Clearwire in WiMAX alliance with satellite TV providers

This deal looks at bit sketchy at first glance. On one hand, it makes some sense inasmuch as many satellite TV subscribers live in areas where over the air TV broadcast reception is poor and there's no wireline broadband infrastructure from the telco/cable duopoly.

Many of these folks would likely prefer a fixed terrestrial wireless option that provides broadband faster and cheaper than satellite ISPs such as WildBlue and HughesNet.

On the other hand, however, there are few if any proven WiMAX deployments in these areas that have an established track record. I asked Clearwire how its service would overcome rugged terrain and tall trees which are often found in areas that lack wireline broadband. Tellingly, the company demurred, declining to respond to the inquiry.

Ma Bell forsakes existing customers, deploys fiber for new ones

AT&T doesn't give a rat's patootie for its existing customer base, large numbers of which have no wireline broadband options at all.

New customers however get first class treatment and state of the art fiber optic connections to the Internet.

Way to go, Ma Bell! If you don't want your existing customer base and thus don't want to invest in it, why don't you sell it off instead of letting it die on the copper vine?

Virginia governor makes broadband access a priority

The governor's office is forming a Broadband Roundtable to develop a plan for ensuring broadband access for every Virginia business. The roundtable is to be led by former Gov. Mark Warner and Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra.

"Broadband access is a priority for my administration, and we intend to build on the successes of the Warner Administration, which worked to install 700 miles of broadband in our rural communities," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said in a news release.

North Carolina municipalities attack proposed state franchise bill as uncompetitive

Where the private sector telco/cable duopoly won't provide broadband Internet access, local governments that have long been in the utility business want to step up. But local government officials complain duopoly-backed legislation, the Local Government Fair Competition Act, is really protectionist and would result in less competition and less densely populated areas being cut off from broadband access.

Mooresville Mayor Bill Thunburg agreed. "Folks, this bill is a pig with lipstick on," he said. "The whole notion of this being a Fair Competition Act is really absurd."

Mooresville entered the broadband Internet business after years of struggle with private industry. Town leaders haven't been able to convince Time Warner to launch cable modem Internet service—the company couldn't make enough profit, they were told.

"This is why we get into that business," Thunburg said. "Private sector's not going to build out into rural communities or poor neighborhoods because there's no money in it for them. Municipalities serve those folks, and we can serve them better than private industry can because we can be sure that they've got fiber to the home." He urged the legislators to consider the need for economic development.

"You don't do that by slamming the door in the face of the poor people or rural people, and that's what this bill does," he said. "One thing's for sure: If municipalities are in the broadband business, big businesses have competition. Right now, in Mooresville, they don't have any competition."

For legislators representing rural areas, Mooresville's dilemma has a familiar ring. Rep. Angela Bryant (D-Halifax, Nash), who sits on the public utilities committee, says Nash County has had a similar experience.

"Technology's moving so fast, some of my cities and counties say that as far as they're concerned, broadband service is almost like electricity, water and natural gas in terms of how essential it would be for citizens to have it and how much of a deprivation it would be not to, just because private industry won't do it," she says. She'd like to find some balance between the concerns of the industry and needs of local communities. As it stands, she says, the bill "is putting us too much at the mercy of the private businesses."

The telco video challenge: 25Mbs or bust

Here's an interview in the DesMoines Register with Qwest's Iowa President Max Phillips. It shows while telcos like Qwest desire to get into offering video programming like cable companies and push for state statutes easing the way into the market, they face a daunting technological challenge doing that over existing copper cable pair that was originally designed to carry analog voice signals and not huge amounts of digital data.

"We offer up to seven megabits in Des Moines. You've probably got to get those speeds up somewhere in the 25-megabit range to make this product work," Phillips tells the newspaper.

Getting that kind of throughput on a reliable level in order to support video appears to be a major reach, particularly when much of the telcos' existing copper cable plant can provide only 1.5 Mbs DSL service tops -- and in many areas can't provide DSL at any speed.

Verizon sends mixed messages on need for Mass. state franchise legislation

Last month, I noted local government franchising doesn't seem to be slowing down telcos like Verizon who have backed legislation in various states that would put the state instead of local governments in charge of issuing franchises. I pointed to Verizon's progress in New York and also questioned why given the slow pace of telco broadband infrastructure deployment there would be any need to bypass the locals in the first place.

