March 2010

US eyes early summer for airwaves auction process

The Federal Communications Commission plans to begin a process in a few months aimed at auctioning airwaves that failed to garner enough interest during the 2008 spectrum auction.

The segment, called the D-block, is part of the 700 megahertz band of the airwaves that raised about $19 billion for the U.S. government when other blocks were sold to carriers in 2008. But the D-Block did not sell because carriers did not like some of the conditions for use. Companies are waiting for the FCC to issue the terms and conditions, if any, to be attached to the auction for use of the D block airwaves. Jamie Barnett, chief of the FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau, told Reuters on Friday, after speaking to state and local emergency officials who want the D block for public safety use, that the FCC could issue a notice of inquiry "early summer" but a final decision has not been made.

The auction, which is planned for commercial purposes, could take place in the first or second quarter of 2011, he said.

FCC Details Broadband Plan For Public Safety

The Federal Communications Commission is promoting how its National Broadband Plan could enhance public-safety activities with a new Web page on the agency's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau site.

The agency launched the page this week, as the FCC convened a panel to create a nationwide interoperable public safety wireless broadband network, a plan that many believe will take years to come to fruition. A national broadband service is particularly important to public safety, as it can "provide enhanced situational awareness from first responders in emergency situations," according to the FCC.

Broadband plan aims to improve HIT infrastructure

The Federal Communications Commission has laid out an ambitious 10-year plan for drastically improving broadband connectivity and usage that, among other goals, aims to improve healthcare delivery, patient outcomes and control medical costs nationwide.

In a chapter dedicated to healthcare information technology infrastructure and usage, the National Broadband Plan offered 11 recommendations for how the government could incentivize healthcare providers' use of e-care technology, which FCC officials estimated would save the country $700 billion over the next 20 years. The recommendations include reimbursement incentives that pay providers for adoption and use of e-care services, such as remote diabetes monitoring and mobile medical applications, that are proven to improve patient outcomes and save money. The agency also proposes setting up a dedicated healthcare broadband access fund that would help providers pay for broadband services in areas where connectivity is more expensive because of a dearth of available service providers.

Mohit Kaushal, the FCC's director of connected health, said the recommendations are based on recent FCC research findings. "Unfortunately, there are really no data out there around connectivity for healthcare providers, so we had to do a lot of research" to determine what services are available to hospitals and physicians, Kaushal said. "The biggest problem that it highlighted is the severity of costs. Some physician offices are going to have to pay more for broadband service than physicians in other areas."

Inmarsat CEO Sukawaty to FCC: Where's the love for satellite?

Inmarsat CEO Andrew Sukawaty questions if the Federal Communications Commission is seriously considering satellite as a viable solution to America's broadband needs. His satellite service customers include broadband providers in the U.S. that bring high-speed Internet connections to hard-to-reach areas through satellite feeds. Inmarsat's main business comes from military and governments and businesses (oil rigs, construction sites, etc.) that can't tap into fiber optic, cable connections or wireless cell services. He doesn't see much that includes satellite as part of the nation's future broadband plans.

Wireless Broadband Indicator Methodology

The wireless broadband methodology is the result of several rounds of contributions from, and in-depth discussions among, member countries. The new indicator will assist in informing policy makers and other stakeholders in this increasingly important market segment.

The OECD began collecting and reporting broadband data in 2000 as a way to capture and record significant changes in OECD markets for Internet access. The OECD set the minimum threshold for broadband at a download speed of 256 kbit/s at the time, primarily to exclude ISDN technologies at 144 kbit/s and to include the majority of commercial offers then available via other technologies. Wireless broadband technologies (such as fixed wireless and satellite) have always been included in the historical OECD broadband subscriber statistics, although they have only accounted for a small percentage of total connections. Less than 2% of all reported broadband subscriptions were wireless (fixed and satellite) in June 2008. Mobile network subscriptions (with data services) were not included by the OECD or the ITU in broadband statistics due to their slower speeds and difficulties determining actual use. There have been significant advances in wireless and wired broadband since the OECD first started reporting the number of broadband subscriptions. It is important for the OECD to have an indicator which measures the development of wireless broadband connections across countries. The indicator methodology formulated in February 2009 at an OECD expert meeting in Lisbon and revised based on comments from OECD delegations appears to be robust and sufficiently forward looking.

The Secretariat will also continue working with international organizations such as the ITU and regional bodies such as the EU to harmonize methodologies and reduce the burden on regulatory and statistical agencies.

