June 2011

Using Internet Outside? In Part of Brooklyn, Free Wireless Access Arrives

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg frequently proclaims New York as an ideal city to start a technology company, but until now not a single neighborhood offered free wireless access to the Internet. A narrow strip of that void will officially be filled on June 2 when the wraps come off Dumbo Wi-Fi, a network designed to be available outdoors between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. That the network, financed by a developer, is the only one of its kind in New York illustrates how far the city is from becoming truly connected. So far, it has had a patchwork of wireless hot spots in parks and other public spaces, almost all of them arranged by business-improvement districts and sponsored by corporations. At the end of June, one company, Towerstream, plans to introduce what it claims will be “the most robust and fastest portable Wi-Fi network” in Manhattan, though it will not technically be free: it hopes to sell access to cellphone service providers, who could then offer it to their customers. Wi-Fi generally provides a faster and stronger signal than cellphone networks.

Mideast Uses Western Tools to Battle the Skype Rebellion

When young dissidents in Egypt were organizing an election-monitoring project last fall, they discussed their plans over Skype, the popular Internet phone service, believing it to be secure. But someone else was listening in -- Egypt's security service.

An internal memo from the "Electronic Penetration Department" even boasted it had intercepted one conversation in which an activist stressed the importance of using Skype "because it cannot be penetrated online by any security device." Skype, which Microsoft Corp. is acquiring for $8.5 billion, is best known as a cheap way to make international phone calls. But the Luxembourg-based service also is the communications tool of choice for dissidents around the world because its powerful encryption technology evades traditional wiretaps. Throughout the recent Middle East uprisings, protesters have used Skype for confidential video conferences, phone calls, instant messages and file exchanges. In Iran, opposition leaders and dissidents used Skype to plot strategy and organize a February protest. Skype also is a favorite among activists in Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, according to State Department cables released by WikiLeaks.

Governments Are Still Trying to Kill, Replace or Undo the Internet

For all the optimism — much of it well-placed — about the Internet and social tools like Twitter and Facebook helping to create revolutions in the Middle East, there is a corresponding tide of repression, censorship and surveillance by governments aimed at the Internet and the freedoms it allows. A new UNESCO report looks at the scope of these efforts and the emerging effort to create a form of “digital rights” that can counter-balance the attempts of repressive governments to shut down free speech on the Internet. Meanwhile, both Iran and Syria have upped the ante in their attempts to blockade the web.

Cable Company Eyes 'Single Play'

Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Glenn Britt said his company has an opportunity to win more broadband-only customers as broadband replaces TV as the cable industry's anchor product. Britt said Time Warner Cable has been largely focused on selling its "triple-play" bundle, which includes broadband, TV and phone service. Now, he intends to shift focus to better exploit an opportunity to sell more "single-play" broadband to people who may get video service from a satellite operator or another alternative.

"Broadband is becoming more and more central to people's lives," Britt said. "It has become our primary product. People are telling us that if they were down to their last dollar, they'd drop broadband last." The cable industry continues to expand its broadband subscriber base and gain share in the Internet-access market, while it loses video subscribers to satellite and telecommunications rivals. Economic weakness is also leading lower-income consumers to drop pay-TV service as the price climbs, and the rise of web video has also led to concerns that consumers will drop traditional pay-TV subscriptions in favor of online alternatives.

FCC web architect departs amid grumbling about revamped site

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Managing Director Steve VanRoekel is leaving the agency to join the US Agency for International Development (USAID). VanRoekel, who oversaw a comprehensive overhaul of the agency's website launched last month, has decided to accept the new opportunity at a moment when complaints are flaring up about FCC.gov.

The overhaul has received a particularly poor reception among private sector lawyers tasked with filing documents through the online system. "You can't find what you are looking for. And if you have enough time on your hands to figure out where something is, it will take you multiple clicks to get there. If you put the old and new websites side-by-side, you can see it is so much easier to navigate the old site. It’s kinda like old vs new coke. While the old site wasn't perfect, it worked much better than the new one,” one industry lawyer said.
VanRoekel is expected to depart his position next week.

