FCC Chairman Genachowski said, “As our new map demonstrates, millions of Americans still live, work, and travel in areas where advanced mobile networks have not been built out. Through the FCC’s Connect America Fund, we’re helping complete our nation’s wired and wireless infrastructure, which will lead to job creation, economic growth, and innovation in the 21st century.”

As part of the Connect America Fund, the Commission created for the first time the Mobility Fund, a Universal Service Fund pool of financing dedicated exclusively to mobile services. Phase I of the Mobility Fund will provide one-time support to close gaps in mobile wireless service. The Mobility Fund helps improve voice and broadband coverage in underserved areas.

In the Public Notice, the FCC announced the first auction (Auction 901) to award high-cost universal service support through reverse competitive bidding.

In reverse auctions, the winner is the company that promises to deliver services at the LEAST cost (like a bid), instead of awarding a license to the bidder that offers the most money for a license. Reverse auctions are controversial, but they generally result in lower cost service.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the House telecom subpanel, says FCC studies that show a lack of universal broadband are without merit. Industry groups and Republicans Commissioner Robert McDowell are also unimpressed with the FCC’s findings.

Today, the funding for the high-cost Universal Service program, which provides affordable rural telephoney, is based on what it costs the incumbent telco to provide voice service. But providing DSL to outlying areas can be impossible or prohibitively expensive. They are not incentivized to lower cost.

The FCC says LTE at 700 MHz would be the most economical means of getting broadband to about 90% of the unserved homes in the U.S. But the reverse auction process would likely provide a substantial amount of funding to AT&T and Verizon, since both companies plan wide-scale LTE deployments at 700 MHz.

Will this auction process empower smaller rural and regional carriers to serve these unserved territories, or will it become a rural slush fund for large national carriers? Stay tuned.

Auction 901 will award one-time support to carriers that commit to provide 3G or better mobile voice and broadband services in areas where such services are unavailable. The auction is scheduled to begin on September 27, 2012.

The FCC’s interactive map identifies areas eligible for Mobility Fund Phase I support, with large pockets of our nation lack access to 3G mobile service or better. The map is based on data from American Roamer showing census blocks covered by 3G or better service.

The 700 MHz band is largely controlled by AT&T and Verizon, with a small sliver (the “A-Block”) owned by smaller carriers. Those carriers have complained to the FCC that the big two refuse any kind of interoperability or roaming. Consequently, competitive carriers are isolated into islands of service. Without roaming or interoperability, small carriers can be effectively killed by large carriers.

The FCC has advocated a public auction of the “D-Block”, which would provide shared public/private use of 700 MHz LTE. Congress, however, wants to give those frequencies to big city public service agencies and to fund a $20 billion nationwide LTE network dedicated to first responders.

One possible solution to provide cost/effective rural broadband is to open UHF television frequencies, below 700 MHz. The lower frequencies travel further and penetrate foliage better. With a 20 mile range, licensed (or unlicensed) white space radios may provide a cost/effective solution. Or not.

Related Dailywireless articles include; AT&T Competitors: No 700MHz Roaming, SF Approves Dedicated LTE Network for First Responders, Universal Service Reform Passed , FCC Reforms $4.3B USF Fund, FCC Reforms Universal Service, Will USF Funds Subsidize AT&T Buildout? White Space Legislation Goes Dark, White House: D-Block to Police/Fire, State of the Spectrum, More T-Mobile Spectrum Rumors, FCC Green Lights Lightsquared, Charlie’s Big Play, Phoney Spectrum Crisis?, Oregon’s $600M Public Safety Network Likely Killed, Oregon’s Public Service Network: $100M Over Budget, Bay Area 700 MHz Net in Altercation , SF Announces LTE First Responder Net, New York Cancels Statewide Wireless Network, M/A-COM to NY: We’re Good, FCC: Interoperability on 700 MHz Band, Riot in D Block,

In Revolution 2.0, Ghonim traces the planning that took place in the days before Jan. 25, 2011, when thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in preparation for the uprising.

Ghonim gives an insider’s account of what he experienced during the protests — when Egyptian security authorities locked him in a basement jail cell — and then what it was like after the departure of President Hosni Mubarak.

Ghonim launched his Facebook group, called Kullena Khaled Said (“We Are All Khaled Said”), after graphic pictures of a 28-year-old man who had been killed by Egyptian security officials began to emerge on the Internet.

