On Thursday, Novemember 20th at 9pm, Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) will air "The Internet is Serious Business." People's Production House worked with CUP Teaching Artist Helki Frantzen and students from City-As-School to produce this investigation into the physical infrastructure that undergirds the Internet. Check it out in Manhattan on Channel 34.
People's Production House commends the Federal Communication Commission on their vote to allow unlicensed access to the unused portion of the television airwaves know as white spaces. The FCC's 5 to 0 vote in favor of opening the white space spectrum is a significant step towards delivering lower-cost, high speed Internet across the nation. It will help to close the gap between those who have Internet and those who do not.
Rural and urban groups who work on digital divide and media access with remote and traditionally marginalized communities are telling the FCC their constituencies would be harmed by further delay in the Commission's vote on “white spaces.” They want the FCC to reject pressure from broadcast lobbyists who are trying to extend a process that has already dragged on for nearly five years.
City Council tries to halt new technology that could close the digital divide. Community advocates react.
Advocates for closing the digital divide condemned a City Council resolution urging the Federal Communications Commission to delay a decision concerning the unused part of the airwaves known as “white spaces.” The FCC has announced its intention to issue a ruling at a November 4 meeting.
Broadband Internet service is available for nearly every house in New York City, yet less than half have adopted it. Barely a quarter of low income households pay for a high speed connection at home.
As PPH Policy Director Joshua Breitbart explains in this audio clip, Internet access on mobile phones brings connectivity to people where they are on devices that they have already decided to pay for. This is a better way to get people online than trying to convince them to buy a new machine and pay for a new service.
Resolution urging the Federal Communications Commission to implement regulatory amendments that would allow portable devices to operate on the white space radio spectrum in order to close the digital divide and stimulate investment in new technology without negatively impacting television broadcasters, performing artists, professional sports leagues, and all incumbent wireless microphone users.
New York – Community media and immigrant rights advocates are calling on City Council to endorse “white space devices,” a new technology that would boost the economy and drive down the cost of mobile phone calls and Internet access.
The Indypendent newspaper asked me to write an article for their October 3 issue explaining the importance of white spaces. (Updated following the hearing.)
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On Wednesday, September 24, City Councilmember Gale Brewer and Speaker Christine Quinn introduced a resolution urging the Federal Communications Commission to refrain from certifying white space devices, which the resolution claims would be "devastating" to "the incomparable mystique and excitement of the City of New York’s theatre district" and would "[jeopardize] the health and safety of performers, technicians and stagehands."
The New York City Council has scheduled a hearing for September 29 on the unused TV channels known as "white spaces." If, like most low-income New Yorkers, you rely on your cellular phone more than a landline or a laptop or a desktop, then your whole communications future is at stake with this issue. If you hate your cell phone provider or you like the idea of sharing Internet connections, then this is for you.
Google, in coalition with public interest groups, is trying to draw support for the opening of the unused television airwaves with it's Free the Airwaves project. The unused airwaves, known as "white spaces," are open spaces between digital TV channels. If the FCC allows for open access to the airwaves, there is potential for the development of new technology that will make it possible to provide wireless broadband Internet access over the signal, potentially making it possible to allow for universal access to the Internet.
New York - People's Production House and Common Cause/New York called on the New York State Public Service Commission yesterday to reject a “Network Review Plan” proposed by Verizon, barring significant changes to the plan. Verizon’s review plan was submitted July 16, on the eve of the PSC's review of the Verizon cable franchise for New York City. It is intended to remedy the high proportion of Verizon's FiOS installations that do not comply with the National Electric Code or Verizon’s own Methods & Procedures.
The New York City Council has scheduled a hearing for September 29 on the unused TV channels known as "white spaces." If, like most low-income New Yorkers, you rely on your cellular phone more than a landline or a laptop or a desktop, than your whole communications future is at stake with this issue. If you hate your cell phone provider or you like the idea of sharing Internet connections, than this is for you.
On August 14, People's Production House, Common Cause/New York, Consumers Union and NYPIRG called on the NYS Public Service Commission to reconsider its decision to grant Verizon a cable franchise with the City of New York.
See our official request for reconsideration (pdf). (Kudos to Chris Keeley at Common Cause for his work gathering the documents and drafting the letter.) To be reconsidered, we have to show that he decision was based on new or false information or that the decision was made in an arbitrary and capricious manner.
People's Production House recently participated in a great panel on the digital television (DTV) transition, hosted by Devorah Hill from Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Our co-panelists were Glen Ford from Black Agenda Report, Joel Kelsey from Consumers Union, and Lawrence Carter-Long from the Disabilities Network of New York City.
