Analysis & commentary on America's troubled transition from analog telephone service to digital advanced telecommunications and associated infrastructure deficits.
Monday, December 31, 2007
California Broadband Task Force report delayed
The report was due out in late November under an executive order issued by the Governor in November 2006. About a month ago, Schwarzenegger had told the University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for the Digital Future conference it would be released in December.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Comcast applies for California video franchise
Comcast's Dec. 12 application can be viewed on the CPUC's Web site.
California PUC allocates $100 million as broadband build out incentive
The CPUC said the funds will come from a .25 percent surcharge on telephone bills, estimated to be five cents a month for an average customer. The CASF surcharge will be offset by an equal reduction in the California High Cost Fund-B surcharge created to subsidize deployment of basic voice telephone service.
One year ago, your blogger suggested the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger direct the CPUC to reform the five funds in California's Universal Service Fund program including the High Cost Fund-B -- which together received a total of $2.8 billion since 2003 to serve more than 7,600 designated high-cost areas -- to help speed the deployment of high speed Internet access in higher cost areas of the state.
The CPUC action sets a deadline of June 2, 2008 for submission of CASF funding requests. Consideration will be technology neutral and applicants will be required to provide a minimum of 60 percent matching funds as a prerequisite for consideration of their applications.
The CPUC decision finds that broadband infrastructure is critical to the economic health and welfare of the state and that "ubiquitous deployment of broadband holds tremendous opportunities for consumers, technology providers, and content providers, and is important to the continued health and economic development in California."
"Today's decision signals that this state is not content to sit around waiting for federal action to bring broadband to every part of our state," said CPUC President Michael R. Peevey. "We encourage every broadband provider in California to be a part of the solution for ending the digital divide in our state and participate in the CASF process."
As with other state-based broadband build out initiatives, the question is whether funding in the millions is sufficient to result in a meaningful expansion of broadband considering that in California and other states, the existing metal wire line based infrastructure is increasingly obsolete for the deployment of advanced telecommunications services and requires billions of dollars of investment to bring it up to date.
Here are links to the decision implementing the program and related proceeding documents.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Qwest abandons IPTV in Colorado
The build out issue apparently figured into Qwest's decision:
Ken Fellman, former mayor of Arvada and a local communications lawyer, said he respects the company's decision to back off of its video plans. Fellman has asked that Qwest be required to offer video services to all members of a city or town, not certain select neighborhoods.
"It was a concern that Qwest didn't have the financial resources to widely deploy service," said Fellman, who also represents the Greater Metro Telecommunications Consortium. "We would have ended up with pockets of competition. Perhaps in some ways, (Qwest CEO Ed) Mueller came to a similar conclusion."
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Back to the future: Could AT&T be facing major federal regulatory action two decades after divestiture order?
Could AT&T once again find itself facing sweeping federal government regulatory action on the scale of the 1984 federal court ruling ordering the big publicly traded telecommunications company be divested on anti-trust grounds?
It’s possible because in the more than two decades following the break up order, AT&T through a combination of mergers and acquisitions including its purchase of BellSouth one year ago has regained much of its territorial hegemony and is now the dominant telecommunications provider in 22 states.
If it happens in the next several years, this time around federal policymakers will be motivated by a different set of circumstances: Not just the company’s dominant market position, but growing alarm over the insufficiency of AT&T's aging copper wire-based local distribution infrastructure to meet the burgeoning demand for advanced telecommunications services based on broadband Internet access.
The realization that broadband Internet access is vital to the health of the nation’s economy and concern the U.S. will end up uncompetitive relative to other industrialized nations measured on broadband Internet access will fan the unease.
Public policymakers could ultimately require AT&T to sell off regions within its service area where it does not commit to deploy infrastructure ensuring near universal broadband access by a future date. Congress is already laying the groundwork for such a move with legislation that would map out America’s broadband black holes.
Skeptics might argue such strong regulatory action is improbable because unlike in 1984, AT&T competes with cable companies and other telcos to offer broadband-based services. Not necessarily. Cable companies often aren’t anywhere to be found in AT&T broadband black holes. Moreover, there’s a lack of competition among telcos since their market practice is to avoid competing in each other’s territories with wire line-based services.
Monday, December 10, 2007
From dialup to 100mbs by 2015
At present, much of upstate New York and surprisingly even parts of New York City are relegated to dial up, a sluggish connection that was state of the art Internet connectivity technology when Bill Clinton was beginning his first term as president nearly 15 years ago. That's around 24kbs -- higher or lower depending on the distance to the central office switch and the condition of the lines.
By 2015, Spitzer wants all parts of the state to have access to at least 20mbs in each direction, and 100mbs in major metropolitan areas.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Will state broadband build out incentives be enough?
As states gear up public-private partnerships to provide incentives to broadband telecommunications providers to build out their incomplete infrastructures, the question of whether these programs will be sufficient arises.
In allocating $5 million in seed funding for competitive grants to research, design and implement accessible Internet for unserved and underserved areas of rural and urban New York, Gov. Eliot Spitzer made clear the funds would not be used to build needed digital infrastructure. "Instead, state money will be used to leverage matching funds from the private and not-for-profit sectors," Spitzer noted. "In the end, it is New York's vibrant telecommunications sector—together with their tireless and invaluable workers—who will implement this vision in partnership with government."
