FCC report ranks Vermont 38th in broadband access

FCC report ranks Vermont 38th in broadband access:

Read the story and you will find that our neighbor, New Hampshire, is at the top of the national list for broadband access. One more feather in NH's cap.

The highlighted statement by Chris Campbell suggests that at the national level some kind of subsidy plan is brewing to increase the rate of broadband adoption. I wonder how that will be paid for? I suspect that subsidies will flow to broadband providers in sparsely populated areas just as was the case for POTS service in the pre-Internet days.

"While the IBDR states that 60 percent of Vermont households have broadband, another FCC report released the same day, the Seventh Broadband Progress Report and Order on Reconsideration states that broadband is available to 93 percent of the state’s population. Roughly 33 percent of the population of Vermont has access to broadband, but does not use it.

The goal, Campbell [Executive Director of Vermont Telecommunications Authority], is 100 percent coverage and 100 percent adoption.

“There is a conversation that has begun at the national level about ‘how do we make sure that people can afford to have access to this technology?’” Campbell said."

What You Need to Know About White Space Wi-Fi - PCWorld Business Center

What You Need to Know About White Space Wi-Fi - PCWorld Business Center

This new free spectrum capacity authorized by the FCC earlier this week is a VERY BIG deal for all the reasons listed enumerated in the story.

We may have to wait for a couple of years for equipment to be available, but strategic deployment in rural areas may be the the best approach to filling gaps in in areas with spotty broadband coverage. Also, perhaps a new business model for suburban neighborhood deployment will be possible which could put a real dent in the revenues of cable and DSL providers, unless they choose to use it themselves to extend their services. I suspect Google will continue to be an active supporter as they move more into the telecom business.

Thousands Call for FCC Broadband Reclassification - PCWorld Business Center

Net neutrality is a high sounding concept, but the FCC's proposal to move broadband services under common carrier regulation, similar to plain old landline telephone service, is far too heavy-handed. The FCC may promise 'forbearance,' i.e., selectively choosing which elements of the service regulation to enforce, but that approach provides them far too much discretion.

At this early point in its evolution the internet and broadband services are working just fine and the status quo, no regulation, suits me better than any managed regulatory scheme the FCC may impose.

I don't believe the Internet is threatened by corporate interests. It provides me with what I want. Leave it be.

Google's Move Into Fiber Networks

Mayor Kiss, Jonathan Leopold, the City Council, Burlington Telecom and city taxpayers may have just found their financial savior. They had better get cracking to write their application for Google's recently announced high speed fiber experiment.

Google doesn't have to place the fiber, except to insure the build-out is complete throughout the city. Google would be concerned only with the electronics and the premises equipment to insure that the high speeds they intend could be provided. The underlying fiber infrastructure should be perfectly adequate.

They'd have a major medical center and colleges and universities to participate and 38,000 potential residential customers along with hundreds of small businesses.

Burlington may also be able to leverage Google's investment in Clearwire to bring 4G WiMax wireless technology to the city.

What an opportunity! Sell BT to Google or bring them in as the 'private partner' recommended in the recent BT blue ribbon commission's report. This is a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to solve BT's and the taxpayers' financial problem.

(from WSJ 2/11/10)

Google said in a statement it knows "that other companies have been in this business a long time, and we're not pretending to have all the answers here." It added, "We do have experience with Web infrastructure from operating our data centers."

Ms. Ingersoll said Google will manage the deployment of the fiber network, but probably partner with contractors to help build it. Google said it would offer service at a speed of one gigabit per second—100 times faster than what many U.S. consumers have access to today.

Verizon promises 4G wireless for rural America | CTIA show - CNET Reviews

This is the only strategy - wireless - that makes economic sense to provide broadband to sparsely populated rural areas. Vermont has the goal to have broadband coverage to "100%" of the state by the end of 2010, but it will be 3G, most likely, not 4G.

The lower (700 MHz) frequencies made available by TV moving from analog to digital are the only sensible way to reach the "last mile." Fiber to the home is far too expensive in rural areas for the reasosn stated in this story.

Verizon promises 4G wireless for rural America | CTIA show - CNET Reviews

The Broadband Hot Potato - WSJ.com

The Broadband Hot Potato - Vermont's ValleyNet Project

Worth a read to understand the difficulty of providing fiber broadband to sparsely populated areas. No mention in the story of the possibility that 4G wireless may be a realistic option. Then again, no one wants to wait for that.

"...The economic stimulus package, which sets aside $7.2 billion for broadband initiatives, could provide a crucial lifeline to municipalities struggling to bring broadband access to millions of Americans who don't have it -- a key initiative of President Barack Obama. The saga of the central Vermont project shows how the financial turmoil has exacerbated the already daunting challenge of reaching the most sparsely populated areas of the country.

From accountants to small-business owners to housewives, the residents of the 22 towns that hired Mr. Nulty are effectively living in the dial-up era. One Tunbridge resident, Kathi Terami, who runs a nonprofit group, keeps a list of things that require a broadband connection -- downloading "Sesame Street" podcasts for her two small children, watching YouTube links sent by her sister -- and goes into town once a week to a library with a high-speed connection. Another, sheep farmer Marian White, pays $60 a month for a satellite Internet service to get a slight boost over dial-up, but says the service is unreliable, especially when it snows and the dish stops receiving a signal. She has perfected a solution.

"I open a window and I take a pan of water and, a cup at a time, I launch warm water at the satellite dish until I have melted all the snow off the dish," Ms. White says. "It works."

Stimulus bill includes $7.2 billion for broadband | Politics and Law - CNET News

Stimulus bill includes $7.2 billion for broadband | Politics and Law - CNET News

Let the scramble begin!

In Vermont I would guess that the ValleyNet fiber project folks are celebrating because surely some of this broadband money will flow their way for a project that might have otherwise been difficult to fund.