Ghonim has been hailed for his energizing use of social media while planning the pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt. He says sites like Facebook are tools that can help connect people and disseminate information to the masses, but cannot create social changes on their own.

Terry Gross talked with Ghonim yesterday on Fresh Air.

The phenomena, called Arab Spring by many in the West, used the internet to communicate, sparking revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt; a civil war in Libya, civil uprisings in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen; major protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Oman; and minor protests and clashes elsewhere, not to mention the Occupy Movement in the United States.

Iran ‘celebrates’ its 1979 revolution anniversary by blocking encrypted websites, says VentureBeat. Iran’s leaders are trying to get control over what is uploaded, posted and discussed, reports the Washington Post. Authorities are becoming more and more successful, Iranian Internet users say.

Telus also announced “Optik on the go“, which allows its Optik IPTV cable customers in B.C. and Alberta to view certain TV On Demand shows and movies on their mobile devices, tablets and laptops.

There were 25.5 million wireless subscribers in Canada, as of Q3 2011, according to Wikipedia. The top 4 are:

• Rogers Wireless (9.2 million subscribers, includes Chatr brand and over 2 million Fido Solutions subscribers)
• Bell Mobility (7.3 million subscribers, includes Solo Mobile and Virgin Mobile Canada brands)
• TELUS Mobility (7.2 million subscribers, includes Koodo Mobile and Clearnet brands)
• SaskTel Mobility (568,904 subscribers, only available in Saskatchewan)

Bell and Rogers began offering LTE services on their AWS band in mid-2011.

Bell LTE offers broadband in 14 urban centres. The carrier plans further LTE expansion in 2012, including to rural and remote locations across Canada, pending the outcome of the federal government’s 700 MHz spectrum auction policy decision. LTE complements Bell’s HSPA+ network, which already serves more than 96% of the Canadian population.

Rogers was the first to launch LTE devices in Canada, kicking off its service in Ottawa last July. It plans to reach more than half the Canadian population by year’s end and continues to expand its selection of devices such as the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note and Canada’s first LTE tablet, the HTC Jetstream.

Meanwhile, a smaller player in Canadian telecom also made a new move this week, reports the Vancouver Sun. Primus Canada, which bills itself as Canada’s largest alternative communications provider, announced the expansion of its telephone and Internet services in Alberta and British Columbia on Thursday.

In 2008, 90 MHz of AWS spectrum was auctioned by Canada with specific blocks of spectrum set-aside explicitly for eligible bidders. As a result, 45% of the total 90 MHz of AWS spectrum was licensed to eligible new entrants, while the three largest wireless service providers, Rogers, Bell Mobility and TELUS hold approximately 55% of the spectrum (weighted by population).

In the 2008 Canadian AWS auction, Rogers was the biggest spender, dropping about $1 Billion to take almost the entire A block, 20MHz of new spectrum coast to coast. Bell and Telus split the E and F blocks for 30MHz of contiguous spectrum in every province with exception of Manitoba and Saskatchewan where only Telus won spectrum.

The Canadian government set aside 3 of the 6 AWS blocks (40% of actual spectrum) to new entrants. Furthermore, they’ve mandated the existing carriers to share towers and even share roaming spectrum to give these would-be entrants a fighting chance at achieving scale.

Industry Canada is set to auction off highly sought 700 MHz spectrum, this year. The major Canadian carriers view 700 MHz as an integral component in their LTE networks, while new entrants view it as their chance to seriously compete with the major players.

Canada’s big three wireless providers (TELUS, Rogers and Bell), are expected to bid on 700 MHz licenses in Canada. Whether there will be space for Videotron, Wind and Mobilicity, remains to be determined.

Inukshuk Wireless, a joint venture of Bell Canada and Rogers, also established a Canada-wide wireless network in 45 major cities and more than 120 rural communities.

It holds 2.6 GHz licenses across Canada, in all provinces and territories except Manitoba and Saskatchewan including Saskatchewan.

The Inukshuk network (map) was built using pre-WiMAX technology. Inukshuk is shutting down their pre-Wimax service next month. Presumably Inukshuk will convert some if not most of that 2.6 GHz infrastructure to LTE-A at some point.

The 2500-2690 MHz band is the only band identified by the ITU on a global basis for IMT next generation mobile services. The 100 MHz of spectrum not owned by Bell and Rogers may be auctioned off this year by the CTRC. Telus could be a bidder.

