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Peter
| Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO, Inc. talking telecom, Cloud, VoIP, CLEC, and The Channel.

Internet

Metered Data Begins

June 2, 2010

TWC and AT&T both trialed metered Internet access over wireline broadband. As far as I know, both trials were not that successful.

The big issue for ISP's is that the bandwidth consumption keeps increasing (as the Internet becomes the communication avenue as well as entertainment and news outlet). This doesn't bode well for Duopoly revenue long-term. Why? 

AT&T and VZ are spending a fortune to deliver TV via tripple-play to consumers.



The FCC is Rolling

May 10, 2010

Except for Commissioner McDowell who is out after emergency gall bladder surgery, the FCC has been pumping out the info. The Broadband.gov site is pumping out info. Broadband maps, consumer speed tests, spectrum database, and the Commish's blog. (The website also highlights the 6 Goals of the National Broadband Plan.)

The Commish launched a video message on YouTube about the Third Option on the subject of Net Neutrality.

What is the FCC Trying to Say?

May 6, 2010

The Buzz this week is the FCC's "Third Option" for some form of regulation of the Internet.

This is FCC Commissioner Michael Copps' statement about the Third Option.

"Frankly, I would have preferred plain and simple Title II reclassification through a declaratory ruling and limited, targeted forbearance--wiping the slate clean of all question marks. The quicker we can bring some sense of surety and stability to the present confusion emanating from the Comcast court decision, the better off consumers--and industry, too--will be."

The FCC General Counsel released this statement explaining what FCC Chair Genachowski was trying to say in this statement: "The Third Way: A Narrowly Tailored Broadband Framework".

Re-Title the Internet

May 4, 2010

Last Friday, FCC Chairman Genachowski received a letter from three law professors, all experts on telecommunications law and open Internet rules. "Tim Wu (known for first popularizing the concept of Network Neutrality), Susan Crawford (former White House advisor on telecommunications policy), and Marvin Ammori (lead attorney and representative of intervenors in the FCC's Comcast proceeding and court appeal), called on the FCC to reclassify broadband transmission service as a Title II telecommunications service." [save-the-internet]

Since AT&T blogged about it without mentioning Crawford's name, I know that the spin machine is in effect. But the FCC must act fast before the Duopoly can mount a PR campaign and a war machine.  I'm a firm believer that anything that a Fortune 1000 company lobbies against is best for the consumer. And every time AT&T wants anything, it usually means it's time to reach for the KY. 

For a detailed legal explanation of why broadband was never classified as a Title II telecommunications service, read this.

Of course, the re-classification would be fought, but so what?





Independent ISP Wins County Broadband Grant

March 31, 2010

"Rapid Systems, a wireless internet service provider, was selected by the Hardee Broadband Project to deploy Motorola's fixed wireless broadband solutions across Hardee County, Fla. Based on Motorola's PTP 800 licensed microwave Ethernet bridges and PMP 320 licensed network access solutions, the wireless broadband infrastructure will deliver affordable, high-speed Internet connectivity to businesses and residents of the county."

Today, CenturyLink provides DSL in some urbanized areas of the county, but a majority of Hardee County is without a broadband option. Rapid Systems will utilize WiMax from Motorola to supply businesses and residents with a 10MB broadband option.

"The Hardee Broadband Project has emerged as a result of the Federal stimulus focus on bringing broadband services to rural communities.

Is Hosted PBX Like BPM?

March 29, 2010

Business Process Management was a big concept about 5 years ago. The concept revolved around integrating business processes into systems for consistent execution of routines. (Heh! I can talk marketing speak!)

Today, we have Hosted PBX coming into small and medium businesses mainly as a cost savings factor, but there are business changes that occur due to the nature of the service.

As companies move to Software-as-a-Service, Cloud services or other hosted offerings, business will change as a result.



VoIP Access Ruling

March 29, 2010

"On February 18, 2010, a federal district court stepped in to fill the gap left by the FCC's silence on the issue of whether transmission of Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP")-originated calls is an information service exempt from access charges or a telecommunications service subject to access charges." [from Kelley-Drye]

I spoke with Kris Twomey last week about this judgment. In summary, the judgment of Civil Action No. 08-0397 is as follows: "If the call leaves the customer premise as VoIP and remains VoIP until it hits the tandem, then there are not any LD or toll access charges. VoIP is an Information Service according to the FCC."

Ill. Judge Only Smart One

March 12, 2010

Only a single judge in Illinois has the common sense to see that the Frontier-Verizon deal is very similar to the Fairpoint-Verizon deal that resulted in a bankruptcy within 18 months while screwing consumers in three states.

The Herald-Review has a report about "An administrative law judge ruled that the planned sale of Verizon's land-line service to Frontier Communications should not be approved by state regulators.... In her ruling, Administrative Law Judge Lisa M. Tapia says evidence presented in the case in front of the Illinois Commerce Commission doesn't support the sale, primarily because the transaction would leave Frontier too laden with debt to be able to properly manage the lines and other infrastructure."

This was exactly the deal with Fairpoint.

Broadband Speed Test

March 12, 2010

The Gap

March 11, 2010

There's a gap of about 93 million Americas who do have Internet Access (of any kind - not even dialup! I can't even wrap my head around that). The FCC is on a mission to bridge that gap.

Commissioner Clyburn's statement was informative, especially about the proposed "National Digital Literacy Corps in order to help individuals who are unfamiliar with or intimidated by the on-line world develop the skills they need to be comfortable on-line and to take full advantage of all it has to offer." Like a help desk.

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