But will telecom providers respond to the state incentives and will relatively paltry sums such as New York's $5 million begin to make a dent in the billions that are needed to bring a metal wire-based telecom infrastructure built decades ago for an analog, pre-Internet era technologically up to date? Especially considering that America's existing telecom infrastructure is already at least a decade behind where it should be to meet current needs and becomes increasingly obsolete as demand for high speed Internet access at greater bandwidth grows.
As this reality is confronted, a number of public policy options emerge. Should the states float multi-billion dollar bond issues – perhaps combined with tax breaks -- to provide low interest loans to telecommunications providers in order to provide more patient capital that the providers themselves cannot access given their short-term earnings horizons?
Or might these state-level efforts prove inadequate, providing too little money over too long a period to fund the massive investment that should have been made a decade or more ago in order to bring America's telecommunications system to the point where it should be today? It certainly seems likely, which would lead to calls for the federal government to step into the gap.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
More state-level broadband access initiatives predicted for 2008
That's according to Craig Settles, a consultant to governments regarding mobile and wireless networks, who was inteviewed by newsfactor.com's Richard Koman in this Yahoo News story:
"In rural areas and many small towns, providing access is something government should be involved in," he said, adding that, unlike with municipal Wi-Fi, residents probably don't necessarily expect it to be free.
Settles worked with local governments in rural North Carolina and Kentucky, where it was not economically feasible for the incumbent provider to come in. "In those outlying areas, they don't really have an option for technology and there's a greater need for people to be served by local or state government activity."
A key issue is how the build-out should be funded. States are providing grant money and seeking funds from federal homeland security and other programs. "The bottom line is that the vendor picks up a check," Settles said. "There can't be any of the silliness of how advertising will pay the bills."
Looking at 2008, "we'll see more state-driven initiatives for underserved areas," Settles said. Just as municipal Wi-Fi spread as cities started talking to each other, "a similar kind of dynamic will happen at the state level," he predicted, "but with a much more pragmatic and cautious approach than cities showed."
Friday, December 07, 2007
NY Gov. Spitzer forms state broadband council; RFPs issued for research of nontraditional infrastructure
“As we build an innovation economy we must make New York the most connected and technologically advanced place to live and do business in the world," said Spitzer said in a news release. "Internet access is no longer a luxury. We must implement a strategy that leads to every New Yorker having access to affordable, high-speed Internet so that they may take advantage of the economic, social and cultural opportunities it provides.”
When he was inaugurated in January, Spitzer set a goal of universal broadband access, starting by mapping out existing infrastructure and broadband black holes. The state Broadband Council will be charged with this task.
Spitzer said a lack of federal leadership to establish a national broadband policy requires his state take the initiative, which comes as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is to issue a report this month his Broadband Task Force has been developing over the past year. The report will make specific recommendations on "how California can take advantage of opportunities for and eliminate any related barriers to broadband access and adoption." Similar state-level initiatives are have been undertaken in several other states over the past two years.
A key element of Spitzer's strategy -- one likely to be embraced by Schwarzenegger's Broadband Task Force -- is public-private partnerships. "State government will not be the one constructing these networks, Spitzer emphasized. "Instead, state money will be used to leverage matching funds from the private and not-for-profit sectors. In the end, it is New York’s vibrant telecommunications sector—together with their tireless and invaluable workers—who will implement this vision in partnership with government."
It remains to be seen whether states can inject enough money into public-private broadband initiatives to spur telecom providers to build out their networks -- particularly when states such as California continue to deal with sizable budget deficits. And because the telcos and cable companies are publicly traded, short term earnings pressures make it difficult for them to undertake major projects to expand their broadband infrastructures.
States could be convinced to find ways to fund broadband initiatives if they believed the funding would have a multiplier effect by stimulating economic activity and generating tax revenues that could be used, for example, to service state bond debt.
An AT&T-funded California study released in November found the Golden State would gain 1.8 million jobs and $132 billion of new payroll over the next 10 years with a 3.8 percent increase in the utilization of DSL and cable broadband Internet services.
“There is a clear connection between investing in broadband technology and job growth,” said Dr. Kristin Van Gaasbeck, Assistant Professor of Economics at California State University, Sacramento and one of the authors of the report.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
AT&T distorts build out as socioeconomic issue
This time it's Tennessee and AT&T Tennessee President Gregg Morton is insisting that AT&T supports language in proposed state franchise legislation that prohibits red-lining of low income neighborhoods.
That's an irrelevant red herring. Building out advanced telecommunications infrastructure has nothing to do with neighborhood income levels. AT&T wants states to issue franchises rather than local governments because they know the locals will rightly insist they serve their entire communities and not just parts of them with an incomplete system.
The reality in Tennessee and other states where it has petitioned for state franchise laws is that AT&T wants to build advanced telecommunications infrastructure on the cheap, leaving some residents and businesses with access to advanced broadband-based services and others without.
Tennessee should reject this effort and tell AT&T and other backers of the bill it won't tolerate dividing the state into digital haves and digital have nots.