Industry Canada will auction both the 700 MHz and the 2500 MHz bands. Outgoing CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein said that 700 MHz auction will take place near the end of 2012.

The CRTC has imposed a digital transition deadline of August 31, 2011. Tv transmitters occupying channels 52 to 69 must relocate to channels 2 to 51 or become low power transmitters. The Framework for Spectrum Auctions in Canada was issued last March. Cross-Border Coordination of Cellular Radio Systems is the general rule.

Von Finckenstein liked set-asides, where only new entrants – those holding less than 10% of the national wireless market – were permitted to bid on a portion of the airwaves. But the 2008 AWS auction didn’t impact the dominance of the big three carriers much. This week the CRTC completed a comprehensive review of regulations, under a new acting Chairman. “Going forward, the CRTC will continue to favour market forces and carefully weigh the need for any new regulations,” said the report. Set-asides for new entrants may be on their way out.

This year shipments of smartphones, will overtake PCs and laptops, says market research firm IDC. Shipments of personal computers will still continue to increase even as they are surpassed by other devices.

Global smartphone shipments will soar past 1 billion units in 2015, resulting in a global smartphone share of 54.4 percent, reports iSuppli.

The book can’t be read without a computer, and the Web site is useless without the book. The 44 page paperback book costs $24.95. Their software uses the FLARToolkit to project animations in an augmented-reality and Papervision 3D.

QR Code Readers are available for Apple, Android, RIM and Windows Mobile. Free QR Code Generators are readily available.

Bobbie Johnson at GigOmt points out that the Shortcut app allows users to take a photo of newspaper pieces, magazine articles, advertisements and even billboards and then link them straight to a digital version on their phone.

WGBH has begun distributing its monthly program guide, Explore!, in a package that brings video and audio promos along with it to iPad tablets. It can pull in updated “live listings” from the Web and doesn’t have to go to the printer a month and a half before broadcast.

The PBS Argo project is 12 sites, produced by 14 public radio stations, each exploring a major topic regionally. Journalists are hired by individual public radio stations, each of which applied for the funding. OPB’s Ecotrope competes with Sustainable Business Oregon and the Tribune’s Sustainable Life section. Argo uses open source WordPress themes to create topic-based news sites.

The audience for NPR.org and NPR mobile apps has doubled from 8 million to 16 million unique a month in the last two years. Public Interactive is testing a new online publishing system for stations.

Retail availability for the iPad 3 (assuming that’s what it’s called), could follow roughly the same schedule as that of the iPad 2; a week or so after the event.

According to All Things D, the new tablet will be similar in form factor to the iPad 2, but running a much faster chip, sporting an improved graphics processing unit, and featuring a 2048×1536 Retina Display — or something close to it.

“Retina Display” is a marketing term Apple uses for the maximum number of lines the average human retina can discern. The iPhone 4 and 4S, running at 960 x 640 pixels across 3.5 inches diagonal, meet this criteria of 300 dpi, but the iPad 2, running at 1024 x 768 pixels across 9.7 inches diagonal, doesn’t.

QXGA resolution, with 2048 x 1536 pixels across a 9.7-inch screen, comes to about 264 ppi — pretty close to the 300 ppi threshold. It would also come close to the 1920 x 1080 resolution of High Definition tvs (cropping the top and bottom).

On Thursday, Apple’s stock reached a new all-time high, trading well above $495 in a development that pushed the company’s market capitalization past $456 billion, which is greater than the values of Google and Microsoft… together.

The letter (pdf) was sent to the 20-member panel tasked with crafting a year-long extension to payroll tax cuts for 160 million U.S. workers by the end of February.

Dear Senators and Representatives,

We write to call your attention to language currently contained in Title IV of H.R. 3630 (the “JOBS” Act) that could cause the U.S. wireless market to revert back to the innovation and competition starved market that existed before Congress granted the FCC spectrum auction authority in 1993. The JOBS Act contains provisions that could provide significant benefits to smaller carriers and consumers by putting additional, high-quality spectrum into the marketplace. However, Section 4105 of the Bill, as currently worded, would undercut those benefits by prohibiting the Federal Communications Commission from considering existing spectrum holdings in determining a carrier’s participation in future spectrum auctions.

Smaller carriers, including Atlantic Tele-Network, Bluegrass Cellular, C Spire Wireless, Cricket Communications, NorthwestCell and the Rural Cellular Association, hope to have an opportunity to bid on unused television frequencies. They hope the FCC will put restrictions on how much spectrum the largest carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon, can buy.

