October 2012

Is U.S. broadband fast enough? Let the market decide

[Commentary] American ingenuity is also creating an out-of-this-world experience right here on the ground. Today we are able to wirelessly download books and magazines to a tablet we can manipulate with our fingertips. We can access Spotify, the world's largest record store, from anywhere -- for free. We can chat with friends and loved ones with crystal clear video and audio quality. Our mobile phones now double as everything from credit cards to house keys. All of these technologies rely on America's robust high-speed Internet infrastructure, a network born in part from the kind of bipartisan political agreement -- in this case, the decision in 1996 to replace regulation with competition to spawn what would become high-speed data networks -- that almost seems alien to us today. Indeed the loss of this bipartisan consensus-building has, on telecommunications, created a fractured debate where the extremes get the attention, and where consensus on how to build the next phase of broadband revolution is lost. What's especially troubling is that these squeaky wheels are trying to drive a debate with -- shall we say -- a rusty fact checker.

Our broadband investment has helped new entrepreneurs find financial success in what the prestigious Progressive Policy Institute calls the "app economy," which has created half a million jobs and is the key to future productivity. Without investment in broadband, names like Mark Zuckerberg, Reed Hastings and Larry Page would not be known in every U.S. household. Neither would Elon Musk -- the man who made millions inventing PayPal, the revolutionary online payment system, and turned it into SpaceX. By any measure, the Internet is a sturdy launch pad to new frontiers -- even the final frontier.

[Young is a professor of public administration at California State University, San Bernardino]

Google Signs Deal With Warner Music Group

Google signed a deal to bring the catalog of the Warner Music Group — with Green Day, Madonna, Neil Young, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and hundreds of other acts — to its Play store. For Google’s music service -- which has struggled to gain traction against iTunes, Amazon and the myriad of other digital services -- it is an important step. It means that Google’s millions of Android users -- whose devices do not have iTunes -- will finally have an essentially complete catalog of MP3s to buy.

US Satellite Plans Falter, Imperiling Data on Storms

The United States is facing a year or more without crucial satellites that provide invaluable data for predicting storm tracks, a result of years of mismanagement, lack of financing and delays in launching replacements, according to several recent official reviews.

The looming gap in satellite coverage, which some experts view as almost certain within the next few years, could result in shaky forecasts about storms like Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to hit the East Coast early next week. The endangered satellites fly pole-to-pole orbits and cross the Equator in the afternoon, scanning the entire planet one strip at a time. Along with orbiters on other timetables, they are among the most effective tools used to pin down the paths of major storms about five days ahead. Experts have grown increasingly alarmed in the past two years because the existing polar satellites are nearing or beyond their life expectancies, and the launch of the next replacement, known as J.P.S.S.-1, has slipped to 2017, probably too late to avoid a coverage gap of at least a year. Prodded by lawmakers and auditors, the satellite program’s managers are just beginning to think through alternatives when the gap occurs, but these are unlikely to avoid it.

Internet, Phone Companies Brace for Hurricane Sandy

Communications providers and federal officials were bracing for widespread problems on Monday as Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast. The high winds, rain, and possible power outages have the potential to play havoc with phone and Internet networks and companies spent the weekend prepping emergency reaction teams.

Washington-area communications networks faced similar strains last year. When an earthquake rattled the East Coast in August 2011, some wireless networks were quickly overwhelmed with traffic. When Hurricane Irene moved up the East Coast a week later, thousands of customers lost cable, phone, and other services, but companies said the damage was not as extensive as feared. Telecommunications companies are hoping that their preparations will limit outages during Hurricane Sandy as well.

Cellphone carriers prepare for outages

Wireless carriers say they're taking precautionary steps to prevent and quickly respond to potential phone and Internet service outages from Hurricane Sandy. U.S. officials have warned about the potential damage Sandy could wreak across the northeast.

