June 2009

OECD: Broadband Stimulus Investments Must be Coupled with Network Neutrality

The current crisis could also have negative effects on the communication sector which has been investing in high speed broadband networks and next generation switching technology. Investment in high speed broadband communication networks that are part of economic stimulus packages must be accompanied by regulatory frameworks which support open access to networks and competition in the market. Such investment should also aim at stimulating the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to secure economic and social benefits. Linking ICT investment with other large physical infrastructure investment, such as buildings, roads, transportation systems, health and electricity grids, allows them to be "smart" and save energy, assist the aging, improve safety and adapt to new ideas. These infrastructures can also lower the barriers to entrepreneurial activities and provide means for the efficient and "green" delivery of energy, mobility and important social services - training, job search and networking. Given the costs involved in fibre deployment it is fairly certain that outside the dense urban areas the market will not be able to support more than one fibre based network. The exception may be in markets which already have well developed and ubiquitous, cable TV infrastructures which may provide an alternative and competing platform. Governments, both central and municipal, can play an important role by facilitating investment, e.g. through public-private partnerships which stimulate development of nationwide high speed broadband networks. However, when the public pays for broadband investment they should expect to benefit from improved service and greater choice in the market place. One means to accomplish this is to ensure that networks built or augmented using any public funding are available via "open access" rules meaning network providers offer access or capacity to all market participants at cost-based, non-discriminatory terms.

Online Multitasking Increases Bandwidth Demand

Multitasking contributes to the ever-rising demand for bandwidth. The pace of that rise shows no sign of letting up, according to an update on Tuesday of Cisco Systems' yearly tracking and forecast of Internet traffic growth. Cisco's research, covering 2008 to 2013, projects a fivefold increase in Internet traffic over that span. "It's almost anticyclical to the economy," said Suraj Shetty, a marketing vice president at Cisco, the network router maker. The Cisco report looks at other Internet traffic research, like that done at the University of Minnesota. But it goes beyond monitoring recent history to also make longer-term projections, based on its own research of consumer and business trends in Internet use. A huge engine of traffic growth will be smartphones and other mobile devices. A more subtle driver of growth, though significant, is what Cisco calls "consumer hyperconnectivity." Increasingly, people are running one or several Internet-connected devices at once.

Broadband stimulus and vendor financing

Debt markets may be thawing for telecom service providers. (Just this week, for example, Equinix and Terremark raised $325 million and $400 million, respectively, in new debt). But for many rural broadband providers, the doors to the country's financial markets aren't yet open, which poses a quandary for those hoping to snag federal broadband stimulus funds: How do they raise the capital required to undertake the broadband projects they hope will win them stimulus awards? One way to do it — though not necessarily an easy way — is with the help of broadband equipment vendors, said Tim Nulty, chairman of ECFiberNet, the East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network. In a recent Webcast addressing broadband stimulus, Nulty — no stranger himself to the rigors of raising funds for rural broadband deployment — said his organization is currently trying a new model of vendor financing to get sufficient credit for a proposed broadband buildout.

Cisco, Alcatel Chafe at 'Buy American' Mandate in Stimulus Plan

Cisco Systems and Alcatel-Lucent want "Buy American" provisions waived for a $7.2 billion US program to expand high-speed Internet access, saying the rules are difficult to meet and undermine the economic stimulus program. Requiring US-made parts would be "grossly inefficient" and a "radical departure" from normal markets, said Cisco, the largest maker of networking equipment. "We're talking about technologies that are no longer made in the United States," said Alcatel-Lucent's John Marinho.

Broadband Access Key to Rural Health Care

At a National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services hearing on Tuesday, Jay Maxwell, CEO of Pixius Communications, said that remote home-based disease management tools and telemedicine can improve rural patients' access to quality care and reduce the country's health care burden. However, Maxwell, a telecommunications leader who specializes in broadband communication in rural areas, also said that "none of this is possible without access to a quality high-speed broadband Internet connection." Maxwell said, "While this access is common in urban and suburban areas, it is almost a luxury in rural America," adding, "Rural America is an area with a population that is aging and placing increased demands on scarce health care resources." Maxwell noted that it is largely unknown where high-speed broadband Internet service is provided. He said, "I urge HHS and all federal departments to work together to determine in greater detail who has service and who needs service. By doing this, you will pave the way toward a more effective means of delivering health care to rural America."

French Court Kills 'Three Strikes' Law

France's Constitutional Court on Wednesday struck down a key portion of a recently enacted law that gave the government the ability to disconnect Internet users who illegally download music and movies. Under the so-called "three strikes" regime, which President Nicolas Sarkozy endorsed and lawmakers approved in May, users who download content without paying for it would get an e-mail from the government followed by a letter and a third warning before their Web connectivity is cut off for as long as one year. Concerns about a similar proposal permeated talks between the United States and a handful of trading partners as they work toward completion of an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The high court also found that access to the Internet in is among citizens' fundamental freedoms that cannot be curtailed or interrupted without intervention from a judge.

Leahy Urges Holistic Approach To Content Protection

Saying that the $1 trillion in online intellectual property theft the Obama Administration identified last year was "shocking" and "totally unacceptable," Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) told the World Copyright Summit Wednesday that the participants needed to get over their differences and work together on copyright protection. "If somebody went to a bank and stole $20 million, there would be headlines everywhere. We have to protect intellectual property," he said, "but we have to do it in a way to promote its growth." Chairman Leahy said that preventing that theft remained "a high priority" for him. At the same summit, Congressional Intellectual Property Promotion and Piracy Prevention Caucus Co-Chair Robert Wexler (D-FL) warned that the intellectual property policy push outside of Washington and Brussels has not gained enough steam.

Group Releases List of 10 Worst Bills for E-commerce

A handful of bills in state legislatures across the U.S. are creating the biggest legal threat to e-commerce in several years, trade group NetChoice said. NetChoice released its first Internet Advocates' Watchlist for Ugly Laws (iAWFUL) Tuesday, with state legislation making up nine of the 12 bills on the list, and the remaining three bills in the Congress. The combination of a struggling economy and the move of more activities online has created a major push to regulate the Internet, said Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice. Legislative efforts to regulate the Internet are "more dangerous" now than at any time since the mid-1990s, when there were efforts to restrict Internet content, he said.

Nielsen: 2.8 Million DTV Homes Still Unready

Nielsen says there are approximately 2.8 million homes still unready for Friday's switch to digital-only television broadcasting. Minorities and lower-income families are the least ready, while seniors, one of the target populations of DTV education efforts, continues to defy predictions by being the most ready group. The good news is that unreadiness figure has been cut in half since February, when all full-power stations were initially mandated to shut off their analog signals.

White House Briefing on Digital TV Transition with Commerce Sec Locke

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs shared the podium with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Sec Locke said, "Here is what the American people need to know about the June 12th switchover: If you currently have cable, satellite, or some other paid-for television service, you have nothing to worry about. You are prepared; you don't need to do anything, and June 12th you'll see no change in your television reception or programming. But if you have a television set more than a year old and you're not on cable or satellite, and you're relying basically on free over-the-air service, you are not ready. And you will lose your television service this Friday if you don't act now."

Benton

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