The top 17 U.S. telcos and cable companies, with a combined 93 percent of the market, added almost 1.2 million net broadband subscribers during Q1, said Leichtman Research Group Tuesday. The 17 companies now have 85.5 million broadband subscribers, with 50.3 million at cable companies and 35.2 million at telcos, said the industry researcher. Top cable companies now have a 59 percent share of the broadband market, Leichtman said. The Q1 growth is best for that period over the past two years, but “if recent history is an indicator, however, gains will be slower over the next couple of quarters. In each of the past four years, net adds in the first quarter were greater than in the second and third quarters combined,” said firm President Bruce Leichtman in a news release (http://bit.ly/1oP9yMd).

Net neutrality must encompass peering and interconnection, said Netflix Chief Financial Officer David Wells Tuesday at the J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom Conference webcast from Boston. Well’s comments were a sharp break from the FCC’s position that peering and interconnection are not the same issue as net neutrality, but more like cousins. “If they are first cousins, they are a bit like 18th-century royalty cousins and might have a child along the way,” Wells said. Netflix has been “a little bit disappointed” in FCC Chairman Thomas Wheeler’s position, Wells said. “I would say just in general our interest is in a definition of net neutrality that is inclusive of all things that matter towards the delivery and the ability to control that interconnection with the consumer as an ISP,” Wells said. Netflix is planning “substantial expansion” in Europe beyond the Nordic region, with new launches expected in the coming weeks, said Wells, declining to give details. Netflix will have a “meaningful” amount of original programming in international markets, but isn’t willing to pay what it costs to lock up global rights for a series, Wells said. Netflix so far has gotten a “small reaction” to its recent imposing of a $1 increase in monthly fees for new subscribers, Wells said. Revenue generated by the fee increase will be used to fund content and expand gross margins, Wells said.

The market for “connected living” or the “ubiquitous connectivity” of video and data services in the home, work and public square is estimated to be $731.7 billion by 2020, said business consultant Frost & Sullivan in a news release Monday. “Cloud computing, big data, mobility and low cost sensors are driving the internet of things and connected industries,” said Frost & Sullivan’s Audrey William, head of information and communications technology research in New Zealand, in the release. “The internet of things is forcing transformation and innovation across the connected home, workplace and city,” he said. Of the $731.7 billion, “connected city” will contribute 54 percent or “an estimated market potential of $392.94 billion,” said the release. “Connected work” will make up 31 percent or $228.44 billion, it said. “Connected home” will be 15 percent or $111 billion, it said.

The multistakeholder document (http://bit.ly/1nLhMBC) produced at NETmundial was a “critical achievement,” said Daniel Sepulveda, deputy assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, referencing last month’s Internet conference meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil (WID May 8 p1). Sepulveda spoke on an Internet governance panel at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Thursday. Internet governance stakeholders were “very pleasantly surprised” with the outcome of NETmundial, said Lynn St. Amour, CEO of Internet Matters, a nonprofit advocating for child safety online. The economic interests of developing countries trying to expand Internet access need to be considered, since many nations see the U.S. as able to “capture most of the gains” and retain a “competitive advantage” in Internet affairs, said Adam Segal, CFR senior fellow. Segal raised concerns about the effect certain countries, like Russia and China, will have on the upcoming Internet governance debates. If countries try to introduce measures to use the Internet as a means of political control, “we will oppose it, and it will not work,” said Sepulveda. The “jury’s still out,” said Segal. Sepulveda said he will lead the U.S. delegation at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 20 (http://bit.ly/1rrMHmS).

"The report ... is a bit of an odd read,” said Direct Marketing Association Vice President-Government Affairs Rachel Thomas in a Wednesday night blog post response to an online advertising security report released Thursday by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (http://bit.ly/1lHA1b9). The report -- spurred by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the subject of a subcommittee hearing Thursday -- “warns against ‘dangerous third parties,’ and ‘invasive cookies,’ and calls for ‘circuit breakers’ to protect consumers,” Thomas said. “It goes on to say that the online advertising industry is complex and hard to understand.” It’s a misleading portrayal, Thomas said. “Yikes. It’s as though the entire Internet -- that complicated series of tubes -- is devoid of self-regulation,” she said. “Good thing that reality is a much prettier picture.” Thomas highlighted the benefits of Digital Advertising Alliance’s self-regulatory program, about which Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., was skeptical in Thursday’s hearing. “The DAA program has expanded to cover the collection and use of Multi-Site Data across non-Affiliate sites over time, as well as to provide guidance for data collection in mobile environments,” she said. “Unlike legislation, which is static and runs the risk of codifying practices that may become out-of-date even before a bill turns into law, industry self-regulation is nimble by its very nature and thus better suited to provide protections in cutting-edge, fast-evolving areas like online advertising.” DAA Executive Director Lou Mastria testified at the hearing about the program. Thomas said other senators, including Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., expressed support during the hearing for this industry-led approach to combating malicious online advertising.