California PUC receives several franchise applications from cable providers
Time Warner Cable, which was issued a franchise in October by the California PUC, also submitted several new applications for subsidiary operations in the state.
Verizon, which received a franchise earlier this year, filed an amended application reflecting an expansion of its service area in Southern California.
The applications can be viewed at the CPUC's Web site by clicking here.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Telco/cable duopoly an obstacle to information tech progress
PC World magazine blasted the big telcos like AT&T and Verizon as among the most anti-tech organizations in America:
The effect of slow broadband speeds and poor availability on tech is obvious. A whole generation of innovative businesses that depend on real broadband is still waiting to come into existence. For now, consumers will have to wait for new, lightning-fast information, media, and telecommunications services that could change the way we work and play.
Tech.Blorge.com, meanwhile, writes that the lack of competition has made big cable player Comcast indifferent to its customers who compete for a static amount of bandwidth over its coaxial cable. Tech.Blorge.com sees Comcast as headed the way of the dinosaurs into tech extinction with the likes of America Online (AOL):
For a short time, Comcast will be able to sit on the customer base it has developed and sap money from customers that could receive better products at a more competitive price. But, just like AOL, once people get a taste of where technology is heading, that pile of money will deplete to nearly nothing…unless Comcast can step up, stop functioning like a monopoly, and start being competive.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Report: AT&T hikes dial up prices
AT&T's costs to deploy DSL are obviously going to be higher in areas where cable loops are long and remote terminals must be installed in order to distribute the service. Its one-size-fits-all pricing scheme for DSL would be fine if there were enough total revenues to subsidize these higher costs. Clearly there are not. Consequently, AT&T and other telcos leave more than 20 percent of their U.S. service areas with no DSL service whatsoever.
The obvious solution would be to charge higher rates for DSL -- including for reseller ISPs -- in higher cost areas where 20 bucks a month for service doesn't allow for a reasonable profit. That would gain a lot more wire line broadband and potential bundled service customers who'd gladly pay two to three times that amount rather than be stuck with dial up or the high up front costs and sluggish connections afforded by satellite "broadband."
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Broadband Task Force report due in December, Schwarzenegger tells USC conference on digital infrastructure
I had expected the governor would use the conference as a platform to unveil a report that his Broadband Task Force formed by executive order last year was due to issue this week. It will now come out in December, Schwarzenegger said during a question and answer session following his speech. The report is to make specific recommendations on "how California can take advantage of opportunities for and eliminate any related barriers to broadband access and adoption."
Data recently released by the Federal Communications Commission show nearly 20 percent of California residents were unable to obtain broadband DSL service from their telephone companies as of Dec. 31, 2006.
Schwarzenegger told the USC conference he's directing the California Public Utilities Commission to be "much more aggressive in pushing broadband." But the CPUC's authority to prod telcos and cable companies to build out their infrastructures -- which in many areas of the state are unable to provide broadband Internet access -- is sharply limited by legislation Schwarzenegger signed into law last year, the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006.
While the legislation pays homage to the notion of wider broadband deployment, it also allows the big telcos and cable companies that dominate the state to avoid building out broadband infrastructure to as much as half of their service areas over the next four years. Backed by telco and cable companies, the statute effectively sanctions California's digital divide and makes any gubenatorial rhetoric to bring broadband to nearly all Californians ring hollow.
As Cisco Systems' Director of Technology and Communications Policy Jeffrey A. Campbell aptly put it in a panel discussion at the event: “The key is broadband infrastructure. We can have everything in terms of content, but if people cannot access them and at the appropriate speeds, it is worthless.”
Monday, November 26, 2007
Bandwidth "currency of the global Internet economy"
Twenty years after DSL’s invention, we’re still relying on the same basic technology — and in many areas, providers haven’t even delivered that. Maximum uplink speeds are limited in some locations to as little as 128Kbit/sec., with best-case downlink speeds of 768Kbit/sec.
Next-generation technologies such as Verizon’s FiOS promise metropolitan areas 2Mbit/sec. uplink speeds and 15Mbit/sec. downlink speeds eventually. But Europeans have 20M-30Mbit/sec., and some areas of Korea and Japan have 100Mbit/sec. — enough to support full-motion video. Meanwhile, Gagnon, struggling with basic VoIP, is forced to tell customers to forget DSL and go back to leasing 1960s technology: a T1 line.
Monday, November 19, 2007
AT&T bungles bundle, loses business
Turns out that while the rep was extremely courteous and helpful -- one of the best encounters I've had with telephone sales or service people -- she was sadly misinformed according to an AT&T account rep who called to say the order couldn't be fulfilled.
No such product; no DSL service. No bundle. No deal.
California uniquely positioned to demonstrate benefits of telemedicine
Kate Ackerman reports in today's California Healthline:
Telemedicine advocates across the country are working to alleviate some of these barriers to facilitate widespread adoption, but California is in a unique position to be a model for the rest of the country.
"California is the perfect state to do this in," said Peter Yellowlees, professor of psychiatry and director of academic information systems at the UC-Davis Medical Center, adding, "Officially, 70% of the state is rural, and it's a huge state. ... So I think the rural geography in California makes it ideal, but I think also there's an attitude of 'can do' in California where people clearly are prepared to try things differently."
