August 2010

FCC's Role in the Broadband Health Care Revolution

Chairman Genachowski visited Seattle Children's Hospital August 13 to witness first-hand how broadband can help deliver quality health care efficiently to areas that lack it.

Back in 2001, Seattle Children's started a telemedicine program to provide better access to specialized pediatric care throughout the Pacific Northwest. The hospital also has been a leader in telepsychiatry, which is one of the most effective ways to increase access to psychiatric care for individuals living in underserved areas, according to the American Pychiatric Association.

Broadband's potentially transformative role in health care delivery was a major focus of the National Broadband Plan, and we are following through in many ways. We are in the midst of designing programs that would provide up to $400 million annually to support broadband networks capable of bringing high-quality health care to patients no matter where they live. We have gained valuable insight in how to support broadband-enabled health care through our existing Rural Health Care Pilot Program. The National Broadband Plan recommended creating a new program that will help build networks where they are lacking and provide ongoing support where there is a need for it. This is critical: up to 30 percent of rural clinics don't have adequate broadband technology, and so can't do things like offer remote video care, exchange MRIs and x-rays, or deliver health care records.

We want to engage the public in our reform process, and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing the changes is the vehicle for getting substantive comments and suggestions so we can adjust our proposals, as appropriate. Comments on these reform initiatives are due September 8th and reply comments are due September 23.

Your fears confirmed: "up to" broadband speeds are bogus

Broadband providers in the US have long hawked their wares in "up to" terms. You know -- "up to" 10Mbps, where "up to" sits like a tiny pebble beside the huge font size of the raw number. In reality, no one gets these speeds. That's not news to the techno-literate, of course, but a new Federal Communications Commission report shines a probing flashlight on the issue and makes a sharp conclusion: broadband users get, on average, a mere 50 percent of that "up to" speed they had hoped to achieve.

After crunching the data, FCC wonks have concluded that ISPs advertised an average (mean) "up to" download speed of 6.7Mbps in 2009. That's not what broadband users got, though. "However, FCC analysis shows that the median actual speed consumers experienced in the first half of 2009 was roughly 3 Mbps, while the average (mean) actual speed was approximately 4 Mbps," says the report. "Therefore actual download speeds experienced by US consumers appear to lag advertised speeds by roughly 50 percent." The agency used metrics data from Akamai and comScore to make this determination, though a more accurate direct measurement is currently taking place under FCC auspices. The more accurate measurement will put small boxes in people's homes for weeks at a time, recording actual line speeds in thousands of US homes at all times of the day and night. But, until that data set is complete, Internet traffic data from Akamai and comScore will have to suffice.

ACA: Higher Pole Fees = Less Broadband

The American Cable Association warned that untethered pole attachment rates could drive the cost of broadband beyond the reach of rural customers.

In comments filed August 16 with the Federal Communications Commission, the ACA, which represents about 900 mostly rural cable operators with a combined 7.6 million subscribers, applauded the FCC's' efforts to promote broadband deployment through revised pole attachment regulations. But the organization said that new proposed pole attachment formulas could increase fees five-fold for some operators, which in turn would cause consumer broadband rates to rise. ACA said that pole attachment fees heavily influence broadband deployment schedules in rural markets. By allowing those fees to rise, the ACA claims the economic case for driving broadband facilities deeper into rural areas is harmed. One of the main initiatives of the Obama Administration has been to make broadband service available to all Americans.

How Far Has Interoperability Come Since 9/11?

Almost nine years after the 9/11 attacks, most people look back with admiration at the efforts of emergency responders on the scene. And rightly so -- men and women from all backgrounds risked and lost their lives trying to help minimize the death toll. Yet from the ashes arose a nagging question: Why couldn't public safety agencies communicate more effectively? In addition to setting the stage for the global war on terrorism, 9/11 also served to spotlight the inadequacies of the communications technology used by first responders. Critical information fell on deaf ears and in one case led to a fire brigade in the north World Trade Center tower being unable to hear commands to evacuate. New York City lost 121 firefighters in the north tower that day because their radios could not receive warnings issued by the city's police department.

If one were to look at the huge amount of money thrown at the interoperability problem and compare that to current results, or lack thereof, an easily drawn conclusion is that technology vendors are taking grant spending but not delivering on the hardware. But few in emergency management circles believe this is simply a case of vendors jobbing the system. In fact, Harlin McEwen, chairman of the Communications and Technology Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said interoperable communications technology has progressed as expected and that vendors are simply doing what they're supposed to -- make money.

Fox Won't Return Top Dem's Request To Discuss Its $1 Million GOP Donation

A top official with the Democratic Governors Association said on August 17 that Fox News has declined repeated efforts to put him on air to discuss the decision of the network's parent company to donate $1 million to the Republican Governors Association.