Even after the derecho thunderstorm this summer disabled some mobile and landline phone services in the Mid-Atlantic, the carriers say they're prepared for Sandy. Verizon has national and regional command centers tracking the storm's progress and effect on its operations, the company said in a statement. The wireless company is bringing in additional equipment, such as fiber-optic and copper cable and portable cell sites, to areas that are expected to be hit hard by the storm so cell service stays up and running. Verizon said it's also coordinating with state and local agencies, as well as the public safety community, on its response efforts.

Cell phone carriers brace for Hurricane Sandy

As Hurricane Sandy churned toward the Northeast, wireless carriers spent the weekend battle-proofing their networks.

Verizon readied repair equipment, Sprint engineers deployed backup generators just outside the storm path and AT&T installed new batteries at cell sites. The nation's three major carriers shut down most retail stores in the mid-Atlantic region and New England. With most preparations complete, it's now time to wait and see what havoc Sandy brings. Carriers readied a fleet of emergency equipment with some peculiar, farm-like names: COWs (Cells On Wheels), COLTs (Cells On Light Trucks), and GOaTs (Generators on Trailers). These temporary cell towers, generators, diesel trucks and sand bags are stationed along the storm's edge, and action teams are on standby to roll in with them as soon as something goes down. The carriers' monitoring centers are watching their networks for any signs of trouble. Flooding and winds can sometimes threaten cell towers, but most are strong enough to handle the worst that even a Category 5 hurricane can bring. Sprint's towers, for instance, are built to withstand winds of up to 110 miles per hour, a company spokeswoman said.

Cable Operators Brace For Sandy

Cable operators up and down the East Coast were preparing for the wrath of Hurricane Sandy as it moved closer to shore October 29, bringing with it torrential rains and high winds.

Sandy was expected to make landfall along the central New Jersey coast later this evening (Monday) or tonight, packing gale-force winds, torrential rains – some mid-Atlantic states were expected to see as much as 12 inches of rain – and creating storm surges in coastal areas that are expected to cause widespread flooding. The effects of the storm were expected to be felt as far south as North Carolina and north to Maine, with up to three feet of snow also expected in mountainous parts of West Virginia. Comcast, which has several operations in the path of the storm – including Southern New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia – said in a statement that efforts are underway to prepare for Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy Blows Up Digital Storm

Hurricane Sandy hasn't hit land yet, but the traffic at The Weather Channel's digital properties is already blowing towards record numbers. On October 28, the company saw 105 million page views (the fifth highest page view ever) and 40 million video streams, which the most in one day ever. It was also a top 10 day for daily visits, with 21 million visits, and visitors, with 14 million. Judging by early traffic on Oct 29, the company expects page views to set a record.

As Sandy Takes Its Time, TV News Is an Endless Loop of Anticipation

One of the blessings of Hurricane Sandy, if there are any, is its status as a very slow moving weather event. The lead time has given people in the affected area — a broad swath of the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic — days to make way for what is set to be a very destructive visitor. But people who turned on their televisions in search of up-to-date information could not be blamed for thinking that they had tuned into a storm-themed sequel to “Groundhog Day,” the film where a television weatherman, played by Bill Murray, wakes up to find the same day, running in replay, over and over. Since October 26, and even before that, all-news channels and local TV stations in the areas in the hurricane’s path have had to find a different way to say the same thing over and over.

Seven Years After Katrina, FCC Still Fails to Make Sure Everyone Receives Lifesaving Information in an Emergency

In September 2005, one month after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council filed a joint petition with the Federal Communications Commission, urging the FCC to take action “now to ensure that emergency warnings are made available to non-English speaking persons.” More than seven years later, as the East Coast braces for “Frankenstorm” Hurricane Sandy, we are reminded that the FCC has still failed to implement a comprehensive Multilingual Emergency Alert System (EAS) to make sure countless lives aren’t lost in avoidable accidents during natural disasters, as they were during Hurricane Katrina.