One of the biggest obstacles to the use of telemedicine the article neglected to mention is the lack of advanced telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas of California. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose administration is about to issue a report by a blue ribbon task force report on what can be done to remove obstacles to wider broadband availability, is a proponent of telemedicine.
Study warns "last mile" congestion will bog down Internet connectivity
A study by Nemertes Research warns unless another $42 billion to $55 billion is spent on U.S. telecommunications infrastructure above and beyond the $72 billion service providers are already planning to invest in the next three to five years, there will be a developing capacity problem.
“This groundbreaking analysis identifies a critical issue facing the Internet – that we must take the necessary steps to build out network capacity or potentially face Internet gridlock that could wreak havoc on Internet services,” said Larry Irving, co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance. “It’s important to note that even if we make the investment necessary between now and 2010, we still might not be prepared for the next killer application or new internet-dependent business like Google or YouTube. The Nemertes study is evidence the exaflood is coming.”
The choke points will occur on the so-called last mile or so that connects businesses and residences to the fast fiber backbone of the Internet. Current in much of the U.S., the last mile infrastructure cannot support any type of broadband connections let alone the coming "exaflood."
Sunday, November 18, 2007
AT&T engaged in digital infrastructure redlining, telecom prof says
Barry Orton, a University of Wisconsin at Madison telecommunications professor, says AT&T's actions show the big telco is engaged in digital redlining in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports AT&T has deployed its fiber-copper hybrid U-verse infrastructure in parts of Racine and Milwaukee. But if the company decides to offer service in Madison or elsewhere, it won't announce the rollout, AT&T spokesman Jeff Bentoff told the newspaper. Rather, Bentoff said, AT&T will contact consumers individually through direct mail and door-to-door visits.
"When it 's available, we 'll let them know, " Bentoff said.
AT&T's rollout strategy shows the big telco wants to select the neighborhoods in which to offer advanced telecommunications services, Orton says, unlike cable agreements with local governments that typically require providers to serve the entire jurisdiction. "That 's what this is fundamentally about -- the ability to cherry-pick neighborhoods, " Orton said.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
California study finds "clear connection between investing in broadband technology and job growth"
“There is a clear connection between investing in broadband technology and job growth,” said Dr. Kristin Van Gaasbeck, Assistant Professor of Economics at California State University, Sacramento and one of the authors of the report.
The study used statistical models as well as economic and broadband usage data from 2001 through 2005 to analyze 24 major regions of California and project future growth. It projected three levels of annual growth of the percentage of the adult population using broadband: a .2 percent annual increase, 3.8 percent increase and a 7.6 percent increase. Under the latter growth scenario, 2.2 million jobs would be created in the state representing $267 billion in new payroll.
Here are some key excerpts from a summary of the SRRI study:
SRRI’s analysis shows that this migration and the growth in broadband use appears to have had a positive and significant effect on employment and payroll in the state. Economic theory would suggest that increased investment in the deployment and, sequentially, the use of broadband has the potential to generate incremental benefits to many of the state’s regions and California overall.
All regions of the state could benefit from an incremental boost in jobs and total payroll with increased broadband use, but the magnitude depends on the local economic conditions
and unique distribution of Internet connections.
Unfortunately, that unique distribution of Internet connections currently leaves sizable areas of the state without access to cable or DSL broadband. AT&T, which funded the SRRI study and provides the bulk of DSL broadband service in California, bears a large degree of responsibility since it has effectively abandoned these areas, offering them only inferior satellite sub-broadband service, which notably wasn't included in the SSRI study.
Four months ago, a study by the Public Policy Institute of California revealed sharp differences among regions of the state when it comes to broadband access, ranging from under 30 percent of households in the Sierra Nevada (21%) and northern part of the state (29%) to just over 50 percent in the San Francisco Bay Area (51%) and the greater Los Angeles area (52%). The PPIC study recommended the California Emerging Technology Fund should focus on broadband deployment in rural areas.
The SRRI report comes as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Broadband Task Force nears completion of a one year study to find ways to remove barriers to broadband access, identify opportunities for increased broadband adoption and enable the creation and deployment of new advanced communication technologies.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Reverse regulation and the race to the bottom
By using its existing infrastructure, AT&T could reach smaller rural communities that do not have, and may never have, cable service because of their size, said state Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro. Ketron is the main sponsor of the cable legislation. The bill does not ask for any state funding for AT&T.
"The faster we get broadband into our rural communities, the faster those communities can be connected to the world," Ketron said. "Not only from our children in education in being connected but in providing the economic link to industrial development to those communities."
(Tennessee Cable and Telecommunications Association Executive Director )Briggs argues otherwise.
"They have said they intend to serve 70 communities, and there are over 500 to 600 franchises," Briggs said, "so right there it tells you they do not intend to serve everyone."
Friday, November 09, 2007
Tennessee broadband build out bloodbath predicted for 2008 legislative session
Local governments won out this year when they convinced lawmakers Ma Bell was trying to avoid local government demands that AT&T build out its infrastructure to serve all of their residents and businesses. AT&T doesn't want to make that investment and hopes legislation making the state government the sole regulator will allow it to avoid negotiating with local governments.
