Monday, September 28th, 2009
By the Staff of BroadbandCensus.com
The Federal Communication Commission's proposed net neutrality rules could hamper innovation on the Web, said David Farber, as guest on a panel held Friday at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. Farber is a professor of computer science and policy at Carnegie Mellon University and a former chief technology officer for the FCC.
Farber said that Internet networks have always prioritized certain traffic and that the new rules proposed by the Commission to try to stop discrimination on cable, DSL and wireless networks could constrain operators and tech companies from properly managing their networks. “There are too many lawyers talking about net neutrality and not enough engineers,” he said.
Other computer experts on the panel also warned against the potential constraints that net neutrality rules would have on network engineering, emphasizing the need for an environment where innovation is possible. "The marketplace determines what is acceptable or not, and so far that has gotten us a long way,” asserted Farber.
Such concerns are expected to be part of the FCC's review of network management practices, Colin Crowell, a senior adviser at the FCC, has said. When FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski introduces the new proposal on Oct. 22, a process...
Read More »
Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Editor’s Note: This is the one of a series of panelist summary articles that BroadbandCensus.com will be reporting from the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, September 25-27, at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Va.
By Rahul Gaitonde, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
ARLINGTON, Va., September 26, 2009 - Location-based software has become one of the hottest new web applications, fueled by the expansion of smart phone users, these applications allow users to share their location with their friends or search for businesses based on the user’s location.
Janice Tsai, a graduate student from Carnegie Mellon University, presented a paper on the privacy concerns of these applications.
While location based applications are growing, Tsai’s research showed that many users are still concerned with exposing their location to the world. In a survey conducted by her research group, she found the greatest risk perceived by users was that they would be stalked or that the location of their homes would be revealed. The largest group of people interested in these types of applications is parents that want to be able to keep track of their children.
The biggest obstacle seen to mass adoption of such technologies is the limitation of privacy settings on many of these applications. While...
Read More »
Monday, September 8th, 2008
Key Academics, State Officials and Broadband Data Collectors to Speak
Embassy of Ireland to Give Luncheon Keynote Address on Publicly-Available Broadband Data
Coverage of the Broadband Census for America Conference
- Broadband Census for America Conference Web Site
- Tvol's Flickr photostream of the Broadband Census for America Conference
- "Propriety Data Cited as Challenge for Broadband Mapping," by Lynn Stanton, TR Reports
- "Regulators, Officials Debate Need for National Broadband Policy, Fund," by Carrie DeLeon, TR Reports
- "Service Providers Should Report Better Metrics, Panelists Say," by Scott Sleek, Broadband Advisory Services, Pike & Fischer
- "U.S. Copes with Broadband Statistics Void," IP Democracy
- "Guessing at data," Susan Crawford's blog
- "Experts call for broadband transparency,"by Maya Prabhu, ESchool News
- American Library Association District Dispatch
For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON, September 8, 2008 – Many of the nation’s foremost broadband policy-makers and experts will analyze and discuss best practices for improving the collection and sharing of public data about high-speed internet access at the Broadband Census for America Conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, September 26, 2008.
Panelists at the half-day conference include Rachelle Chong, California Public Utility Commissioner; broadband data pioneer Professor Kenneth Flamm...
Read More »
Friday, August 8th, 2008
Blog Entries
By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
A recent post to Dave Farber's [IP] list:
WASHINGTON, August 8 - I'd like to take a moment to respond to some of the issues raised by the recent e-mail of
Brett Glass.
With respect to the issue data confidentiality, it's important to separate out several issues here:
(1) The names of carriers and the locations in which they offer services, by ZIP code.
(2) The number of subscribers that carriers have in a particular ZIP code.
The Form 477 of the Federal Communications Commission requires carriers to submit both types of information to the FCC.
I agree that category (2) may well be confidential information. I do not think that category (1) can be considered confidential.
The web site that I run,
http://BroadbandCensus.com, is an attempt to combine information about broadband from various sources. In addition to "crowdsourcing" data from internet users, we are combining public information from the FCC's Form 477, publicly available information about carriers and where they offer services, as well as from states and localities. Since we launched BroadbandCensus.com in January 2008, We have had thousands of internet users tell us the names of their providers, where those providers are offering service, and they've...
