June 2011

GPS industry and LightSquared spar over responsibility for interference issue

The GPS industry and wireless broadband company LightSquared joined forces to test whether the nationwide broadband network that LightSquared plans to build would cause interference for the GPS system. But as preliminary reports indicate that the network could, in fact, render GPS devices useless, the partnership is ending fast amid a growing debate over whose job it is to prevent the interference.

LightSquared is scheduled to provide initial interference test results and assessments to the Federal Communications Commission on June 15, but other, independent test results are rolling. Last month the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, which advises the Federal Aviation Administration, said tests showed that LightSquared's transmissions caused a "complete loss of GPS receiver function." According to a publicly released summary, the RTCA report concluded that "the current LightSquared terrestrial authorization would be incompatible with the current aviation use of GPS, however modifications could be made to allow the LightSquared system to co-exist with aviation use of GPS." And therein lies the problem. Who should have to modify their systems?

Wi-Fi reliance increasing with growing mobile broadband adoption

Devicescape, which works directly with carriers and offers a virtual Wi-Fi network, will soon release a report showing the degree to which Wi-Fi is being used to complement, if not supplement, mobile broadband services that are not quite equipped to cover it all.

According to Devicescape:

nearly 90 percent of smartphone owners supplement their wireless data plan with Wi-Fi, at home and on the go;
73 percent of respondents said they'd considering switching carriers if faced with a data cap; and
82 percent of respondents expect access to Wi-Fi to be included in their wireless subscription.

IPv6 traffic surges at launch of World IPv6 Day

A surge of IPv6-based Web traffic began flowing over the Internet June 8 when World IPv6 Day began, according to data gathered by Arbor Networks. Arbor released some initial findings at 9 a.m. EDT that showed a sharp rise in HTTP traffic as more than 400 websites including Google, Facebook, and Yahoo began supporting IPv6 in production mode as part of the ongoing World IPv6 Day experiment.

One good sign is that native IPv6 traffic appears to be rising faster than tunneled traffic during the IPv6 experiment, Arbor says. "For the first two or three hours after World IPv6 Day began, the native IPv6 traffic went from 5 percent of the overall IPv6 traffic to plateau at around 30 percent to 35 percent of all IPv6 traffic," Malan says. `"Native IPv6 traffic going up is a good sign." Malan says it's still too early to understand all of the IPv6 traffic patterns that are occurring during the World IPv6 Day experiment. "We're so early into this. None of us have had the chance to dig into the data in a meaningful fashion," he says. "One of the things we want to find out is how many clients are enabled right now for IPv6 content."

HHS Investing in Innovations (i2) Initiative

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced the Investing in Innovations (i2) Initiative – a bold new program designed to spur innovations in health IT. The program centers on prizes and competitions to accelerate the development of solutions and communities around key challenges in health IT.

The initiative is the first Administration-wide program using prizes and challenges to advance an agency's mission made possible by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 4, 2011. The Act invests in innovation through research and development and seeks to improve the competitiveness of the United States.

As part of the initiative's rollout, ONC has awarded nearly $5 million to the Capital Consulting Corporation (CCC) and Health 2.0 LLC, to fund projects supporting innovations in research and encouraging health IT development through open-innovation mechanisms like prizes and challenges. The i2 Initiative will consult stakeholders across the health care sector including hospitals, doctors, consumers, payers, states, employers, advocates, and relevant federal agencies to obtain direct input on execution and to build partnerships. The core of the i2 Initiative is an effort to use prizes and challenges to facilitate innovation and obtain solutions to identified health IT challenges. Recognizing the promise of prizes and challenges, the President has called on agencies to promote innovation by using such innovation tools to address intractable problems. The use of prizes and competitions is widely regarded as a powerful tool to attract innovators from all walks of life to address hard problems with the added benefit of only rewarding best-in-class work. The approach makes possible rapid response to emerging issues that are difficult to address with more traditional funding approaches.

NASUCA Backs Efforts to Block AT&T/T-Mobile

In a filing at the Federal Communications Commission, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates says AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile is not in the public interest. NASUCA backs petitions to deny the transition filed by the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel and Utility Consumers’ Action Network.

Use Census Block Broadband Data, Justice tells FCC

In this ex parte filing, the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division briefly responds to the Federal Communications Commission’s February 8, 2011, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Modernizing the FCC Form 477 Data Program proceeding. In the NPRM the FCC seeks comment regarding its collection of broadband and local telephone networks and services data. The FCC asks, among other things, whether additional localized data concerning specific services offered and actual prices charged for those services would be useful in evaluating issues related to competition.