“We believe that [the AT&T legislation] weakens consumer protections because there are no build-out requirements,” Carole Graves, communications director for the Tennessee Municipal League, told the Knoxville News Sentinel in this article via Free Press.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Wisconsin lawmaker wants protections for rural areas in AT&T-backed state franchise legislation
As state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, notes, Plale's proposal does not contain needed consumer protections and offers no assurances that rural areas -- including the western Wisconsin region that elected her last year -- will enjoy the same access to telecommunication services as the Milwaukee County communities that elect Plale.In proposing to rewrite the cable franchise bill to require AT&T, cable and other companies to contribute up to $7.5 million to a new "digital divide" fund to protect rural areas from being left behind, Vinehout says, "I'm representing the people that weren't at the table."
Monday, November 05, 2007
Wisconsin lawmaker likes Illinois 90 percent build out standard
Vinehout likes what Illinois has done in requiring the company to build out its hybrid fiber and copper cable U-Verse infrastructure to serve 90 percent of the state rather than the 50 percent build out requirement favored by AT&T that leaves large areas on the wrong side of the digital divide:
Not every state meekly surrendered to AT&T. Illinois passed a bill with real teeth, including very specific consumer protection standards: requirements to bring services to 90 percent of the state, standards for quality, and protection for community access television.
Friday, November 02, 2007
AT&T fined by California for poor telephone service restoration
At the root of the restoration problem is AT&T's aging copper cable infrastructure that took a beating during California's rainy season during the first three months of 2006.
The regulatory actions against AT&T raise major questions about the big telco's ability to deliver advanced telecommunications services including high speed Internet access when it has difficulty maintaining even plain old telephone service (POTS) and explain to a large degree why many California customers of AT&T are still not offered wireline broadband nearly two years later.
Time Warner Cable applies for California franchise
More than 20 percent of U.S. local phone company customers still couldn't get broadband in last half of 2006
This week the FCC finally released the long delayed report and it's clearly unflattering to the telcos. It reveals more than 20 percent of American residences could not get broadband from their telephone companies in the latter half of 2006. That represents no change whatsoever in the national average from the first six months of that year and illustrates that rather than making an effort to extend broadband to these unserved customers, telcos are hanging them out to dry, permanently stranding them on the dark side of the digital divide.
States with the highest levels of telco broadband access in the last six months of 2006 include Florida (89% ); Georgia (90% ) Colorado (86%) and surprisingly, Nebraska (89%).
States with the lowest levels of telco broadband access in the period were Maine (67% ); Arkansas (66% ); Michigan (64% ); New Hampshire (61% ); Vermont (64% ) and Virginia (66% ).
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Author of California legislation benefitting telcos solicited charitable contributions from Verizon
In addition, the newspaper reports AT&T made three grants of $5,000 apiece last year at Núñez's behest.
The law permits telcos like Verizon and AT&T to offer advanced broadband-based telecommunications services including Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) with a statewide franchise granted by the California Public Utilities Commission. The legislation authored by Núñez, AB 2987, shafted areas outside of urban centers such as Núñez's Los Angeles district because it does not require providers to build out their infrastructures, sanctioning digital redlining and leaving gaping broadband black holes in these areas intact.
A spokesman for Núñez issued the perfunctory denial of any link between the solicitation of Verizon and the legislation.
Trend: Rural telcos move to fiber
Two years ago, only about 12 percent of rural telcos were utilizing fiber to the home (FTTH) and/or fiber to the curb (FTTC) to offer broadband to customers. Last year, that number had grown to 28 percent. It now stands at 32 percent, according to surveys of members of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, and the vast majority of survey respondents (84 percent) already utilize fiber fed nodes to extend the reach of their digital subscriber line service.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Virginia local governments endeavor to get broadband infrastructure in place
“People are tired of us saying it’s coming, it’s coming - they want results,” said Corum, the director of economic development and tourism in Nelson, on whose lap the responsibility for coming up with a solution to the county’s broadband problem has fallen.
Broadband for far too many in Virginia and other states is merely an unfulfilled promise. Kudos to Nelson County Virginia Economic Development Director Maureen Corum and other Virginia economic development directors who are working to bring broadband to their counties. They like and their counterparts like El Dorado County, California Economic Development Director Sam Driggers wisely see the issue as vital infrastructure linked to the economic health of their counties.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Spread broadband, not asphalt
Put your ear to the ground, and you can hear other voices, especially in new technologies, suggesting a less frenetic lifestyle in a nation clearly confounded by congestion, obesity, energy consumption, global warming and air quality issues.
Enter then the broadband-transportation link. Fast, reliable Internet connection makes telecommuting far more feasible –– to transfer files, worksheets and video clips, access company databases, create videoconferences and more. But "telework" can't function well when employees don't have broadband access. Simple equation: Universal broadband equals increased telecommuting, which in turn means less roadway demand, fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less pollution. Even if a worker telecommutes a day or two a week, it can make a real difference.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Local governments play critical role in ending digital divide
Illinois IT consultant Jim Carlini reports representatives of communities outside urban regions throughout the US who attended this month's Rural Telecon Conference in Springfield, Illinois are developing an increasing sense urgency as they continue to remain mired on the wrong side of the digital divide by the telco/cable duopoly. They realize they cannot count on the telcos and cable companies to build out their infrastructures to provide advanced telecommunications services like broadband and need alternatives.
