcare organizations, nursing homes, and financial risk-bearing organizations are seeing telehealth as an opportunity to enhance connectivity with patients and improve organizations’ financial and chronic healthcare outcomes.

Jason Welch, Infiniti president, says, “Equiva has a reach we don’t have – the healthcare communities, the cancer support community, those in elder care, the larger healthcare organizations. Infiniti saw a natural, practical fit. The Equiva ACP Connect Program is a practical combination of services that are easily explained. Our customers understand accessing healthcare and related resources from their computers and is the data transport mechanism allowing them to do so.”

The eyes have it

Age-related macular degeneration affects the central part of the retina that allows you to see fine details clearly. AMD causes damage to the macula and results in blurring of your central vision. It is a leading cause of blindness among older Americans and is more common in individuals of European ancestry.

Ocutrx manufactures an augmented reality corrective devices that tackles AMD and doubles as patients’ cell phone with Wi Fi, 4G, and 5G capabilities. CEO Michael Freeman says, “We build circuit board in our headsets that enables them to do everything that cell phones do, control seven cameras, and creates the six degrees of freedom where patients can pose virtual objects out in front of their eyes.”

The user puts on the headset and continually does a field test in each eye. Software signals the device when the user can’t clearly see an object, which triggers the cameras that starts projecting real-time on the lens a live 60-frames/second video. Augmented reality moves pixels from the peripheral to the front of the user and within 13 milliseconds the user can see the object.

Ocutrx has a headset for patients with chronic disease. Patients and their doctor each has a headset and cell phone capabilities for talking real time over an encrypted network. This headset measures temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate and other readings. Freeman adds, “Its camera can be disconnected so you can show the doctor your arm or leg.” To treat ‘lazy eye’, AI in the headset let’s patients play a game virtually. It frosts the lens of the good eye and makes the lazy eye work harder and tracks how well the eyes work together when they’re doing the exercises.

The fruits of telehealth

Telehealth vender Fruit Street delivers digital therapeutics for addressing bad habits that have medical consequences. CEO Laurence Girard says, “digital therapeutics may be programs that deal with sleep, stress, and resiliency, others may focus on opiate addiction or general mental health. ​

One in three adults have prediabetes in which someone’s blood glucose (sugar) level is too high but not high enough yet for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Fruit Street’s Digital Diabetes Prevention Program combines group telehealth sessions, wearable devices, and dietary tracking in the vender’s mobile application. Besides lowering the risk to develop type 2 diabetes, the program can also lower the risk of having a heart attack or stroke, improve health overall, and help subscribers feel more energetic.​

Consider nonprofits marketing core digital therapeutics within a community. Imagine teams of “Life Changers” whose main goal is to embed broadband, smart home, cloud, and telehealth infrastructure that keeps residents healthy while reducing asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic illnesses.

Craig Settles conducts needs analyses with community stakeholders who want broadband networks to improve economic development, healthcare, education and local government. He hosts the radio talk show Gigabit Nation, and is Director of Communities United for Broadband, a national grass roots effort to assist communities launching their networks. This piece is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.

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Expert Opinion

Kristian Stout: Red Tape and Headaches Plague BEAD Rollout

States must overcome numerous hurdles before BEAD will be able to succeed.

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The author of this Expert Opinion is Kristrian Stout, director of innovation policy at the International Center for Law and Economics

As part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed in November 2021, Congress allocated $42.45 billion to create the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program, a moonshot effort to close what has been called the “digital divide.” Alas, BEAD’s tumultuous kickoff is a vivid example of how federal plans can sometimes become a tangled web, impeding the very progress they set out to champion.

In the weeks since the BEAD initiative was rolled out by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, state officials have been voicing mounting concerns over what they see as bureaucratic roadblocks to implementation. Tamarah Holmes, director of Virginia’s Office of Broadband, recently called BEAD “the most burdensome federal program” she’s ever encountered. Given that she previously worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an entity notorious for extensive bureaucracy, that’s saying something.

One frequently cited problem has been NTIA’s preference for fiber-optic connections, which finds itself in tension with realities on the ground. While fiber connections often provide the best solution, implementing them can be challenging in rough terrain and remote areas. Other technologies like fixed wireless and satellite often make better sense in such territories. Here, the one-size-fits-all approach that NTIA has preferred is proving detrimental to a more tailored, location-based strategy.

This  should not be news to NTIA. As Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and his colleagues noted in April, states must overcome numberous hurdles before BEAD will be able to succeed—from labor stipulations that are more prescriptive than inclusive to the program’s inexplicable favoritism for government networks over private enterprises. Coupled with requirements like the middle-class affordability option, which will essentially function as a form of rate regulation, the entire implementation push has been creaking under the weight of its own red tape.

In its initial notice of funding opportunity, NTIA also required a preference for noncontract labor when an internet service provider rolls out a network. Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough fiber-optic technicians available in the United States to keep up with the demand created by BEAD. Thus, creating impediments to quickly bringing technicians online only saddles the program with further costly problems.

So, where does this leave America’s ambitions of broadband equity and access?

