March 2009

Mobile broadband to buoy mobile industry

Mobile broadband has become one of the key growth engines for the global mobile industry, driving major increases in data subscribers and revenues over the past year, and is set to play an increasingly central role in the success of the industry. So says telecoms.com parent and analyst house Informa Telecoms & Media, which notes that with mobile broadband subscribers worldwide jumped 84 per cent to 186 million at the end of 2008, compared to 101 million at the end of 2007. By 2013, the analyst anticipates that mobile broadband subscribers will represent almost one third of total mobile subscribers worldwide.

IT Incentives for Doctors, Hospitals Vary Under Federal Stimulus Package

Health information technology is expected to experience a huge boost with the new economic stimulus package. The health IT provisions of the stimulus bill aim to accelerate the adoption of electronic health record technologies and facilitate nationwide health information exchanges to improve the quality and coordination of care between health care providers, thereby reducing medical errors and duplicative care. Most of the package's health IT funding -- approximately $17 billion over five years -- will be made available across the next 10 years as Medicare and Medicaid payment incentives to health care providers who adopt certified health IT systems. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed incentive structure is expected to boost health IT adoption rates to about 70% for hospitals and to about 90% for physicians within the next decade -- a significant improvement over the projected adoption rates of 45% and 65% for hospitals and physicians, respectively, by 2019, in the absence of any incentives.

Danes lead world in telecoms technology: WEF index

Denmark boasts the world's most networked economy, putting it and its Nordic neighbors in a good position to rebound from the current global downturn, the World Economic Forum said. Sweden ranked second in the annual WEF Networked Readiness Index, sponsored by Cisco, which measures information and communications technology availability and use, such as access to mobile phone and Internet services. The United States placed third, Singapore fourth and Switzerland fifth among the 134 economies listed in the index; poor states including Bangladesh, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Timor-Leste and Chad rated worst. In the report, the WEF said that investing in telecoms infrastructure and services could help "general competitiveness and progress" and put countries on a better footing to take advantage of an eventual return to economic growth. High-speed Internet should be now seen as "part of the basic infrastructure of any country and one of the foundations of the knowledge economy," the study said, urging countries ranked low on the index to do all they can to improve their connectivity.

Verizon eyes home energy management with FiOS

Verizon Communications is exploring ways to use its FiOS broadband service to give consumers ways to remotely control their thermostat and view their energy usage. Company engineers are now designing applications, including energy management, to work with the routers that come with its FiOS service. The first application Verizon expects to roll out will be videoconferencing by the end of the year, according to company spokesman Jim Smith, who said home security and energy management are also being considered.

Cybersecurity review is putting emphasis on privacy

The House Cybersecurity Caucus on Thursday met with Melissa Hathaway, the acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils, who is conducting for the administration a 60-day cybersecurity review. As the National Security Council works on its comprehensive review of federal cybersecurity programs for President Obama, it is going to great lengths to consider privacy and civil liberty issues, some Congress members said.

Twitter's bid for revenue: paid pro accounts

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has confirmed that paid accounts with enhanced features are on their way. A number of other opportunities exist for the social messaging startup, but it appears that 2009 will indeed be the year that Twitter begins to make money.

US Internet gambling laws breach WTO rules: EU

A US crackdown on European online gambling breaches World Trade Organization rules and would justify action at the World Trade Organization, the European Commission said on Thursday. The European Union executive, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, said its draft report found that such U.S. laws hampered trade and thus were inconsistent with WTO rules but stressed it would seek a negotiated solution. "It is for the U.S. to decide how best to regulate Internet gambling in its market, but this must be done in a way that fully respects WTO obligations," EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said.

John Lawson Joins NAB Board

Ion Media Networks Executive Vice President John Lawson has joined the board of the National Association of Broadcasters. Prior to joining Ion Media Networks, Lawson was president-CEO of the Association for Public Television Stations, an advocacy organization representing local US public television stations. He is a founding board member of the Open Mobile Video Coalition and has served on the FCC's Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee.

Benton Editorial

A First Step to Our National Broadband Plan

by Charles Benton

With the rush to implement the broadband-related provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, little attention has been paid to a provision of the 2008 Farm Bill with requires the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Agriculture to craft a comprehensive rural broadband strategy. This plan is due to Congress this Spring and the FCC has requested public input.

FCC Technological Advisory Council

The Federal Communications Commission intends to reestablish a Technological Advisory Council (TAC). The purpose of the TAC is to provide technical advice to the Federal Communications Commission and to make recommendations on the issues and questions presented to it by the FCC. The TAC will address questions referred to it by the FCC Chairman, the FCC Chief Technologist, the Chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, or the TAC Designated Federal Officer. The questions referred to the TAC will be directed to technological and technical issues in the field of communications. The duties of the TAC will be to gather data and information, perform analyses, and prepare reports and presentations to respond to the questions referred to it. Jon Peha, the FCC's Chief Technologist, is the lead contact person.

Benton

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