September 2009

Hispanic Broadband Access: Making the Most of the Mobile, Connected Future

A look at the broadband behavior, challenges and opportunities of the nation's 48 million Hispanics.

Findings include:

1) While Hispanics trail other US populations in overall Internet access, they are among the most avid users of mobile broadband. In fact, Hispanics and African Americans lead mobile broadband use (53% and 58% respectively), with both communities far ahead of Whites (33%).

2) Hispanics are more mobile than the general US population and, thus, rely more on cell phones. In fact, compared to Americans generally, Hispanics account for more minutes used and for a higher percentage of cell-phone ownership despite their relatively low incomes.

3) Given that roughly 40% of U.S. Hispanics are born abroad, in countries where wireless service often is more common than landline phones, the American Hispanic community is more open to mobile broadband than many other population groups. This familiarity makes the leap to smartphones and other connected mobile devices a more intuitive step for many than turning to wired, home broadband adoption and computer usage.

4) In 2008, Hispanics outpaced the general population in accessing and downloading digital media (music, video, audio, movies, television programs, video games and podcasts), 42% to 35%

How Much Broadband Do We Need?

In crafting a National Broadband Plan, do we set our sights on 100Mbps, or pull out all the stops and race to 1Gbps? Faster broadband speeds will drive innovation, new business models, and even change the way we interact with each other. But private companies, governments and even consumers have a finite amount to spend. Do we allocate those dollars to laying a faster pipe, or put more of our resources toward taking advantage of that speed and optimizing the pipe? Just as chipmakers have declared the Gigahertz race to be largely irrelevant, when do we look at broadband speeds and say, "Enough?"

Is Bandwidth Addictive?

[Commentary] Conventional wisdom among marketing types holds that as consumers purchase more of a given product their needs become satisfied, and the ability to incrementally sell them more of that product diminishes. The question is, does bandwidth obtained via broadband connections exhibit similar tendencies? That is, is bandwidth addictive? Surveys have consistently shown that a), a significant subset of consumers are interested in enhanced broadband services that are more dynamic in how bandwidth and are willing to pay for them, and b), even for those unwilling to pay for such services they are viewed by a majority of consumers as desirable enough to change service providers if the price was right. Specifically, 27 percent of survey respondents expressed a willingness to pay (and 11 percent of those would pay "almost any price"), and 52 percent said they would actively seek to change broadband providers to get them. For consumers purchasing the fastest broadband tier, 37 percent would pay extra for enhanced bandwidth services. For the middle tier, 21 percent would pay extra, and for the bottom tier, 16 percent would pony up more money. In other words, it appears that the more bandwidth people buy, the more they want.

States Must Share Internet Bandwidth With Local Governments for Higher Speeds and Big Savings

[Commentary] From deploying VoIP to offering online training or other cloud-based solutions, Internet and intranet use is exploding. Despite a steady drop in prices, public CIOs can't keep up with the growing demand from customers and their new, bandwidth-hungry applications. What's to be done with shrinking technology budgets? For decades we've known that bundling bandwidth can save dollars. This means that new opportunities to partner, by sharing networks between state and local governments, have never been more financially or technologically compelling. Our greatest challenge is governance. Local government CIOs may be thinking: Why do I want to share my network with the state? This connectivity isn't free. What's in it for me? I don't trust the state (or the feds, for that matter). What about security, service-level agreements (SLAs), demarcation points, staffing or a host of other issues? These discussions must be addressed in memorandums of understanding between governments.

Broadband May Help Cities Compete in Economic Recovery

President Barack Obama has repeatedly spoken about the need to fix education and deploy world-class broadband more widely to make America more globally competitive. That's the bottom line that ultimately will determine the fiscal and social health of the nation's communities as they move forward -- effectively competing on the world stage to the extent that most Americans can share in an abundance of generated wealth. So while most cities vie for a share of stimulus package money and in the meantime hope that recovery won't be too prolonged, even economists are uncertain -- if not skeptical -- about how effective the stimulus will prove to be. For years, the phrase "reinventing government" captured the challenge of harnessing IT to transform government processes. This ongoing process has been one of the success stories of the last 20 years. The question is: Does the nation need the same kind of overall approach to "reinvent our communities" for the 21st century?

