June 2011

Recovery Act Investment Helping Consumers To Better Manage Their Energy Use and Save Energy

Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that more than five million smart meters have been installed nationwide as part of Recovery Act-funded efforts to accelerate modernization of the Nation's electric grid. Smart meters will provide utility companies with greater information about how much electricity is being used throughout their service areas. They will also give consumers access to real-time information about their energy consumption, allowing them to make well-informed decisions about how they use their electricity.

"To compete in the global economy, we need a modern electricity grid," said Secretary Chu. "An upgraded electricity grid will give consumers choices and promote energy savings, increase energy efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy resources."

Transforming the Nation's current electric grid into a more intelligent "smart" system involves a wide range of advanced technologies - including smart meters -that will improve the reliability and security of the grid, allow for the integration of renewable energy sources and help prevent blackouts and restore power more quickly when outages occur. Nearly 90 percent of the meters installed to date are in Florida, Texas, California, Idaho, Arizona, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Nevada.

The broadband–home energy connection gets stronger

Who needs smart meters when you've got broadband? Last week saw two announcements that outlined the potential for delivering deep energy management capability via existing home broadband market channels, all while smart meters are still struggling to get up and running. If the broadband channel to home energy takes off — a very big if, to be sure — smart meter–dependent home energy startups could be left in the dust.

The first announcement came from startup EcoFactor. EcoFactor uses broadband to link smart thermostats to cloud-based software that crunches thousands of data points, such as weather reports, building permit info, demographic data and ongoing thermostat data. From there, EcoFactor adjusts thermostats to save energy while keeping temperatures in comfortable ranges; it could, for example, precool houses to let ACs idle through peak power periods.

Last week’s other significant home broadband–energy management connection: Comcast’s new Xfinity Home Security service. Sure, the launch was centered on security, not energy. But iControl, the startup Comcast has invested in and partnered with on its home security offering, can also manage home energy use. After all, security-minded capabilities like turning lights on and off can deliver direct energy-saving capabilities, while networked door locks or video cameras can help home automation systems turn off light and heat in unoccupied rooms and perform other energy-related functions. Broadband providers like Comcast and rival Verizon are busy offering home security add-ons to lure more customers, usually with some kind of basic smart thermostat–centered energy management freebie thrown in as well.

Wireless Industry Innovation: 'We're #1'

[Commentary] The United States wireless industry is the best. Now here are the facts that prove it:

Lowest revenue per minute of OECD countries. Unless otherwise indicated, these facts are from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Average revenue per minute is nearly 70% lower than the averages of the other 25 countries.
Average revenue per minute is nearly 70% lower than the average European country.
At the end of 2010, the average revenue per minute in the U.S. was $0.04.
Across Europe’s developed countries, the average revenue per minute was $0.13.
As a result, the average wireless consumer in Europe used just 172 minutes a month compared to 793 minutes a month for the U.S.
Most minutes of use (MOUs) – 2.24 trillion MOUs in 2010 (or 6.1 billion MOUs per day), according to CTIA's semi-annual survey.
Highest MOUs per month per user and the lowest average revenue per minute of service of the 26 OECD countries tracked by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Largest mobile data market.
Most mobile Internet users than any other country, according to Nielsen Mobile.
Adoption of wireless Web, accounting for 29.3% of all mobile Web surfing.
3G technology has been deployed to more than 98% of the U.S. population, according to the FCC 14th Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions.
Even though the U.S. population is less than 5% of the world's total population according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Informa Telecoms & Media Group says the total U.S. subscribership is less than 6% of the world's total wireless subscribers. Yet the U.S., according to Informa, is home to more than 164 million global 3G and 4G subscribers (or approximately 20%).

Google removes the need to type search requests on desktop computers with Chrome Web browser

Making Google search requests on many office and home computers soon won't require a keyboard.

A new feature will allow people to speak their search requests while sitting in front of their desktop computers just as they already can on smartphones running on Google’s Android software. The spoken-request option will be available only on Google’s Chrome browser. It will be activated by clicking on a microphone icon inside Google’s search box. Chrome users will get the new feature within the next few days. Google also unveiled a way to get results by dragging digital images into its search box.

