Broadcasting and Telecoms - To cap or not to cap, that is the question

Nor deem the irrevocable Past,

As wholly wasted, wholly vain,

If, rising on its wrecks, at last

To something nobler we attain

Longfellow, The Ladder of St. Augustine

It seems that on the Road to Damascus, the Broadcasting Commission has lost not only their vision but their ability to read and comprehend, or for that matter Research. Perhaps John Public needs to apply to the Big Three (3) Broadcasters, RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and LOVE TV/Radio for a position as a Research Officer, as opined by the recent Red Rose Tea Commercial, as John Public does not possess an MBA or a Management Degree, and thus is only qualified to be a Research Officer, driving around and collecting statistical data on this most important of things: what Television Watchers and Radio listeners want. The Big Three (3) Broadcasters, RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and LOVE TV/Radio are yet to commit to plans to go DSO (Digital Switch Over) as stated in the article as stated in the article ““Slow road to digital switch-over  - Cable groups mum; Flow ahead but network coverage behind”, published: Saturday  August 15, 2009 by Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer, The Daily Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com). The Broadcasting Commission has already decided on the process, which the learned John Public can quite easily discern from visiting the Broadcast Commission’s website as “technology selection, digital switch-on and analogue switch-off”. It seems, however, they are stuck at the Technology Selection stage. Meanwhile DVR (Digital Video Recorders) and DVD watching is rising………

But the above article was written back in 2009, the year in which the entire United States of America switch to Digital Television Broadcast and around the rest of the world, Analog Broadcast (for television at least) has already come to an end, specifically in EU bloc countries such as European countries such as Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium Austria having already built out in digital with the United Kingdom now doing a region-by-region switch over, scheduled to be completed by 2012. Apparently there are possibly concerns being raised by the Broadcasters as to how they will fund such a venture and how they will recoup their expenditure, as advertising revenues are projected to decrease with the coming of 3G from Telecom Providers CLARO and LIME and Wimax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) from Digicel, which is now here as stated in the article “Digicel goes 4G”, published Saturday, August 21, 2010 By ROSS SHEIL Online co-ordinator rsheil@jamaicaobserver.com (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com) which will make on-demand Television a reality, making them, appear to be entrenched, old fashioned  Management, interested only in continuity of profitability and not in actual spectral efficiency and thus financial gain from the resale of spectrum and “white spaces”, the unused spectrum both in-between the Television frequencies as well as in geographic locations. That DSO is necessary should be obvious, now with obviousness of their dependence on Government of Jamaica Bonds, evident in their massive Second Quarter losses in 2010 as stated in the article “RJR profits drop 53% in June Q”, published Friday, August 20, 2010, The Jamaica Observer, (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com).

But it is now apparent that the newly launched Digicel Broadband 4G, which uses the QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) schema in the form of WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) could accelerate Digital Music and Video Piracy, as currently, its raw speed, like its closest, and as some would argue its ONLY competitor in the “speed” category, Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless, is uncapped. Many members of the Jamaican Public may argue that, finally, the customer has gotten a great deal, as they reason that Wireless Broadband should be uncapped much as Wired Broadband is uncapped, with comparable speeds. But it should be noted that persons of this opinion, mostly Techie “Trolls” [unruly young spoilt rich people children] and Data Hogs [heavy volume downloader], most probably the alumni of Tech Jamaica, wish nothing less than for this scenario to play out, as they would utilize the service for the purpose of downloading music and video content, thereby violating the copyright of the various artiste, developers and software engineers worldwide. In effect, it would paint a gigantic target on the back of Telecom Provider Digicel, as it would make them, not the customer, liable for prosecution by groups such as the RIAA (Recording Industry Artiste Association) and the MPAA (Motion Picture Artiste Association), already up in arms over the lack of protection of their Copyrights.

Curiously, they do have a point. Digital Music and Video Piracy robs the Federal Government of the United States of America of essential tax dollars, which have largely gone uncollected in the past, now being reconsidered for taxation. Not only had the Congress of the United States of America gone after Colleges and Universities by threatening to withhold Title IV Federal Aid under the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as stated in the article “Federal rules on campus file sharing kick in today”, published July 1, 2010 7:14 AM PDT by Greg Sandoval CNET News - Media Maverick (http://www.cnet.com), which came into effect on Thursday July 1^st 2010 AD, but a day prior, on Wednesday June 30^th 2010 AD, (for it is a day that will long be remembered by College and University Students in the United States of America), a crackdown had also been initiated against file sharers as stated in the article “Feds seize cash, Web sites of alledged film pirates”, published June 30, 2010 3:11 PM PDT by Greg Sandoval CNET News - Media Maverick (http://www.cnet.com) as Senator Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States of America, had been promising for a week prior to Wednesday June 30^th 2010.