The telcos complain it takes too long to deploy new broadband infrastructure to support IPTV (Internet Protocol Over TV) when they have to negotiate agreements with local governments one jurisdiction at a time.

This week, The Boston Globe reports Verizon officials concede that local governments in Massachusetts are not slowing Verizon's rollout of its fiber to the home FiOS infrastructure, undercutting Verizon's claim state franchise legislation is needed in that state.

Why the private market fails on broadband

Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, DC-based technology policy think tank, explains why the private sector -- mostly represented by the telco/cable duopoly -- fails when it comes to deployment of broadband infrastructure, resulting in uneven distribution where some neighborhoods have broadband access while others don't:

To be sure, the conservative faith in markets is amply justified in many areas where consumer choice leads to the best outcomes. No one is calling for a national iPod policy or for tax subsidies on Blu-Ray DVD players, for the good reason that these are consumer items that the market best allocates.

But broadband is different: market failures lead to it being undersupplied. The principle market failure is that the provision of broadband involves what economists call "positive externalities."

For example, the fastest broadband connections simultaneously support a host of digital video, voice, and data applications, like telemedicine. Yet the success of these applications is hindered by a classic "chicken or egg" dilemma: they will not develop without a market of high-speed broadband subscribers, but consumers need these applications as a lure to enter the high-speed broadband market in the first place.

So yes, conservatives are right. Proactive policies and incentives for more broadband might "distort" the market. But they are wrong in saying that this distortion would outweigh the benefits. In fact, the innovation and productivity spurred by more and faster broadband is likely to vastly exceed any minor losses from "misallocation" of economic resources.

Broadband has become the 21st century equivalent of a "chicken in every pot." Everyone is in favor it. But the real issue is not whether broadband is good and more is better, but whether the market alone will provide the right amount of it anytime soon. The OECD numbers suggest that we can do better. Now it's up to us to do so. We can start by crafting and implementing a proactive national broadband policy.

Waxman calls for GAO review of federal broadband efforts

More than a decade after the enactment of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 that directed the Federal Communications Commission to encourage the deployment of broadband, a House oversight committee wants to determine what has actually been accomplished.

Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked for the review in a May 22 letter to Comptroller General David M. Walker. Waxman also wants information on how widely broadband is deployed and who has access to it.

AT&T Worldnet founder predicts universal residential wireless broadband by 2012

For those of you wondering when you'll ever get DSL, AT&T Worldnet founder Tom Evslin has a prediction: probably never. The reason: residential land line service will all but disappear by 2012 as telcos abandon the foundation of the U.S. telecommunications system, copper cable.

Rather than wimpy DSL that can't reliably propagate more than three miles from the phone company central office, Evslin prognosticates, homeowners will get broadband via WiFi-enabled mobile phone services. “Trust me, by 2012 we’ll all have wireless hotspots in our homes by one means or another,” Evslin wrote.

Evslin points to the high cost of maintaining copper cable in less densely populated areas and the continuing decline of residential land lines as people migrate to mobile phones as their primary telephone number.

Evslin could be onto something. Just last week, AT&T sent out a market research survey to gauge interest in a potential product called Unify that would combine voice and Internet service and chose either a wireline or wireless broadband connection depending upon the subscriber's location.

The coming broadband traffic jam

Two former assistant secretaries of commerce -- one from the Bush administration and the other from the Clinton administration -- warn of a coming digital deluge that threatens to clog the Internet.

Point well taken. Many Americans get broadband over twisted copper cable designed for the pre-Internet era. Even the relatively bigger pipe offered by the cable providers may max out soon without additional bandwidth. Finally, there are millions of Americans still stuck on the dirt roads of dial up, unable to reach the broadband highway.

"Video competition" is all about broadband access

The failure of AT&T state "video franchise" legislation in Tennessee last week shows a major discrepancy between AT&T spin and perception. While Ma Bell may claim she wants to bring competition for television programming by offering a cable TV alternative called U-Verse using Internet Protocol over Television (IPTV) technology, local governments and consumer advocates correctly see the real issue isn't about a mere cable TV alternative, but more broadly -- pun intended -- broadband access itself since IPTV by definition requires broadband.

Since U-Verse is deployed only in selected areas, large areas will not only go without IPTV but broadband access altogether since these gaping broadband black holes remain on early 1990s dial up technology or a satellite, a costly, crippled poor broadband substitute. Those living in areas fortunate enough to have broadband by today's standards using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service may not in as little as 3-5 years as broadband applications and their bandwidth demand continue to grow.

