DSL Prime:
FCC Chief: "I Failed My President"

Martin attempts an honest examination of his legacy, as technology improves and more of the world gets connected. Also, Apgar's data suggests the U.S. internet runs faster than previously believed.

by Dave Burstein of DSL Prime and Future of TV and the Web Video Summit [January 8, 2008]

"The Third Internet is Fast Enough to Watch"
— DSL Prime, December 2001

Rupert Murdoch and Bob Iger are unlikely revolutionaries, but the internet will never be the same. Fox and Disney, their companies, have just proven full quality video over the net works just fine. Anyone in the U.S. can watch popular shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives at surprising quality. The 1.9 megabit per second downloads start almost immediately and in seconds are at a quality comparable to a DVD. Murdoch and his Hulu partner NBC are offering current episodes of 30 of the most popular shows.

This is the breakthrough sending video over the web. Full episodes of over half the current U.S. shows are available without cost, following the lead of the BBC and other British networks.

From Kigali, Rwanda comes great news: East Africa is being connected. World Bank and other money is running fiber across the continent. UHURUNET/EASSY/NBIN, SEACOM, and TEAMS are running undersea from East Africa, the largest unconnected area in the world.

Om Malik, the best internet/telecom reporter in the world today, is recovering nicely after a heart attack. Om and Liz put up a note at Gigaom, and hundreds added comments in a few hours. The signers of those comments include some of the biggest names in our business and many who aren't famous. Om has been, and will be, a friend to us all. I love that guy.

Another major win for consumers may be imminent: Nicholas Sarkozy is close to giving France's fourth wireless license to Iliad/Free, which is committed to dropping prices a third or more.

The campaign to free Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan is gaining momentum, with news stories around the world including the BBC and the NY Times. At CES in Las Vegas, say hello to the round fellow with a beard and the irrepressible Jennie Bourne. Congratulate her on the contract to write Web Video for Peachpit Press. If any readers know Vivianne Reding, Tsutomu Sato, and Paul Kagame, please introduce me because I'd love to talk with them at the show

Four of us found a well located house for less than a hotel room, and have room for one more person if you e-mail me quickly. We're going to have an informal get together Wednesday night. E-mail me for details.

I wish I could follow on to the remarkable DLD event in Europe, where the internet meets the media. More DSL Prime coming soon, especially if I can send it from LV. Almost finished are a full issue on TV, breaking the news Verizon is also going to open FIOS set tops to all the video on the net, reviewing the economics of TV over the Net (HD is possible), and explaining how why I shut off my cable TV, watching on the Net instead.

Great to be back.

"I Failed my President'" and Other Stories
Kevin Martin's only honest statement
A policy issue of DSL Prime will soon come, starting with Martin's failure to deliver "affordable broadband for all Americans in 2007." 12 to 20 million people will are totally unservable with high speed. 40 to 100 million don't find it "affordable," (policy, cont. at end.) depending on what the term means.

They've beaten unfairly on Kevin lately, so I wouldn't pile on except this is a big story. British Telecom and OFCOM's Ed Richard's are playing high-stakes poker. BT definitely wants to fiber the UK; Richards doesn't want to give them a subsidy. Time to find a solution. I'm also exploring Verizon's New York video franchise. They haven't even applied for it, despite tens of millions of dollars of construction, and are sure to demand it instantly after they cut a deal. They are trying to eliminate universal service. The Bronx Borough President tells me that's unacceptable, and I hope some journalist friends brings these negotiations public.

Meanwhile, in D.C., no one except Jessica Zufulo has reported the new USF proposals move a heck of a lot of money from the rural telcos to the Bells. It could be billions of dollars each year, and it's coming in the back door. The world's richest man, Carlos Slim, has N.V. at the FCC demanding a giveaway for his Puerto Rico Telephone. And much more.

An AT&T funded study led to phony news stories around the world saying the internet will slow down drastically in two years that need to be totally debunked. Reporters fell for lobbyist's comments, who didn't know the facts. Read the original and discover "core fiber and switching/routing resources will scale nicely to support virtually any conceivable user demand." The only issue in the original report is that DSL and cable modems may be too slow for what we want. In other words, AT&T's underbuilding their local network is the biggest problem in U.S. broadband. They just canceled the 50 megabit fiber promised to 1.5 million homes in BellSouth territory. Martin should in turn cancel the bell's long loop deregulation that was based on Ackerman's promise to upgrade.

It looks like Martin will allow Verizon and AT&T to win the wireless auction. They don't need the spectrum, so are essentially bidding to keep out competition. Anything collected from AT&T and Verizon in the auction will be passed on to consumers in prices. There will be deceptive comments about how much "the government" makes in the auction. If any of the current carriers get the spectrum, it's essentially a very expensive way for the government to borrow money. 80 percent of the U.S. has a cellphone, so the American people will pay back more than the government collects.

Copyright 2008 Dave Burstein.
The DSL Prime Newsletter is reprinted with permission.

"The power of the printing press belongs solely to those who own the presses"
—A.J. Leibling

The Internet is the cheapest printing press ever invented.