House Republicans introduced H.R. 3630 (pdf) which would prevent the FCC from restricting those who can bid in the auction. That bill, sponsored by Greg Walden (R-Ore.), would also eliminate any “free” use of the unused television spectrum for unlicensed use.

Today, a bi-partisan letter in support of unlicensed spectrum, was led by Representatives Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and signed by 40 of their colleagues (pdf). The letter was directed to House and Senate conferees working on the final provisions of the payroll extension package. It said:

We believe that spectrum reform will ensure that commercial users, public safety and federal users all have access to wireless capacity to meet our ever-growing wireless needs. However, in order to do that successfully, as it has in the past, the FCC must retain its ability to make appropriate allocation decisions and conduct auctions to maximize technological innovation and rural broadband deployment.

AT&T and Verizon accuse the FCC of stacking the deck, giving preference to smaller carriers.

According to Jim Cicconi in AT&T’s Public Policy Blog, “What this group proposes could not be called an auction with a straight face. These companies should be prepared to compete in a fair and open auction.”

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has also asked a Federal court to shut down the FCC’s authorization of white space wireless devices.

Supporting FCC autonomy is Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who urged the Internet community to rally to push Congress to free up more unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi and other new wireless technologies.

“It’s going to take your voices and the voices of a whole bunch of folks similar to what happened a few weeks ago … to just rise up and make clear that that freedom, that the accessibility, capacity for innovation is vital to our future competitive position,” said Kerry, chairman of the Senate Commerce Communications Subcommittee.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved its own spectrum legislation last summer (S.911). The Wireless Innovation Alliance, a coalition of tech companies, public-interest groups and others, prefers Senate Commerce’s language on the issue, which would permit some unlicensed use of the White Spaces, as well as incentive auctions to enable carriers to expand their licensed spectrum holdings.

House Republicans may have the upper hand in the negotiations between the two bills. That’s because the House spectrum legislation is in the House payroll measure and the Senate Commerce bill is not, says the DailyDose.

In addition, the authors of the House spectrum bill, Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., are House payroll-tax negotiators.

Walden’s bill would only provide $5 billion to $6.5 billion in funding for a dedicated nationwide LTE network for first responders. That’s half the money that S.911 provides.

Any Walden compromise might fork between being more sympathetic to the NAB (with more money for public safety) or for his constituents in rural Oregon (with unlicensed white spaces). I’m betting he’ll go with public safety. Cynics might consider it a gift to the NAB and large carriers.

Yochai Benkler, Professor of law at Harvard University, says “incentive auctions” threaten the future of wireless innovation by eliminating unlicensed spectrum.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the FCC’s unlicensed spectrum use generates about $30 billion worth of economic value every year (Genachowski remarks).

Free broadband enables local newspapers and magazines to thrive. It stimulates economies. Informs citizens.

A free market is a mass market…and white spaces are all about free. One AP could cover several blocks. They’re slow but cheap. White spaces are THE digital divide solution.

Taxpayers currently subsidize the Universal Service Fund to the tune of $8.7 billion.

Reality is stark. The JOBS bill will guarantee a multi-billion dollar subsidy for large carriers. Large carriers aim to use USF funds to subsidize their monopoly over spectrum below 1 GHz and kill off any “free” competition.

Who could blame them?

• The carriers are not in business for the public welfare.
• NAB’s group owners get their spectrum free – and aim to keep it that way.

The Universal Service Fund, a Big Tax, Big Government program, if there ever was one, seems to be propped up by Republicans for only one reason — SuperPacs.

Related Dailywireless articles include; Genachowski Lobbies for Unlicensed White Spaces, Universal Service Reform Passed, Microsoft Announced Narrow Channel Whitespace, FCC Authorizes White Space Service in Wilmington, White Space Legislation Goes Dark, White Space War, Bills to Kill Unlicensed White Space?, White Space Trial Completed, White Space Trialed, Huawei to Trial White Space TD-LTE, NTIA “Finds” 1.5 GHz of Federal Spectrum, UK Delays 4G Auction Ofcom: White Spaces by 2013, UK Gets Free Public WiFi, Europe’s Digital Divide Auction,

John D. Porcari, the Deputy Secretary for the US Department of Transportation, asked the committee to introduce standards that regulate the usage of GPS’ neighboring spectrum. He told the hearing that precise GPS systems like those found in aircrafts need to utilize wide-band receivers that also pickup signals outside the regulated spectrum.

