In every corner of the country and around the world, leaders are trying to make their cities “smarter.” These projects are often in response to specific and on-going demands — such as parking, overcrowding, noise, and pollution — while others have started to address broader goals — such as reduction of energy consumption, improvement of traffic flow,… Keep Reading
Following a string of data breaches that touched tens of millions of consumers, and revelations of user data exploitation by popular social media platforms, there’s a broad national consensus: It’s time for internet users to have guarantees about privacy and data protection. Legislation is long overdue. Some states, such as California, have already taken action.… Keep Reading
Over the last few months, various ideas have been floated about the offering of 5G wireless services via a government-sponsored network. This entire effort seems convoluted and borders on the preposterous. Just the notion of the U.S. moving away from the highly-successful, private-sector led approach that is responsible for our country's premier position globally would… Keep Reading
When the 4G networking protocol improvements rolled out, I was a Verizon Wireless dealer in a small town in rural America. The 4G marketing echoed today's 5G promises of fast “fiber like” speeds and improved, “nationwide” coverage. 4G was going to revolutionize broadband. Verizon Wireless even offered a home internet product, called Home Fusion, that… Keep Reading
The California Consumer Privacy Act passed into law in 2018 is scheduled to go into effect January 2020. It could potentially have dire consequences for unprepared businesses serving their customers especially when they demand to be forgotten. The new law affects everyone from internet service providers to mom-and-pop shops when it comes to privacy, data… Keep Reading
The top regulator of U.S. phone calls has issued an ultimatum to telecom companies: Either stop robocallers from faking phone numbers or risk new regulations from the Federal Communications Commission. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s warning is well-justified. By several different measures, the number of telemarketing and scam calls to cell phones has exploded over the… Keep Reading
At the beginning of a new Congress, there’s generally an exciting, hopeful spirit, even after the bitter partisanship of the past election. The issues that new committee chairs choose to focus on upfront are a good indication of their priorities and where they believe progress can be made. In telecommunications, therefore, it’s promising that Senator… Keep Reading
Editor's Note: Around the time of Presidents' Day eight years ago, I wrote this piece about the connection between Abraham Lincoln's passion for infrastructure improvements and his belief in equal opportunity. I linked it to the then pressing - and still pressing - need for infrastructure improvements in Rural America. On Abraham Lincoln's 210th birthday… Keep Reading
What did you do on your summer vacation? Major broadband network operators spent the season making plans to deploy superfast 5G wireless broadband. 5G is the communications technology that offers broadband speeds of up to a hundred times faster than 4G, lower “latency” (basically, faster response time), and other benefits that will power the Internet… Keep Reading
Network neutrality is an important issue. We mustn’t allow transport owners to limit our ability to communicate. But, network neutrality in itself positions the internet as a telecommunications service. We need to step back and recognize that the internet itself is part of a larger shift wrought by software. I thought about this more when… Keep Reading
The success of the internet demonstrates that we now depend on network operators to assure that services like telephony work. The carriers are pushing back on neutrality because their business model is threatened by a level playing field. We should be encouraging innovative internet-native business models rather than working to preserve an industry threatened by… Keep Reading
Telecom attorney Jonathan Lee takes down the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's specious case against the AT&T/Time Warner merger in this detailed blog post, excerpted below. (Click on the link at the bottom for the whole argument.) Here's the money quote: "This alleged harm is simply too general to merit analysis." Assumptions On Assumptions:… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Telemedicine is one of the most immediately needed high-bandwidth broadband applications, and it promises concrete and easy-to-see benefits. Yet its usage had limited by occupational licensing. In this policy report, CATO Institute Adjunct Scholar Shirley Svorny lays out the case for the best option (eliminating all governmental licensing), a second-best option (defining… Keep Reading
Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate recently released a plan for broadband deployment that would spend $40 billion in taxpayer money in an effort to get everyone online. Like many other proposals of this nature, however, it lacks in the very specifics that are so important in broadband policy. First, as the Federal Communications Commission… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Here's my piece in the Deseret News, responding to information about the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency that simply isn't correct. I discuss why cities need to open up their thinking about using fiber as a utility, and why cities are going to be in the game for a long time yet to come.… Keep Reading
In the battle to deploy broadband, cooperatives (co-ops) can be a decisive force to cover the rural flanks in states with aggressive broadband adoption goals such as California, New York, and Minnesota. In the more rural states, or ones without stated commitments to broadband, co-ops may have to carry the lion’s share of responsibility if… Keep Reading
July 7, 2016 - Since 2008, the ability to "cut the cord" has existed with the help of devices allowing us to stream Netflix directly to our TVs. From 2008 to 2013, the idea that this technology could actually replace Pay TV (cable and satellite) seemed absurd. Fast forward to 2014 when the percentage of… Keep Reading
Editor's Note: This column, "Once 'Athens of the West,' a Kentucky city seeks revival and improvements," was originally published in the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, Utah. Here is a complete list of Drew Clark's weekly columns for the paper.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — This city now best-known for horse racing and bourbon was, 200 years ago, once described as the "Athens of the West."