Lawmakers weigh next move on public-safety spectrum

Eight years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks exposed an urgent need for an interoperable nationwide communications network for police, fire and rescue squads, Congress and the Federal Communications Commission are headed back to the drawing board. Their objective is a wireless broadband system that would enable first responders to communicate across jurisdictions and facilitate swift downloads of video and other critical information during emergencies.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said at a hearing Thursday that a block of airwaves designated for public safety use would benefit from a public-private partnership. The so-called D-block airwaves were leftover from a massive spectrum auction last year. The lack of interest from bidders was attributed by some industry experts to uncertainty over how to value a network shared between commercial and public safety use. The FCC has no obligation to re-auction the spectrum and it could be auctioned for commercial use only, or dedicated to public use.

Some wireless carriers like T-Mobile are seeking more spectrum, as demands on their networks from mobile phone usage increases. In a letter to committee members, T-Mobile said Congress should strongly consider legislation to allow the FCC to auction a portion of the D-block spectrum for commercial use and funnel the proceeds to construction and maintenance of a public safety broadband network.

Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) outlined four main approaches:

1) Give the D-block to the public safety community, which would combine it with spectrum already under its control.

2) Hold another auction of the D-block, but only for commercial purposes, and use the proceeds to help finance construction of an interoperable network utilizing frequencies operated by public safety groups.

3) Auction the D-block to a commercial carrier that would enter in a public-private partnership to create a new safety network.

4) Combine the 10 megahertz in the D-block with the 10 MHz controlled by the public-safety community, and auction off the entire amount for use under a public-private partnership.

Chairman Boucher said he is not convinced any of them would raise the estimated $10 billion to $40 billion needed to build the state-of-the-art network. "At the end of the day we're going to have to find some sort of general fund revenues to finance this," he suggested.

Rep Matsui Unveils Broadband Assistance Bill

Rep Doris Matsui (D-CA) has introduced a bill that would expand the Universal Service Fund's lifeline assistance program for broadband adoption. The bill directs the Federal Communications Commission to establish a broadband program that provides low-income Americans living in rural and urban areas with assistance in subscribing to affordable broadband Internet service. Rep Matsui said her measure would help "fully close the digital divide."

The bill would:

1) require the FCC, in calculating the amount of support, to routinely study the prevailing market price for service and the prevailing speed adopted by consumers of broadband service,

2) promote technology neutral competition from broadband service providers under the program,

3) direct the FCC to use the same eligibility criteria used under the Lifeline telephone service program for income eligible households to ensure Internet service is available and affordable for eligible low-income households.

To be eligible for the program, a household must meet federal low-income guidelines or qualify for one of a handful of social service programs, including food stamps, school lunch, or Medicaid.

NAA to Congress: Government Handouts Not Appropriate

John Sturm, the president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, testified in front of joint economic hearing economic hearing on "The Future of Newspapers." He said the group that the "industry is not seeking a financial 'bailout' or any other kind of special subsidy, something that would not be appropriate for an industry whose core mission is news gathering, analysis and dissemination." The industry does support: 1) Legislation that would expand the net operating loss provisions to five years instead of two years benefiting all businesses. 2) Changing current funding regulations that require businesses to use cash reserves to fund pension plans. 3) Allowing newspapers to operate as non-profit entities while continuing to generate advertising revenue. Rep Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), chair of the Joint Economic Committee, said Congress should focus on a mix of tax and regulatory remedies to help restore ailing newspapers suffering from declining advertising revenue and job cuts. "We're not talking about bailouts," said Chairman Maloney, "but we should always talk about the best ways to have a tax and regulatory environment that will help businesses thrive and create jobs."

Senate Judiciary Passes Satellite TV Modernization Act

Via voice vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Satellite TV Modernization Act (S. 1670) with the additional provision instructing the Copyright Office to produce a study on phasing out the compulsory copyright license for satellite distant network TV stations signals. The bill, like the version that passed the House Judiciary Committee, would allow for the importation of distant signals into so-called short markets that lack one of the network affiliates or a sufficiently strong signal from a nearby affiliate. It also makes technical corrections to reflect the advent of digital TV. But left for another day was the issue of allowing satellite operators to deliver the games of local sports teams to viewers in so-called orphan markets, wherein viewers from Wisconsin, for example, receive Minnesota TV stations because the market crosses state lines.

Honig Sends Letter To Genachowski In Support of Lloyd

Minority Media & Telecommunications Counsel President David Honig, a member of the Federal Communications Commission's diversity advisory committee, sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Thursday in support of Mark Lloyd, the FCC's chief diversity officer, a position Honig encouraged the FCC to create. Lloyd has come under fire from conservative radio and TV commentators and some Republican legislators over past writings and positions on conservative talk radio. Speaking only for himself, Honig said that he also disagrees with some of Lloyd's writings, but that should not disqualify Lloyd from holding a post he is well qualified for.

Benton

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