Technology & Society
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is set to grow tenfold by 2010, but according to industry reports the leader won’t be the United States. Instead, countries such as China, France, and Italy are forecast to lead. It’s possible, however, that recent
If San Francisco City Hall can barely afford to provide residents the critical services that matter most, such as police, fire protection, and public transportation, why would anyone think it will be able to maintain a high-quality, cutting-edge broadband network?
The SF Chronicle quoted me on this issue today, and for whatever reason felt the need to say that PRI is funded by SBC, but of course they didn’t say by how much, leaving the false impression that SBC is
Here’s my weekly column on the recent FCC DSL decision.
Texas Instruments recently announced the availability of its single-chip technology for cell phone makers in emerging markets, allowing for the availability of cheaper handsets. Here’s an interesting bit from a News.com story: India is among the fastest-growing cell phone markets
Imagine if you were forced to share your property with your business competitors — you probably wouldn’t be thrilled and likely wouldn’t do much to upgrade that property. Unfortunately that’s been the state of things in the telecom sector, but
Econ professor Marius Schwartz just wrote a short, yet incredibly useful analysis of competition in the Internet backbone space. You can find the AEI-Brookings publication here, but if you want the summary version it’s this: there is tons of competition
In a bold move to modernize America’s outdated communications laws, this week Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.) introduced the Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act. It’s about time Congress embraced this issue, particularly since technology has vastly changed the way communications
What’s that — Hawaiian noises? Bangin’ on the bongos like a chimpanzee… Fortunately, we’ve moved past the 80’s and on to bigger and better things like IPTV. But while the tech has accelerated, policymakers are holding back progress. Read all
The latest buzz in the telecommunications community surrounds xMax, a tool designed to provide broadband over narrowband wireless channels. Some are still in disbelief over the tech, but it looks promising. Here’s a link to an article on it and
The United States Supreme Court this week ruled against Brand X, a small California company that sells Internet access. This ruling is good for consumers and marks the beginning of what could be much-needed reform in broadband policy. To read
California began a series of public hearings on the SBC/AT&T merger in Oakland, Calif., last week. While the purpose is to gather public input, in reality, special interests dominate, putting the real public interest at risk. An hour before the
Broadband experts gathered in Washington, D.C. this week to discuss the future of high-speed Internet access. Much of the talk centered on Texas, where a major battle recently took place between telecom companies and cable firms. The focus of the
You know how so-called “consumer” groups always make dire predictions about what will happen if a merger is approved by regulators? Well, I decided to go back and look at some of their old predictions. What I found was a
Now, it’s also a tower for WiMax. Speakeasy is a cool company, and this should be one more piece of evidence to regulators around the country that there is *not* a monopoly in the broadband space. Don’t think anyone’s arguing
It’s not a bird or plane, it’s the “stratellite,” a huge broadband blimp announced this month. It will make high-speed Internet junkies gleeful, leave broadband competitors fearful, and tell policymakers to ignore warnings of an imminent broadband monopoly. Some might
San Francisco is known for being liberal when it comes to marriage, but when it comes to corporate marriage, open minds suddenly shut. Here’s my column.
According to a News.com piece, the FCC may “suspend public utility commission regulations in California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana that forced BellSouth to sell DSL, or digital subscriber line, service separate from its local phone service. In the past,
I was the keynote speaker for the California Telephone Association’s (CTA) annual conference this year. CTA’s members are mostly small phone companies from around the state. It was interesting to listen to their thoughts about how their small businesses might
Today, PRI released a new telecom study called “Crossed Lines: Regulatory Missteps in California Telecom Policy.” It explains how regulatory policies in the telecom sector are outdated and impose heavy economic and social costs on consumers. It also offers guidance