Incredible stuff, but Google Instant itself wasn't without controversy. And by speeding up the search process, and refining it still more on a history-based algorithm, Google risks reigniting controversy with Pages. First, what does it do for a website's pageview count? Does the pre-load count as a pageview or unique visit? What happens if the customer actually chooses to click on a different link instead of the pre-guessed ones? Does all this extra computing and server work actually require more power than before, which could worsen Google's carbon footprint? And there's always the closed-loop cycle to think about, whereby a system like Google's that relies on your past habits to pre-form your future interactions with it can result in a type of tunnel-vision. Imagine Google uses your search habits to pre-populate a particular page in Instant Pages, which speeds up your Net experience and does guess which page you were going to click on correctly. In the future it's possible that a more restricted view of the Net would pop up in its systems based on your previous use, because it kept guessing correctly. It's a potentially limiting behavior, and it could benefit from Google throwing in the odd red-herring or completely random search result.

Rep Matsui Re-Introduces Broadband Affordability Bill

Rep Doris Matsui (D-CA) has re-introduced a bill that would expand the Universal Service Fund to include broadband by discounting Internet access service to the poor.

The Broadband Affordability Act of 2011 would provide low-income Americans living in rural and urban areas with a discount on broadband internet service. The program would be made part of the USF's Lifeline Assistance program, which does the same for rural and low-income phone customers. Rep Matsui first introduced the bill in fall 2009. The FCC also recommended the move as part of its National Broadband Plan. As part of that plan, the FCC wants to migrate the Universal Service Fund, of which Lifeline Assistance is a part, from phone to broadband service.

USF Contribution Factor for 3rd Quarter 2011 -- 14.4 percent

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Managing Director (OMD) announced that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the third quarter of 2011 will be 0.144 or 14.4 percent

Powell: Cable Helps Power American Dream

National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Michael Powell strode, rather than rolled, in at The Cable Show's opening session in Chicago.

The former military man did so with the short and to-the-point message that cable needs to lead, government needs to get out of the way, and cable content must follow consumers to new applications and devices. Following a tape of Powell's forward roll 10 years ago before addressing the same convention in the same venue when he was Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Powell said he would pass on a repeat performance -- he is a former gymnast -- saying he might break a hip. But he did not break stride in what he suggested was cable's march toward a digital future for which it is well positioned. "We believe we can make media and communications better for our shareholders and our citizens....Cable helps power the American dream," he told the opening general session audience. The military vet invoked the "lead, follow or get out of the way" mantra of his army days and said cable "has what it takes to lead... No industry can be paralyzed by either the infinite possibility or the unsettling uncertainty of its time. Standing still simply is not an option."

Education groups applaud new ed-tech legislation

Educational technology stakeholders are applauding the introduction of a bill called the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act and note that, if passed, the legislation will work to bolster technology literacy and will increase access to educational opportunities through online learning.

“The ATTAIN Act recognizes that technology literacy is an essential skill our children need to be college and career ready and prepared to navigate and succeed in the competitive 21st-century environment,” said 11 leading education and ed-tech organizations in a joint statement. The bill was introduced by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). The measure directs federal funds to train teachers, purchase educational technology hardware and software, and support student technological literacy. It authorizes up to $1 billion in annual funding for educational technology and teacher training nationwide. The ed-tech groups said the bill will “foster the expansion of online and blended learning and promote technology initiatives that lead to personalized, rigorous, and relevant learning. The bill also will spur efforts to increase education productivity and reduce costs through the use of technology.

Who are we kidding? Of course it’s Netflix vs. cable.

Ask Netflix about cord cutting, and it'll tell you: “It’s not happening, it’s not anything we are causing, cable and Netflix are complementary.” Then take a look at the actions of service operators, cable networks, consumers and even Netflix itself, and you’re going to see a decidedly different picture: Cable and Netflix are competing for the same eyeballs, the same money and the same TV real estate, and the fight is getting tougher by the day. Not convinced yet? Then consider this evidence: 1) Consumers are ready to jump ship, 2) Content licensing is getting more competitive, 3) Cable companies castrate their TiVos, 4) Netflix is dominating every screen, and 5) Incumbents are putting a cap on it.

Netflix chief eyes a slice of broadband subscriptions

Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings floated the idea that online video providers should get a cut of the subscriptions paid to cable and phone companies since customers sign up in part to access Netflix services.

"We haven't yet said [to broadband providers], 'Of your $40 [per month] broadband [service], we are 30 percent of the traffic, so we want 30 percent of the revenue,'" he said. "We haven't done that, [so] there is still a good relationship." "With Netflix creating so much value for ISPs — driving broadband adoption and higher broadband speed tiers, at what point does Netflix demand a share of an ISP's monthly subscription fees — what we will effectively call, retrans 2.0?" BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield wrote. "Netflix would essentially be creating a dual revenue stream model, where they are being paid by both the ISP and the consumer on a monthly basis."

Benton

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