February 2009

New House Commerce Subcommittee Vice Chairs

House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced new vice chairs for the Committee's subcommittees. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) is the Vice Chair of the full Committee. Rep. Anthony D. Weiner (D-NY) will serve as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. Rep. Bruce L. Braley (D-IA), Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Health.

Rural India Snaps Up Mobile Phones

Even amid the global economic slowdown, one Indian industry continues to boom: selling cellphones to the rural poor. Economists have slashed Indian economic growth forecasts for this year and the stock market is in the doldrums. But cellphone companies are signing millions of new subscribers a month, making India the fastest growing mobile-phone market in the world. There is no sign of a slowdown yet: figures to be released later this month are expected to show that new subscriptions in January reached a record 11 million. The demand for cellphones is coming mainly from rural consumers, who typically earn less than $1,000 a year. These buyers haven't been affected by plunging stock and real-estate prices or tighter bank lending since they typically don't own land and don't borrow. A large majority of them don't have access to regular landline phone networks -- there are only about 40 million landline subscribers in India -- so once cellular coverage comes to their towns or villages they scramble to get their first phones.

'AUB' Lessons From Canada

Is the broadband consumer with a monthly usage tab of 8 Terabytes a heavy user, or your greatest customer ever? On the one hand, it's hard not to love customers who love your bandwidth that much. On the other hand, and from a network management perspective, traditional "all-you-can-eat" pricing structures make it difficult for broadband service providers to love heavy users. That's why some broadband providers in Canada chose to slowly, gently shift consumers to what they call "AUB," or "Additional Usage Billing."

Netflix Broadband Model May Upend Cable

[Commentary] The explosion of Netflix's unlimited, flat-fee instant home video demonstrates how rapidly a recession can transform a living room TV into a digital hub that threatens big guns like Blockbuster, cable and other pay services. Add in the burgeoning popularity of free, ad-supported online streaming video and Web-enabled portable devices--conventional distributors, it's time to worry. Netflix is changing the home-video delivery model the same way Amazon continues to reinvent bookselling. Both are evolving personalized on-demand, subscription-based business models that are upending license fees, advertising and everything about the status quo. Netflix is skillfully maneuvering the rapidly shifting broadband terrain, using its wireless wits to conquer a corner of the new digital market--one consumer at a time.

Despite DTV Delay, Viewers May Still Lose Picture

Independent analyst Barry Goodstadt says that according to his research, there are about 15 million households in the US that only get their TV signals over the airwaves. And he thinks many of them are going to lose channels after the transition to digital. "Seventy-two percent have indoor antennas," says Goodstadt, "and those folks will have serious problems getting reception." The reason, he says, is that digital TV signals behave differently than do analog signals. Digital signals are more susceptible to interference from trees, buildings, low-flying aircraft and even the wind. When digital signals get weak, the picture doesn't just get fuzzy — it drops out altogether. But broadcasters say most viewers should be able to watch digital TV without buying new antennas.

How Wireless Saved Wireline

With US telephone companies in the throes of their year-end 2008 reporting, the emerging picture is a mixed bag. Access line losses are in free-fall, down another 9-10% for the year to around 130 million. (Remember access lines peaked at nearly 200 million in 2000.) A similar drop is expected in 2009. Broadband lines are growing at or near double-digit rates but there are not yet enough of them to offset basic voice service declines. At best, telco revenues are flat. Consider three wireless scenarios for telcos: femto cells, broadband wireless access, and wireless backhaul.

DPI vendors start tuning for mobile networks

With controversy over deep packet inspection (DPI) deployments on wired broadband networks at an all-time high, mobile operators and their vendors are nonetheless moving forward to deploy DPI boxes to manage consumption of mobile broadband data services. Cam Cullen, director of Americas product management for Allot, says, ""The stats and visibility that DPI provides at the access and applications layer lets mobile operators build better service plans for congestion control and feed that data into mobile billing systems to support things like roaming and advice of charge." Mobile operators absolutely will turn to DPI, much like wireline broadband vendors, "to drive new revenue while assuring the proper levels of network management and security that broadband subscribers demand," said David Vorhaus, analyst for Yankee Group.

Turning Universal Service Funds into Agents of Change

[Commentary] The Universal Service Fund will play a critical role in bringing Internet connectivity to all, especially high-cost, remote regions and low-income households. There are many challenges in the design of a USF programs today. These include not only the definition of the policy objective -no one should be invested in narrowband networks-, but also the effective collection of funds, the competitive and neutral distribution, issues such as supply vs. demand incentives, and financial debates such as allocating USF to capex vs. opex. USF is one tool of many policies and initiatives required to expand broadband. However it is also crucial that Governments let the market work at its full potential, letting network service providers use and put spectrum to work and removing artificial limitations that inhibit investment. The right policies together with an efficient USF program will transform these programs into powerful agents of change.

Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies

Many youth in the United States have fully integrated the Internet into their daily lives. For them, the Internet is a positive and powerful space for socializing, learning, and engaging in public life. Along with the positive aspects of Internet use come risks to safety, including the dangers of sexual solicitation, online harassment, and bullying, and exposure to problematic and illegal content. The Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, comprising 50 state Attorneys General, asked this Task Force to determine the extent to which today's technologies could help to address these online safety risks, with a primary focus on social network sites in the United States. To answer this question, the Task Force brought together leaders from Internet service providers, social network sites, academia, education, child safety and public policy advocacy organizations, and technology development.

Bahrain Internet crackdown triggers calls for reform

A Bahraini crackdown on websites the government deems indecent or socially explosive has triggered calls for reforms by rights activists and bloggers, who say the ban tarnishes the kingdom's reputation for openness. "Instead of tackling the social issues people discuss online, the government blocks websites. But that does not change the reality," said Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. "Hundreds of websites are blocked now, and many are related to politics, human rights issues or are Shia community forums." Bahrain's Culture and Information Minister Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed al-Khalifa issued a decree in January advising local Internet service providers to block access to websites it considers pornographic or incite violence and religious hatred.

Benton

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