And while east-central Kentucky has since gone through its economic ups and downs, last month the state's civic leaders announced an ambitious fiber-optic development project that boosters say will once again put Kentucky in the national spotlight.
Lexington enjoyed its early heyday from its founding in 1787 until the early decades of the 19th century. Its most notable resident was Henry Clay, the lawyer who became one of the three most influential national legislators (with Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun) of the antebellum era.
Clay, the founder of the Whig Party, was a vigorous advocate of the "American System" of internal improvements. Today we would describe these as infrastructure investments.
It was the internal improvement sought by Clay that made transportation possible across the Western frontier. They began creating a truly national marketplace.
Lexington bequeathed us another figure sympathetic to the Whig cause: Mary Todd Lincoln. Visiting the museum here that was her home, I learned that her father — a member of the Kentucky Legislature — frequently invited his politically minded young daughter to sit in on meetings with constituents.
Mary Todd left Lexington, or course. More than 400 miles west, in Springfield, Illinois, she met and fell in love with a more hardscrabble Kentuckian. Abraham Lincoln also was a strong proponent of "internal improvements."
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April 13, 2015 - Attention on the significance of community-based Gigabit Networks rose dramatically when President Obama included an announcement about the importance of community broadband networks in his State of the Union address in January, and in remarks in Cedar Falls, Iowa, one week before the speech.
At the same time, the White House also released a report of its own on community-based broadband solutions, which highlighted the growing demand for Gigabit Networks, and also focused on some of the laws that restrict municipalities' involvement in broadband.
Somewhat overlooked in the process, however, was an important report released on January 14 by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
In a blog post that day, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling recapped the investments of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program: Upgrading 113,000 miles of fiber, and connecting 25,000 community anchor institutions.
The Commerce Department also released an important 16-page report, "BroadbandUSA: An introduction to effective public-private partnerships for broadband investments," that bears re-examination. [...]
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Editor's Note: On Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission announced a $25 million settlement with AT&T for data breaches including the releasing of thousands of customer records, including names, phone numbers and some Social Security numbers.
BroadbandBreakfast.com welcomes commentaries and opinions on this and other subjects from a multitude of viewpoints.
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2015 - The FCC’s settlement with AT&T sets another benchmark for data breach enforcement, with several important developments.
First, it demonstrates the continuing encroachment of the FCC into areas once thought to be the exclusive domain of the FTC. This is a classic data breach enforcement action that typically would have been prosecuted by the FTC until most recently. [...]
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WASHINGTON, November 13, 2014 – Net neutrality has been the hottest topic in tech policy for months. Politicians on the left say their opponents stand foursquare against the tenets of a free and open internet. Politicians on the right that their adversaries are trying to apply outmoded and outdated legislation to cripple the innovative essence… Keep Reading
Editor's Note: With the announcement of President Obama's desire to classify broadband as public utility, BroadbandBreakfast.com welcomes commentaries and opinions on the subject from a multitude of viewpoints. November 12, 2014 - During President Obama’s official visit to China Monday, the White House issued a statement of support of government regulation of the Internet with… Keep Reading
November 4, 2014 – Nearly a year-and-a-half ago, Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam claimed in an editorial in The New York Times, "The United States built its lead because companies invested nearly $1.2 trillion, over 17 years, to deploy next-generation broadband networks." That number is meaningless: over a period of 17 years, much of the… Keep Reading
October 17, 2014 - Fiber-optic communication is increasingly being recognized as a new necessity of urban life, with momentum for cities to obtain Gigabit Networks enabled by fiber is growing every week. On Monday, October 20, a new group of cities -- called Next Century Cities -- launches a "city-to-city collaboration that supports community leaders… Keep Reading
Rural Americans are sicker, poorer and more likely to be uninsured than their urban counterparts. Vital human capital links in our nation’s information and healthcare supply chain are missing in rural America, and we need more skilled health care professionals in those communities. Telehealth capabilities offer an antidote to the rural health care conundrum by… Keep Reading
Although it is the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) that is charged with implementing the ambitious universal service policy goals set forth in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the “Act”), the FCC designated the Universal Service Administrative Company (“USAC”), an independent, not-for-profit corporation, to administer the day-to-day operations of federal universal service. USAC bills… Keep Reading
