Saturday, June 15, 2013

Google's Project Loon no cure for the common Internet not spot

Google's experimental Project Loon unveiled this week that envisions a fleet of high altitude balloons providing Internet connectivity is likely to benefit only the most remote and undeveloped areas of the globe.  Fittingly, remote New Zealand was the site of the first experimental deployment of these 'loons, mate.

The technology won't be a panacea for more populated parts of the globe in developed nations plagued by incomplete wireline Internet infrastructure that serves only some residences and businesses while others adjacent are left off the Internet grid.

Nor can it provide sufficient throughput to support the rapid growth in bandwidth demand driven by video and the use of multiple devices common nowadays in many households.  According to Google, the high altitude digital dirigibles will provide connectivity at speeds comparable to 3G, the legacy mobile wireless service now being superseded by higher bandwidth 4G mobile wireless.

NYT op-ed complaining of low Internet subscribership undermines author's credibility

No Country for Slow Broadband - NYTimes.com: The major causes for low subscribership, as extensive survey research shows, are low interest in the Internet and minimal digital literacy. And too many American households lack the money or interest to buy a computer. As a result, more Americans subscribe to cable TV and cellphones than to Internet service. Our broadband subscription rate is 70 percent, but could easily surpass 90 percent if computer ownership and digital literacy were widespread.
So argues Richard Bennett, senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.  There is a big hole in this argument.  Information and communications services are universally verging toward employing Internet Protocol (IP) to deliver them.  People are increasingly viewing video content delivered over the Internet to making voice calls using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). 

In segmenting discrete services and citing just one type of Internet-enabled service (personal computing), one has to question why someone with Bennett's level of knowledge would even make this point, undermining his credibility and suggesting a hidden agenda.

Thursday, June 06, 2013

Obama administration's ConnectED program only half a solution

President Calls for High-Speed Broadband in 99% of Schools/Libraries - 2013-06-06 15:21:00 | Broadcasting & Cable: The White House Thursday announced a new initiative to get high-speed broadband to America's schools and libraries.

The so-called ConnectED program has a goal of connecting 99% of students to high-speed wired and wireless broadband (speeds of no less than 100 Mbps and preferably 1 Gbps) within five years. The president called on the FCC and National Telecommunications and Information Administration to "modernize and leverage" its E-rate program to achieve that goal. The E-rate program provides discounted broadband service to schools and libraries through the Universal Service Fund.

The President's plan while laudable is only a partial solution.  Learning now takes place both at school and in the home -- what educators describe as "blended learning."  Jeremy Meyers, superintendent of the El Dorado County (California) Office of Education, wrote about the emerging educational method in which pupils do much of their learning and class projects outside of the classroom via the Internet – arguably the world’s biggest and best stocked library.  Back in the classroom, their teachers review their projects, answer questions and lead discussions.

As Meyers notes, blended learning requires good Internet connectivity both at schools and at students' homes.  However, too many homes in Meyers' district lack even basic Internet service.  "El Dorado County faces a special challenge that is assuming greater urgency each year: How to bring all our households into broadband Internet access in a cost-effective manner," Meyers wrote. "Having large Internet 'dead zones' is not acceptable in today’s world of connectivity. It limits us academically and hurts us economically."

Are you listening, Mr. President?

Thursday, May 23, 2013

FCC Expands CAF Definition of Broadband Subsidy-Eligible Areas - 2013-05-22 22:48:29 | Broadcasting & Cable

FCC Expands CAF Definition of Broadband Subsidy-Eligible Areas - 2013-05-22 22:48:29 | Broadcasting & Cable

Summed up, this subsidy program designed to underwrite the cost of building telecommunications infrastructure in high cost areas is ineffective.  Telcos won't apply because they don't want to fully serve these areas and complain the subsidy amounts are too low.  And even if they did want the money, they have to fight cable companies ineligible for the funding (derived from a surcharge on telephone bills) that claim the telcos are upgrading their infrastructures in order to steal their customers.

This circumstance only adds to the argument that communities and particularly those with lower population densities can't expect legacy providers to serve them.  They must build their own publicly and cooperative owned and operated fiber networks.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Light Reading - Google Fiber's Future Looks Limited

Light Reading - Google Fiber's Future Looks Limited: Google is destined to remain a small player in the broadband service market, unable to dislodge cable companies such as AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp., according to analyst Dexter Thillien of IHS iSuppli.

Outside of a few select metro areas, the costs and risks get too high for Google Fiber's 1Gbit/s broadband service, Thillien writes in a report issued Tuesday.

IHS is not the first to warn against expecting Google to light up fiber across the nation. Last month, analysts at Alliance Bernstein said in a report that they remained "skeptical that Google will find a scalable and economically feasible model to extend its build out to a large portion of the U.S., as costs would be substantial, regulatory and competitive barriers material, and in the end the effort would have limited impact on the global trajectory of the business."

These analyses affirm recent posts on this blog casting doubt on the irrational exuberance of some who believe Google is going to overbuild metal wire-based incumbent telephone and cable company footprints with fiber.  It might make sense on the surface as somnolent incumbents have placed their wireline plant into "harvest" mode (in the case of the cablecos) and runoff mode (telcos).

But as deep as its pockets are, Google simply can't afford anything other than one off, opportunistic builds. And the incumbents can't undertake massive fiber infrastructure CAPex using grandma's shareholder dividend.  As I've been saying for several years, that leaves it up to communities to build their own municipal or cooperatively owned fiber networks.

Verizon Hopes to Nudge Some From Wired to Wireless - NYTimes.com

Verizon Hopes to Nudge Some From Wired to Wireless - NYTimes.com

This story illustrates why communities must build their own fiber networks.  The incumbents like Verizon aren't going to do the job.  As the story notes, that leaves residents and business owners with lousy options:  poor voice quality over garbled wireless premises phone service that can go out in a prolonged power failure and data capped satellite Internet service.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Former FCC Chairman and GTCR Fund See Strong Rural Cable Future

Former FCC Chairman and GTCR Fund See Strong Rural Cable Future: Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt hopes this week’s acquisition of tier 2 cable company NewWave Communications by investment firm GTCR will be “the first of many.” Telecompetitor spoke this week with Hundt, who headed up the FCC during the Clinton administration and is now an advisor to GTCR.“We believe cable is the universal American communications medium,” said Hundt. “Cable is the essential connection for everyone, especially in rural America.”
 The Telecompetitor article continues:
GTCR’s strategy is interesting, considering that service providers have had difficulty finding a business case for deploying broadband in some rural areas – particularly as distances from population centers increase.

When I asked Hundt about that he said, “Technology keeps producing breakthroughs.”
Indeed it does.  But has it reduced the labor costs associated with deployment and maintenance of wireline Internet infrastructure, which rule of thumb estimates place at about 70 percent of the total?  I haven't heard of of any such technology breakthroughs unless Hundt is talking about using drones to spool and drop cable from the sky and robots to bury and install it on poles.