March 2009

Onvia, a 12-year old consulting group, has launched Recovery.com with the goal of providing real-time data on spending that comes out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The new site promises to aid both businesses seeking contracts growing out of the stimulus package and taxpayers wondering where the money is going. Recovery.com is offering live data streams to subscribers. Onvia is pitching lawmakers and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) officials on their alternative site to contrast what many call a disappointing lack of transparency thanks to the unwieldy task of tracking so much money.

[Commentary] It's unfortunate that the issue of broadband mapping is taking up any time and energy, much less about $350 million in stimulus money. Discussion of mapping takes away from discussion of the real issue ­ deployment, and why large companies have to be begged to provide service to some areas while they go to court and to state legislatures to prevent others from filling the gap. The whole point of a legitimate broadband mapping exercise is for the public and policymakers to see where the service is being offered, at what speeds and price and, as importantly, where it isn't. The "why" it isn't being offered is a separate question the map can't answer. The whole strategy of the telecom industry is to keep any mapping from revealing embarrassing information, like low speeds, high prices and spotty coverage and to keep anyone else from verifying the information it does put forward. Connected Nation (CN) is already gearing up to capture a big piece of the action, holding a webinar to tell state agencies that CN is one go-to group, one-stop shop that states need to make their mapping dollars work. That would be unfortunate on any number of levels, in part because the industry strategy has been to use public dollars to privatize the mapping function. Enough already. It's clear that the public sector wants transparency and accountability in broadband data reporting and subsequent mapping. The industry, voiced through Connected Nation, does not. There's no point in spending lots of time negotiating this. Both the Commission and NTIA should move to Plan B, which is collecting information without involving the telephone and cable companies. There are legitimate, for-profit mapping companies that don't have ties to communications carriers, there are community groups, there are any number of other approaches that could be used. It won't be the quick and easy way to getting the information, but it will have to do. Then we can move on to the real issue of how to bring broadband to areas that those same big carriers don't want to serve. They know where they are, even if they don't want to tell us.

As part of the Federal Communications Commission's comprehensive nationwide DTV transition assistance effort, hundreds of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) members will partner with the FCC to assist individuals who may have difficulty making the switch to digital television, the FCC and AmeriCorps NCCC announced. The AmeriCorps NCCC members will focus on groups the FCC has targeted for special attention, including low-income individuals, minority communities, non-English speaking consumers, senior citizens, consumers with disabilities and individuals living in rural areas or tribal lands. The NCCC, an AmeriCorps program made up of men and women between the ages of 18 and 24, will serve on the front lines of the FCC's DTV transition outreach effort that will extend beyond June 12, the deadline for full-power broadcast stations to cease analog broadcast transmission and to broadcast in digital. The FCC and AmeriCorps NCCC have signed an interagency agreement that will enable AmeriCorps NCCC members to visit homes where individuals need help to connect their antennas and analog televisions to digital converter boxes, help consumers apply for the $40 converter box coupons, make presentations at community events, serve in walk-in DTV help centers and otherwise spread the word to over-the-air populations who haven't yet taken steps necessary to continue watching television after their broadcast stations complete their transitions to all-digital broadcasting.

In today's world of social networking, online videos and music downloads, going from high-speed to dial-up is like switching from a Maserati to a horse and buggy. But some say the hundreds they would save might make them go back, especially for those who have high-speed Internet at work. Though there's no hard and fast data about how many people are switching, there are signs that it is becoming an option for cost-conscious customers. United Online, which owns dial-up providers NetZero and Juno, recently launched an advertising campaign in which Chief Executive Mark Goldston says the average family can save $300 a year by switching to NetZero's $9.95-a-month dial-up service.