November 2015 – Net Policy News

T-Mobile Claims All Video Can Go for Free? True?

If done right, maybe almost OK. If effectively gives preference, Legere deserves a jail term. T-Mobile says it’s allowing any video provider to stream to (some) T-Mobile customers for free. The customer gets the stream without being charged for the data. They claim:

Open to Everyone, No One Pays

With Binge On, our doors are open to all streaming providers who want to participate. We’ve proven our track record with Music Freedom. No one pays us, and we don’t pay them – and everyone wins – especially customers. We’re not here to play favorites. Like Music Freedom, Binge On is open to any legit streaming service (with lawful content) out there – at absolutely no cost to them. They just need to contact us and work with us on the technical requirements, optimization for mobile viewing and confirm we can consistently identify their incoming music or video streams.

Incumbent Telcos Have a Huge Advantage in Millimeter Wave/High Frequencies (AO)

(A first sketch)The short range of high frequencies means you need slews of cell sites and massive backhaul. (Think every lamppost.) In most places only the incumbents have enough backhaul capacity. If we go widely for high frequencies, we will need to take drastic steps to maintain competition. More and more, it’s looking like telecom is again tending toward monopoly. On the other hand, regulation has many problems. No easy answers here.

Certainly, mmWave is right for some places. The thousands of MHz little used in millimeter can deliver literally tens of gigabits of data. Ted Rappaport at NYU and now the telecom giants agree. As Ted says, “It will work!!!.”

Craig Moffett may have just killed the Altice-Cablevision Deal

Dolan is probably more interested in his basketball team than cableThis may just my wishful thinking, but Moffett’s analysis of the finances should be devastating. I’m not objective on this one because I want a great Internet for everyone in my own city. The deal is risky at best, not appropriate for an important public utility. I’ve come to a similar conclusion, calculating the investment won’t pay off unless Cablevision, with Verizon collaboration, significantly raises the price of broadband. This is directly counter to the policy goal of getting more people connected as well as unjustified by the real costs of delivering the service. U.S. prices are a third or more above prices in Europe, including Altice’s own Numericable. Craig has enormous influence, extreme originality and even a sense of humor. He wins polls as the best on wall street and is followed by nearly all major investors.

Craig reports New York City will “weigh whether the deal will be good for New Yorkers along four different dimensions: 1) jobs, 2) service levels, 3) prices, and 4) future investment in the network.”