August 2010

Fiber Subscribers Are Happiest With Broadband, TV: Survey

People with fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) Internet services report higher satisfaction rates than consumers with cable-modem and DSL services, and FTTH video services similarly beat out satellite and cable TV, according to a survey commissioned by trade group Fiber-to-the-Home Council.

About 71% of FTTH subscribers said they are "very satisfied" with their Internet service, compared with 53% of cable-modem subscribers and 52% of DSL users. Asked about high definition television service, 73% of FTTH TV subscribers said they are "very satisfied," compared with 61% for satellite TV customers and 45% for cable. The survey, conducted by research firm RVA LLC in April and May 2010, polled 1,000 FTTH subscribers and 600 DSL and cable-modem subscribers drawn randomly from an online panel of more than 50,000 consumers.

As Need For Mobile Speed Grows, 3.5G Networks Boom

HSPA+ is currently the fastest form of 3G wireless broadband technology, and is generally viewed as the final stop before a migration to Long Term Evolution (LTE). There are 58 live HSPA+ wireless broadband networks across the world, with 19 of them launched in the first half of 2010, according to research by Wireless Intelligence. Another 43 carriers are likely to make this upgrade. HSPA+ is an upgrade to the current generation of 3G technologies, and is also known as Evolved HSPA. It can provide downstream connectivity of up to 84 megabits per second (Mbps) and upstream connections of 21 Mbps. While the most common version of HPSA+ (64QAM) has a top theoretical speed of around 21 Mbps, in some cases, phone companies (like Japan's EMobile) are using different kinds of technology tricks (dual carrier, MIMO) to boost this speed by up to four times.

Sprint Buying 10MHz Of Spectrum For $105 Million

Sprint will purchase 10 MHz of spectrum licenses from wireless communications provider Wirefree Partners III for $105 million.

The nation's number three carrier plans to use the spectrum to provide better coverage across 16 markets. Wirefree was formed by former executives of Sprint affiliate AirGate PCS, which was acquired by Alamosa Holdings, which Sprint then purchased. In 2005, during the Federal Communications Commission's broadband PCS Auction 58, Wirefree paid around $150 million for 16 licenses covering a little over 18 million points of presence (POPs). Besides Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Leap Wireless were the other major bidders in Auction 58. After the FCC auction concluded, Wirefree leased 5 MHz to Sprint in each of its markets and also built out its own wireless network aimed at attracting enterprises with the remaining 5 MHz. Although it completed its build-out in 2008, Wirefree said that its business was not proving to be successful and although it was keeping its network, over the long term it would not be cost-effective to operate it.

Is Social Network Growth Slowing in the US?

A new report from eMarketer documents the incredibly rapid growth in social networks over the last couple years, and predicts continuing growth at least into the middle years of this decade -- but also suggests that social networks may be approaching saturation in the US.

According to eMarketer, the number of Americans who checked into a social network at least once a month increased by 24.7 million from 2008-2009, from 84.5 million to 109.2 million -- representing an increase from 41.6% to 51.6% of the total population. This year, eMarketer expects 17.8 million more people to sign on, bringing the proportion to 57.5% of the total population, followed by another 13.2 million in 2011, 10.2 million in 2012, 7.5 million in 2013, and 7 million in 2014, when a total 164.9 million Americans will check in to a social network at least once a month, representing 65.8% of the population. There's no question this would represent a slowing in the rate of growth: from 2008-2014, the year-over-year percentage growth rate would decrease from 29.2% to just 4.4%. This forecast isn't really surprising, considering that the growth rate in the overall U.S. Internet population is also slowing; according to Pew, the proportion of Americans with broadband access at home edged up from 63% in 2009 to 66% in 2010 -- a 3% increase, compared to the 8% increase from 2008-2009. So how can social networks to continue growing? In the short term, this will require breaking through to previously untapped or underrepresented populations.

Reshuffling May Impair Open Gov Initiative

A rearrangement of staff within the White House may dilute the already weak enforcement of the president's open government directive, the Washington nonprofit Sunlight Foundation contends.

Office of Management Director Peter Orszag, who issued the memo to agencies, has exited. And White House Counsel Bob Bauer reportedly is taking on the added responsibility of open government oversight, which had previously fallen to Norm Eisen, the outgoing special counsel for ethics and government reform. So far, the only penalty an agency gets for ignoring the directive is the embarrassment of a red light next to its name on a "dashboard" -- an online scorecard.