BTOP grants for New York and California

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced two American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments to help bridge the technological divide, improve education, and increase economic opportunities for low-income families in New York, New York and Los Angeles, California.

The grants, totaling more than $29 million, will fund computer training and provide more than 30,000 computers to middle school students and their families in high-need schools, enabling them to make use of key educational, employment, and health resources online.

In New York, the NYC Connected Learning project plans to provide computer training, desktop computers, educational software, and free broadband access for one year to more than 18,000 low-income sixth graders and their families in 100 high-need public middle schools in New York City. The not-for-profit organization Computers for Youth will conduct computer training for parents and students in English, Spanish, and other languages to enhance digital literacy and increase the relevance of broadband to people's everyday lives. As a result of this project, more than 12,000 households are expected to subscribe to broadband beyond the free year-long subscription period.

In California, Computers for Youth will partner with the Los Angeles Unified School District to increase broadband technology awareness, help students succeed academically, and increase family involvement in their children's education through computer and Internet tools. The project will provide 15,000 sixth-grade students and their families with computer training, after which they will receive a refurbished computer with educational software. Nearly 8,000 households are anticipated to become new broadband subscribers as a result of this project.

RUS Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces its Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program application window for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010.

Applications will be received through May 18, 2010. In addition RUS announces the anticipated amount of funding available, the minimum and maximum amounts for DLT grants applicable for the fiscal year, and a change in scoring necessitated by the expiration of the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) designations. RUS also notes that libraries are eligible to be recipients of DLT Loans and Grants.

Boucher Still Working Toward Network Neutrality Legislation

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) said Thursday that he continues to work toward network neutrality legislation and remains solidly behind a free and open Internet, but does not think network neutrality should be part of the national broadband plan.

The Federal Communications Commission did not make network neutrality proposals part of the plan. But as a practical matter it didn't have to. The FCC is already proposing to expand and codify its network openness principles in a separate proceeding and a majority of commissioners have backed it. Commissioner Robert McDowell used part of his statement on the plan this week to reiterate his serious concerns about the proposal. But if it is adopted, it becomes part of the FCC's oversight of the Internet, and thus by default part and parcel of the plan, which will include numerous similar notices of proposed rulemakings on elements of a national broadband strategy.

On the legislative proposal, Chairman Boucher said he was "talking to the broadband providers, we're talking to the companies that rely on the Internet as a means of transporting their product to their customers, and we're working toward a set of understandings that hopefully we can embody in statute in the not-to-distant future."

How Ambassador Phil Verveer Undermines His Boss and Her Boss on Network Neutrality

[Commentary] Want to know why the Obama Administration can't seem to get its "messaging" together? Consider the recent case of The Hon. Phil Verveer, who managed to echo a set of Republican attack bullets at an event at the Media Institute, a think tank funded by big media conglomerates to lobby for a Citizens United view of the First Amendment.

In the question and answer session, Verveer managed stray from the original topic of his speech and drop some casual remarks that undermined not just Secretary Clinton's Internet freedom agenda, but President Obama's domestic broadband agenda generally. To make matters worse, Verveer's comments came one day after the crowning achievement of the Obama Administration on broadband to date: the release of the a National Broadband Plan spelling out how we can leverage modern technology to create jobs, make government more efficient, and improve the quality of life for all Americans.

How did a man as experienced and professional as Verveer manage to get so off message at precisely the wrong time? Apparently through carelessness.

A Wrong-Headed Right-Wing Take on Broadband and Network Neutrality

[Commentary] Faster Internet service for more people -- who would have thought that would be such an evil thing?

The Obama administration's National Broadband Plan has been public for only a few days, and it's already under fire from predictable quarters. Front and center is Mar. 15's Wall Street Journal op-ed by George Gilder, the well-known techno-gadfly supply-sider who co-founded the Discovery Institute, a conservative think tank. He blasts the broadband plan in the article and disparages network neutrality -- the idea that Internet providers shouldn't discriminate against rival content. Characterizing Gilder's argument, his fellow Discovery co-founder Bruce Chapman writes approvingly: "Net neutrality is Orwellian. It is further evidence of America's careening drive into a planned economy -- and stagnation." This alarmist view is reminiscent of popular TV host Glenn Beck, who last fall described net neutrality as a "Marxist" plot by the Obama administration to take over the Internet. Sounds scary. But in truth, Net neutrality is really simple: You like YouTube? Net neutrality means that -- like now -- no Internet provider will be able to block you from getting it in favor of its own video programming.

Benton

Search