Will U.S. Continue Broadband Slide Under Obama?

Since 2001, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States has moved from fourth in the world to fifteenth in broadband penetration. Not exactly bragging rights. Lot's of us have been out advocating for broadband reform and a new definition of broadband. Congress is working to determine what speed broadband should be defined as, whether taxpayer money should be invested in areas that do not have broadband access and whether existing slower networks should be subsidized for upgrades.Here's a summary from an article in today's Wall Street Journal:

Large cable operators are seeking to increase the FCC's definition of broadband download speed to about five megabits per second, about 6½ times as fast as the current definition, according to people familiar with the situation. Internet-service providers building out "unserved" regions, where service of that speed isn't available, would be given the full benefit of tax incentives or grants.

The big cable providers also want to target "underserved" areas, where there is only one broadband provider or the service isn't widely available. In those markets, companies would get incentives to build out next-generation services. The download speed that would qualify as next-generation would likely be in the range of 40 to 50 megabits per second, people involved in the discussions say.

I'm loving this right now but.... the smaller telcos don't like it - how come? Here's more from the Journal:

The cable plan would disadvantage phone companies, especially smaller ones whose digital-subscriber-line services are slower than cable modems. The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance, which represents midsize phone companies, is pushing for a slower broadband standard, in the range of 1.5 to three megabits per second. Curt Stamp, the group's president, says the federal largesse should be used to subsidize carrier investments in rural areas rather than to finance upgrades to their existing networks.

I've written in the past here frequently about our lack of a competitive broadband policy in this country. So..... cable companies pushing for higher speed broadband definitions and wanting to target "underserved" areas at speeds up to 50 megabits per second. Smaller telecos pushing for a new broadband definition that is about half of what the cable companies want. Here's a little more from the Wall Street Journal:

The Telecommunications Industry Association, which represents equipment makers, is pushing for a $25 billion grant program for Internet service providers. Under another proposal that is being discussed, grants could go to state and municipal authorities, which would build high-speed networks and then open them up to competing service providers. That would likely meet with considerable resistance from large carriers like Verizon Communications Inc., which have challenged attempts by local governments to build and operate their own wireless or high-speed fiber networks.

Cable companies, smaller telcos, big telcos and equipment manufacturers all lobbying and every day we continue to fall further behind the rest of the world. Obama will have his hands full trying to turn this one around - his transition team declined comment to the Journal.

10 Random Thoughts On 12-24-08

Here's my thoughts for this week:

1. Will 2009 be the last year of the mechanical hard drive ?
2. Every year is some sort of a milestone but 2009 will be special - my 30 year college (UMass Amherst ) graduation anniversary and my oldest graduating from high school - time flies doesn't it?
3. How long will it be before we are calling ADSL legacy technology?
4. Still no word from Obama on who his FCC chairman will be.
5. Let's see - a Patriots win combined with either a Miami or Baltimore loss means playoffs for New England.
6. Will 2009 be the year of Android?
7. Have you tried Chrome yet? You should.
8. Can we crawl out of this economic meltdown? We always have and I believe we always will.
9. My heart and prayers go out to a colleague and family who lost their 12 year old this past fall.
10. Happy Holidays - wishing lots of enjoyment with family and friends.
11. Number 11 because it is Christmas Eve - if you do nothing else today.... read Tom Friedman's December 23 NYT Column Time to Reboot America
    

Have fun. Take time. Be safe.

Digital TV: Goodbye Analog Snow, Hello Digital Losses

We don't have long to go until over-the-air analog television bites the dust, replaced with digital signaling on February 18. Watching televison the "old-fashioned" way (without cable) brings back fond memories of the aerial antenna on top of my parents house. I remember my Dad climbing up on the roof to move the antenna so we could watch Boston Bruins hockey games more clearly. It only took a few trips to the roof before we had one of those fancy motorized antennas with a controller on top of the set - no more roof climbing to redirect an antenna with one of those - just a twist of a dial......

Most of us have come a long way since those antenna days but there are still many in this country who watch television over-the-air. Realizing this, Congress did get out in front of the digital conversion a year and a half or so ago and starting offering $40 coupons (see www.dtv2009.gov ) consumers can use towards the purchase of a digital set top conversion box. Basically these boxes take the digital signal from the air and convert it to an analog signal that an analog TV can use.

Moving to digital has a lot of advantages including a 3:1 channel ratio - you'll have three digital channels for the equivalent of one single analog channel. It also frees up spectrum for new wireless communications services.

There are also some disadvantages though - most analog sets have 4:3 ratio screens while most digital programming is broadcast in wide screen format. This means analog set owners are going to see letterboxing - black bands at the top and bottom of screens. I think the biggest complaint though will be from those who live in areas where broadcast signals are weak.

Let's take a close look. Back when we were watching those Bruins hockey games we expected a snowy picture - if you're not sure what a snowy picture is - here's an 18 second analog transmission video I just shot:



A fuzzy/snowy picture with good audio - it's watchable and it is also listenable. Analog signals fade gracefully (as someone much smarter that me once said whose name I cannot remember). As signals get weaker the picture snows up but is still watchable. The audio is commonly good with weak audio signals - in fact you typically lose the picture before you lose the audio.