When asked why LightSquared’s proposed network interferes with GPS, Porcari told the committee (pdf):

The test results showed that LightSquared’s design and filters effectively prevented “out-of-band” emissions; in other words, their powerful broadband signal was not ‘leaking’ into the adjacent GPS band. However, the powerful broadband signal operating in the upper and lower 10 MHz of the MSS band (5 billion times the signal of GPS even ½ a mile from a LightSquared transmitter) overwhelmed filters and effectively blocked GPS signals in most of the devices tested in what is referred to as “overload interference”. Also, interference caused by LightSquared’s design of a dual carrier signal (upper and lower 10 MHz channels combined) resulted in an inter-modulation product in the adjacent GPS frequency band.

LightSquared’s proposed cellular data network can’t be made compatible with GPS, and the government should set interference standards to prevent future conflicts over companies trying to establish such services, Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari told the House Aviation Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.

Perhaps anticipating the testimony, LightSquared asked the FCC to regulate GPS receivers to prevent them being affected by their their use of adjacent spectrum. But new legislation won’t prevent current GPS receivers from being affected by the much stronger terrestrial signals of Lightsquared.

Airlines for America, the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, called for a government wide policy to protect the GPS spectrum in order to avoid any future threat of spectrum interference.

A bill to transform the nation’s air traffic control system with GPS, received final congressional approval Monday. The bill authorizes $63.4 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration over four years, including about $11 billion toward the new GPS-centric air traffic system.

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) allows pilots and dispatchers to select their own, usually direct flight paths, rather than follow the existing interstate highway-like grid in the sky.

With NextGen, each airplane will transmit and receive precise information about the time at which it and others will cross key points along their paths. Pilots and air traffic managers on the ground will have the same precise information, transmitted via data communications.

A plane’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) broadcasts precise data in real time about the plane’s location, speed, and altitude. This increased situational awareness will allow air traffic controllers to place air routes in tighter proximity to each other.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast consists of two different services: ADS–B Out and ADS–B In. ADS–B Out periodically broadcasts information about each aircraft, such as identification, current position, altitude, and velocity, through an onboard transmitter. ADS-B In receives data, such as direct communication from nearby aircraft. ADS–B uses a frequency around 1090 MHz.

Eventually, FAA officials want the airline industry and other aircraft operators to install onboard GPS that updates the location of planes every second instead of terrestrial radar’s every six to 12 seconds. That would enable pilots to tell not only the location of their plane, but other planes equipped with the new technology as well — something they can’t do now.

LightSquared’s woes weigh on Philip Falcone’s Hedge Fund, observes the NY Times. LightSquared now appears doomed by broad opposition.

Related stories on Dailywireless include; Lightsquared Calls GPS Test “Rigged”, Lightsquared: Breaking Bad, Defense Bill: Bad News for Lightsquared, Sprint Gives Lightsquared 30 Days, Lightsquared Short on Cash, Lightsquared Battles The Force, Lightsquared: A Hardware Solution, Lightsquared: A Hardware Solution, Lightsquared Files Official FCC Report, More Testing for Lightsquared, Lightsquared: Another Plan, Lightsquared & Sprint Announce Sharing Agreement, Lightsquared Files Official FCC Report , Lightsquared: Plan “B”, Lightsquared: Lawmakers Skeptical, Lightsquared + Sprint Deal Done?, Lightsquared Gets 2-week Extension, Ergen Likely Got TerreStar, Charlie Ergen’s Spectacular Triple Play, Lightsquared Interference: No Immediate Fix?, LightSquared: GPS Interference Found, Lightsquared: Plan B from Outer Space?, Harbinger: 59MHz or What?. Time Warner Cable + Lightstream?, Lightsquared Signs Cricket Wireless, Another Rumor: Lightsquared + Sprint?, Lightsquared + Sprint?, Charlie’s Big Play, LTE Spectrum: It’s War

Wi-Fi Alliance’s Hotspot 2.0 is certification program. It drew largely from 802.11u, which enhances network discovery and selection by Wi-Fi clients.

The new WiFi standards provide WPA 2 security, with a similar level of security provided on a carrier’s cellular network, but provides a standard automated mechanism for signing on. It eliminates manually selecting a network or entering a password.

