ZigBee Announces New Internet of Things Standard

ZigBee Announces New Internet of Things Standard

NOVEMBER 22, 2014  KATHLEEN TRACY

The ZigBee Alliance, has announced the unification of its wireless standards to a single standard named ZigBee 3.0, which will provide interoperability among the widest range of smart devices, providing consumers and businesses access to innovative products and services.

The new standard impacts tens of millions of devices already using ZigBee standards. The company reports that “all device types, commands, and functionality defined in current ZigBee PRO-based standards are available to developers in the new standard.”

Filip Jan Depauw, Philips Connected Lighting’s head of marketing and partnerships observes, “Happy consumers are the core driving force of all Philips hue activities. Consumers expect their smart devices to just work and be simple, and we continue to deliver new and rich lighting centric experiences that are easy to control and create. The ZigBee protocols are a key enabler to achieve this, and the broader ZigBee 3.0 standard further enables seamless communication across different domains and will therefore allow us to offer even greater functionality to our users. Interoperability made simple empowers new use cases and happy consumers.”

ZigBee 3.0 encompasses defines the widest range of device types including home automation, lighting, energy management, smart appliance, security, sensors, and health care monitoring products. According to ZigBee the new standard “supports both easy-to-use DIY installations as well as professionally installed systems. Based on IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee 3.0 uses ZigBee PRO networking to enable reliable communication in the smallest, lowest-power devices.”

A complete list of standards that have been merged to create ZigBee 3.0 can be viewed at www.ZigBee.org.

ON world director of research Mareca Hatler says. “The ZigBee Alliance is addressing the critical need for application level standardization. This announcement will build on the Alliance’s leadership across the Internet of Things, while continuing to provide the foundation for innovative products and services for smart homes, connected lighting, and other high growth markets.”

ZigBee 3.0, which is currently undergoing testing, was developed and tested with the help of Alliance members including The Kroger Co., Legrand, NXP, Philips, Schneider Electric, Silicon Labs, Texas Instruments, Wincor Nixdorf, and V-Mark.

ZigBee Alliance president and chief executive officer Tobin J. M. Richardson adds: “The ZigBee Alliance has always believed that true interoperability comes from standardization at all levels of the network, especially the application level which most closely touches the user. Lessons learned by Alliance members when taking products to market around the world have allowed us to unify our application standards into a single standard. ZigBee 3.0 will allow product developers to take advantage of ZigBee’s unique features such as mesh networking and Green Power to deliver highly reliable, secure, low-power, low-cost solutions to any market.”

ZigBee 3.0 demonstrations are planned for the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2015 and ratification is expected in Q4 2015.

http://www.smartmeters.com/zigbee-announces-new-internet-things-standard/

Woman dies after airport scanner interferes with her pacemaker

Woman dies after airport scanner interferes with her pacemaker

A woman has died in her husband's arms after her pacemaker was affected by an airport security scan

Airport officials are investigating the sudden death of Diana Tolstova Photo: EUROPICS

By Harriet Alexander

11:26AM GMT 22 Nov 2014

A woman fitted with a pacemaker has died after passing through an airport scanner in the southern Russian town of Ulan-Ude. 

Diana Tolstova, 30, died in the airport minutes after passing through the scanner. Her husband Maxim, 33, said that they had provided papers proving that Mrs Tolstova was fitted with the heart device – which is adversely affected by airport scanners. 

"I don’t know what happened but she went through it anyway," he told Central European News agency. 

"When we got to the departure gate she began to feel dizzy and suddenly collapsed. 

"I grabbed her in my arms and called for medical help.

"It took a few minutes before hospital doctors arrived, and when they did they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t give her any first aid and they didn’t call an ambulance. 

"My beautiful Diana died in my arms." 

Airport officials said that they are investigating the case. 

"Security and airport personnel are given strict instructions about how to handle people with pacemakers, and we warn them never to let a wearer go through a metal detector," an airport spokesman said. 

"In normal circumstances, they see their papers and let them pass. In this case, the patient seems to either have forgotten about it, didn’t know or became confused by the airport security arrangements. 

"But every patient receives a strict warning."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11247611/Woman-dies-after-airport-scanner-interferes-with-her-pacemaker.html

Failure to follow cellular antenna regulations raises safety issues

Failure to follow cellular antenna regulations raises safety issues

Posted: Nov 17, 2014 9:49 AM PST

Updated: Nov 19, 2014 8:00 PM PST

By Jennifer Emert

CBS46 News

ATLANTA (CBS46) -

                    

We want more bars, more data and faster speeds for our cell phones. Our desire for all things digital has cellular providers scrambling.