Digital transmissions are another story. Weaker signals will cause the picture to randomly lose pixels along with random pieces of audio. Here's a 20 second digital transmission video I just shot showing pixel and audio loss.



Pixel lose is scattered and occurs throughout the video and, if you missed it, audio is momentarily lost at around 5 seconds. Annoying and just about impossible for me to watch for more than a few minutes..... I'm changing the channel!

Over the air digital television is being pitched by many as a go-no-go service, with people saying you will either get the channel or you won't. From what I've seen this is not the case - there is an in between that is not very pleasant - those digital signals do not fade gracefully!

Getting Ready For The Snow

We're expecting a big snow storm today in Massachusetts. The college is closed so I'm home doing some work. I'm always amazed at how quiet the woods are right before a big storm - no birds chirping or flying around. Squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks - not sure where they are but probably just about where I am right now..... Stocked up at the grocery store this morning and looking forward to a nice meal this evening. Stove is full and kicking out some nice heat..... everything has slowed down..... it feels good.

Think I'd miss this if I moved someplace where it did not snow.

Some Interesting Facebook Statistics

Facebook keeps track of some interesting information on their statistics page:

• More than 140 million active users
• More than half of Facebook users are outside of college
• The fastest growing demographic is those 25 years old and older
• Average user has 100 friends on the site
• 2.6 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
• More than 13 million users update their statuses at least once each day
• More than 2.5 million users become fans of Pages each day
  
• More than 700 million photos uploaded to the site each month
• More than 4 million videos uploaded each month
• More than 15 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each month
• More than 2 million events created each month
• More than 19 million active user groups exist on the site
• More than 35 translations available on the site, with more than 60 in development
• More than 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
• More than 660,000 developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries
  
• More than 52,000 applications currently available on Facebook Platform
• 140 new applications added per day
• More than 95% of Facebook members have used at least one application built on Facebook Platform

(Note: data from 12-18-08)

At current pace, Facebook is growing at around 600,000 users per day.

10 Random Thoughts On 12-17-08

There's a Springfield, MA newspaper sports reporter by the name of Gary Brown who writes a weekly column titled "Hitting To All Fields". In the column he lists his random thoughts for the past week. I've always enjoyed Gary's writing and they say imitation is the best form of flattery..... If this format works - it may become a regular Wednesday thing for me:

Wondering who Obama will select as Kevin Martin's FCC chair replacement.

WHAT.... no Steve Jobs at MacWorld 2009 ?

And double WHAT.... no more Apple at MacWorld after 2009 ?

Wondering how those Walmart iPhones will sell.

Some are saying (myself included) broadband access is a human right. Others disagree.

Been hearing the term "social shopping" used this holiday season as if it is something new. Isn't it what we've always referred to as "word of mouth"?

Can the Patriots pull the playoffs off in the next couple of weeks?

It's been a disgusting political and financial week in our country - the rest of the world must be laughing pretty hard at us.

The Feb 18 Analog to Digital Mandated TV Conversion is looking like it might get messy for people who are still watching over-the-air. I'll be writing more on this soon.

Early this morning my blog passed the 100,000 visitor mark for 2008!!!

Happy Holidays and thanks for reading!

Your Web Privacy At Risk? Will You Be Phormed?

British Telecom has been testing an interesting product from a company called Phorm . Phorm is not a household name yet but it could rapidly become one. Here's a piece from Phorm's Wikipedia entry:

Phorm, formerly known as 121Media, is a digital technology company based in London, New York, and Moscow. The company drew attention when it announced it was in talks with several United KingdomISPs to deliver targeted advertising based on user browsing habits by using deep packet inspection. It is one of several companies developing behavioral targeting advertising systems, seeking deals with ISPs to enable them to analyse customers' websurfing habits in order to deliver targeted advertising
to them.

Phorm claims the product in trial, called Webwise, is designed to make the internet safer and more relevant to internet users. Webwise is offered free of charge to participating ISP partner customers and includes relevant advertising features and enhanced protection against online fraud. Webwise works by giving users a unique identification. User browser habits are observed and then ads are targeted based on user browsing habits. The company says that all collected information is completely anonymous and Phorm (along with anyone else) will never be aware of any users identity or what that individual users has browsed.

Will British Telecom move forward now that the trial is complete? Here's a quote from a ZDNet piece:

"The trial has now concluded and achieved its primary objective of testing all the elements necessary for a larger deployment, including the serving of small volumes of targeting advertising," said the company in a statement on Monday. "There will now be a period of joint analysis of the results. Following successful completion of analysis of both the trial results and of any changes required for expansion, BT's expectation is to move towards deployment."

Some in Europe are fighting - anti-Phorm campaigner Alexander Hanff is quoted in theZDNet piece:

"There's still pressure from the [European Commission] and the public that may mean BT doesn't deploy the system," said Hanff, who added that the Crown Prosecution Service is still considering whether to launch a prosecution against BT over two previous trials.

I pay for Internet access in my home and do not believe anyone should have access to my surfing habits except those I give it to. This stuff scares me.

For updates watch Hanff's blog linked here.