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

politics

Strickling to Head NTIA

March 30, 2009

The Obama Administration has nominated Larry Strickling to head the NTIA. Right now former Sprint exec, Anna Gomez, is running that department as it gets ready to disperse $4.7B in broadband stimulus money. We don't have a set plan or any procedures in place yet, but picking Larry Strickling should help. Or will it?

Granted picking someone from Sprint probably was a great choice either.

Two Big Problems in DC

March 4, 2009

Arnold Schwarzenegger was on ABC's Sunday morning news with George. he had the best analogy I have heard:

As a patient, when the oncology team diagnoses you with cancer, you want a unified solution, not a bunch of doctors arguing over the best treatment for you.

This is what we have now: party politics.

FCC is 75 Years Old

February 24, 2009

Acting FCC chief Michael Copps celebrated the 75th anniversary of both the FCC and the Communications Act of 1934 that birthed the agency. In a speech, Copps said, "How do we take this 75 year old agency, charged with implementing our formative communications law, and make sure it is up to the challenges of the 21st century? Born in the world of primitive radio sets, raised on plain old telephone service, now trying to manage high-speed broadband and orbiting satellites, can we make it an agency for all seasons? I'm glad you're thinking about this."

After that Copps kind of digs at Martin's feral grasp on the communications and free flow of information.

Is Broadband No. 1 in America?

February 23, 2009

CircleID takes a look at America's Broadband Score

"Leonard Waverman, the dean of the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, describe a measure he developed called the 'Connectivity Scorecard.' It's meant to compare countries on the extent that consumers, businesses and government put communication technology to economically productive use. Even after deducting the untold unproductive hours spent on Facebook and YouTube, the United States comes out on top..."

What's interesting to me is the comments. How no one can find the US Broadband score is funny. (Heard of Google much?) It isn't so much the score as what the score represents.

We have a few problems to fix:

(1) ISP Competition for one.







FCC Needs Change

February 2, 2009

AT&T is back together. The Telecom Act of 1996 has largely been a wipe-out. We have a Duopoly and we have seen more than trillion dollars spent on networks without wiring most homes with fiber - and way less businesses with fiber access. Imagine that.  (Let's not even talk about the Digital TV (DTV) Transition mess.

Broadband Stimulus Bill details

January 20, 2009

More Broadband Stimulus Bill (and here at TMC) info from Stephen Ronan on the CyberTelecom listserv.  (probably in response to the volume of comments from Tom Keatings blog!)

Can anyone provide a pointer to the bill at issue?

The summary of the principal broadband provisions below:

1) $2.825 billion for loans, loan guarantees and grants to be administered by the USDA's Rural Utilities Service Distance Learning, Tele-medicine and Broadband Program.

A Very Online White House

January 19, 2009

Kushnick on the Broadband Plan

January 16, 2009

Bruce Kushnick of New Networks Institute released a response to the Deloitte & Touche report about New Jersey, Broadband Opportunity - Job Creation, Healthcare, Education.

The report states that Broadband is:

  • "essential for the State to achieve the level of employment and job creation in that state;
  • "advance the public agenda for excellence in education,
  • "improve quality of care and cost reduction in the health-care industry."

The report was written in 1991! Dubbed "Opportunity New Jersey" (a Verizon state), the Deloitte Report details how rewiring the state of New Jersey with fiber optics would be an economic boom and help health-care, employment and education.

Broadband Stimulus Bill

January 16, 2009

There has been a deep discussion that started on Tom Keating's blog about the Broadband Bail-out plan (known in various circles as a Bell hand-out, Stimulus package, Information Highway Infrastructure Development Funding).

Attorney Jim Baller has more on the House Stimulus Bill:

  • $2.825B for USDA RUS, mostly for rural open access broadband grants, 50% to be awarded no later than Sept. 30, 2009;
  • $2.825B to NTIA, including $1B for Wireless Deployment Grants and $1.825B for Broadband Deployment Grants for the deployment of basic broadband service or advanced broadband service;
  • $350M to fund state broadband tracking initiatives; NTIA to develop and maintain broadband inventory map of U.S.;
  • $1.85B for wireline to be split 75% for advanced broadband in underserved areas and 25% for basic broadband in unserved areas
  • $1B for wireless to be split 75% for advanced broadband in underserved areas and 25% for basic wireless in unserved areas

definitions

  • "Advanced broadband service"=45Mbps/15Mbps;
  • "advanced wireless broadband service" = 3Mbps/1Mbps;
  • "basic broadband service" = 5Mbps/1Mbps
  • FCC to define "unserved" and "underserved"
  • Recipients must provide "open access" (except for providers of basic wireless broadband);
  • bill also lists numerous preferences (text of bill)(House Report)

Coverage and reactions:

New FCC Chair Coming

January 13, 2009

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