In general, the Department believes that the FCC will be better able to compile the information necessary to evaluate more precisely the status of competition among service providers if the FCC obtains specific data regarding services provided within particular census blocks, and the net effective pricing for those services within the same blocks. Such evaluations will assist the FCC when it makes decisions such as whether to make spectrum and other resources available to facilitate entry by new competitors, or whether to permit, as consistent with the public interest, a proposed merger by two competitors. In addition, the data may also be valuable to the Department, which also is responsible for evaluating competition issues in the telecommunications industry. Thus, collection of census block data, to the extent practical and not overly burdensome, will yield information that is important and beneficial in promoting competition.

Telemedicine: An Essential Technology for Reformed Healthcare

The challenges that have hindered the spread of telemedicine in the past are dissolving as the forces governing care delivery are brought into better alignment. Fueled by advances in technology infrastructure and a growing number of solutions that fit specific care needs and patient preferences, telemedicine has quietly made its way into segments of care delivery where it has accomplished dramatic turnarounds.

Widespread adoption of telemedicine, however, is not yet a reality. Globally, the tipping point will be the care model realignment under healthcare reform, where payment is value-driven, not volume-driven. Care providers (hospitals, physicians, and ancillary caregivers — all part of the overall care team) are paid for results, and whether the venue is the office or a virtual visit at home will no longer matter. Quality is measured and payments made for meeting targets. Finally, there are incentives for preventive care — for keeping citizens healthy so there is a decrease in the number of physician’s office visits and hospital admissions.

Mayor Reardon concerned not everyone can afford Google project

As Google engineers its ultra-high-speed Internet projects in the Kansas Cities, KCK Mayor Joe Reardon expressed concerns that not everyone in his city will be able to take advantage of the service when it goes live in 2012. The conduit system that will connect directly to homes and businesses will thrive on participation and use, raising red flags for residents who may not be able to afford Google’s service, even if prices are as competitive as expected, said Mayor Reardon, officially mayor/CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas. Although Google’s Internet will cover the entire city and “open up access,” Mayor Reardon said he’s still worried about “removing barriers to access” and cited a recent dialogue with the state of Kansas. The Kansas Department of Commerce has its own broadband initiative aiming federal dollars at rural parts of the Sunflower State. Mayor Reardon said he is looking to persuade state officials to assist residents in economically distressed parts of the city with affordability. “The marketplace does not deploy as quickly as a city like mine would want,” Mayor Reardon said, pointing specifically at the more impoverished sections of the city, where current Internet access and use is limited.

A cheerleader for Google, Mayor Reardon plugged the economic development benefits that Google’s infrastructure would bring to the region. Reardon called on leaders in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri to heavily market Google as a signature piece for the region, referring to a discussion with KCMO Mayor Sly James about unifying the cities’ efforts.

Study: High-speed Internet the connection to greater Iowa revenues

Businesses with high-speed Internet connections have median annual revenues of about $600,000, nearly $300,000 more than businesses without broadband, said Connect Iowa, a group partnering with the Iowa Department of Economic Development to inventory and map broadband use. Their report shows that 72 percent, or about 60,000 Iowa companies, have broadband access; 22 percent, or 18,000 businesses, have no Internet access; 6 percent, about 5,000 companies, have either use dial-up or are unsure whether their Internet is broadband.

Findings from the 2010 survey show a significant correlation between high-speed Internet adoption and a business’s bottom line, the group said. Among the results:

Fifty-two percent, or 43,000 Iowa businesses, have a Website. Median annual revenues among businesses that use broadband and have a Website are double the state average of $400,000.
Thirty-one percent of Internet-connected businesses, about 21,000 statewide, say they earn revenues through online sales and transactions.
Broadband can enable job creation and enhance quality of life. Eighteen percent, or 15,000 Iowa companies, let employees telework.
Professional and financial services and manufacturing lead in broadband adoption, with 14,000 companies using high-speed Internet. Both sectors had adoption rates over 80 percent and exceed national rates. Only 62 percent of health-care service companies are using broadband, nearly equal the national rate.
The median monthly cost that Iowa businesses pay for broadband is $62.

Wyoming Town Creates Broadband Bonanza

[Commentary] How does a town of 5000 people in a sparsely populated region get its own fiber-to-household broadband system -- WITHOUT relying on federal funding? Powell, Wyoming, is one of the great broadband success stories of the decade.

Benton

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