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Tag Archives: FCC
State of the Digital Union
Over the past few weeks, the debate on Internet regulation has once again been thrust into the media spotlight. Largely driven by political events in Europe, these debates have centred upon the rapid development of the Internet and the level of regulation required to effectively govern it. Indeed, it’s the whole question of governance and the comments made by President Sarkozy at the e-G8 that have brought this topic bubbling to the fore. President Sarkozy’s hard-line stance that governments need to be responsible for developing and enforcing stricter digital laws comes at a time when sensitivity on Internet freedom is still high. In his speech, Sarkozy stated that Internet companies have to know where the red line is.
Sarkozy’s firm approach seems to be somewhat at odds with that of Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda. Speaking at the first ever Digital Agenda Assembly earlier in June, Kroes seemed to distance herself from Sarkozy’s comments, suggesting that a ‘keyhole approach, rather than amputation’ was required towards regulation. Indeed, Kroes’ speech tried to eschew the issue of regulation altogether and focused more on rallying Europe’s digerati, encouraging them to embrace a new wave of innovation. However, Kroes was quick to highlight the challenges ahead, stating that high-speed broadband is the ‘bridge to Europe’s future’ and that we need to think outside of the box to overcome any impeding obstacles. Read more
Could Broadband be the Shining Light of US Infrastructure?
As the political gears in the United States’ electoral machine begin to pick up speed, it’s fascinating to see the topics that are driving discussion. As you would expect, economic growth, employment and social welfare are some of the hot issues being bandied around by potential candidates. Yet one topic that has been largely absent from this early round of dialogue is the state of the country’s transport and communications infrastructure. Looking at some of the latest figures, this may be something that is about to change.
A recent Economist article highlights the critical condition of the country’s heavily overburdened air, rail and road systems. According to research from the World Economic Forum, the country’s infrastructure has actually deteriorated in recent years. In a global 2010 poll, the US was ranked 23rd for its transport systems. With much of the country travelling on antiquated air and rail networks or using roads that have fallen into disrepair, it isn’t surprising to find that this is impacting upon journey times.
A New Battleground in the Net-Neutrality Debate: Device Neutrality
April’s proving to be an interesting month for those following the net-neutrality debate. Within the first week we’ve already seen the US Court of Appeals swing into action and dismiss Verizon and MetroPCS’ anti-net neutrality lawsuits filed against the FCC. Thrown out on a legal technicality, many expect these lawsuits to be re-filed shortly. However, while most eyes where following the legal wranglings on Capitol Hill, a new battleground in the neutrality debate has emerged and this time it’s focused on devices.
Since its launch, the iPad has been a disruptive tool. One need only look at publishing to see how the iPad has led an entire industry to question how it operates and, more importantly, how the public wants to consume books and magazines. The same can be said for other media too. In fact, it’s the very issue of consuming film and TV on the iPad that has raised a heated discussion on the topic of device neutrality and the rights consumers have to access video content on mobile devices.
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Cord Cutting Corporate Backbones Device Neutrality Ethernet Access FCC Grid/Cloud Computing iPad iPhone Jeff Lawrence Long Haul Transport Metro Core Transport MetroPCS Mobile Backhaul Mobile Devices Net Neutrality Packet Optical Transport Playon Time Warner Cable TV Verizon Video Wireline Backhaul
Did the mobile tidal wave just become a tsunami?
For any regular readers of this blog, it will come as no surprise that I was fascinated this week by the release of Cisco’s latest Visual Networking Index (VNI) study and its explosive findings on the growth of mobile broadband. So explosive in fact, that the sheer volume of news that it generated was almost as steep as the study’s predictions for the world’s appetite for mobile data.
One article in particular caught my attention, referring to Cisco’s findings as a looming tsunami for the mobile industry. On face value this appears to be a fair assessment. Between 2010 and 2015, Cisco expects to see a 92% compound annual growth rate in the amount of mobile data traffic. This growth represents a 26-fold increase, with the average mobile user consuming 1,118 Mbit/s of data. Today’s average user consumes 65 Mbit/s.
A New Year: A new era for broadband?
Barely days into the New Year and the flames surrounding the net neutrality debate have once again flared. There are few who will have missed the media furore this week over BT’s launch of its Content Connect service. A number of the UK’s national press and open access groups are calling this a breach of the basic principles of net neutrality and the first step towards a two-tier Internet.
To many within the industry, what BT is proposing is nothing new. Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) have existed for some time and are widely used by many media providers today. One need only look at Akami to see such an example. In this respect, a two-tier Internet already exists. However, what’s different about BT’s offering is that they could potentially own the CDN and the last-mile infrastructure over which the data is carried.
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Akami broadband infrastructure BT Content Connect service Content Delivery Networks Corporate Backbones Ethernet Access European Commission FCC Grid/Cloud Computing Long Haul Transport Metro Core Transport Mobile Backhaul Neelie Kroes Net Neutrality Packet Optical Transport two-tier Internet Wireline Backhaul
