June 2015

Web hosting company Commercial Network Services says it plans to file a peering complaint against Time Warner Cable under the Federal Communications Commission's new network neutrality rules unless the company strikes a free peering deal as soon as possible. TWC says its interconnection policy is just and reasonable and is confident the FCC would reject any complaint based on the idea that "every edge provider around the globe is entitled to enter into a settlement-free peering arrangement." In the complaint, according to CNS CEO Barry Bahrami, CNS plans to ask 1) that TWC be ordered to strike a settlement-free deal and 2) that other broadband Internet service providers using any public exchanges be required to adopt an "open peering" policy.

In its new rules, which took effect June 12, the FCC created a case-by-case complaint process for interconnection issues alleged to impede an open Internet. It is the first time that peering/interconnection deals have fallen under the FCC's net neutrality rules since having been reclassified under Title II common carrier regulations. Some cable operators were looking for Cogent or Level 3 or Netflix to complain, but whoever it was, they were expecting complaints from those not eager to pay for interconnections. Since there is no bright-line rule on what is a reasonable interconnection agreement, cable operators won't know exactly what the FCC considers impeding an open Internet until the FCC has investigated and acted on such complaints, though TWC sounded confident this complaint was meritless.

Google is wielding a new weapon against Amazon and Microsoft for cloud computing customers: itself. Google is talking more openly about companies that use its cloud business, and revealing more about its computing resources, perhaps the largest on the planet. These include disclosures about Google’s ultrafast fiber network, its big data resources, and the computers and software it has built for itself. The aim is to position Google as a company capable of handling the biggest and toughest computational exercises, lightning fast. The disclosures follow earlier moves by Google Cloud Platform, as the search company’s cloud computing business is called, to show off its data analysis capabilities. Details like the ability to pass information between Europe and the United States in less than 100 milliseconds, and a practice of fully backing up user data in nine different locations, make Google seem both cutting-edge and even bigger than most people suspected.

But the company may also be borrowing a playbook from Amazon Web Services, which in 2013 started disclosing some mind-blowing metrics about its global computing network. At an event for Google Cloud Platform -- Google’s name for the computing, storage and networking it sells to business -- Google will name the Taiwanese phone maker HTC as a customer. HTC has used Google to build a new kind of computing architecture that enables smartphone apps to update data fast and reliably to many devices at once, and look efficient even when the phones get poor reception. On June 17 a senior Google executive is expected to give what the company says will be an unprecedented look at the overall Google network design. This includes key tools that enable large-scale management of computing devices across the globe, according to one customer.

The latest terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, not-at-all-surprising news from Gallup: Americans' confidence in most major US institutions remains below the historical average for each one. Only the military (72 percent) and small business (67 percent) -- the highest-rated institutions in 2015's poll -- are currently rated higher than their historical norms, based on the percentage expressing "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the institution.... Americans' confidence in most major institutions has been down for many years as the nation has dealt with prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a major recession and sluggish economic improvement, and partisan gridlock in Washington.

In fact, 2004 was the last year most institutions were at or above their historical average levels of confidence. Perhaps not coincidentally, 2004 was also the last year Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States averaged better than 40 percent. Currently, 28 percent of Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation. Confidence in newspapers is currently at 24 percent, eight points below the historical average. Television news is at 21 percent, nine points below the historical average.

The effort to bring broadband Internet service to rural areas of Niagara and Orleans counties in New York could be accomplished at an initial cost of $2 million to $3 million, although the total cost could range up to $5 million, Niagara County lawmaker David E. Godfrey said. Godfrey and his partner in the effort, Orleans County Legislature Vice Chairwoman Lynne M. Johnson, were honored on June 11 at a state broadband summit in Albany (NY) for leading the most collaborative broadband project in the state.

Godfrey said the Niagara-Orleans Regional Alliance has zeroed in on one contractor to install the rural broadband facilities, although he said the identity of the company would not be released until all the paperwork is signed, including a commitment from the office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (R-NY) to allow state “smart schools” funds to be applied to the project. If that money, which was intended for technology projects in schools, legally can be applied to the proposal, it would cover half the expense, Godfrey said. The program envisions the use of the money for rural broadband projects led by school districts, not by counties. The state has allocated $13.7 million in smart-schools aid to districts whose communities are taking part in the Niagara-Orleans broadband effort.