Roughly 86 percent of Google shareholders voted down a resolution to disclose more information about the company’s lobbying efforts, at its annual shareholder meeting Wednesday night. Tim Smith, senior vice president of Walden Asset Management’s Environment, Social and Governance Group, presented the resolution, which was backed by Public Citizen and other public interest groups (http://1.usa.gov/1mS7NcY). Google ranks among the top-five companies in U.S. lobbying efforts, Smith said. It also led all technology companies in Q1 lobbying spending, at $3.82 million. Yet “we don’t hear any detailed information on many of the trade groups and advocacy organizations it’s part of,” Smith said. He pointed to Google’s contributions to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has a “very partisan and right-wing conservative agenda” that Smith argued countered Google’s stated mission. Despite the proposal’s demise, Steve Wilke, founder of solar and wind energy developer Delta Engineering, brought the issue up again during Q&A. “With all of the issues we deal with, we work with a lot of groups,” responded Chief Legal Officer David Drummond. Sometimes Google disagrees “vehemently” with positions of groups it helps fund, he said, citing ALEC. Drummond also said the U.S. Chamber’s stance on copyright “clashes with ours.” Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said Google has heard shareholders “loud and clear” on the issue this year and at past shareholder meetings. “Let us come back with some ideas,” he said. “The fact that he came out with that,” Wilke said in a conference call after the meeting, “is clearly a step forward."

Snapchat generated the most mobile network traffic volume of any messaging app in North America over the last six months, said a report released Wednesday by network traffic analyst Sandvine (http://bit.ly/1jHpsW5). Its preeminence was mostly “due to the fact it only allows subscribers to send picture messages, while competing services such as WhatsApp allow users to send plain text,” the report said. Snapchat now incorporates in-app text and video messaging, after a recent update. A week after its update, Snapchat agreed to settle FTC allegations it deceived consumers with privacy claims and repeatedly failed to fix basic security vulnerabilities. On the streaming audio side, Pandora continued to claim the top spot among mobile apps, said Sandvine. “This phenomenon is likely due to subscribers using the service consistently throughout the day, while some other applications may have their usage concentrated during” peak periods, said the company that helps ISPs and others monitor broadband networks.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology said in a draft of its Special Publication 800-160 Monday that security should be built into information technology systems at the earliest stages of development to build the most trustworthy and resilient systems. Systems security engineers should be in charge of reducing the susceptibility of IT architecture to cyber threats, along with resiliency and resistance to hacking, NIST said. The document is meant to build on existing Federal Information Security Management Act work and implementation of President Barack Obama’s 2013 cybersecurity executive order, NIST said. The agency said it’s seeking comment on its draft of SP 800-160 through July 11 (http://1.usa.gov/RJpYbp).

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., plans a Reddit Ask Me Anything session on net neutrality Tuesday at 5 p.m. He will answer questions from Reddit users alongside Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, said a Monday news release from Wyden. Wyden has strongly advocated for net neutrality protections and recently signed a letter urging the FCC to look to Title II authority in drafting net neutrality rules.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) filed an amicus brief in late April -- released Thursday -- supporting Google’s March petition to the Supreme Court, which asked the court to rule on whether the U.S. District Court in San Francisco was incorrect in finding Wi-Fi communications don’t fall under the Wiretap Act (CD April 3 p20). “The court of appeals erred, and absent review of its decision, information technology ('IT') professionals across the country will be left in legal limbo, uncertain whether standard practices they use every day to secure and optimize wireless infrastructure violate the Wiretap Act,” ITIF said (http://bit.ly/1mKhNVL). The petition stemmed from a number of lawsuits against Google relating to its practice of gathering data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, known as the “Wi-Spy” case. Google paid a $7 million settlement in March 2013 with dozens of states over the issue (http://1.usa.gov/ZjOI7I), but was later cleared by the Justice Department and FCC, according to Google’s petition (http://bit.ly/1gOObX4). “The Court should grant the petition and hold that an unsecured Wi-Fi communication is readily accessible to the general public,” ITIF said. “This conclusion would harmonize the Act’s treatment of old-world, traditional radio communications with its treatment of modern electronic communications."