To fill the need, cellular companies put more radio frequency antennas closer to us - on parking garages, apartments, and rooftops across Atlanta. Walk into their footprint, and those antennas can emit radiation hot enough to cook human tissue. 

"We're at 300, 350, 400 percent of the limit close up to the antenna," said Drew Fountain, co-founder of RF Check. He's talking about antennas on the top of a building close to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

"When you're over 100, people get injured and it's just not right," Fountain said. 

RF energy coming from antennas can cook the body, much like being inside a microwave oven. 

"You're going to heat up without doing any physical activity," said Marvin Wessel, an RF engineer who's audited more than 3,000 sites.

"Our brains are very sensitive to RF radiation and it can cause memory loss and mood disorders," Fountain said.

More than one in 10 rooftop sites nationwide are in violation of federal safety rules - leaving painters, roofers, maintenance workers, and anyone who accidentally walks by with no idea how to control their exposure.

"I'm going on a rooftop to service a piece of equipment. I'm going on a rooftop to do a visual inspection - well, nobody's notified," said Chad Collins, of Bone Dry Roofing. 

Fountain and Wessel are dedicated to exposing RF industry hazards across the country.

"The radio frequency radiation is invisible, tasteless and odorless," Fountain said.

Fountain flew to Atlanta to help CBS46 analyze the hidden dangers we uncovered. Near Hartsfield-Jackson, the danger zone of a newer rooftop antenna extends 25 feet.

"We were out 18 feet and we were too close," Fountain said.

According to law, signs and locks on the door to the rooftop don't go far enough and likely wouldn't keep anyone from walking into the antenna's footprint. 

"Often they're ambiguous, like that sign, it doesn't mean anything to a worker," Fountain said.

Wessel found a similar reading for us on a Phoenix rooftop. 

"Six-hundred-twenty percent, which is greater than 100 percent, which is the limit," Wessel said.

In both Phoenix and Atlanta, CBS46 discovered building owners are unaware of the danger, have no RF safety plan, or don't realize they could be liable.

"We actually were never provided with any type of site plan, where it's safe to enter, where it's safe to stand," said building owner Sherrie Anderson.

While rooftops may be an occupational risk, we found two sites in Midtown parking garages anyone could access. At the first, it only takes a chair to expose our crew.

"We all have five bars coming through our heads," said Fountain, as he measured the antenna on the parking deck off 14th Street in Midtown. 

At the second, you can actually reach over and touch the antennas. 

"We were having 500, 600, 700 percent readings a minute ago," Fountain said.

An even bigger worry is antennas workers never see. Three men completed an entire church roof with no idea they were working beside a stealth antenna inside the base of the steeple next to them. 

In Candler Park, the Epworth United Methodist Church will have three antennas placed inside its steeple next spring. 

"You don't necessarily know if you're working in close proximity to some of this equipment, if you're being exposed," Collins said.

The law requires anyone with access to a rooftop to be fully aware of the dangers, so they can protect themselves. In fact, our investigation found there's little policing by the FCC. 

"I have never run into a FCC enforcement person doing an assessment on a rooftop," Wessel said.

In 18 years, just Metro PCS has been cited. While the FCC admits two Verizon sites broke the rules, the FCC dropped their investigation.

RF Check is attempting to map the invisible footprints of the nation's antennas, to show where it's safe and not safe to work.

"That's the key protecting the workers, which protects our networks which keeps the licensees in compliance, keeps the building owners safe, the workers safe," Fountain said.

"We want workers going home to their families in the same condition or better than they were when they got here," Collins said. 

RF radiation will only get worse as 4G LTE expands.  Wessel said some locations will soon exceed a thousand times occupational safety limits.

Cellular providers in Atlanta tell us they take, "RF safety concerns very seriously," but they weren't serious enough to allow CBS46 cameras in to show you. 

"Verizon Wireless takes pride in its world-class network and the safety of its facilities. We take safety concerns very seriously and have a comprehensive program in place for rooftop sites. The process we went through with the FCC earlier this year was productive and reaffirms Verizon Wireless' strong commitment to safety. Verizon Wireless will continue to deliver the best wireless experience for our customers with first-rate network coverage and speeds."

