Muni Wi-Fi Redux September 4, 2007
Posted by ianmartinez in : Trends, What's New?, Networking, Policy , add a commentMaybe if I keep pointing links at Salon’s Machinist, I’ll get Farhad Manjoo’s autograph.
I cannot say how many times I’ve found myself reading Machinist, completely disagreeing with Manjoo’s main point, and completely captivated by his argument. Not a single other tech or telecom blogger does that for me. Manjoo is not only a spectacular writer, but he sees so far past the conventional wisdom on the space in which tech, telecom, policy and culture interact (we agree a lot, too, by the way).
Late last week, we saw a flurry of stories on Municipal Wi-Fi, driven mostly by the languishing network in San Francisco. The New York Times Bits blog joined Machinist in pointing to hiccups in the project. Several major cities have now had noteworthy setbacks in deploying their wireless networks.
This wave of municipal setbacks (remembering that such networks in small rural communities have done fairly well) is food for thought. The San Francisco network stumbled in large part due to Earthlink’s business struggles and general job cutbacks. A renewed questioning of municipal Wi-Fi’s efficacy from a business perspective is interesting no matter what your politics on the matter.
Earthlink’s problems aren’t limited to Seattle, according to the Houston Chronicle:
EarthLink last week agreed to pay the city a $5 million penalty, giving it nine months to find an investment partner for the project and an option to walk away from the deal if it can’t. It doesn’t mean the deal is dead, but it’s definitely on life support.
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A Measured Approach to Safety August 30, 2007
Posted by Grant Seiffert in : General, What's New?, Policy , add a commentEditor’s Note: TIA President Grant Seiffert writes a weekly President’s Message to members in the Network, TIA’s newsletter. This week, we’re running his most recent letters every day, and, starting Thursday, will run his weekly comments in this space. The following is from the August 29th issue of the Network.
The Federal Communications Commission rules regularly on aspects of our industry that may go unnoticed outside Washington, or perhaps outside the industry itself. But many of its decisions have a direct impact on the lives of regular citizens. In those cases, it has been and always will be the top priority of TIA and its members to work with the commission to make sure that well-intentioned regulation isn’t stifling innovation, or worse, setting untenable goals that ultimately detract from the public good.
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More from the Middle Kingdom August 29, 2007
Posted by ianmartinez in : Trends, Policy , add a commentChina has been a big issue here at TeleCommunities almost from the first post. Well, now it’s back front and center, as it’s protectionist TD-SCDMA standard is set to take effect at the end of 2007.
According to Tech-On:
Putting homegrown standards like TD-SCDMA into practical use is a dream come true for the Chinese government, which has adopted a policy slogan calling for “indigenous innovation”. When Chinese industry develops products, services and the like in compliance with international standards, foreign corporations rake in the licensing fees. The Chinese government doesn’t like this and is pushing the development of its own standards through both financial aid and policy. The program is paying off, too, as China is becoming increasingly active in formulating and adopting its own standards in many fields. None has become a real hit, however, and it is possible that TD-SCDMA may emerge as the first star to take the international stage.
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Start Your Engines
Posted by Grant Seiffert in : Trends, Policy , add a commentEditor’s Note: TIA President Grant Seiffert writes a weekly President’s Message to members in the Network, TIA’s newsletter. This week, we’re running his most recent letters every day, and, starting Thursday, will run his weekly comments in this space. The following is from the August 22nd issue of the Network.
Late last Friday, the FCC set a date, January 16, 2008, for the start of the 700 MHz spectrum auction. It’s a date many in the communications world have anticipated for years — years! — and players in all sectors, from carriers to enterprises, from vendors of all sizes to content providers, can now set their 700 MHz business plans into motion.
It’s true that none of the major players in the auction got the exact regulatory “rulemaking” they wanted — no one did. There was controversy over everything from how much of the spectrum would be set aside for public safety and how that spectrum would be managed to whether winners would have “open access” conditions placed on them. But this new date certain, coupled with the certainty of the rules themselves, set earlier this month, means no more guesswork. Stockholders can be appeased. Spectrum specialists and auction advisors can be brought onto payrolls. Product line release dates can be calibrated. Those awful rumors of Congress pushing back the spectrum transition in order to avoid cutting off their constituents” TV service can finally be laid to rest.
Setting the rules and timeline for the auction is the most important decision the FCC will make this decade, because that 700 MHz spectrum is so powerful. They don’t call it “beachfront” spectrum for nothing. (more…)
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A Global Industry August 28, 2007
Posted by ianmartinez in : Trends, What's New?, Policy , add a commentEditor’s Note: TIA President Grant Seiffert writes a weekly President’s Message to members in the Network, TIA’s newsletter. This week, we’re running his most recent letters every day, and, starting Thursday, will run his weekly comments in this space. The following is from the August 15th issue of the Network.
Much was made of the tech and telecom bills in Congress, inside our industry and out, in the past few weeks as Congress approached recess amid furious legislating. I even praised one of those very bills last week. But if the current U.S. congressional recess has anyone thinking there are no telecom policy storms developing in other countries, think again. The examples from this week alone tell a very different story.
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Gearing Up? August 20, 2007
Posted by ianmartinez in : Trends, What's New?, Policy , add a commentWell, that summer recess didn’t seem to take long. From the tongue-in-cheek to the strategic, you can hear the opening notes of various blogs’ Hill coverage (or advocacy).
All this comes after an absolute cornucopia of net neutrality blogs last week, after it seemed the issue would die a peaceful death. But what I find most intriguing of all is the confluence of stories on the presidential candidates’ tech standing.
In today’s Communications Daily (subscription only), which ran Friday night, the lede story was all about Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s mastery of the social networking craze, not to mention his support from several former FCC chairmen.
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