Showing posts with label telecommunications cooperatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label telecommunications cooperatives. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

IP Transition Must Advance, CES Panel Says | USTelecom

IP Transition Must Advance, CES Panel Says | USTelecom: Meanwhile, AT&T has been eager to begin moving forward with the IP transition and last year proposed that the Federal Communications Commission begin trials to test the effects of a full network transition, said Bob Quinn, AT&T senior vice president-federal regulatory. The role for FCC is to oversee the "turning off" of the old network, Quinn said. "There will be an enormous amount of policy concerns involved in doing this, and we need to figure out what this new world will look like."

"We've reached the point where the IP network is superior to the old switched network," said Internet analyst and author Larry Downes. "The policy issue is what do we do about people who have not yet made the switch?"

There's also the issue of telephone companies that have not yet changed out their old POTS copper cable plants to fiber optic capable of supporting data and video as well as voice services using voice over Internet protocol (VOIP). This isn't only about consumers who haven't made the transition off wireline POTS for premises service. For many, they don't really have a choice for wireline-delivered voice service.

AT&T and other telcos are hoping consumers will be satisfied with using mobile wireless service for both voice and Internet access since they don't plan to invest in fiber to the premise (FTTP) infrastructure to replace their obsolete copper networks that cannot serve many homes and businesses due to technological limitations. Communities can offer their residents a far better option by building municipal or consumer telecommunications cooperative owned and operated FTTP networks instead of leaving their residents relegated to supbar mobile wireless services that can't provide adequate bandwidth and value.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

It's time to halt the "digital literacy" baloney and build fiber

With many areas of the United States lacking adequate fiber optic infrastructure to deliver premise Internet service, there continues to be an unfortunate effort to shift the focus away from that fact.

For example, this Texas Broadband Summit "designed to engage, educate, and equip technology providers and Texas communities with the resources and partnerships necessary to improve broadband access, adoption, and use," noting that "lack of digital literacy and the digital divide remain real issues in Texas."

What does "digital literacy" have to do with getting IPTV, VOIP and other Internet protocol-based services over fiber?   Nothing, because people have been watching TV and making phone calls for decades.  In that regard, they are already digitally literate.  And the web and email have been around for two decades and most people currently use these common services.

It's time to stop the PR baloney and work on alternative ways of building fiber to the premise -- such as community cooperatives and municipal fiber -- to fill in the gaps that investor owned telco and cable TV providers are unable to fill.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Communities must build fiber telecom infrastructure where incumbents cannot

As bandwidth demand grows exponentially for Internet protocol-based telecommunications, Geoff Daily aptly notes the debate over what infrastructure can best deliver it to customers is over. Only fiber can do the job, he writes on his blog App-Rising. The task, therefore, is to bring it to their doorsteps. "With this context we can now define fiber-to-the-home as bringing the full power of the Internet to your front door," Daily writes.

Indeed. Daily adds to get there, public policymakers and consumers must be educated on the significance of fiber telecom infrastructure. And we must end the useless demonizing of for-profit providers whose business models don't allow them to both bring fiber to consumers' premises and make money for their investors. Don't expect them to do something they can't.

Instead, I would add, consumers must find alternative business models to build vital fiber-based telecommunications infrastructure in their communities not served by investor-owned providers. I'm not just talking the talk here. I'm walking the walk in my own community. I encourage other communities to do so as well.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Dark fiber owners seek buyers -- but last mile will determine value

Today's Wall Street Journal reports dark fiber left dormant since the dot com bust of a decade ago is on the block, its owners hopeful that the transition to Internet protocol-based telecommunications that stalled around the same time will finally take off.

But now as then, the so-called last mile (or first mile as some refer to it) remains key since the dark fiber was put in place for long haul and in some cases middle mile infrastructure. Long haul and middle mile fiber standing alone do not a network make. It takes last mile fiber infrastructure to reach customer premises.

Potential purchasers of that dark fiber must assess the odds whether there will be sufficient last mile fiber to connect to. Reliance on legacy incumbent telcos and cable companies lowers the odds. They have largely upgraded and built out their networks to the extent their business models allow. Verizon, the sole legacy telco that was building fiber to the premises, recently pulled back to concentrate on wireless service in metro areas. But if local governments and telecom cooperatives crank up construction of fiber to the premises infrastructure to fill the gap left by legacy providers, the value of these dormant dark fiber assets will likely increase.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

What do fuel efficiency standards and broadband have in common?

Like the decades-long policy debate over fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, a new one is springing up. This time it's over minimum broadband speeds with incumbent telecommunications providers arguing for lower standards and consumers demanding higher numbers.

Free Press advocates for a "future proof" telecommunications infrastructure. Based on current, proven technology, that means fiber optics to the premises. Free Press also correctly observes that unlike automotive technology that can be incrementally improved to deliver more fuel efficient vehicles, telecommunications is basic infrastructure and thus requires the right choices to be made up front to protect it from obsolescence and provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate both current and future needs.

Fortunately, there's a way around this debate, which the Federal Communications Commission will soon discover is unlikely lead to a useful outcome or do anything to improve America's fragmented and inadequate telecommunications infrastructure. It's empowering local governments and nonprofit telecommunications cooperatives to build and own their own fiber telecommunications infrastructure -- and ultimately define broadband on their own terms.

Friday, July 10, 2009

California PUC adopts order aimed at leveraging federal broadband infrastructure grants

The California Public Utilities Commission announced July 9 it has adopted a proposed order designed to leverage and maximize California's share of $7.2 billion set aside for broadband infrastructure construction in unserved and underserved areas of the nation in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The decision pertains to grants of up to 80 percent for such projects administered under the $4.7 billion National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). It would cover half of the minimum 20 percent BTOP match required of those proposing broadband infrastructure projects, bringing the potential total combined federal/state subsidy level up to 90 percent for approved California BTOP projects.

The CPUC supplemental BTOP funding would be allocated out of the regulatory agency's California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Created in 2007, the $100 million CASF is funded by a surcharge on intrastate long distance calls, of which about $80 million remains unspent.

Projects that qualify for the supplemental grant match will have to meet a higher minimum thoughput standard than under the BTOP. While the federal standard is just 768 Kbs for downloads and 200 Kbs for uploads, under CASF rules the minimum is 3 Mbs down and 1 Mbs for uploads.

While the current CASF rules restrict funding to wireline and wireless providers that have been certified by the CPUC, the decision contemplates making the CASF funding available to entities that aren't providers such as local governments and nonprofits. That would require legislative authorization under an urgency bill currently pending in the state Senate, AB 1555.

Lawmakers should approve this measure and sent it to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. California cannot rely exclusively on providers to close the digital divide and build out badly needed broadband infrastructure; local goverments and telecommunications cooperatives need to be part of the solution.