Carlini suggests they turn to their local elected officials. "If your municipality isn’t looking at creative ways to develop new strategies that include having a state-of-the-art network infrastructure to support economic growth and development, they will be stagnating your property value and quality of life in your area," Carlini writes at MidwestBusiness.com.
"Simply put, the three most important words in real estate (“location, location, location”) have turned into “location, location, connectivity” in urban, suburban and rural America. Corporate site selection committees have included broadband connectivity as one of the top three criteria they are looking for when researching locations for corporate facilities. If your community does not have a good platform for broadband connectivity, it will simply be passed over in favor for one that does."
El Dorado County, California, while located in the Sacramento metro area, is like many other areas of the country, plagued by spotty and inferior broadband access. County Economic Development Director Sam Driggers conveyed Carlini's point recently to the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors.
Your blogger agrees with Carlini that local governments must take a proactive role in ensuring their telecommunications infrastructures can support the current and future needs of their residents and businesses. In that spirit, I've drafted petitions to El Dorado County Board of Supervisors and the El Dorado Irrigation District urging those local government entities to partner with private fiber optic telecommunications providers to lay fiber in their rights of way to build a fiber to the neighborhood network as the foundation for a badly needed upgrade to the county's telecommunications infrastructure.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Municipal WiFi struggles for viable business model
Friday, October 19, 2007
Why competition suffers in the broadband market
Atkinson like your blogger and many other observers tend to see it as a monopoly or duopoly with broadband provided by just a telco, a cable company or in all too many cases, neither, leading to the formation of broadband black holes stretching across the landscape. The reason, Atkinson explains, is the high cost of becoming broadband provider and deploying the necessary infrastructure.
Atkinson's right. By way of illustration, if another high cost infrastructure such as roads and highways was left to private market providers who would charge tolls for access, there would only be a small number of road builders and plenty of places where roads -- like broadband -- don't go. That's why roads in the vast majority of places are provided by the public sector.
Despite the substantial financial heft of the big telcos and cable companies and their ability to raise money on Wall Street, they simply can't put up the money themselves to build out their infrastructures to provide broadband to nearly every one who wants it. They'd have to take on billions more of bond debt and sacrifice near term earnings --something their investors wouldn't tolerate.
Increasingly, it appears only a partnership of both the private and public sectors can eliminate America's numerous broadband black holes and close the digital divide.
Connecticut should tell AT&T to hit the road
AT&T contends it can't do so profitably and is threatening to pull the plug on U-Verse in Connecticut. Good riddance; this technologically challenged turkey probably won't fly anyway. Connecticut should stick to its guns and tell AT&T in clear terms that building a swiss cheese telecommunications infrastructure filled with broadband black holes is not acceptable.
This is a prime illustration of the need for the locals to take charge and create public-private partnerships with locally owned and operated telecommunications providers and tell the big, out of state corporations who would create broadband winners and losers to hit the road.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Connecticut AG, AT&T clash in court over broadband build out
Blumenthal therefore is moving to force AT&T to deploy its triple play U-Verse service under state rather than local regulatory jurisdiction. AT&T is fighting back, taking Blumenthal to court to challenge his order.
This is a high profile legal showdown worth watching as a state AG with a strong consumerist reputation is basically telling the telco/cable duopoly that with market domination comes the responsibility to serve everyone as is current regulatory policy for basic telephone service.
Monday, October 15, 2007
WISP pulls out of Northern California, El Dorado County
The WISP had plans to begin rolling out service in Folsom and El Dorado Hills and then head east up US 50 into the foothills. NuTel CEO Joe Fiero confirmed the withdrawal in an email today. Fiero said the decision to pull the plug on the region was prompted by concerns from would be business partners that Fiero says feared potential competition from municipal Wi-Fi networks that would provide free or very low cost access to users. NuTel's business model involves partnering with existing ISPs and WISPs as well as residential telecommunications wiring contractors, with NuTel providing back office management as well as a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) offering via NuTel's proprietary backbone and switch.
"From a demographics point of view, we would love to be in the region," Fiero wrote. "It’s finding willing partners to build and operate the system that has been the issue. We have done exhaustive research and spent hundreds of hours to locate economic sources for bandwidth and proper antenna locations. Someday we hope to put all that to good use."
El Dorado County's locally owned and operated WISPs including Remotely Located and Sierra Advantage likely welcome Nutel's retreat, although from this blogger's perspective it appeared doubtful NuTel like Clearwire and other big multi-state WISPs would have ever served areas east of El Dorado Hills. Nor would they likely face competition there from free or cheap public Wi-Fi.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
El Dorado County economic development chief calls Internet access key
Sam Driggers, installed earlier this year as El Dorado County's economic development director, told county supervisors this week that having good Internet access is key to the county's economic health. Moreover, Driggers suggested, a higher quality of life that can be had outside urban areas should not mean going without broadband:
Your blogger and El Dorado County home-based business operator is heartened by Driggers' remarks to the board and hopes the supes give them the serious consideration they deserve.Driggers said El Dorado County appeals to people who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of more urban regions.