Google Gets in Bed With Mobile Operators Again

[Commentary] Mobile operators may be making some progress in their attempts to share the cost of network build out with Internet companies. France Telecom said it is in talks with Google about offering segmented services for users, so those who want faster or more stable service can pay more with the two sharing the revenue. It’s part of a larger push by FT to come to some agreement with Silicon Valley companies. France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard told investors that FT would have an announcement along those lines in the coming weeks.

Free Press Urges FCC to Stop the Revolving Door

In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission, Free Press asked the four remaining commissioners to pledge not to seek employment with either AT&T or T-Mobile, whose multi-billion merger is now under review at the FCC. The request follows the departure of FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker, who abandoned her position to become a lobbyist for Comcast - after voting to approve that company's merger with NBC Universal just months earlier. The House Government Oversight Committee has launched an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Baker's departure.

SureWest pledges to expand FTTH in Kansas markets

Independent telco SureWest Communications has announced that it is expanding its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband service in areas near Kansas City (KS), an announcement that comes not long after Internet giant Google said that the Kansas City area would be the site of its first FTTH network.

SureWest, which recently launched FTTH in Olathe (KS) said its board of directors approved adding 5,000 new homes in the surrounding area to its 2011 capital investment plan, resulting in a total of 15,500 fiber home additions scheduled this year in Olathe. The company said the expansion was dictated by high consumer demand for the services. It did not mention Google’s planned roll-out as having any impact on its decision. SureWest, based in Roseville (CA), has operated in nearby Kansas City (MO) since acquiring Everest Broadband in 2007. It has 40 percent penetration on Everest’s pre-existing hybrid fiber-coaxial cable network, and in the last two years has passed 1,600 more homes with a new FTTH initiative, achieving a 34 percent penetration rate. SureWest cut a handful of jobs in the Kansas City area last year as part of broader job cuts.

Windstream Starts Small with Broadband Stimulus Project Ground Breaking

Windstream was the largest single recipient of broadband stimulus grants from the Rural Utilities Service, winning a total of $181.3 million for projects in 13 states. But now that the company has begun to break ground on these projects, it’s starting small.

The first Windstream broadband stimulus project to get underway is a project near Prentiss, Mississippi for which the company won $416,322. The project involves upgrading Windstream’s existing network with a little more than seven miles of fiber and installing electronic equipment, the company said. According to the announcement of the Mississippi ground breaking issued today, the project will provide broadband service at speeds of at least 6 Mb/s. Although the announcement does not specify what type of last mile technology the company is using, Windstream’s stimulus applications included many ADSL2+ projects, and that is likely the technology that will be used in the Mississippi upgrade. “Windstream had already built out our broadband network to every area that we could serve in a cost-effective way, and now for the first time we will be able to reach customers in some of the most rural parts of our community,” said Terry Mathis, local manager for Windstream.

Low-power TV broadcasters hope to offer rural broadband

SpectrumEvolution.org is an advocacy organization that argues that low-power TV (LPTV) broadcasters can deploy broadband just as easily as anyone who might buy their spectrum.

“Broadcasters should be allowed to play in broadband as opposed to being pushed to the margins,” said SpectrumEvolution.org President Greg Herman. Herman argued that thousands of low-power TV stations operating in the UHF band, including many in rural areas, have been left in limbo since the digital TV conversion of 2009. The low-power stations weren't required to convert to digital and many have not yet done so. “Since many haven’t converted, now is a great time to do something that might be more desirable to the public,” said Herman, who notes that only 15% of TV viewers watch over-the-air programming. SpectrumEvolution argues that LPTV broadcasters could deploy wireless broadband services covering a 10- to 15-mile radius for about the same amount it would cost them to convert to digital TV. The organization proposes that LPTV stations offer advertiser-supported broadband service at no charge to the customer. Customers would have to buy their own modem, but Herman said that cost could be recovered within three to six months based on the savings in Internet connectivity costs. Potentially the LPTV stations could continue to offer their traditional video content in a digitized format or could stream that content in IP form over the customer’s broadband connection, Herman said. The LPTV stations should have no trouble meeting the proposed minimum broadband speed of 4 Mb/s downstream and 1 Mb/s upstream proposed in the National Broadband Plan, said Herman.

Benton

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