Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The FCC took several more steps in its quest to free up more spectrum for mobile broadband, including reallocating spectrum from TV broadcasters, one of its most ambitious and contentious proposals. By a 5-0 vote, the commission approved a notice of proposed rulemaking that lays the groundwork for reallocating broadcast TV spectrum for wireless, including via incentive auctions. The rules will create a licensing framework for spectrum in the UHF and VHF bands and will allow for voluntary channel sharing.

Remember, the FCC is committed to finding 500 Mhz of new spectrum for wireless broadband use in the next decade, and so far, they've allocated only 25. This new decision is very creative, though. Here's what the FCC has planned so far:

1. Sharing a Channel
   One of the new rules will permit broadcasters to share a single 6mhz channel, each splitting the responsibility for content and air-time. This could reduce the overall number of channels that broadcasters need if it could be found that programming can co-exist and not overlap.
2. Voluntary Auctions
   Can't force the broadcasters to give it up? Entice them! While this provision still needs approval from congress, the FCC is proposing that broadcasters may profit from the sale of unused spectrum. If there is no benefit to sacrificing the bandwidth, why not hold on to it? But, if the FCC can show broadcasters that they can reduce their overhead and unlock a new source of cash-flow by releasing some unused or unnecessary spectrum, the game changes significantly.
3. Selling White-Space
   Between every channel, the FCC has preserved whitespace as a buffer for innacurracies in signal broadcast. However, with newer and better technology, it's believed these tiny slivers may not be needed any more. So, the FCC will now consider using these small bits of spectrum for broadband use.
4. University Research
   Finally, the FCC also decided to let Universities in on the game of trying to find creative new ways of recycling unused spectrum and repurposing it for broadband. Why not get the most creative minds involved in solving this monumental problem?
   

Labels: Broadband, Broadcasters, FCC, spectrum

posted by Unknown at 9:40 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Commerce Department has identified 115 megahertz of spectrum that could be freed up within the next five years for mobile and fixed wireless broadband services. This is a first step toward accomplishing President Obama's initiative to find 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next 10 years for mobile and fixed broadband services.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which advises the administration on spectrum policy, identified frequency bands at 1675-1710 MHz; 1755-1780 MHz; 3500-3650 MHz; and 4200-4220 MHz and 4380-4400 MHz. Some portions of these bands totaling 115 megahertz can be made available for wireless broadband use within five years, contingent upon the ability of the DOD, National Weather Service, and other affected government entities finding alternative communication means. These spectrums are currently in use on naval ship radars, National Weather Service alerts and emergency frequencies, as well as a handful of other atmospheric and oceanic science groups.

“The 15 megahertz of spectrum that NTIA has identified below 3 GHz is just a start,” said CTIA President Steve Largent in a prepared statement. “We will continue to work to ensure that federal policymakers understand, and focus on, the importance of certain bands of spectrum, such as the 1755-1780 band, for delivering on the promise of robust mobile broadband. A thorough analysis of government spectrum use is key to ensuring that we succeed with the president's and the FCC's goal of bringing 500 MHz of spectrum, sufficient for mobile broadband, to market.

“We believe that NTIA's efforts to free government spectrum for licensed commercial use are essential to helping the U.S. wireless industry maintain our world leadership in mobile innovation, and we will carefully review NTIA's report. By making spectrum available for auction, the federal government will enable the wireless industry to continue to invest billions of dollars to purchase the licensed spectrum, and billions more to build and upgrade the networks that fuel our ‘virtuous cycle' of innovation. We look forward to continuing to work with NTIA, the Administration, FCC, Congress and other interested parties to bring this spectrum to market and to continue to assist our nation in its economic recovery.”

So, this means two important things for our nation: (1) a new revenue opportunity for the federal governemtn, and (2) a greater opportunity for fixed wireless broadband infrastructure.

Labels: FCC, Fixed Wireless Broadband, NTIA, spectrum

posted by Unknown at 5:43 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Monday, November 22, 2010
I spent last week in a jungle paradise. For the record, if you have not experienced an all-inclusive resort, I highly recommend it. We stayed a week in what amounts to a small village on nearly a square mile of jungle with beach-front access, 4 swimming pools, over 10 restaurants and countless shops and stores: all included. Oh yeah, and so was the broadband.

This resort was, as I said, in the jungle. No, really. We flew into Cancun, but drove at least an hour to get to the final destination from the airport. This place made the rural broadband challenges of the U.S. Western Plains look like upper Manhatten.

Add to that, the resort was actually built some time in the mid-70's, over 20 years ago. At the time, provision was made to route electrical and plumbing from one building to the other across the complex. It wasn't until the 90's that the resort decided that telephone was a must-have in the guest rooms in order to remain competitive. Needless to say, however, trenching the jungle floor post-construction in order to lay cable was not an option. The camouflaged above-ground conduits were noticeable, but not mood-killing.

