A Nation of the People and IP Addresses

700MHz rules tomorrow?

It appears that the FCC will set the 700MHz auction rules tomorrow, July 31, according to the Washington Post. Perhaps in anticipation of significant changes, the article is heavy on Google's entry into the politics of Capitol Hill.

U.S.: Broadband Laggards

Median download speeds vary between the states and vary widely between the United States and the rest of the world, according to information reported in ars technica. Government Technology has more
on the report from speedmatters.org.

Wayne

Minnesota: electronic health transactions the law

Government Technology: Beginning in 2009, Minnesota will equire electronic submission of health transactions. "The new requirements, signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty as part of the 2007 Omnibus Health and Human Services funding bill, apply to all health care providers and affects virtually anyone who bills for or buys health care services on behalf of a group of people," including "auto insurers, chiropractors, dentists, pharmacists, workers compensation insurers and others."

Rating Frontline's chances

Writing in GigaOm, Paul Kapustka takes note of the Frontline's recent challenge to Verizon to debate big ideas before the commission. While it won't happen, Kapustka says that the upstart's proposals have a break even chance of making it into the upcoming 700MHz auction rules, pointing to FCC Chairman Martin,  some tentative public safety and Google support as evidence.

He suggests that creating a third broadband alternative to telco and cableco offerings would enhance any future plans Martin might have to run for elected office.

The FCC must begin the auction no later than January 28, 2008. The money must be deposited in the U.S. Treasury by June 30, 2008.

BusinessWeek: telecom is back from the dead

On the cover of the most recent BusinessWeek: Telecom, Back from the Dead. Describing the telecom bust earlier this decade, the article goes on to say:

Over the past year, however, the telecom industry has roared back to life. Credit a steady rise in appetite for broadband Internet connections, which enable easy consumption of watch-my-cat video clips, iPod music files, and such Web-inspired services as free Internet phoning. Indeed, this year broadband adoption among U.S. adults is expected to cross the important threshold of 50%. Capital spending is on the rise as companies invest to build high-speed networks. Private equity players are placing enormous bets on the industry, such as the $8.2 billion that Silver Lake Partners and the Texas Pacific Group agreed to pay for networking gearmaker Avaya on June 5. And the glut in broadband communications capacity is all but gone.

About half of the Internet's transmission capacity was going unused in 2002. Today that pipeline has almost doubled in size, and yet the unused portion is down to about 30%.

WiMax progress cited, but

Speaking at the Wireless Communications Association annual Washington show, Benjamin Wolff, chief executive officer of Clearwire Corp., expressed optimism about the progress of WiMax in general, and his company's progress in particular.

Clearwire has 258,000 subscribers and is within reach of 10 million people. Wolff suggested that PC data cards would be coming later this year "and embedded WiMAX chipsets for laptops and other mobile devices will be out next year," according to the June 13 issue of Telecommunications Reports Daily.

For his part, Om Malik has been skeptical of the case for WiMax, suggesting a couple years ago, for example, that the technology would be great for carrier backhaul. Today he notes that Sprint could be thinking of a different WiMax direction that could include working with the cablecos.

A search for "WiMax" on his site turned up these stories.

Where is Muninet Wireless Broadband?

MuniWireless has posted an updated list of municipal wireless initiatives.

NASCIO publishes digital records paper

NASCIO has just published a new document on digital records: "Electronic Records Management and Digital Preservation: Protecting the Knowledge Assets of the State Government Enterprise." The paper is at the top of this page.

Estonia weathers digital siege

I don't normally publish international news, but the New York Times has published a story about large scale cyber attacks targeting Estonia's infrastructure. Some are calling it the first cyber war. 

Computer security experts from NATO, the European Union, the United States and Israel have since converged on Tallinn to offer help and to learn what they can about cyberwar in the digital age.

'This may well turn out to be a watershed in terms of widespread awareness of the vulnerability of modern society,' said Linton Wells II, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration at the Pentagon. 'It has gotten the attention of a lot of people.'

Free registration is required to read the Times piece.

Senator calls for 100Mb national Net access

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) has introduced legislation establishing a national goal for the universal deployment of next-generation, 100 megabit Internet access by 2015, "and calling upon Congress and the President to develop a strategy, enact legislation, and adopt policies to accomplish this objective," according to Thomas. The goal is 10 megabit service by the end of 2010, and 100 megabits service by the end of 2015.