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
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.
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.
MuniWireless has posted an updated list of municipal wireless initiatives.
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.
According to this commission news release, FCC Commissioner Copps has called on the United States to develop a national broadband strategy "like every other industrialized nation has done." In addition to the United State's descending broadband penetration rankings from the OECD, to which Copps refers, there is this problem.
According to Government Technology, Gartner is calling on IT departments to give up some control:
Speaking at Gartner's Symposium/ITxpo in Cannes, Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president and global head of research at Gartner explained that while many of IT's responsibilities are still mission critical, IT organizations need to bend to the realities of and opportunities associated with consumer, Internet and fast-emerging technologies if their businesses are to prosper.
'Without a doubt, consumerization is the single most significant trend impacting IT in the next ten years,' said Sondergaard. 'However, it is not really about new technologies -- virtually all of them are available today. It is about attitudes towards and usage of technology. There is a societal shift taking place which, when combined with access to and acceptance of newly affordable technology, is driving change in usage and the business model. Companies will have to come to terms with a fundamental change in traditional business models and drivers.'
Om Malik reports that the rate of broadband penetration is climbing. Broadband providers added 22% more subscribers than they did this time last year. He also suggests that nationwide household broadband penetration could be around 42%.
According to Government Technology, state government CIOs visited Washington recently during the NASCIOs sixth-annual D.C. fly-in. One of the issues on the agenda was federal funding complexities. The group has just published a call to action on the issue, States Need Reform in Federal IT Funding:
Currently, the general guidelines attached to federal programmatic funding do not promote enterprise IT shared solutions, infrastructure optimization or the integrated channels of services sought by citizens. The state IT landscape has changed significantly, yet federal grant funding guidelines do not reflect this new environment. As millions of new federal dollars are spent on IT that supports human services, public health, justice and homeland security, a change in attitude toward enterprise IT solutions and flexible commingling guidelines with specific cost-allocation options could greatly improve the return on every federal dollar spent on information systems in the states.
According to Doug Robinson, executive director for NASCIO, "A total of 36 separate meetings were held. Of those, 30 were with Members of Congress or their staffs, 4 were with federal agencies..."
The organization also recently published this brief on the position of chief information security officer (CISO) and will likely follow up with a survey.
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