"Sprint takes great lengths to comply with the FCC's regulations in this area. This includes an annual review process to ensure all of our sites are compliant with the Commission's rules on RF exposure limits, including signage and barriers. We've also instituted additional site reviews with our Network Vision installations to certify the compliance of this new infrastructure."

The CBS46 investigation also revealed there's big money to be made by leasing rooftop space to cell phone companies. An average lease nets a building owner $23,000 a year for one antenna. The more desirable a location, the higher the price.

http://www.cbs46.com/story/27405694/cbs46-investigates



Does cell phones radiation have a bad effect on semen quality?

Note: I think this study was presented at a conference, EAU 14th Central European Meeting (CEM), so only the following abstract is available at this time. The decrease in sperm motility due to RF exposure has been observed in many previous studies.  

Does cell phones radiation have a bad effect on semen quality?

Banyra O., Gorpinchenko, O.,  Nikitin O., Shulyak A. C33: Does cell phones radiation have a bad effect on semen quality? European Urology Supplements. 13(6):e1230. Nov. 2014.  doi:10.1016/S1569-9056(14)61431-7.

INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: It is unreal to imagine a modern socially-active man who does not use cell phone at all. The influence of mobile phone radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RFEMR) on semen quality is the subject of contemporary interest. We aimed to evaluate the direct in vitro influence of cell phone RF-EMR on semen parameters in healthy men with normozoospermia.

MATERIAL & METHODS: 32 healthy men with normal spermograms were included into the study. Each sperm sample was divided into two equal portions (A and B). Both portions of all participants were placed in two different thermostats. Into a thermostat with portions B also a mobile phone in standby/talk mode was placed. After 5 hours of incubation the semen samples from both thermostats were re-evaluated regarding basic parameters. The presence of DNA fragmentation in both A and B portions of each sample was determined using a standard sperm chromatin dispersion test followed by calculation of sperm DNA fragmentation index.

RESULTS: Sperm count and the percentage of dead sperm in groups A & B during 5 hours did not change in general and was not statistically different from each other: 92.3 ± 22,7 x106 /mL vs 90.8 ± 24,2 x 106 /mL; (p >0.05) and 9.1% ± 3.7% vs. 9.6% ± 4.1%; (p >0.05) respectively. The number of spermatozoa with progressive movement in group B, under the influence of RF-EMR, is statistically lower than the number of spermatozoa with progressive movement in group A with no effect of a mobile phone (66.5% ± 6.3% vs 81.3% ± 7.2%, p <0 .05="" 2.5="" 3.3="" 7.4="" a="" and="" b="" between="" differences="" groups="" motionless="" no="" number="" of="" p="" reported="" sperm="" spermatozoa="" the="" vs.="" were="" with="">0.05), while the number of non-progressive movement spermatozoa was significantly higher in group B, that was under the influence of cell phone radiation (25.3% ± 4.7% vs. 12.8% ± 5.8%, p <0 .05="" 1.8="" 2.2="" 4.2="" 5="" 8.8="" about="" after="" are="" by="" characterized="" control="" dna="" exposed="" finally="" fragmentation="" group="" hours="" in="" index="" of="" p="" parameter="" rf-emr="" samples="" span="" sperm="" the="" this="" to="" was="" while="">

CONCLUSIONS: Semen exposure in the area of mobile phone RF-EMR for 5 hours leads to a decrease in the number of sperm with progressive movement and an increase in those with non-progressive movement. Sperm DNA damage due to RF-EMF exposure occurs too. Thus, it looks that for men readying themselves for fatherhood it would be better to avoid holding the cell phones closely to testes.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1569905614614317

--

Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
Center: http://cfch.berkeley.edu

Electromagnetic Radiation Safety

Website:              http://www.saferemr.com
Facebook:            http://www.facebook.com/SaferEMR
News Releases:    http://pressroom.prlog.org/jmm716/
Twitter:                 @berkeleyprc

Arthur Firstenburg on Wolfgang Maes's body grounding letter

Arthur Firstenburg on Wolfgang Maes's body grounding letter

On 2014-11-19 à 17:49, bearstar@fastmail.fm wrote:

 

Andre,

 

This guy knows what he is talking about. Here is a bit of wisdom, accumulated from my 34 years of research and experience:

 

Grounding is often trial and error. The rule taught by bau biologists is there should be one ground and one ground only on the customer side of the transformer. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. I have been in houses where a second ground was a vast improvement, and I have been in houses where removing the only ground was a vast improvement. Electricity takes the paths of least resistance, and you never really know where that is, or what the effects of adding or removing ground connections will be, until you try it.