In 2010, Cisco and industry leaders formed the Hotspot 2.0 Task Group to bring a 3G-like end-user experience to Wi-Fi authentication and roaming. Hotspot 2.0 certification is expected in 2012 from the Wi-Fi Alliance to ensure interoperability for equipment vendors.

In addition to the IEEE’s 802.11u and the Wi-Fi Alliance’s Hotspot 2.0 initiative, the Wireless Broadband Association and the GSM Association are working on standards that build on the IEEE standards to define protocols that will allow carriers around the globe to roam onto each other’s Wi-Fi hot spots.

Ruckus Wireless will integrate support for the 802.11u protocol in its Smart WiFi system.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, about 200 million households use Wi-Fi networks and there are about 750,000 Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide. Wi-Fi is used by over 700 million people and there are about 800 million new Wi-Fi devices every year.

Other carriers utilizing “unlicensed” WiFi technology include Ruckus Wireless which was selected by The Cloud, the UK’s largest public access Wi-Fi provider, to supply indoor WiFi, expanding its nationwide Wi-Fi network.

The Cloud provides public Wi-Fi — for its subscribers.

Other carrier-controlled WiFi networks include:

• Japan’s KDDI and Ruckus. The companies are building out a Wi-Fi network composed of 100,000 hot spots. KDDI subscribers can use the new KDDI “au Wi-Fi SPOT” service free. Others can’t.
• Ruckus and Towerstream have built out wholesale hotzones throughout New York City, San Francisco and Chicago in 2011 as well as Grand Central Terminal and Times Square, using TowerStream’s backhaul installed on nearby tall buildings.
• Ruckus has completed its first demonstration with a major U.S. operator, rumored to be Verizon.
• AT&T Mobility announced its own hotzone thrust, expanding its WiFi hotzones into more areas of Chicago, New York and San Francisco to offload heavy 3G traffic.
• Boingo Wireless has 3,000 hotspots in Japan, with a roaming agreement operated by the Wi2 300 service.
• China Unicom and China Mobile sell iPhones but they are restricted to 2G. So the iPhone is packaged with a WiFi-only service, and a pre-pay of 2,400 yuan worth of WiFi usage. China Mobile plans to add a further one million WiFi hotspots around the country over the next three years.

With the development of 802.11n, one WiFi network can now hog ALL the available channels on the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band, effectively eliminating nearby “free” competition in a mall or other public place. Ruckus says beamforming is a solution.

Another solution would be to use the carriers’ own licensed frequencies – with femtocells.

According to a report by In-Stat Research entitled “Wi-Fi Hotspots: the Mobile Operator’s 3G Offload Alternative,” worldwide hotspot venues are projected to increase to over 1.2 million venues in 2015 from under 421,000 in 2010. Usage will follow similar growth, increasing from four billion connects in 2010 to 120 billion connects by 2015.

They are buying the entire group of properties — paidContent.org, mocoNews.net, contentSutra and paidContent:UK. A representative of Guardian News & Media will join their board of directors as an observer.

Guardian acquired ContentNext for a reported $30 million in July 2008 – or was is really $4 to $6.5 million? Paid Content was founded by Rafat Ali and has chronicled the digital media business for decision-makers since 2002.

GigaOM said it attracts 4.5 million monthly unique users, while PaidContent and the other ContentNext sites registered a little more than 700,000 uniques in January.

The combined group of GigaOM and ContentNext will represent “more than 20 writers and editors,” according to paidContent. However, that’s not much more than the 18 editorial staffers listed on GigaOM’s editorial-team page, observes MediaBeat.

In other words, GigaOm will essentially kill Paid Content.

A tablet strategy may be emerging. Tech news giant Engadget has a magazine app called Distro. With the ePub3 standard, a write once, publish anywhere, “paid content” model could be the future.

GigaOm Pro took a combination of research, analysis, discussion and opinion that was previously largely free and now charges subscribers $299/year for it.

I’m skeptical that there will be any benefit for consumers on this deal. Paid Content uniquely covered the dramatic changes in publishing and media. I could see paying $2.99 a month for it – but $299/yr? No thanks.

Related articles on Dailywireless include; Digital Book Conference, Tablet Ownership Doubled Over Holidays , iBooks: Cellular’s Big Bang?, Kindle Fire: Profitable, Apple Textbook App, XO-3: OLPC’s $99 Tablet, Barnes & Noble: Getting Out of Publishing?, E-Books: Banner Year , Barnes & Noble Introduces $249 Media Tablet