Vermont deal with Fairpoint condemns state to "a dead-end future," union official says

Vermont regulators have given the go ahead to North Carolina-based Fairpoint Communications to purchase Verizon's telephone system in the state for $2.7 billion.

The Charlotte Observer reports the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2326, which represents about 500 Verizon employees, is unhappy with the deal. The local's business manager, Mike Spillane, says it condemns Vermonters to "a dead-end future that impacts the economy and jobs."

"We're going to be stuck with a DSL copper-based product that's the horse and buggy of broadband," Spillane told the newspaper.

Under the terms of the approval, that horse and buggy run will only cover half the state by 2010, meaning those not on the route will have to dial up or suck a satellite for the foreseeable.

FCC chairman hopes 700mhz auction will increase broadband access

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has high hopes the 700 megahertz spectrum that will be left vacant when TV signals go all digital in February 2009 will "dramatically increase" wireless broadband service in rural areas.

Accordingly, Martin told the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week that the FCC will require companies that gain part of the spectrum in the FCC auction set for Jan. 24 to use and not just hold onto it. "We want to make sure that that's being put to use as quickly as possible. ... That's really going to be the ultimate test of [the auction's] success," the Seattle Times quoted Martin as saying.

New Web site to track broadband availability info

NewScientist.com News Service reports today a Web site will be launched this month called BroadbandCensus.com. Visitors will be able to enter their location, the price of their broadband service and satisfication level. Eventually a speed test will measure connection quality.

AT&T's tepid investment in residential market comes home to roost

AT&T is experiencing declining revenues in its residential wireline market segment, the telco's chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson told Citi's Entertainment, Media and Telecom Conference. Wall Street responded by pushing down AT&T's share price 4.7 percent to $39.10 in afternoon trading.

The Associated Press quotes Stephenson as blaming softness in the residential wireline segment on disconnections by consumers struggling to pay household bills.

However, what's likely the real reason is AT&T's own flawed residential strategy. AT&T has stubbornly resisted investing in upgrades to its aging and increasingly obsolete last mile copper-based distribution system. Consequently, the telco is unable to offer high speed Internet services and bundles of voice and broadband within large portions of its 22-state service area to the residential and growing home office-based market segment.

Moreover, AT&T's Project U-Verse rollout offering "triple play" bundles including television service based on a hybrid of fiber optic and copper cable has run into a variety of technological and market-based obstacles, causing the company to consistently miss projections for new U-Verse customers.

Netflix's movie-to-TV scheme premature

Netflix's announcement that it will deliver downloadable films directly to televisions via high speed Internet connections is clearly premature given the current pathetic state of America's broadband infrastructure. Even compressed, full motion audio and video requires lots of bandwidth -- and that bandwidth isn't there for most U.S. households. Even more so with high definition video, which Netflix ultimately hopes to deliver.

Many households lack even basic broadband access needed to view graphics-intensive Web sites. A significant portion of those that have high speed Internet access connect at speeds too slow to make regular movie downloading technologically feasible.

Netflix's move is part of a broader trend in which the content providers will drive broadband deployment. Without these bandwidth dependent applications creating demand for enhanced broadband connections, progress would likely continue to move at a glacial pace, increasing the ever-widening digital divide.

California communities lacking basic phone service underscore Golden State digital divide

This Sacramento Bee story about a small Northern California enclave not far from the state capitol of Sacramento finally getting telephone service sheds some light on why advanced telecommunications services based on broadband Internet access are lagging in the Golden State. After all, if some communities in a state that prides itself on its technological leadership are only now getting plain old telephone service (POTS) nine years into the 21st century, it's a safe bet that there are plenty of others with phone service that lack the necessary infrastructure to provide high speed Internet access.

The Bee story notes a "surprisingly long list of far-flung California communities still lacking telephone service: Lost Hills in Fresno County, Pine Mountain in Kern County and Siskiyou County's Eddy Gulch, Godfrey Ranch and Swillup Creek, to name a few."

Last fall, the Federal Communications Commission reported that nearly 20 percent of California telco customers weren't offered DSL service as of the end of 2006. (See Table 14)

In July, a Public Policy Institute of California concluded California is riddled with broadband black holes due to lack of access to broadband services, finding only about 30 percent of Northern Californians can get them.

Hawaii Broadband Task Force issues preliminary report

Following the lead of state-level broadband task forces in California, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio, the Hawaii Broadband Task Force has issued its intial report to the governor and legislature.

During 2008, the task force plans to work with the federal government and other states to determine how many states have initiated broadband data collection projects, created unified authorities to drive broadband deployment, and instituted regulatory reforms.

The Hawaii panel will also determine whether other states have considered policies to increase the deployment of Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) or are relying exclusively on telcos and cable companies to make their own business cases for these investments based on expected return to investors/owners.

The task force will wrap up its work with recommended policy, regulatory, informational, developmental, and leadership initiatives "that would stimulate both the demand for and competitive supply of advanced broadband capability and services throughout the state."

California's Broadband Task Force, which has a similar charter to Hawaii's, issued an interim report several months ago. It was set to issue a full report in December that is now expected to be completed sometime this month.