 

I agree with Mr. Maes about so-called body voltage. Measuring the electric field you are in is much more relevant than measuring your body's potential with respect to some arbitrary point in the ground outside.

 

One thing Mr. Maes says is not quite correct. If ground currents from the electric grid are a severe problem, you do not want to be grounded. Wear rubber soles, don't walk barefoot, and certainly don't attach yourself to a ground rod. You'll just pull up dirty electricity from the earth into your body. However, if you are suffering from radiation through the air, the frequencies will accumulate in your body to the extent that they enter you faster than you can discharge them. Take off your shoes and provide a path to ground, and you will get rid of them faster and be relieved of your symptoms. Our clothing can also be a barrier that prevents discharging electricity. Silk is such a good insulator that they used to use it to insulate transmission wires on utility poles. Cotton is also an insulator, not quite as good as silk. Inability to discharge electricity can cause severe skin itching. I no longer wear cotton on my upper body, and under no circumstances do I wear silk any more.

 

The situation is actually much more complex than that. We are actually always grounded to some extent, whether we are touching the ground or not. We could not live long if we were not. There is a science called magnetotellurics, which measures the conductivity of the earth at different depths by sounding the earth with different frequencies. Our bodies are connected with the different depths of the earth in a similar way, whether we are touching the earth or not. And the properties of the earth underneath where you live are just as important as the amount of radiation around you from cell towers and other technology. Carl Blackman and others proved that the magnitude and direction of the ambient magnetic field completely changed the outcome of their experiments, to such an extent that the biological effects of the same frequencies can be entirely different at different places on the earth. And the situation is even more complex than that. My experience is that the conductivity of the different layers of the earth underneath me determines how electrically sensitive I am at that location, and also where in my body I feel it. I live in Santa Fe on purpose because the conductivity of the ground here, all the way down to mid-mantle, is higher than almost anywhere else on earth. In this situation, the earth is very effective at "absorbing" the frequencies that enter you from techological sources.

 

Arthur

 

On Wed, Nov 19, 2014, at 07:16 AM, André Fauteux wrote:

Wolfgang  Maes <wmaes@aol.com> is the author of the Baubiologie EMF evaluation guidelines adopted notably by the Austian Medical Association http://maes.de/

(Google translation from his German text)

 

Is the grounding of the people important? What must be considered when grounding measures?

Man is a supernatural being and any contact with his livelihood called Earth is reasonable and healthy. We block in our civilized life far too often contact with the Earth, for example by insulating building mass, synthetic carpets, plastic soles, especially in the car and in bed. All this cause the connection to the earth, the people for a long time holding isolated from ground.

It would be natural and sensible, relaxing in the truest sense of the word as often as possible grounded, to be in contact with "Mother Earth". On the one hand provides us with natural earth energies and on the other hand it takes us technically caused energies such as the recorded and accumulated in our bodies electromagnetic or induced by synthetic electrostatic charges. Earth discharges us, actually a good thing.

If it were not for these wretched and sometimes critical side effects were ...

Countless technical electromagnetic factors affect us: electric fields, waves, radio ... And a grounded man pulls them even better, is like an antenna for the plentiful around us electrosmog example of installations, cables, devices, neighbors, power lines, stations ... It is as a result of field effects under tension, even more than without grounding, and thanks grounding now critical currents flowing through his body.

Conclusion: Grounding? Yes! But please only if the environment of the grounded people - we take as a particularly important example of the bed space - guaranteed to be free (or at least very poor) is of technical electromagnetic fields. Otherwise: Verschlimmbesserung. Therefore: No grounding actions without expert measurements of electromagnetic pollution present in the environment and - if necessary - appropriate remediation.

And, also important: What we consider to earth, is often no real earth in the natural sense more, eg the protective conductor of the socket or the bare radiator pipe. They are so often full of "dirt" from "Dirty Power" of the whole electronic energy saving lamps, computers, the entire electrified house and the public electric grid, and these electromagnetic dirt we pull us through the protective conductor, the "earth" and in our body.

Next Conclusion: Grounding? Yes! But please only if ... it comes to a clean, natural earth without technical deposits, without artificial electromagnetic signals, without civilized dirt. Even that should be considered before grounding plans.

Sometimes the protective conductor of an electrical outlet or radiator or water pipe are not grounded - technical Hudel - and it closes here trusting his grounding mat on, please do not.