Read More »
Thursday, August 7th, 2008
'Broadband Census for America' Conference to Focus on Sharing Publicly-Available Broadband Data
Save the Date Announcement
Editor's Note: The agenda for the Broadband Census for America Conference was released on September 8, 2008, and is available at http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=569. Please visit the page for fuller details about the conference program.
WASHINGTON, August 7, 2008 - BroadbandCensus.com, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Texas at Austin's Robert S. Strauss Center, and the Virginia Tech eCorridors Program invite government officials, academic researchers and other key stakeholders to a half-day conference on collecting and sharing public data about high-speed internet access.
The conference, “
Broadband Census for America,” aims to assemble state, local and federal officials engaged in gathering and mapping information about broadband availability, competition, speeds, prices and quality of service. Academic researchers will lend their perspective on the importance of universal broadband data.
Keynote speakers scheduled to address the conference include:
- Eamonn Confrey, First Secretary, Information and Communications Policy, Embassy of Ireland. Mr. Confrey has confirmed as the luncheon speaker on “Mapping out Broadband for Consumers: The Irish Experience.”
- Massachusetts Representative Ed Markey*, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. (*Invited to present opening keynote.)
The conference will also feature two...
Read More »
Monday, July 28th, 2008
News
By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, July 28 – By combining better public information, market mechanisms and smarter systems of subsidization, the government can play a positive role in funding infrastructure investments in telecommunications, according to three reports released Friday by the Brookings Institution.
The papers, released on Friday at an event that also featured an address by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, are part of a Brookings Institution initiative promoting investments in infrastructure – both physical, transportation investments, as well as new ways to spur improvements in the telecommunications infrastructure.
“No economy improves with a declining infrastructure,” said Kaine, a Democrat. “Unless you make that high-tech investment easy by telecom access, you won't get” improvements in your state's economic condition, he said.
Brookings, a liberal-leaning think tank, released the reports as part of an initiative dubbed the “Hamilton Project.” The project seeks to put forward policy ideas that “embrac[e] a role for effective government in making needed public investments,” according to the think tank.
Friday's event featured the release of six reports: three on transportation, two on telecommunications, and an overview report with recommendations on both subjects.
“The rapid page of technological progress in telecommunications and the widespread dispersion of new products and services... may present...
Read More »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
News
By William G. Korver, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
July 22 – A senior
AT&T lobbyist said that his company would alter the way that it advertises its high-speed internet tiers, and hinted that the telecommunication giant would soon move to usage-based billing.
Senior Vice President Robert Quinn made the comments on Monday at a Federal Communications Commission field hearing in Pittsburgh, Penn., during the second of two panels at a hearing on “The Broadband of Tomorrow.”
According to Quinn, beginning in October AT&T will no longer guarantee their Internet customers with speeds "up to" a subscribed amount. He said that AT&T cannot vouch for speeds over shared portions of the network beyond its control.
Quinn said AT&T "will take action either to bring the customer's service within the ordered tier or give the customer an option to move to a different tier" if AT&T discovers it is "not providing service within the ordered speed tier."
AT&T announced last month that the arrival of usage-based pricing is "inevitable."
Quinn also said his company would "clearly identify" in customer contracts and disclosures "any limitations on the amount of usage that may apply to a customer's service plan."
After lamenting the cost of building internet pipes, Quinn stated that companies...
Read More »
Monday, July 21st, 2008
News
By William G. Korver, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
July 21 - The United States government needs to expand its broadband mapping efforts and collect information about internet speed tiers, Federal Communications Chairman Kevin Martin said Monday.
Martin made the remarks at a field hearing on the future of broadband conducted by the FCC at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. A webcast of the hearing was available online.
The FCC is currently considering whether it should get into the business of mapping out availability of broadband.
Following remarks by Rep. Michael Doyle, D-Penn., that governmental policies may either "choke" or "spur" innovation, Martin said an atmosphere willing to permit regulations was the "key to the digital future."
Martin added that internet video may prove a viable alternative to the internet and television offerings of cable operators. Repeating his long-standing criticisms of the cable industry, Martin said that cable bills have doubled in recent years.
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein echoed Doyle's and Martin's calls for regulations and seconded Martin's belief that America must find a solutions that will help increase broadband deployment and speed while also lowering the cost of broadband.
Adelstein reminded the audience that half of American do not subscribe to broadband. Also, around 35 percent of dial-up users have...
Read More »