"People want to live in quality-of-life areas, but they also want to work. It's in tandem," he said, and Internet access is key. "If you don't have broadband, you don't have access to the world."
To underscore Driggers' efforts to get his bosses to view the county's telecommunications infrastructure as being as vital as highways, water and power when it comes to the county's economic health, I urge county residents to sign this petition. It calls on the supervisors to direct county staff and retain necessary outside consultants to establish a public private partnership with fiber optic telecommunications vendors to utilize county rights to way to construct open access fiber to the node/neighborhood (FTTN) infrastructure to serve the current and future telecommunications needs of residents and businesses situated within unincorporated El Dorado County.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
AT&T offers fixed terrestrial wireless broadband
According to a customer service representative I spoke with today, the service offers speeds of 400-700 Kbs down and 250-300 Kbs up for $59.95 per month plus a $99 installation charge which includes a computer adapter card interface. Not quite broadband in this blogger's definition of 1.5 Mbs and higher, but certainly better than dial up. Ma Bell is offering a 30 day trial period for new customers, who can cancel if the service doesn't live up to their expectations.
This development comes as AT&T increases its fixed terrestrial broadband presence, deploying WiMAX-based offerings in Alaska and in the former BellSouth territory it acquired earlier this year, as well as spending $2.5 billion to acquire additional wireless radio spectrum, according to this AP dispatch today.
AT&T's foray into fixed terrestrial wireless isn't likely to offer Ma Bell a competitive edge over Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) who are moving to fill the many broadband black holes in locales like El Dorado County, California. Wireless broadband offerings by El Dorado County WISPs Remotely Located and Sierra Advantage offer a greater range of choices -- including significantly higher connection speeds -- that equal and exceed AT&T's fixed terrestrial wireless offering based on speed and price. The only way AT&T can hope to compete with these emerging WISPs is to battle them on the ground by upgrading its wireline infrastructure to allow it to reliably offer higher speed connections for comparatively lower prices. So far, there's no indication it's willing to make the necessary investment, leaving the market wide open for the WISPs.
Peter Bernstein: Telcos and cable companies should deprivatize local infrastructure
Peter Bernstein correctly notes the telco/cable duopoly doesn't want to invest in infrastructure, especially over the "last mile" or two before it reaches the subscriber. Instead, telcos and cable companies want to deliver -- and bill -- for broadband-based services -- TV, voice or Internet access. Bernstein proposes the telcos and cables companies sell off their local infrastructures to local governmental entities to be operated as public utilities:
Telcos and cable companies don't really want to install, manage and maintain “plumbing.” The days when customer control was asserted because access to all services came through a monopoly access network ended with the mass adoption of the Internet. Voice over IP and wireless are just the nails in the coffin.
Why not have the service providers divest their outside plant and local switches? Local or regional authorities could regulate them and, perish the thought, really do the job.
Monday, October 08, 2007
FCC to retest white spaces devices
The devices developed by the White Spaces Coalition, which includes Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Earthlink and Phillips represent a potentially "disruptive technology" that can bypass the telco/cable duopoly and bring broadband to areas unserved by telcos and cable companies.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
AT&T signals end of wireline copper-cable based system outside of urban areas
This week, an AT&T executive disclosed Ma Bell plans to ultimately shut down its existing voice network and replace it with a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) system in metro areas where U-Verse is being deployed.
Those not in these areas might have to wait a long time to get U-Verse VOIP service, Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's group president, regional telecommunications and entertainment, told Investor's Business Daily. Taken in combination with AT&T's move into fixed terrestrial wireless in less densely populated parts of its service area where U-Verse isn't present, it's unlikely they'll ever be offered wireline-based VOIP. All broadband-based services will likely be delivered via fixed terrestrial wireless as the aging copper cable plant and central offices built for the era of analog, plain old telephone service (POTS) are dismantled.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Sen. Kerry deplores 'unacceptable" state of U.S. broadband access
"It’s almost hard to wrap your head around the fact that 7 years into this century, more Americans than not have either no Internet access at all or are still stuck on dial-up. It seems like so long ago that the buzzword was the “information super-highway,” but much of America is still bouncing down a country lane. That is just unacceptable."
WISPs endeavor to provide needed broadband "third pipe" in El Dorado County
Startup Remotely Located run by Jason and Jennifer Wilson is deploying Wi-Fi based service using both directional and non-directional transmission technology. Remotely Located is serving areas deprived of wireline broadband service in the Mosquito/Swansboro Country area and has recently expanded into West Camino and your blogger's neighborhood.
Sierra Advantage emerged out of the bankruptcy earlier this year of one of El Dorado County's first ISPs, Direct Connect. According to the WISP's service area map, it covers my area. Not quite yet, according to Brett Patterson, director of sales for Shingle Springs-based Sierra Advantage. "We continue to build out our network and get closer each week to offering you service," Patterson wrote in an email yesterday. "Soon we will have additional equipment up in your area. There are some very exciting, positive changes coming for us regarding our Internet services."