Sometimes even supplies the spike in moist garden soil no solid earth more because the ground - especially in large cities, especially in nearby technical facilities such as power lines, railway lines, transformer and substations, cellular towers ... - no longer is clean, full of technical voltages and signals. Usually, however, the garden soil is better than the house, especially in rural areas and further away from major electrical and industrial equipment.

You see, quite as easy as it is described by the grounding apostles in their books and publications, it is not time again.

From the USA currently spills over a Earthing- or grounding-wave to us. Grounding is praised here as a wonderful panacea for and against almost everything. The lost and by Earthing (grounding sleeping mats, floor mats, films, conductive shoes, ...) now restored ground contact to heal, promote sleep, relieve fatigue and stress, inflammation, attenuate, support the immune system, eliminate indigestion, calm the nervous system, promote detoxification, thin the blood, eliminate menstrual cramps, improve erections, dampen hypersensitivity, compensate for jetlag, accelerate weight loss. Grounding is "the simplest and most natural measure against the increasing painful and often fatal diseases," the "power source ground" offer an almost "endless supply of negatively charged free electrons that neutralize positively charged free radicals".

In addition, it must be read in the US literature, "earth reduces the electromagnetic fields acting on the body" and "the electrons of the earth shield the body against these disorders from". Certainly not earth reduces the forces acting on us electromagnetic fields, on the contrary, it attracts - as mentioned - rather still, and the earth does not shield the body from too, but it conducts electrical fields from the prize: current flow in the body.

On the edge: Be careful with the body voltage measurement by grounding measures or grounding bed pads. This measurement method is unfortunately often abused for the alleged evidence of a reduction of the voltage applied to the people. This does not work because the body voltage measurement (so-called capacitive coupling body) can only work if the - lying in bed, for example - does not guarantee any human contact with the ground or near the Earth has. Otherwise: unforgivable measurement error.

Some people feel better spontaneously and permanently grounded on such mats in bed, in my experience. Why? If, despite all the possible side effects of the "power of the earth", at the Erdnähekontakt, on contact with one of the most important means of livelihood? Or is it because of the sudden collapse of the technical Span¬nungspotenzials after partial years of exposure time? Or the fact that it is now no more potential differences are in the body, which are a special risk? Or?

Everything in life is grounded, everything is in flux: animals, plants, everything. On the ground, in caves, even in the nests of rooted trees with the earth. We humans should lichst often be possible with Mother Earth in harmony. We Civilized there are fewer and fewer. The perfect insulation is the bed, no more ground contact, made of wood, latex and / or foam. That is why? Why do we feel in a conductive environment well? In the Spanish finca with stone floor? In the shower? In the sea? Barefoot in the wet grass? Relaxed in contact with the earth energy.

Grounding yes! We are far too little grounded, especially at home. But please, just as described, if not critical technical fields affect us, and only when the soil is really anansonstenen earth: aerial man.

My bed is grounded, the most conductive surfaces, floors and walls of my living and working spaces also. But beware: My bed environment and the other rooms are free of technical electrosmog. And these are the most bed-, living and working areas of my fellow human beings not.

 

--


André Fauteux, éditeur


Magazine La Maison du 21e siècle


Tél./Téléc. : 450 228-1555
info@maisonsaine.ca

https://maisonsaine.ca
www.facebook.com/maisonsaine

The end of pain

The end of pain

For many years, Jacqueline Lagacé suffered from debilitating chronic pain from osteoarthritis.

A former Professor and former head of the Microbiology and Immunology Laboratory at the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Medicine, she began following Dr. Jean Seignalet's hypotoxic diet which calls for the elimination of wheat, animal-source dairy products, and animal proteins cooked at high temperatures. She almost immediately experienced decreased pain. 

Translated from French and written with pharmacist and holistic health expert Jean-Yves Dionne, The End of Pain (Greystone, 2014) tells Lagacé's compelling story and explores how our bodies and our modern western diet are at war with each other. Lagacé also investigates the science behind Dr. Seignalet's methods and shows how and why some of the foods we eat may lead to inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, and MS, among many others.

Since her book was published in French in 2011, she has answered 4,830 questions from her readers on her blog http://jacquelinelagace.net/ which features her four books (including two cookbooks) and many readers have confirmed that the diet has also eased their suffering.

