From http://www.wetmachine.com/index.php/item/198:
…telcos and cable cos have aggressively fought to kill munie systems by getting state legislatures comfortably removed from the municipalities in question to pass laws prohibiting such systems (and usually including huge subsidies to get the telcos and cable cos to provide worse service as an added bonus).When asked to justify this, the telcos and their supporters argue that it is axiomatically bad, unfair and not nice for municipal governments to compete with the private sector. They usually assert that munies can tax and regulate in a discriminatory fashion (not true, due process prevents such discrimination) or that munies enjoy special privileges (although incumbents are not shy about special privileges and subsidies for themselves). Mostly, they argue that it is just wrong for the public sector to provide things that the private sector can provide (other than education, water, electric power, and the occasional donation of land or tax breaks to bring in a private business). …
Scenarios closed networks
From http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0501/07/C01-53350.htm
Are these guys being paid off, delusional, high, or some form of blind optimism I don’t yet understand? Michigan Public Service Commission has decided to “deregulate” Area A in Michigan, following SBC’s request:
State regulators are temporarily giving up their authority over phone rates for businesses in some parts of Metro Detroit this year in hopes of bolstering competition and lowering prices.
In response to a request by SBC Communications Inc., the Michigan Public Service Commission on Thursday agreed to deregulate rates for businesses in Detroit, Southfield and Royal Oak for a one-year trial period.
Commissioners expect to decide in about six months whether to follow suit with residential service and with business service in other parts of Michigan.
‘This will allow customers to negotiate unique packages that are tailored just for their needs,’ said public service commission Chairman J. Peter Lark.
‘It will promote competition, and that competition will hopefully drive prices down.’
Scenarios closed networks
From http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1747546,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594
SBC is giving new meaning to the term “partnership” by extending the reach of their partner, Yahoo, into everyone’s living rooms.
SBC Communications Inc. is merging home entertainment and digital content through the television set-top box.
The San Antonio, Texas-based telecommunications provider on Monday announced a joint venture with equipment maker 2Wire Inc. to deliver a new home entertainment service and set-top box by the middle of the year. It will be available to customers using both its SBC | Dish Network satellite TV service and its SBC Yahoo DSL service.
The new service will center on a set-top box that integrates satellite television, digital video recording, video on demand and Web content such as Yahoo’s photo-sharing and LaunchCast music services, SBC announced.
It all sounds so sweet, like something SBC’s customers will certainly want. The article continues,
Future plans include providing extended remote access to mobile phones through Cingular Wireless and letting users of SBC’s local phone service view caller ID and call-log information on their TV screens.
Soon, we won’t need a computer at all. We can just sit in front of the tube, phone in hand, with the world at our fingertips.
Scenarios closed content, closed networks
From http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=65310
Wi-fi IP phones coming to a broadband connection near you:
Vonage Holdings Corp., an upstart company known for pushing the boundaries of IP-based communications, announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that it has partnered with UTStarcom Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI – message board) to produce a portable WiFi handset that allows users to access Vonage’s VOIP network from multiple locations. Known as the F-1000, the unit will allow users to “roam from home” and access their Vonage service through 802.11b hotspots (see Vonage Unveils New VOIP Tech ).
Michael Tribolet, executive VP of operations at Vonage, says that the new handset, set for release later this year, will give Vonage users the freedom to access their service while on the go. “This is a great application for travelers, especially international travelers where there tend to be more WiFi hot spots, because it will allow them to stay in contact with communications the way they expect them to be,” Tribolet says.
Tribolet says that there were some technical hurdles that had to be overcome before the company could introduce a WiFi option to its subscribers. “The predominant issue has to do with battery life,” he says. “It’s different than a traditional cell phone which can go into sleep mode. A WiFi handset must always stay awake and be able to search for hotspots. The F-1000 has a battery life of about 100 hours, similar to a standard cordless phone.”
Another issue had to do with reliability and quality. “We’ve wanted to introduce a WiFi product for some time, but the products that were out there didn’t have good enough quality for the consumer market,” Tribolet says. “We finally found a product that gives us the quality and reliability that consumers expect.”
The wireless handset will connect to an existing wireless network out of the box and allow users to begin making calls over their broadband Internet connection right away, using their existing Vonage account. As a user travels to another location (like a Starbucks or their office), the handset will automatically scan for available authorized WiFi networks and connect to them, allowing users to make calls.
Devices open networks
From http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1382423,00.html
Murdoch’s BSkyB has announced a “new” Tivo-like technology:
The satellite group BSkyB has patented new technology that allows television viewers to record favourite programmes without any ad breaks.
News that the pay-television company controlled by Rupert Murdoch could allow viewers to eliminate commercials will alarm rival broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4 and Five which derive most of their revenues from ads, as well as the advertising industry itself.
Why would it do this? And what’s so wierd about this announcement?
Unlike its main commercial rivals, Sky earns only 10% of its revenues from advertising. The use of the new technology, likely to attract viewers of channels supported by advertisements, could increase Sky’s dominance of the pay-television market.
However, the company has repeatedly said it is committed to advertising and is working with the industry to develop ways of grabbing consumers’ attention through sponsorship deals, for example.
A Sky spokesman said it had no plans to deploy the new technology. “If other people want to use [the property], they can license it from us.”
Scenarios closed content, open content
Techdirt pointed me to this latest race for a new set of standards. A great place for investment, no date set for implementation.
Leading wireless carriers and telecoms equipment makers have agreed to develop an advanced mobile phone standard capable of sending high-resolution video in an instant, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo said on Friday.
A group of 26 companies, including Britain’s Vodafone Group Plc, Germany’s Siemens AG, France’s Alcatel and Japan’s NEC Corp. and DoCoMo, will support the standard, Japan’s top wireless operator said.
Mobile phone services based on the technology will offer transmission speeds more than 10 times as fast as the current third-generation (3G) service, DoCoMo said.”
From past experience, we all know that a new standard (in light of many existing standards that haven’t yet been implemented) is just what we need, right?
Scenarios closed networks
This is the beginning of the new year based on the Gregorian calendar (which many in the United States follow). I rarely make new year’s resolutions because I’m no more likely to follow through on one made today than, say, any other day. However, looking around my office, I’m putting a stake in my virtual ground that declares my intent to be a little more mindful of my horizontal surfaces.
Life self-determination