R23 Information Services #127

Google Lifts the Curtain on Its New Music Service

nytimes

Apple TV 3.0 update adds Internet radio

arstechnica

Huge Surge in Mobile Internet

dailywireless.org

Briefcase Broadcasting: The Smallest FM Station Ever

radio2020

Radio Industry Welcomes Return of Live Reads

adage.com

R23 Information Services #107

Crowded roads ahead for charity 2.0

CNet

The Album Is Dead, Long Live the App

wired

iLike Expands D.I.Y Artist & Concert iPhone Apps

hypebot

Closed Deal: WideOrbit Acquires Google Radio Assets

techcrunch

The Death Of Paid WiFi

dailywireless

R23 Information Services #100!

Final Piece of the Webcasting Puzzle Settled
commLawBlog

Bertelsmann, KKR launch joint music rights venture
reuters

As Music Mags Fall, Pitchfork Is Booming
forbes

VLC 1.0 officially released after more than 10 years of work
arstechnica

Sources: Google OS lives (and it's coming to a netbook near you)
arstechnica

R23 Information Services #88

AM/FM radio has about five good years left, if that… radio (of) today will be on the Internet
boston globe

Don’t Count Satellite Radio Out & Satellite Radio Broadens Reach
hear 2.0 & WSJ

As Sales Slow, Music Game-Makers Turn To Hip-Hop And Electronica For Growth
billboard

FTC probe may force Apple/Google board members to part ways
Ars Technica

Rock stars sign up for web comedy
bbc

Radio23 Information Services #73

Groban, Marsalis, press Congress for arts funding

Raise money via Twitter: campaign tools and instructions

Who wouldn’t love having this stackable Radio and Speaker System for Macmini on their table?

Tickets Goin' Mobile

Google Could Be In Talks To Buy Twitter

Airwaves Up for Grabs: How much free space is left in the broadcast spectrum?

From Chris Wilson in Slate:

Just a day after Verizon Wireless spent nearly $10 billion in its bid for a valuable slice of the airwaves last week, Google asked the Federal Communications Commission to open up other unused pieces of the spectrum for wireless broadband. The plan calls for allowing companies like Google and Microsoft to beam wireless Internet access on frequencies between those allocated for television channels—in the so-called "white space"—as well as frequencies reserved for channels that don't exist in a given area. How much of the broadcast spectrum is still up for grabs?

It depends where you are. The "broadcast spectrum" refers to a portion of the full electromagnetic spectrum that is ideal for telecommunication, with frequencies much lower than infrared or visible light. Federal law grants the FCC the authority to determine who can broadcast on which frequencies between 9 kHz and 400 GHz, i.e. the entire range of radio waves and microwaves, to prevent interference between stations. For example, the 410 MHz band is reserved for radio astronomy, while the range from 88 to 108 MHz is for FM radio. (If the government didn't keep track of who broadcast in which frequencies, there would be tremendous interference between broadcasts, making a clear signal very difficult to find in congested areas.) But frequencies allocated by the FCC aren't always in use. Whether a given region of the spectrum is occupied depends on the size and demand of the local population. An urban area with a lot of broadcast stations might fill up most of the spectrum allocated for radio and television, while a rural area would leave much of it unused.

Google's white-space plan concerns television broadcast frequencies, which are divided up by channel throughout the spectrum. The chunks that the FCC just auctioned off to Verizon and others, in the 700 to 800 MHz range, have long been reserved for television stations broadcasting analog signals. But once TV broadcasting goes fully digital in February 2009, the stations will clear out of those frequencies. Meanwhile, companies are interested in using parts of the spectrum that are already allocated, but not always occupied. To accomplish this, they'd need to produce devices that can search for competing signals and suss out any frequencies that happen to be vacant. Proponents like Google say the vast majority of the airwaves go unused most of the time and will remain so until these devices are widespread.

So far, early testing of these "White Space Prototype Devices" has not gone particularly well. In an initial round conducted in July 2007, two prototypes were either unable to detect competing signals or detected signals that were not actually present. (Microsoft claims they sent a defective version of their model to the FCC.) This poses a real problem for the white-space plan: If a device tries to initiate a broadcast at the same frequency as an existing signal that it failed to detect, it could cause interference. Digital broadcasts might begin to skip or freeze, like a scratched DVD. Opponents of the white-space plan, including the National Association of Broadcasters, cite these reports as evidence that the technology is not ready for public consumption. The FCC is currently conducting a second round of tests.