She is presently unable to answer the many emails she receives as she is updating her findings in a new book that will answer the criticism addressed by several scientists including Carolina Ciacci of the University of Salerno School of Medicine : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3728797/

--

Andre Fauteux, Editor

La Maison du 21e siècle magazine

2955 Domaine-lac-Lucerne 

Ste-Adèle (Qc)  Canada J8B 3K9

450 228-1555


www.maisonsaine.ca

info@maisonsaine.ca

Hackers post webcam, security camera, baby monitor video online

Hackers post webcam, security camera, baby monitor video online

Consumers urged to change password

The Associated Press Posted: Nov 20, 2014 9:35 AM ET Last Updated: Nov 21, 2014 9:17 AM ET

A child playing in Bucheon, South Korea. An empty crib in Absecon, New Jersey. Cattle feeding in Behamberg, Austria. Footage from more than 100 countries is being streamed from bedrooms, office buildings, shops, laundromats, stables and barns.

Experts have a message for anyone with a webcam, baby monitor or home security camera: change your password now, because feeds from the cameras are being posted online by a Russian website.

The site takes advantage of the fact that camera users receive default passwords to get devices working — such as "1234." Many manufacturers also put default passwords online, Britain's Information Commissioner's Office said Thursday.

"The ability to access footage remotely is both an internet camera's biggest selling point and, if not set up correctly, potentially its biggest security weakness," Simon Rice, the ICO group manager for technology, said in a statement. "Remember, if you can access your video footage over the internet, then what is stopping someone else from doing the same?"

The ICO is joining with its counterparts in the United States, China, Australia and Canada in warning consumers about the Russian site, which offers live streams together with the coordinates of where the cameras are located. Officials declined to publicly identify the site for fear of driving traffic to it.

Authorities say they have no jurisdiction in Russia, so it is simpler to warn people about the site than it is to try to take the site down.

"I will do what I can but don't wait for me to have sorted this out," Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said. "The action is in your own hands if you have one of these pieces of kit."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/hackers-post-webcam-security-camera-baby-monitor-video-online-1.2841770

Your Phone Bill Could Go Up to Fund Schools’ Wi-Fi

Your Phone Bill Could Go Up to Fund Schools’ Wi-Fi

• Alex Fitzpatrick @alexjamesfitz
 

Nov. 17, 2014

The FCC is mulling a fee hike to help bring Wi-Fi to more schools

Fourth and fifth grade students at Rocketship SI Se Puede, a charter, public elementary school, use the internet and traditional classroom learning in one big open classroom, on Feb. 18, 2014 in San Jose, Calif.Christian Science Monitor/Getty

Should Americans be asked to pay a little more in phone bill fees to help fund better Internet connections in public schools? That’s essentially what Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed Monday.

If you have a landline or mobile phone, then you probably already pay a small fee every month towards what’s called the Universal Service Fund. The USF is essentially a pool of money created in 1997 as a bulwark against market failures leading to poor Internet access in rural and low-income communities. While the USF is paid for by telecom companies like Verizon and AT&T, those companies often pass their contributions onto consumers in the form of fees on your monthly bill.

Wheeler’s idea would hike the USF fees by about $1.90 a year for the average phone subscriber, the FCC estimates, with the money going to a $1.5 billion increase for a program designed specifically to subsidize faster Internet connections in more of the country’s public schools.

The FCC has been reworking that program, called E-Rate, to shift its focus from funding old-school technologies to modern ones like high-speed wireless access, which many observers say is sorely lacking in many of the country’s schools. Almost 70% of school districts say none of their schools meet the FCC’s long-term connectivity targets, the agency said Monday, with 58% of districts pinning the problem on cost. That situation, some have warned, could make students less competitive later in life. Closing that so-called “broadband gap” has been a priority of the Obama administration, which in June of last year announced a program designed to get broadband access to 99% of American students by 2017 — and E-Rate is a big part of meeting that goal.

The agency is framing the fee hike as a way to ensure that more students have access to the kinds of high-tech learning solutions that could make them — and the nation — more competitive down the road. “While the impact on consumers will be small, the impact on children, teachers, local communities and American competitiveness will be significant,” the FCC says in a fact sheet about the proposal. The agency has also promised to make E-Rate spending more transparent, so Americans get a better idea of where those phone bill fees are going.

Still, the FCC can’t unilaterally raise the fees you wind up seeing on your phone bill. Wheeler’s proposal will first have to clear a public comment period before being voted upon by himself and the agency’s four commissioners. However, given how expanding Internet access in schools is a top Obama administration priority and the FCC’s Democratic commissioners outnumber their Republican counterparts 3-2, it’s a safe bet the agency will move forward with the plan, barring any public outrage over it.

http://time.com/3589260/school-internet-bill/