For one, there’s a compelling need to reassess the BEAD initiative’s guiding principles. The rigidity that’s currently the program’s hallmark needs to be replaced with adaptability. Each state, with its unique geography and challenges, should be given the flexibility to chart its own digital course. The federal role should be that of facilitator, not gatekeeper or, worse still, roadblock.

Moreover, implementation should be guided by a principle of technological neutrality; preferences for particular technologies simply do not make sense. Above all, realities on the ground must shape deployment strategies, not overarching directives that may be disconnected from the local context. The impending workforce challenges must also be addressed proactively. The most obvious solution would be to remove requirements that frustrate the onboarding of technicians as expeditiously as possible.

America’s broadband aspirations will only be realized through a commitment to adaptability and putting the demands of reality ahead of political preferences.

Kristian Stout is the director of innovation policy at the International Center for Law and Economics. This piece is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.

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Expert Opinion

Scott Sampson: How Fiber Can Build a Work Culture in a Remote World

Greater reliable and secure broadband bandwidth is necessary to support a quality remote culture and work environment.

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The author of this Expert Opinion is Scott Sampson, CEO of Fiber Fast Homes

With the increased popularity of working remotely, organizations are being challenged to create and maintain a positive culture in a virtual environment. While elements of creating a strong, collaborative work culture have not changed, technology has taken on a more vital role during the surge in remote work.

A core necessity needed to support remote workers is high-speed Internet connectivity. Remote workers count on their Internet service provider to deliver the connectivity needed to keep up with and manage the applications required to have a successful workday in a remote environment. Fiber Internet is the best solution to provide the “enterprise-level” performance and reliability needed to support this paradigm shift.

Why is a strong remote work culture important and what are best practices?

Just like the work culture in the office, there are many benefits to developing a work culture that considers the remote nature of the environment:

  • A strong and consistent remote work culture can unite employees and give them a shared sense of purpose.
  • Remote work culture prepares organizations for future success.
  • Remote work culture can build long-term relationships using the right environment.

Since the pandemic, companies have been working hard to create a remote work culture and a lot of best practices are coming out of that work:

  • Create an environment of trust — To create a healthy remote work company culture, it’s important to communicate all the high-level decisions with teams to show employees that they are trusted completely to manage their work and are not being left out of the conversation just because they are not in the office.
  • Share the company’s mission and goals — Creating an optimum and high performing remote teamwork culture becomes easier when everyone understands the mission and goals an organization is trying to achieve. It can work as a constant reminder for employees to always know what they are trying to accomplish as a team.
  • Define the company’s remote work policy — Remote work or flexible work can mean different things to different people. As a result, a company needs to be as specific as possible about the organization’s remote work policy so the employees know exactly what to expect. More clarity will only lead to smoother remote work and better culture.
  • Make face-to-face meetings a priority — While there is no replacement to meeting your team members directly, regular video calls can help close the communication gap. Team managers should hold regular one-on-one meetings with employees to build better connections, establish trust, and celebrate their individual accomplishments. Another simple thing — encourage team members to switch on their video during team meetings. Face-to-face communication helps workers get to know each other in a better way.
  • Collect regular feedback and make changes accordingly — It is always a good idea to ask remote employees for their feedback regularly so that they can tell you what’s working for them and what just isn’t. Many are new to the remote work culture so feedback is invaluable.
  • Use the right tools — The long-term success of remote work also depends on whether you’re using the right tools to manage work. Such things as video conferencing, a digital workplace platform for collaboration, or instant messaging are essential to supporting the remote culture workers’ needs. Having the right tools makes a difference, but just as important is having high performing bandwidth to make those tools perform optimally.

Broadband connectivity is the technological backbone for building a remote culture

All kinds of technology tools are popping up to better support the remote worker from online video conferencing to digital workplaces to cloud-based data management tools. As a result, greater broadband bandwidth that is reliable and secure is necessary to support the delivery of a quality remote culture and work environment. There are four reasons why:

  • Performance Needs to Be Comparable to That in the Office – Just because one is remote doesn’t mean poorer network performance than the enterprise is okay. Companies are demanding commercial grade Internet performance at home, too.
  • Remote Enterprise Applications Demand More Bandwidth — New, advanced applications requiring greater network speeds that could only be available at the office need to be attainable by remote workers.
  • Scalability Is Paramount — Broadband connectivity needs to be able to scale as more remote workers require access and applications require greater bandwidth and performance.
  • To Duplicate In-Person Culture, Bandwidth Needs to Do More — Bandwidth needs to be fast enough to support technologies that can more closely duplicate in-person culture, such as AI, real-time interactive streaming, and human resources applications that analyze unique types of data about the employee experience and interaction, often in real time.

While technological innovations will continue to change and improve the cultural experience for an organization regardless of where an employee works, the demand for higher performing, more reliable, and more secure bandwidth will be needed. Fiber is the only technology that can meet these demands today and scale to meet even greater demands in the future.

Scott Sampson is an experience executive with extensive knowledge in all aspects of telecommunications and IT and is one of the industry’s leading experts on fiber to the home. He has worked with companies such as Arrow Electronics, ULA, and Rio Tinto, as well as a successful sale of a company he co-founded. Sampson is known for building high-achieving teams. This piece is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.

Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in Expert Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.

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