Thus Telecom Provider Digicel and Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless, will, in short order, have to begin considering strategies to impose a Data Cap without having to appear to be like the competition, Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider CLARO, both of whose 3G Wireless Broadband Networks have imposed Data Caps, but with the charging for the overage removed recently, event since it became apparent that Telecom Provider Digicel would soon be launching their WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d). It is good to note that these other two (2) Networks are mainly going after the “browsing” market with their slower speed internet access respectively, their caps mainly to mitigate against heavy downloaders. Telecom Provider Digicel may be allowing their service to be uncapped for now, a means of attracting people away form the competition, as their strategy, and then cap, based on Average Observed Traffic. It is good to note that this strategy may be short lived by time the next another All Media survey from the MRSL comes out, indicating the degree to which streaming of live programming maybe affecting television time, as is now the case in the United States of America. Early signs of this can be found on reading the research note by Morgan Stanley intern Matthew Robson, aged fifteen (15) years old, which he wrote in 2009, entitled  “How Teenagers Consume Media: the report that shook the City”, printed by the Guardian Newspaper, Monday 13 July 2009 10.23 BST, The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.co.uk). ComCast recently brought evidence to the fore, pointing out that there will soon be an onslaught of easily viewable and streamable content, due to decreased viewership of live content on television and an increased prevalence of time shifting [recording] of content to watch at a later date, as recently discovered in a recent study ComCast conducted as stated in the article “Survey of viewers shows extent of TV time shifting”, published Tuesday August 17, 6:53 am ET By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer, Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com).

Throw into that funeral pyre for the Big Three (3) Broadcasters, RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and LOVE TV/Radio the coming of Chinese Broadcasting and you have a very amusing situation. This eventual entry of another media company owed by the Chinese to potentially compete with them for the ever shrinking advertising dollar has the MAJ (Media Association of Jamaica) worried, as not only was their decision announced suddenly, but the fact that the MAJ are and apparently were always unsure of the Government of Jamaica media policy is an indication that for the first time, the media itself was in the dark about its own future as slyly hinted in the article “Chinese media proposal troubles local interest group”, published: Tuesday  April 6, 2010, The Jamaica Gleaner (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com). But the fact that Senator Daryl Vaz, Minister of Information has been saying that the Chinese broadcaster was not intended to compete with local broadcasters for the local advertising dollar and curiously enough would be broadcasting Chinese programs, as Senator Daryl Vaz, Minister of Information stated that “The Cabinet has given approval for the pursuit of discussions in respect to a proposal received for cooperation between the Government of Jamaica and the Government of People’s Republic of China to transmit Chinese programmes over free-to-air radio and television stations”. This apparently is being done in a bid to facilitate closer ties between the Government of People’s Republic of China and Jamaica, relations with the communist state which began as far back as 1972 and apparently now being cemented with trade and cultural ties.

Ironically, it may be the very stone that the Builders rejected that seems to currently be the factor that mitigates against such illegal activity on Telecom Provider Digicel’s Network and Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless. Telecom Provider Digicel’s policy of having the customer register upon installation of their Dongle, CPE (Customer Premises Equipment), Netbook or Laptop once online is actually a form of MRSI (Mandatory Registration of Subscriber Information) a precursor to full MNP (Mobile Number Portability), which is more related to Voice Telecoms than anything else. Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless needs to follow suit soon, requesting at least mandatory registration on logon on their PrePaid Service. MNP would allow for verifiable tracking of people on the Internet and allow the Government of Jamaica to safely introduce Credit Card usage online, which currently is not possible due to security issues and poor CyberCrime Legislation as stated in the article “Move to Tackle CyberCrime - Hacker got Golding”, published Sunday  February 14, 2010 by Philip Hamilton, Gleaner Writer, the Jamaica Gleaner (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com) and would give the Government of Jamaica the ability to collect tax online revenues from the introduction of regulated Offshore Banking or even Online Gambling, as is soon to be the case in the United States of America as stated in the article “Congress may roll dice, legalizing Net Gambling” published May 18, 2010 11:14 PM PDT by Declan McCullagh CNET News - Politics and Law, (http://www.cnet.com) akin the Americans as stated in the article “Democrats push for new Internet sales taxes”, published July 2, 2010 12:28 PM PDT by Declan McCullagh, CNET News - Politics and Law (http://www.cnet.com). This is a case of uncollected taxes, folks, not an increase in taxation, as online purchases are supposed to be taxed. By Christmas of 2010, in the United States of America, this will be case.

So the equation now reads as follows: Streamable content via uncapped Wireless Broadband + Competition from Chinese Broadcasting = Loss of Advertising revenue for local Broadcasters. Another balanced equation, but this time albeit the customer gets more choice as to how they consume their media, the Big Three (3) Broadcasters stand to lose big time, unless they push into other non-traditional areas of advertising, such as mobile phone advertising based on geo-location, for which I had written a proposal on push advertising based on BlueTooth or even accessing wireless Broadband services, such as Telecom Provider Digicel’s Network and Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless. Indeed, they may even have to consider selling downloadable versions of their current programming, such as the sugary Carletta DeLeon’s Pet Tales and the Laurel and Hardy duo in the form of Simon Crosskill and Dean McLarty in Tech Tutorial. The Big Three (3) Broadcasters, RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and LOVE TV/Radio will thus have to accelerate their DSO (Digital Switch Over) plans or like ComCast, they may soon begin facing Death in the face, especially in light of streaming services such as Hulu, now on a thirty (30) day subscription for a reasonable US$10 per month as stated in the article as stated in the article “Hulu launches $10 video subscription service”, published Tuesday June 29 2010 by RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer, (https://www.news.yahoo.com), now viewable in Jamaica, amusingly information I garnered from Techjamaica’s own website, their plan now so obvious. Broadcasters, take heed!! Video did not kill the radio Star, but Streaming can finish off Old Media quite easily.