But telephone would soon prove not enough. The wealthy American business elites vacationing there demanded access to their email and business data while on this "get-away." So, time for new conduit? Not this time, they said.

Each guest lodging building had a small micro-wave antenna atop the building, nicely disguised and hardly visible. A wireless broadband canopy was cast over the entire resort, beach-side and all, allowing guests to surf at broadband speeds wherever they chose to sip their martini.

Whether your network is a square mile and separated by jungle growth, or its global and separated by mountains and oceans--wireless networking is becoming the mode of choice for the last-mile or local loop connection. Why cable more than we have to? Let Accel provision an antenna system and have broadband up and running in days, not weeks.

Labels: Fixed Wireless Broadband, Rural Broadband

posted by Unknown at 12:40 PM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Tuesday, November 9, 2010
What's all this hubbub about folks in the country, the rural towns, the under-privileged, the minorities... all having broadband access? Why are countless bloggers, online news outlets, and even major voices like the LA Times and CNet in a flurry of commentary over the NTIA's recent report about the socioeconomic gap in broadband users? Is it really that fundamentally necessary to our nation's well-being that everyone--we mean everyone--has broadband access?

If you're reading this blog, you likely loaded it at speeds somewhere north of 3 Mbps. That means, according to the FCC, you have broadband speed. And, according the NTIA's report, that means that the likelihood is greater than 70% that you're not below the poverty line and not a minority.

So, what does that mean?

My daughter woke up yesterday with a little bit of a runny nose, and she was flat out cranky. Nothing unusual, however, because runny noses are common when babies are teething, as is crankiness, and she was cutting a new chomper on top.

How'd we know that? Google, accessed via my wifes iPhone from the comfort of the rocker in the nursery.

So, not to be alarmist parents, we dismissed it. Today, however, she's even more fussy... and woke up covered in sweat. Sure enough, she's running a fever. Also (according to Google, not uncommon with teething). But, when her fever rose, and we noticed her cries fade into long slow moans, we had some concerns. As she moaned, she would sit still... no reaching for toys, no crawling, and really screamed if we moved her.

Again, from the iPhone, Google: "baby fever moaning stiff"

Result #2. Meningitis.

Google: "baby menangits", which of course, Google re-spelled for us "baby meningitis" and displayed correct results.

We're getting treatment. Our daughter will be just fine. But what re-write that scene sans iphone. Sans computer. Sans internet.

Access to data impacts our society in innumerable ways. Health scares like this story may be extreme, but what about simple things: job searches, online college education, resume-writing tips on someone's blog, candidate information from unbiased sources. Where can any of this be accessed sans broadband? Can you really argue it's immaterial?

Labels: Broadband, iPhone, NTIA, Rural Broadband

posted by Unknown at 10:24 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Thursday, November 4, 2010
It seems almost like a distant memory now to think of the events that unfolded in the summer of 2008. Following Bear Stearns, banks and financial institutions fell like dominoes as our DOW plummeted. Business as we knew it would never be the same.... and it hasn't been.

I remember when I was young, growing up on the farm, every two to three years, in the fall, my dad and I would start controlled burns of the long, dying grass in water-ways and ditches. At the end of the day, the entire area was covered in black ash, and you could hardly believe this was once a grassy plain. But the following spring, the new shoots that arose where the old grass had been burned were thicker, stronger, and greener than ever.

In the post-recession ashes of our economy, an interesting phenomenon is taking place--one that will shape our economy for the decades to come. Over 200,000 new businesses were formed in the U.S. in just the first half of 2010 alone. That's a 50% increase over 2008 and 2009. In the ashes of dead businesses, green shoots arise--stronger than ever.

And this onslaught of start-ups will not only change life for the entrepreneur or unemployed looking for opportunity. The titans of industry that survived the great recession, coming through 2008 and 2009 still competitive and operational, now face a new market that they must serve. The "whales," as salesmen used to call them, are fewer and fewer. Vendors who once survived on large kills will now need to equip themselves to fish with nets, not harpoons. Schools of start-ups will be the customer base of the future, not a few premium clients.

For the technology sector, start-ups will mean more single-seat sales, higher support load, a greater demand for self-sufficiency, and a higher number of broadband end-users plugging in. No longer will one terminal service a punch-panel that delivers broadband to 50 employees. Solopreneuers and small offices will each require discreet connections, and still expect similar performance. And, were small organizations lack in-house IT departments, much of the end-user support load will be transferred to the vendors themselves.

Cultivating, selling-to, and supporting an economy of micro-enterprise will create a new set of challenges for any business-to-business industry. How will your company adapt to this changing marketplace?

Labels: Broadband, Economy, Small Business

posted by Unknown at 5:02 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments