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A "100 MEGABIT NATION" BY 2015
[SOURCE: Broadband Properties]
Underscoring the importance of higher bandwidth to America’s future competitiveness, and deeply concerned by the lack of progress on a national telecommunications bill, the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council has called on Congress and the President to adopt a “100 Megabit Nation” policy by the end of this year. The imitative is aimed at ensuring that a majority of American households have broadband connectivity available by 2010 and that next-generation symmetrical 100 Mbps broadband connections be universally available by 2015. The FTTH Council noted that while the technology exists today to provide this level of bandwidth, the broadband services currently available to the overwhelming majority of Americans do not exceed 5 Mbps. Only FTTH technology could provide the bandwidth the Council described as necessary. Both private and public sector initiatives are called for in the Council’s proposed initiative. Along with its call for a “100 Megabit Nation,” the FTTH Council suggested a number of policy proposals to help reach this objective, including continued video franchise reform, an end to restrictions on municipal broadband, financial incentives, the re-authorization of the Rural Utilities Service broadband loan program, and congressional oversight on video content access concerns. The FTTH Council also encouraged policymakers to hear from a wide range of stakeholders in order to incorporate an effective broadband strategy.
http://www.broadbandproperties.com/2007issues/feb07issues/100Mbs_feb.pdf

UK 'MUST INCREASE BROADBAND INVESTMENT'
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Andrew Parker]
Ministers and regulators have just two years to find ways of encouraging investment in the next generation of high-speed broadband, or the UK’s competitiveness will suffer, according to a report published on Monday. Existing Internet access networks, and those being rolled out, will be too slow to meet the demands of the most bandwidth-hungry businesses and households by 2012, the Broadband Stakeholder Group report warns. Pressure on broadband pricing means commercial incentives for building the necessary infrastructure are “particularly weak” in the UK, according to BSG, a government advisory group composed of telecoms companies, content providers and regulators. “If steps are not taken [by 2009] to prepare for next-generation broadband, then we may well find ourselves in a position where it is too late to catch up,” said Kip Meek, BSG chairman. BT will start offering broadband download speeds of up to 24 megabits per second from next year ­ three times its fastest existing speed ­ as it rolls out its £10bn 21st century fixed-line network. Virgin Media plans to offer up to 20 mbps from June and is testing a 50 mbps service.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c3b9db80-eb8f-11db-b290-000b5df10621.html
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NONPROFIT GROUPS WANT SHOT AT FM RADIO LICENSES
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: M.R. Kropko]
Nonprofit community groups, schools and churches this year will get their first opportunity since 2000 to apply for licenses for full-power, noncommercial/educational FM radio stations. The Federal Communications Commission stopped taking those applications so it could catch up on its backlog and revise its system for reviewing them. The agency says it expects to begin taking requests again in the fall. Noncommercial/educational stations are usually found at the low end of the FM frequencies spectrum (87.9 to 91.9) and depend on public or institutional support. Because there's a lack of noncommercial space on the radio dial in cities, opportunities more often exist in remote or rural areas. Although the licenses are free, costs a station would face could limit the number of applicants. Legal, engineering and equipment startup costs typically could total as much as $250,000, said Matthew Lasar, a media history professor at University of California at Santa Cruz and editor of a blog on FCC issues. Adding to what could be a flood of new applications are the hundreds of low-power noncommercial stations that could look to increase power and cover a much wider area through a full-power signal.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/17082112.htm