Bloggers Focus on Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

On Wednesday, August 4, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that California's ban on same-sex marriages, otherwise known as Proposition 8, was unconstitutional. This marked the first time a U.S. judge had made such a declaration under federal rather than state law. Online, the ruling prompted a blizzard of commentary among bloggers, who overwhelmingly cheered the news. It also demonstrated how people coalesced around a single issue can create a significant and influential voice in social media. For the week of August 2-6, more than a quarter (27%) of the news links on blogs were about the same-sex marriage ruling, according to the New Media Index produced by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Most bloggers commenting on the story celebrated the decision as a victory for equal rights, and some made personal connections to their own lives. A few voices, however, objected to the ruling, often arguing that it was unfairly overturning the will of the people of California.

Google Fights for Underdog Candidates -- And More Profits

The majority of Google's revenue comes from AdWords, its flagship pay-per-click advertising product that brought in $23 billion last year. Now, the Internet behemoth is looking to increase those earnings by wading into the tricky world of election law.

On August 5, Google filed a brief with the Federal Elections Commissions for an exemption from campaign finance disclosure rules. Under current law, sponsors of campaign ads must disclose their names, affiliations, and contact information in certain instances. We've all experienced this during elections when politicians conclude their muckraking campaign spots with the hurried message: "I'm so-and-so, and I approve this message." But there are a few exceptions to the rule such as advertisements delivered via text message or bumper sticker, for example -- where the FEC recognizes a 'small items' exemption -- ads for which a disclaimer just isn't practical. Google is hoping that its AdWords platform falls under this same "small item" exemption. Google claims such regulation could jeopardize AdWords as a tool for lesser-known candidates. It wants "confirmation" that its ads--which contain a maximum of just 95 characters -- do not require such disclaimers.

Allbritton making noise about Comcast-NBC deal

Allbritton Communications -- the parent company of Politico, the influential Capitol Hill news operation; WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington (DC) and NewsChannel 8, a local cable news network -- is the latest looking to throw a road block in front of cable giant Comcast Corp.'s pending deal to acquire a controlling stake in NBC Universal.

Over the last several weeks, Allbritton has run lots of advertisements both on Politico's website and on cable and broadcast television about the potential pitfalls of a marriage between Comcast, the nation's largest cable and broadband provider and NBC Universal, the entertainment giant. Why is Allbritton so concerned about the Comcast - NBC Universal deal? If the deal is approved, Comcast will own WRC-TV, the NBC station in the market and a chief rival of WJLA and NewsChannel 8. Not only does Allbritton think Comcast will play hardball when it comes to negotiating distribution deals for the two channels, but it also fears that WRC could benefit unfairly in the battle for TV news supremacy.

Dept of Ed seeks Video Description Research and Development Center Proposals

The Department of Education is inviting applications for a Video Description Research and Development Center.

It is essential to develop methods for providing video description that can be used in conjunction with the Internet and other technological devices in order to ensure that all students who are blind or visually impaired have access to educational program content delivered through those methods. In addition, it is important to explore emerging alternatives to video description that could improve the accessibility of educational program content (e.g., creating description by having sighted viewers verbally describe video content).

Applications are due October 12, 2010.

Review of 'Internet Architecture and Innovation'

There's a new book out on Internet policy that is essential reading for anyone interested in Internet policy -- and probably for anyone interested in the law, economics, technology, or start-ups.

'Internet Architecture and Innovation' by Barbara van Schewick will affect how people think about the Internet; about the interactions between law and technical architectures in all areas of law; about entrepreneurship in general. I also think her insights on innovation economics, which strike me as far more persuasive than lawyers' usual assumptions, should influence "law and economics" thinking for the better. The book addresses how-specifically-the Internet's original architecture has fostered tremendous innovation in consumer and business software and therefore economic growth. The relationship between innovation and the Internet's architecture has been central to government policy debates around the world-as well as to the business plans of entrepreneurs and investors. While others have asserted and guessed that the Internet's architecture fosters economic innovation, she puts these assertions on solid theoretical and empirical ground, incorporating insights from engineering, management science, behavioral economics, real options theory, network economics, evolutionary economics, and legal policy. And you don't have to know anything about these areas in advance, as she doesn't expect the reader to be expert in one these fields.

Benton

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