I would think that the Vermont Telecommunications Authority plans and mission will surely benefit. With the specific emphasis on rural area funding within the Department of Agriculture, Vermont should benefit there, too.

Those projects that are ready to go will receive the biggest benefit, obviously.

The story does not describe how the funds will be allocated by state, but I would think that our senior senator Leahy will be able to tip the bucket toward Vermont.

PC World - A Primer on the FCC's 700MHz Auction

Here's a concise summary of the upcoming auction of the frequencies in the 700 MHz band, the spectrum now occupied by channels 52-69 in the UHF band for over-the-air TV.

This spectrum will fetch BIG $ as the major and minor players in the wireless game compete for the choice chunks in the areas they wish to serve.

For consumers this is a VERY big deal because this spectrum can be the underpinning for wireless broadband nearly anywhere. Using this spectrum will be the most feasible way for broadband to reach the more sparsely settled regions of Vermont and other rural areas.

People are crying for broadband and this is the most likely way for them to get it, along with the cellular broadband that shares the higher frequency ranges with cell voice service, such as Verizon's BroadbandAccess service.

Speculation abounds about Google's plans for wireless service since they announced their intent to bid in January's FCC auction. My guess is they will partner with a carrier that understands the deployment and operation of a customer network. (Verizon??). Perhaps someone on the Vermont Telecommunications Authority has good friends at Google and will persuade them to think kindly of Vermont as they bid!

For sale is 62 MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band. In late 2005, after a decade of debate, Congress passed a law requiring U.S. TV stations to move to all-digital broadcasts and abandon analog spectrum between channels 52 and 69.
The deadline for TV stations to end broadcasts in the 700MHz band is February 2009.

The spectrum is broken up into five blocks. The C block, a 22MHz of spectrum that has the open-access rules, is broken up into 12 regional licenses across the U.S. A bidder can win one or more of those regional licenses.

The A block is 12MHz, broken up into 176 smaller regions called economic areas, as is the 6MHz E block. The 12MHz B block is broken up into 734 local areas called cellular market areas. Again, bidders can win multiple regional or local licenses.

Finally, 10MHz of spectrum in the D block, paired with about 10MHz set aside for public safety, is a nationwide license.

Congress has budgeted the auctions to raise at least $10 billion, but many observers expect them to cost much more. The FCC set the reserve price for the C block of spectrum at $4.6 billion.

Mobile phones | From iPhone to gPhone? | Economist.com

This Economist piece is right on target, I think. Google will play in the wireless space now that it has a mighty armada of free (so far) and useful software applications. It's recent purchase of key companies in this space confirms their intent for me. Google's advertising prowess may enable it to offer a free or very low cost software platform for use in the upcoming wireless 'explosion.' Google is too smart a company to sit on the sidelines during the upcoming spectrum auction and miss the next wave of wireless broadband.

This week Verizon sued the FCC over it's proposed auction rules that allow 'any device' to be used on portions of the spectrum to be offered. The battle is on! Verizon would not do this if they believed Google was no threat.

The next two years will be a fascinating era for wireless broadband in America.

Broadband snakes through power lines | ZDNet Photo Gallery

Broadband snakes through power lines | ZDNet Photo Gallery

A few simplistic photos showing how Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) works. There's some movement to introduce this service by a company called Current in the Dallas-Fort worth Area, which just entered a distribution agreement with DirectTV. I think the power company in Cincinnati has a trial underway. However, it seems early in the life of this technology and even if it's technically successful, the ability to compete against the dominant providers, telcos and cablecos, remains questionable. Rural areas may offer the best market for this technology, those areas where DSL, fiber and coax don't reach.

OECD Broadband Report Questioned - US Broadband Penetration Grows to 81.8% Among Active Internet Users - May 2007 Bandwidth Report

OECD Broadband Report Questioned - US Broadband Penetration Grows to 81.8% Among Active Internet Users - May 2007 Bandwidth Report

2006 broadband penetration data.

An excerpt:

"Over Half of US Households Subscribe to Broadband - US Broadband Penetration Grows to 82.2% Among Active Internet Users - June 2007 Bandwidth Report

Summary: 53% of all US households now subscribe to broadband, according to Leichtman Research Group. Internet use is strongly tied to income. For US households with annual incomes above $75,000, 92% subscribe to an Internet service. Among active Internet users, 82.2% subscribe to broadband, up over 10 percentage points from last year. 53% of all US households now subscribe to a broadband high-speed Internet service at home, according to Leichtman Research Group.

Broadband services now account for about 72% of all home Internet subscriptions - compared to 60% last year. Broadband adoption is strongly tied to household income. Just 45% of households with annual incomes below $30,000 subscribe to an Internet service at home - compared to 92% of households with annual incomes above $75,000. Broadband penetration among active Internet users grew to 82.18% in US homes in May, up over 10 percentage points from 71.76% last year."

PC World - Hands on With Korea's Cutting-Edge Wireless Broadband

PC World - Hands on With Korea's Cutting-Edge Wireless Broadband

What a wonderful world it will be when this is possible everywhere in the U.S. Verizon's EVDO network is pretty decent, but not yet this powerful.

New Proposal for 700 Mhz Spectrum

The spectrum to be available in 2009 and the auction preceding the allocation of it will have very important implications for wireless broadband. I'm not sure I like the idea of public safety agencies sharing spectrum for use in an emergency. This would mean that private users would not have it available to them in that same emergency, when they may also need it.

I think the spectrum should be allocated in such a way that both the private sector and public safety people have the ability to use their bandwidth even in an emergency. Perhaps Markoff oversimplifies the dynamic allocation process, but best efforts should be exerted by the FCC for satisfying both public and private demands with their own slice of spectrum.