broadband mapping and US stimulum package

CONNECTED NATION TAKES AIM TAKES AIM AT STIMULUS BROADBAND MAPPING; RURAL AREAS COULD BE HURT
[SOURCE: PublicKnowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
The new stimulus package just signed by President Obama has $350 million in it for broadband mapping, yet even before the bill was signed, the danger warnings for this program are glaringly obvious: Who will control the information on broadband deployment? If the program is done correctly, then the program may bring some benefits to the effort to include all Americans in the digital economy. If not, much of the money will be wasted. Increasingly, it is beginning to look as if the program will be done at the mercy of the big telecommunications companies, who will seek to submit the information they want to submit, on the terms and conditions on which they want to submit it. State governments, working months before the stimulus package was conceived, are ramping up their own programs to map deployment of broadband, and are finding they are already increasingly running into conflicts over the type of data they will receive. Some states want comprehensive, granular data. However, they are finding that the telecommunications industry, often represented by Connected Nation, doesn't want to give it to them. The result is a clash of policy objectives and politics that's taking place across the country, in states ranging from North Carolina to Alabama, Colorado and Minnesota.
http://benton.org/node/22227
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HOW SHOULD WE SPEND $250 MILLION ON BROADBAND MAPPING?
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] Included in the stimulus bill is $350 million for mapping the availability and tracking the adoption of broadband. That's a huge sum of money with which we can do great things, so how should we spend all those dollars so as to maximize their impact on the state of broadband in the US? First we should gather as much data as possible. Next that data should be as granular as possible. Finally everything should be as transparent as possible. But we also need to track demand for broadband. In particular we need a baseline for how people, businesses, and institutions are using broadband today so we can track how their usage is growing tomorrow. Also valuable would be a sense for how much market demand any given community has for broadband as this is data that can be used to justify the buildout of new networks to supply bandwidth to that demand.
http://benton.org/node/22226
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IBM EYES STIMULUS FUNDS FOR BROADBAND OVER POWER LINES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Ritsuko Ando]
IBM plans to take advantage of the economic stimulus package by offering Internet services over power lines to more rural consumers. The economic stimulus law signed by President Barack Obama included $2.5 billion for the Agricultural Department to expand broadband service in rural America. IBM said its venture with International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC), a company that provides broadband over power line (BPL) services, had begun to sign up Internet customers in rural parts of Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia and that it hoped to access more government funds. IBEC venture's service is aimed at remote and sparsely populated areas where advanced Internet services are not available, meaning the only competition would be traditional dial-up services which are even slower. IBM said it did not know how much government funds it could receive but that the venture would proceed regardless, and that it expects broader Internet use to stimulate the economy and help create more business opportunities in the long run.
http://benton.org/node/22224
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STIMULUS CRUCIAL FOR "SMART GRID"
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: David Lawsky]
The electric power industry and manufacturers say $4.5 billion in the $787-billion U.S. economic stimulus package will give a crucial boost to "smart grids" that will help the nation save money and electricity. The stimulus measure, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Tuesday, provides matching funds over two years to encourage utilities to start work on smart grids. Smart grids combine special meters, wireless technology, sensors and software so customers can closely monitor energy use cut and back when the grid is stretched to its limit. Otherwise, utilities must build expensive, wasteful plants that are turned on when needed to prevent blackouts. Two-way meters also let utilities pinpoint power outages and respond far more quickly. Eventually a smart grid will also help prevent blackouts by better balancing electric resources.
http://benton.org/node/22223
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FORGET UNIVERSAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
[Commentary] Are companies really shunning the U.S. market because there's not enough broadband here? After all, the gap between our penetration numbers and Japan's is in rural America. Is that really the segment of the market that stands between us and the forefront of global technology innovation? Of the roughly 12% of American homes without broadband today, a third say they wouldn't buy broadband if they could. And of the 25% of Americans who don't use the Internet at all, at any speed, only 12% say it's due to lack of access. If weak demand is the problem, maybe we should be pushing broadband's benefits to rural Americans harder than we push the actual networks — maybe then rural America would do more of the pulling itself. We need to get them hooked on applications. Despite the historic importance of trains, there was never a call to bring railroad tracks to every American's doorstep. Railways were built in accordance with commercial demand, creating more demand along the way. If you didn't live near the tracks, it was up to you to bring yourself the rest of the way.
http://benton.org/node/22221
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RECESSION COULD LENGTHEN THE TWILIGHT OF DIAL-UP
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Andrew Vanacore]
Lightning speed Internet is the wave of the future. But in a recession, good old dial-up service might get a longer look. Now Internet providers that have seen their dial-up customer base whittled over the past decade see an opportunity to stay in the game by offering the budget-conscious a cheaper option. Dial-up is declining overall, but that doesn't mean it's not still a viable business," said Kevin Brand, senior vice president of product management at EarthLink Inc. "There's still a big market out there and during these tough times, even customers who have bundles including broadband may be looking at their bill and thinking, 'Do I really need all this?'" With that in mind, EarthLink recently rolled out a dial-up offer of $7.95 per month, lowering its cheapest service — and undercutting competitors — by $2. The move to more aggressively court new dial-up users is striking, since it's a market many consumers have fled.
http://benton.org/node/22254
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