My hat's off to these WISPs. Providing fixed terrestrial wireless Internet access in El Dorado County's rugged terrain where steep canyons and tall trees create obstacles for wireless signals is no easy feat.
Aside from overcoming these technological hurdles and providing reliable service at advertised throughput speeds, a key challenge as they add customers will be obtaining sufficient backhaul connections to the Internet -- wireline circuits capable of providing large amounts of bandwidth -- to accomodate the growth. Subscribers won't be pleased if a bandwidth traffic jam at the backhaul makes their speeds slow to a crawl and drag with the high latency that afflicts substandard satellite-based Internet access.
Readers who subscribe to services offered by these WISPS are invited to share their experiences and satisfaction with them by posting comments to this post.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Telcos protest California PUC's draft build out requirements
However, judging from their recently filed comments on the California Public Utilities Commission's proposed rules implementing the statute's build out requirements, telcos could hardly be described as in a hurry to expand their systems and heartily embracing an open, competitive market.
They protest draft rules that would require franchisees to include "clearly stated build-out milestones " that "demonstrate a serious and realistic planning effort." In addition, the draft rules would require franchisees to "clearly state the constraints affecting the build-out" and "clearly delineate and explain" areas within the franchisee's service area that pose "substantially higher" costs.
The small telcos don't want to be held to the same build out requirements as the larger players like AT&T and Verizon. And the big guys don't want to provide customer data by census tract or report on how they are utilizing wireless technology to deliver broadband services.
One might think broadband providers would support regulation that actually encourages them to offer more services to greater numbers of customers. Nearly all other regulated industries desire this and typically complain regulation constrains their ability to offer new products and services to larger numbers of customers. But it's just the opposite in the perverse broadband marketplace. The providers want regulation that allows them to limit rather than expand their services and serve fewer rather than more customers. While providers may think less is more, less is truly less and explains why the United States is rapidly falling behind other developed parts of the world when it comes to broadband access and choices.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Report: AT&T to ramp up fixed terrestrial WiMAX service in 2008
Quoting an industry source, Unstrung is reporting that Ma Bell will ramp up the service in the second quarter of next year, most likely in the southern U.S. where AT&T has preexisting licenses for using the 2.3 GHz band to provide the wireless broadband service as an alternative to DSL or cable.
Unstrung's analysis is taken in combination with the Alaskan rollout last month, this move into the lower 48 suggests AT&T might use the technology to provide better broadband coverage in areas where it has less wireline infrastructure.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
California PUC issues state franchise to Wave Broadband
Wave joins telcos AT&T and Verizon having received franchises from the California PUC. MIA is the state's biggest cable player, Comcast. The cable provider likely isn't all that interested in a state franchise with its limited build out requirements when local jurisdictions like El Dorado County already allow it to bypass large parts of the county, leaving consumers without access.
According to the CPUC franchise certificate issued on Sept. 7, Wave Broadband intends to provide service in the Northern California cities of Dixon, Loyalton, Portola, Rio Vista, West Sacramento and Plumas and Sierra counties. The company isn't talking when asked if it planned to serve other areas that currently are not offered broadband services by AT&T or Comcast.
FCC delays report on broadband access
The FCC report covering the last half of 2006 was due out in June. But it's been inexplicably delayed. An FCC spokesman assured me in a July 20, 2007 email that it would be released "soon" but it's still MIA nearly two months later. A likely explanation is the FCC is delaying the report's release at the behest of the telcos since it's likely to show that telcos have made little if any progress shrinking their massive broadband black holes during the last six months of 2006.
Federal appeals court rejects telco's bid to dismiss anti-trust action brought by competing ISPs
The federal appellate court decision affirms a U.S. district ruling that the suit could proceed as an anti-trust action under the Sherman Antitrust Act. SBC unsuccessfully argued that the action was barred by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Verizon Communications, Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, LLP, 540 U.S. 398 (2004). In Trinko, the Supreme Court held that the Sherman Act doesn't apply to Verizon's failure to deal fairly with a competing ISP. A customer of one of Verizon's competitors alleged Verizon engaged in anticompetitive practices by discriminatorily delaying orders placed by customers of Verizon’s competitors that Verizon was required to fill by the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.
The Sept. 11 ruling comes as AT&T and other telcos have requested the Federal Communications Commission to relieve them from the requirement that they continue making their lines available to competing ISPs under the 1996 Act, according to this recent post at Broadband Reports.com. The FCC is expected to act on the requests this week.
The full ruling by the Ninth Circuit in Linkline Communications et. al. v. SBC California, et. al. can be read here.
Friday, September 07, 2007
FCC needs to get it right with wireless broadband
The FCC has made a mess of telecommunications policy. As FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps noted recently, the nation is getting "too little broadband at too high a price."Thanks to the FCC, Cable TV and telephone companies dominate the broadband market. They've basically skimmed the cream off the top by focusing on densely populated, easy-to-service areas. As a result, large parts of the country are underserviced. Only 31 percent of rural households and 41 percent of African American households have broadband service compared with 70 percent of households overall that have a computer, according to a new study by the Pew Internet Project, a nonprofit group. The same holds true for small rural businesses. They are less likely to use broadband services, in part, because of cost and lack of availability, according to several government studies.