Welcome to BroadbandCensus.com

By Douglas Streeks, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2009 - Higher-speed broadband connectivity and prompt broadband investments will aid social and economic goals, Ireland’s Department of Communications Minister Eamon Ryan said in a report issued on Monday. Accord to a report by the Department of Communications, Energy, and Natural Resources, broadband development in Ireland has been very successful so far, mainly due to increased competition between the main telecom and cable operators. The report touted increases in Irish broadband deployment by virtue of increased competition between the main telecom and cable operators. It also said that take-up of wireless and other third generation broadband services occurred at a faster pace in Ireland than in other countries. “In the 12 months to March 2009, mobile broadband subscriptions increased by 90.6 percent,” the report said. “Broadband take-up in Ireland is nearly at 1.3 million subscribers, an increase of almost 300,000 since” last July. The challenging economic climate will, however, “affect the development of the networks necessary to support bandwidth-intense applications and services.” The economic environment could “provide the impetus” to the telecom sector to adopt a creative approach in order to aid economic recovery, the report said. The government should spur private sector investment by “lowering the cost...

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By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2009 - A diverse "undercard" of broadband technologies is being largely overlooked in the battle for stimulus dollars, a panel of industry representatives said Tuesday at the June Broadband Breakfast Club. Though often ignored, broadband over powerlines (BPL) is a reality and moving fast – with help from existing Rural Utility Service loans, said International Broadband Electric Communications government affairs coordinator Alyssa Clemsen. Many rural electric cooperatives are choosing BPL and funding build-out with RUS loans, she said. An initial deployment has allowed co-ops to roll equipment and service out over thousands of miles -- enough to reach hundreds of rural consumers who would otherwise have no other options, Clemsen said. "We're a last mile provider," she said proudly. Roughly 80 percent of households the co-ops reach have no other broadband options, she said: "They don't have a choice." BPL has been more successful in Europe because its 220 volt system is more amenable to transmitting data, she said. But comparing European countries, some of which are smaller than many American states, to the U.S. market doesn’t account for many incommensurables, she saaid. BPL can reach five homes per mile that would otherwise have no service, she...

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By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2009 – Most rural Americans do not subscribe to high speed internet services, according to an Agriculture Department report released last week. “Rural Broadband at a Glance,” published last Thursday by the Agriculture Department’s Economic Resource Service, cites Census Bureau data that showed a 12 percent gap in in-home internet access between urban households and their rural counterparts. Of urban households, 64 percent have broadband versus 52 percent for rural households. Still, most of those rural households can only access the Internet through a dial-up connection, said the report. That leaves them unable to use many rich content applications – or even most anti-virus software. The number of broadband service providers operating in rural areas increased rapidly between 2000 and 2006, said the report. The Federal Communications Commission said that there has been a 60 percent increase in the availability of broadband between 2000 and 2006. However, the FCC source data used to calculate broadband availability determines such availability by the number of providers within a given zip code. The methodology has been criticized for its tendency to overcount broadband penetration, particularly in rural areas. Within rural areas, ZIP codes can be quite large. As a result,...

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News

By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, October 24 - Broadband-enabled improvements to health care could save $197 billion over 25 years, but only if carriers had the incentives and freedom to deploy so-called "smart networks," according a study financed by AT&T. Widespread broadband deployment would be necessary to achieve these savings, according to the study, report author Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation. The 63-page report, "Vital Signs Via Broadband: Remote Health Monitoring Transmits Savings, Enhances Lives," was presented at a press briefing by Better Health Care Together. The group seeks comprehensive changes in the health care system. Senior citizens generally lag in technology adoption. But because they are likely to be the greatest beneficiaries of widespread broadband-enabled health monitoring, it may be necessary for the government to incentive broadband adoption if it wants to realize those savings, said Litan. Among the incentives that should be deployed, said Litan, are investments in internet education, rural broadband infrastructure and “telecommunications policies that allow broadband providers to experiment with different offering that attract marginal users without sacrificing profits on other users,” according to a summary of recommendations. In his remarks, Litan said: “We need not only a take-up of broadband, but a...

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Broadband Census Maryland

By Drew Bennett, Special Correspondent, BroadbandCensus.com

This is the 12th of a series of articles surveying the state of broadband, and broadband data, within each of the United States. September 11 - Being a first-mover is a blessing and a curse. When it comes to state-led broadband initiatives, Maryland has been an early innovator at confronting the long road towards state-wide universal broadband access. Among the most recent accomplishments for the state was, two months ago, Gov. Martin O’Malley’s approval of a license allowing the Maryland Broadband Cooperative to begin installing broadband fiber up the eastern shore of Maryland and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It’s another milestone in a road that is now over a decade long. In 1998, the Maryland General Assembly created the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) “as a public instrumentality of the state” and tasked it with funding technology-focused programs and initiatives contributing to Maryland’s economic and business development. By 2002, TEDCO had completed a comprehensive state-wide eReadiness study. It led to TEDCO’s recommendation that Maryland develop a broadband task force to address deficits in broadband connectivity in rural parts of the state. The legislature accepted TEDCO’s recommendation, approving funding for the Task Force for the Development of...

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Commentary

The following commentary appears in the current issue of Opastco Advocate, a monthly newsletter published by the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies. Reprinted by permission.

By Drew Clark, Executive Director, BroadbandCensus.com

Most Americans who have high-speed Internet can’t imagine life without broadband. How could you connect to the Internet of today without it? In today’s world, broadband is as basic as running water and electricity. And yet the U.S. is falling behind globally. As a technology reporter, I’ve been writing about the battles over broadband and the Internet for nearly a decade in Washington. Yet there is one fact about which nearly everyone seems to be in agreement: if America wants better broadband, America needs better broadband data. That’s why I’ve recently started a new venture to collect this broadband data, and to make this data freely available for all on the Web, at http://BroadbandCensus.com. The information and news that is available for free at BroadbandCensus.com is more important now than ever before. The FCC has just made important changes to how it will collect data from carriers. The agency may make even more significant changes in the near future. Public and private sector groups...

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