Wall Street and K Street are separated by a mere 225 miles, but for many companies they are worlds apart. In particular, industry observers would do well to compare everything said to policymakers with statements by the same competitors made to Wall Street investors. Defense companies, for example, warned policymakers that sequestration would spell the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 16, 2013 - Last Thursday's testimony, by the full group of Federal Communications Commissioners at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, restores the pulse of the nation's technology and communications policy issues to a "low-tension" state. We've seen this perennial cycle before: first, an issue stirs immense conflict among the agency's five members.… Keep Reading
Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Finds Fault with Study Critiquing Broadband Technology Opportunities Program WASHINGTON, November 18, 2013 - The Technology Policy Institute issued a report on Thursday criticizing the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). Unfortunately, the report reflects a misunderstanding of the purpose of that program. The Technology Policy Institute study of BTOP mischaracterizes… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 18, 2013 - There are 3.79 million square miles in the United States, and the federal government controls 30 percent of that land. This vast swathe of federally controlled land is roughly equivalent to the combined size of Alaska, California, Texas and Montana. So when a White House task force unveils a guide that lays out the… Keep Reading
CARBONDALE, Illinois, August 26, 2013 - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Friday announced the state's fourth investment in Gigabit Networks, providing $1.5 million in funding to a consortium led by Frontier Communications that will build an ultra high-speed broadband network in Southern Illinois. The project is the first Gigabit Network funded by the Illinois Gigabit Community Challenge that will serve an area outside of the Chicagoland. It is also the first award to an incumbent telecommunications company. The previous three awards went to Gigabit Squared, for a project with the University of Chicago on the city's South Side; the City of Aurora; and the City of Evanston, Illinois, and Northwest University. The first two awards were made in October 2012, and the Evanston announcement was made in January 2013. [...] Keep Reading
June 17, 2013 - The smart grid and broadband go together like mashed potatoes and gravy. And yet why is it so hard to get electric utilities and broadband experts to dialogue on the role that electric companies can play in expanding super-fast broadband? Tomorrow's June 2013 Broadband Breakfast Club, on Advanced Energy, Smart Grid… Keep Reading
March 18, 2013 - At the Broadband Breakfast Club, we strive to introduce our readers and club members to the most timely developments in broadband services. Think of your participation in our events as a vital early warning system to what you need to know about new directions in high-speed connectivity. The March 19, 2013,… Keep Reading
By Nick Feamster, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Georgia Tech (The original version of this article is posted in Dr. Feamster's Blog 'Connection Management') WASHINGTON, February 27th, 2013 -- Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel of the Broadband Breakfast Club at Clyde's of Gallery Place in downtown Washington, DC. The Broadband Breakfast… Keep Reading
February 5, 2013 - Now that I've had a chance to read the front-page Washington Post story on so-called "Super Wi-Fi," I have to confess to being extremely disappointed in the Post. Like many others, I was taken in on an allegedly new development repackaged in an exaggerated fashion. It is another re-affirmation for me… Keep Reading
LONDON, December 19, 2012 – In 2013, roll-out of LTE services will have limited immediate economic impact, social media giants look set to stir up IP-based messaging services and smartphone penetration growth rates will slow considerably, according to Analysys Mason’s top telecoms predictions for the next 12 months. The technology, media and telecommunications consulting and… Keep Reading
April 2, 2012 – I admit to being taken in yesterday by Google’s April Fools prank – Gmail Tap. This priceless video promises to bring Morse code back for the smart phone era. Gmail Tap hit a powerful nerve: how to make smart phones more useful for the things we do besides talking on them.… Keep Reading
January 12, 2012 – The Broadband Economy has always been about three things: wired and wireless connections; the iPods, iPhones, and iPads that we got in our Christmas stockings; and the content that makes it fun and useful to “connect” your device to the internet. Some of us talk about the internet and broadband but… Keep Reading
Expert Contributors: Stephanie A. Joyce, Esq. and Stephen Thompson, Esq. WASHINGTON, November 18, 2011 - The development of SmartGrid technology, which generally refers to devices that monitor, and possibly control, energy use via telecommunications-enabled devices, is proceeding apace, though not as quickly as many had hoped or anticipated. At the most recent Broadband Breakfast that… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Friday October 28, 2011. Vice President & Associate General Counsel of NCTA, Steve Morris gave Broadband Breakfast his first impressions on yesterday’s USF Reform Proposal. Morris told us: The Chairman, the commissioners, and the FCC staff, all deserve a great deal of credit for bringing this item to completion. Universal service and intercarrier compensation… Keep Reading