Nathan Daschle, the executive director of the DGA, said that he has tried on numerous occasions to go on Fox News to discuss the donation made by News Corp. None of his entreaties have been answered. "We haven't gotten a single phone call or email returned. We want to engage in a discussion with them about this," Daschle said. "But they didn't even respond."

Asked to respond to Daschle's charge that he was being denied a chance to challenge Fox on its donation, Fox News spokesperson Eva Synalovski offered the following: "We understand Nathan's desire to get face time on the most watched news network. And when he can offer insight on a legitimate news story instead of conducting a dishonest publicity stunt, we will consider having him on as a guest."

Asking Fox to engage in a segment of self-analysis is, of course, a difficult request to make. News organizations tend to like the spotlight on current affairs as opposed to their own affairs. But in this case, News Corp., which owns and operates Fox News, is the story. And in many respects the DGA is the aggrieved party.

Google's Privacy 'Fix' Evades Real Issues

Many Internet industry insiders and observers are attempting to seriously address the implications of technology on privacy. Google's CEO Eric Schmidt doesn't seem to be among them.

When asked about privacy by editors of The Wall Street Journal, Schmidt predicted that in the future teens will have the option of changing their names when they become adults in order to distance themselves from material posted by their friends. The Journal says this prediction was "apparently serious." But it's hard to believe that Schmidt really was presenting this idea as a solution to very real privacy problems posed by digital media. Schmidt must know as well as anyone that pseudonyms can be easy to crack, as happened when AOL released search queries for "anonymized" users. Besides, there's nothing to stop the same people who made the initial, presumably embarrassing posts from updating them with their friends' new names.

Judge Allows Amazon Users To Fight To Keep Identities From North Carolina Department Of Revenue

US District Court Judge Marsha Pechman has ruled that residents who oppose North Carolina's attempt to learn their identities may intervene in a lawsuit to block disclosure.

The residents "have demonstrated that they have significant protectable interests in this case under the First and Fourteenth Amendments," wrote Judge Pechman. She added that even though the residents are allied with Amazon, they are entitled to make their own arguments rather than rely on the online retailer's stance. Judge Pechman additionally decided that the residents can proceed in court without providing their names.

The ACLU, which is representing the Amazon users, praised the ruling. "This decision allows our clients -- who the court also permitted to proceed anonymously in order to protect their privacy -- to have their own voices heard in this proceeding as the court determines their rights to privacy and free expression."

US neighborhood bookstores thrive in digital age

US independent bookstores are discovering how to flourish despite the growth of electronic books with some even looking to form an alliance with a formidable competitor -- Google.

The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, which represents bookstores in the northeast, said its membership has remained steady at about 300 stores over the last decade. Closures have been offset by new stores opening and existing stores have developed new business strategies.

The American Booksellers Association (ABA), an industry group for independent bookstores, has reached a deal with Google Editions -- Google's digital bookstore, due to launch this fall -- that would allow its 14,000 members to sell Google's eBooks through their websites.

EHRs Can't Measure Stage 1 Meaningful Use

As hospitals gear up to meet Stage 1 of the meaningful use requirements under the federal government's electronic health record (EHR) incentives program, a new report concludes that EHRs will only be able to provide about a third of the data requirements for Stage 1 quality measures outlined in the final rule.

Not only is time working against putting in place the necessary technology to meet the requirements for computerized physician order entry (CPOE), problem list, and so forth, but the quality reporting requirement adds to the duties. In short, hospitals, doctors, and other clinicians have their work cut out for them. "Much attention has been paid to some of the explicit data capture requirements for meaningful use -- computerized physician order entry in particular -- because so much work lies ahead for most U.S. hospitals to implement these functions. However, we believe that the quality reporting requirements for Stage 1, the first increment of meaningful use to be achieved, will be equally challenging," the report concludes.

What's 'Mobile' Mean? How Apple And The iPad Are Forcing The Debate

Is the iPad a mobile device? The question is no longer just a philosophical one, rather, it is now an important business issue facing content owners and developers -- thanks in large part to Apple, which has begun requiring that all applications work across the iPhone, iPod and iPad.

This new policy, which has been mostly overlooked until recently, could allow Apple to delete long-standing iPhone applications (think streaming-video services, like MobiTV, and mobile-game companies like Electronic Arts) that don't comply -- meaning that those apps could disappear from iTunes altogether. The problem is strictly about permissions, and not about the technical challenges of developing an iPad app.

Developers acknowledge that regardless of Apple's policy, they would have to negotiate licenses separately for the iPad, but Apple's ultimatum is forcing developers to dramatically speed up that process. With dozens of tablets coming to market by year's end, the issue is also not exclusive to the iPad.

Benton

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