politics

Moving Away from the PSTN

September 9, 2013

AT&T's spokesman, the Internet Innovation Alliance co-chair, Jamal Simmons, has an op-ed piece about moving away from the old telephone network to bring about awesomeness.

He describes trials that AT&T would like to do about the transition from the PSTN to the all-IP network and compares it to the DTV trials in Wilmington NC. He makes a good case.

Except the Internet Innovation Alliance is an astroturf group for AT&T.

Posted in FCC, Internet, politics, wireline

Verizon Fights FCC for Editorial Control of Internet

September 9, 2013

Thanks to recent revelations, we know that Verizon, AT&T and others are feeding the NSA with all our emails, call records, Internet search history, etc. In the wake of this privacy nightmare, Verizon is in court fighting the FCC over more than just Net Neutrality.

Does the FCC have authority to enforce Net Neutrality rules? A court already ruled yes.

Posted in FCC, Internet, politics, spectrum, wireless

The Population Problem

August 22, 2013

At TEDx ManchesterVillage, one of the talks was about the how the population in Vermont was flipping to over 50. The 20-39 year olds were leaving Vermont. The economy cannot sustain a drain of young workers for retirees. Many states - like Florida and Arizona - have this problem.

Posted in economy, jobs, politics

The NSA Spying Scandal isn't New

June 7, 2013

Remember back in 2003 when a whistleblower from AT&T pointed out Room 641A that the NSA used to spy on all AT&T long distance calls and Internet traffic? Verizon and Qwest denied they did, too.

Put on your foil hat because I am going to make some crazy points.

The FCC only wants to deal with a few companies, not thousands of them.

Posted in FCC, Internet, duopoly, off topic, politics, privacy, security

The New FCC Chairman Might be Biased

May 2, 2013

In 2009, when Robert McDowell was nominated to be an FCC Chairman, the competitive telecom world cheered, because McDowell used to work at COMPTEL. They thought that Bush had given them a little help in the FCC. Oh, how very wrong they were. All the help in the FCC came from Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.

Posted in FCC, cableco, cellular, duopoly, politics, wireless

Florida Broadband Litigation Woes

April 24, 2013

"Florida Rural Broadband Alliance, LLC (FRBA) is a regional collaboration of local governments, community activists and economic development agencies from rural and economically disadvantaged communities located throughout 15 counties within Florida's Northwest Rural Area of Critical Economic Concern (NWRACEC) and the South Central Rural Area of Critical Economic Concern (SCRACEC)," reads the website for FRBA.

It continues, "The FRBA project will build a new Middle Mile broadband infrastructure, which will link together providers of vital public sector commercial services with private sector non-profit entities for the first time in these two struggling regions of Florida. At this time, only 39 percent of the FRBA region has broadband service. ...At the end of the 3-year build out period, FRBA's project will deliver up to 1,000 times the existing capacity within the coverage area.

Posted in Internet, broadband, fiber, politics, wireless

Three Quick Thoughts on the Economy

December 31, 2012

Fiscal Cliff (or whatever dreaded scenario that Congress is creating to profit from personally) is just one more emergency to keep the American public in check panic mode. Meanwhile, Congress got a raise.

This brings me to point 2: the top earners keep earning more money but the middle class remains flat.

Recently, I was part of a group in Tampa opposing tax dollars to bring in another big box retailer.

Posted in economy, politics