700MHz: $6.1B & counting

From Daily Wireless:

The FCC’s 700 MHz spectrum auction saw a pair of bidding rounds that brought the total potential winning bids climb to just over $4.4 billion, after round six, and $6.1 billion after round eight. Highlights included continued interest in the regional grouping of C-Block licenses, a lack of new bids for the floundering national commercial-public safety D-Block license and the first withdrawal from the proceedings.

The auction closed Monday with $6.1 billion in Provisional Winning Bids. The 50-state, eight-license C band garnered $2.9 billion. The package of eight licenses remained the crown jewel of the event, says RCR wireless News, with one new bid during the earlier round five bid pushing the bidding to $2.15 billion.

The $2.9 billion for the “C Block” is more than half-way to the $4.6 billion reserve price that would trigger the open-access provision of the licenses. Google was a proponent of the open-access provision, and said it would bid at least that amount for the C Block.

“Our interpretation of the C Block activity suggests that there are only two bidders, most likely Google and Verizon Wireless, and we are a skeptical that either would move over to the D Block,” said analyst firm Stifel Nicolaus in a research note after round five. “It is also possible that there is only a single bidder for the C Block, increasing its bid each round, perhaps Google to trigger the reserve.”

The D band, which is allocated for public safety services, is lagging far behind with only $472 million bid so far. The reserve set by the FCC is $1.3 billion. A total of 62 MHz will be auctioned; 30 Mhz in the Lower 700MHz band, 32 Mhz in the Upper 700MHz band. RCR News and Blog Runner have more.

The FCC needs to listen to Google

From Michael Arrington in Tech Crunch:

I was very pleased to see Google publicly wade into the upcoming FCC auctions for the 700MHz spectrum that will occur early next year. Should all go well, the new spectrum could be used to create a new open-access wireless broadband “pipe” into people’s homes and devices. If things go less well, the existing wireless giants would buy the spectrum and impose similar usage restrictions that exist on cellular networks in the U.S. today, putting us further behind Europe and Asia.

CEO Eric Schmidt sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stating that they would commit to bid at least $4.6 billion in the auctions if four key platform rules are adopted. These rules will define what types of services the winner could offer, and would require third party access to the bandwidth:

Open applications: Consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire;
Open devices: Consumers should be able to utilize a handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer;
Open services: Third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
Open networks: Third parties (like internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee’s wireless network.
Given the sorry state of the mobile landscape in the U.S., I’d expect the FCC to adopt these pro-consumer rules without any fuss. But the incumbent players, including AT&T and Verizon, are saying they are opposed to open access and may not participate if these rules are adopted. Google’s public move was made to let the FCC (and the public) know that there are companies very happy to bid in an open-access world.

AT&T’s response to Google’s letter was breathtaking in its audacity:

Not satisfied with a compromise proposal from Chairman Martin that meets most of its conditions, Google has now delivered an all or nothing ultimatum to the U.S. Government, insisting that every single one of their conditions “must” be met or they will not participate in the spectrum auction. Google is demanding the Government stack the deck in its favor, limit competing bids, and effectively force wireless carriers to alter their business models to Google’s liking. We would repeat that Google should put up or shut up— they can bid and enter the wireless market with any business model they prefer, then let consumers decide which model they like best.

For anyone who doesn’t look too closely at the issue, AT&T’s response seems very reasonable: keep government regulation out of the spectrum let the market decide which services win. But that isn’t really what would happen at all. If fewer government restrictions are placed on the bandwidth the auction winners will be able to extract more profits at the expense of competitors and consumers. So naturally they don’t want to see open access rules like those recommended by Google. The incumbents also don’t want to see Google play in their sandbox and bidding against them - so they have yet another reason to oppose their proposal.

The FCC has competing goals of maximizing revenue from the auction (suggesting less regulation) and protecting the public (suggesting more rules to force competition). Having open access requirements like those suggested by Google will spur competition and grow an economy around this spectrum. It will also put commercial pressure on mobile operators and broadband companies to reduce the restrictions they have on current broadband and mobile services.

Google isn’t always not evil, but in this case they are going to bat for all of us against some players with pretty bad history when it comes to offering consumer products. I’m behind them on this. And to the FCC: please learn from past mistakes, ignore the lobbyists this time, and do what is in the best interests of the public.