AT&T says that the bill would have increased competition in the pay-TV sector, by presenting viewers with another option aside from cable and satellite providers.

Opponents of the legislation, however, claim that it would have allowed AT&T to cherry-pick high-income neighborhoods for the service, potentially widening the so called “digital divide” between rich and poor.

Federal legislation calls for 9-digit Zip code broadband survey

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and four co-sponsors this week introduced the Broadband Data Improvement Act, S. 1492. It would require broadband providers to report broadband availability within 9-digit Zip code areas. That's a better unit of measurement than 5-digit Zip codes and even census tracts since the spotty nature of broadband access leaves holes within 5-digit Zips and as well as census tracts.

“The first step in an improved broadband policy is ensuring that we have better data on which to build our efforts,” said Inouye. “In a digital age, the world will not wait for us. It is imperative that we get our broadband house in order and our communications policy right. But we cannot manage what we do not measure.”

The measure also directs the Census Bureau to assess levels of residential computer use and dial-up versus broadband Internet subscribership and would have the Government Accountability Office (GAO) develop broadband metrics that may be used to provide consumers with broadband availability and cost.

In addition to mapping broadband availability geographically, the bill also sets a capacity standard for “second generation broadband,” which would have to be capable of carrying high-definition video , i.e. about 9mbs. That's more than four times faster than the average broadband connection available to most Americans.

Telco's sluggish DSL deployment produces IPTV skepticism

Denver based telco Qwest wants to deploy broadband-based Internet Protocol TV in Broomfield, Colorado. But it's getting a less than welcome reception from local leaders unimpressed with the telco's slow, selective rollout of digital subscriber line (DSL) and who are concerned of a repeat performance with IPTV that would leave some neighborhoods without service.

This goes to the crux of why telcos and some cable companies have backed state legislation preempting local governments and putting the state in charge of issuing broadband "video franchises." The legislation typically allows franchisees to build out their systems to serve half or less of their service areas, leaving everyone else on the wrong side of the digital divide. Local elected leaders are more sensitive to this digital redlining than state legislators, who are often the recipients of campaign contributions from telco and cable company sources.

Dot com coalition calls on Congress for federal broadband policy

The Open Internet Coalition, in a letter to Congress sent Thursday, said the U.S. government needs to adopt new measures to ensure universal affordable access to broadband, net neutrality and increased competition in the broadband market. The letter is the first step in a concerted effort coalition members will make to push broadband legislation in Congress, members said.

The U.S. lacks "any stated policy" to bring affordable broadband to more residents, added Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a digital rights advocacy group and member of the coalition. "The government doesn't have an overarching vision on how to address these problems," she added.

Consultant: AT&T slows DSL buildout

“DSL shipments into North America will continue to decline, due to the slowdown in AT&T’s buildout, Verizon’s shift to FTTH and the absence of alternative service providers,” Dittberner said.

This likely means those who have been waiting for AT&T to deploy DSL to their neighborhoods will probably have to continue waiting indefinitely.

Appalachian broadband summit set

U.S. Rep. Zack Space, the Dover Democrat who represents Ohio’s 18th Congressional District, will hold two one-day broadband summits called "Connect Appalachia" next week in an effort to explore bringing high-speed internet access to rural areas of Appalachia.

"Just as railroads in the 19th century and our interstate system in the 1950s represented revolutionary breakthroughs in transportation infrastructure, broadband represents the breakthrough for our generation. We absolutely need wider access to broadband in order to attract new industries and jobs," Space said in a news release.

Lack of broadband hurts Tahoe property values

It's only a matter of time before properties in broadband black holes began to fetch less than comparable properties that have high speed Internet access. That downside is likely to be exacerbated in the current soft real estate market:

The lack of high speed internet access frustrated both business owners and residents in the area, and also began to take a toll on real estate values. Local real estate agent and petition organizer Brett Williams of Agate Bay Realty had this to say: “It’s starting to affect the values of the properties of the areas that are not serviced by high-speed,” said Williams. “If you are trying to fill a rental property, two that are similar, one with high-speed and one without, its difficult to lease the second property. You have high-tech people who are looking to lease a property for four to five months for a ski lease, and can’t telecommute.”