The Federal Communications Commission asked for "expressions of interest" from applicants interested in using Connect America Fund subsidies for last mile rural broadband projects, promising to fund between $50 million and $100 million for a small number of them as part of its Internet Protocol (IP) transition program. According to the FCC’s Acting General Counsel Jonathan Sallett, the agency was deluged with nearly 1,000 applications this week.
David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation, announced today that the Internet Essentials broadband adoption program would be extended “indefinitely”, extending the initial three year commitment made by Comcast to the FCC as part of its NBC Universal merger approval. As of end of 2013, Cohen said 1.2 million low income Americans had signed up for the program, or about 300,000 families. This included 35,205 residents in California, and more than 12,600 in the San Francisco metro area, 9,250 in the Fresno metro area and 7,100 in the Sacramento metro area.
Milo Medin of Google Fiber this week announced in a blog that it would begin "early discussions" with 34 cities in nine metro areas to explore bringing its high-speed fiber Internet service to them. The surprise move would bring Internet services 100 times faster than basic broadband to millions of residents.
In a ruling narrowly approved by the California Public Utility Commission, departing Commissioner Mark Ferron left app developers and wireless communications providers a precious gift – no regulation on privacy practices, at least for now.
On Tuesday, in twin announcements, the president and the Federal Communications Commission put more flesh on the bones of the two-sentence State of the Union promise by President Barack Obama to connect 99% of American students to high-speed broadband over the next four years. In last week’s State of the Union, the president said the FCC, and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint and Verizon would help connect more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students over the next two years "without adding a dime to the deficit." http://techwire.net/chong-following-bread-crumb-trail-president-obamas-state-union-reference-broadband/
It is very difficult to get the nation’s president to mention a specific issue in his annual State of the Union speech. But when he does, it helps your issue get some public attention and press ink. So when President Obama uttered the word "broadband" in last Tuesday’s State of the Union address, the collective community of broadband advocates ears pricked up.
With a 5-0 vote on January 30 to approve an AT&T petition that allows voluntary trials of all-Internet Protocol (IP) communication networks, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recognized the inevitable: communications networks are rapidly changing from circuit-switched Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) technology running on copper wires to IP technology. The bi-partisan FCC vote recognizes that it is time to begin serious work on the thorny transition issues as the industry converts old fashioned phone networks with modern ones necessary to the nation’s modern commerce. This order is important to California IT managers who purchase from incumbent telephone companies like AT&T or Verizon.
Did you miss President Obama’s State of the Union address entitled "Opportunity for All"? If so, here is my highlight list of Tuesday’s speech for the tech industry.
On Friday, following the former NSA contractor’s Edward Snowden revelations about the National Security Agency’s electronic surveillance program, President Barack Obama delivered a major address at the Justice Department in Washington D.C. He pledged reforms, including ending the NSA’s bulk collection of telephone metadata (numbers called, length and time of calls) on American citizens and non-US citizens, limiting spying on foreign leaders on issues relating to national security, and requiring an order of the previously secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court to obtain meta data, while introducing a new panel of advocates to protect citizen’s privacy rights in FISA court proceedings.
Commissioner Mark Ferron on Wednesday resigned from the California Public Utilities Commission, revealing he is battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
The new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler made a swing through California after his Consumer Electronics Show appearance in Las Vegas. On January 9, he visited two decidedly different venues: Silicon Valley’s Computer History Museum for a meet-up with tech types, and a lively Town Hall meeting with community activists at Oakland’s Preservation Hall.
On Thursday the Internet Society named Kathryn C. Brown, a Washington D.C. telecommunications and Internet policy veteran, as its new CEO to be headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Most recently, Brown was a Washington, D.C. political fixture as Verizon’s Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, working in the international Internet public policy arena and on corporate responsibility initiatives, including a 2010 partnership with the Internet Society to hold a forum in East Africa on Internet and higher education issues. Brown replaces Lynn St. Amour, a 15-year veteran of the Internet Society.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker for the first time prioritized supporting the digital economy “as a great engine of economic growth in the 21st century,” in a Nov. 18th speech before business leaders gathered in central Ohio.
After months of anticipation, akin to the long wait for Santa Claus and his reindeer, Tom Wheeler has arrived and taken the helm of the Federal Communications Commission. Wheeler is a veteran of the wireless telecom and cable regulatory world. One worry from the West Coast: Does a D.C.-oriented Chairman understand the impact of Silicon Valley on the limited pieces that the FCC regulates of the greater IP world? Will he do a better job of understanding the players here in order to gain a deeper understanding of the IP-enabled revolution?
At an intimate event hosted by the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) and RocketSpace on November 19 at RocketSpace’s offices in San Francisco, Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Jessica Rosenworcel, Sequoia Capital partner Bill Coughran, and Singularity University’s Vice President of Research & Innovation Vivek Wadhwa, and drop-in guest Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom took on the topic of "Next-Gen Networks: Impact on Innovation, Education, Regulation and the Economy." The panel was moderated by Jamal Simmons, co-chair of IIA, a coalition supporting high speed broadband availability and access for all Americans.
At the CalAsian Chamber’s Small Business Summit in Santa Clara on Wednesday, keynote speaker Carlos Ramos, Director and State CIO of the California Department of Technology, announced a Vendor Forum on Dec. 18, at 9 a.m. The special event will focus on large-scale technology procurement. Vendors and agency CIO’s are invited to this forum at the Department of Technology’s Training Center, located at 10860 Gold Center Drive, PG1 First Floor, Rancho Cordova. The purpose of the forum is to give information technology vendors and state agency CIO’s the opportunity to express and share ideas on how best to improve California’s information technology procurement systems. The focus of the agenda are large scale "reportable" projects; those where an IFB or RFP are used as the procurement vehicle.
On Friday, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Internet world was captivated by a story of Miles Scott, a five-year-old leukemia survivor whose simple wish to be Bat Kid for a day was granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and pulled off on a grand scale by San Francisco city officials, the San Francisco Giants, and thousands of volunteers who had him "save" Gotham City (aka San Francisco) from two villains. The large scale, theatrical way in which the Bat Kid caper was pulled off in the streets of San Francisco – a city known for its everyday high level drama, let’s admit it — and the sheer adorableness of little #SFBatKid swept across the online world, prompting tears and a massive outpouring support of young Miles.
According to GovGirl, aka Kristy Fifelski, new media director of e.Republic, government staff needs to connect with their citizens in way that makes their work appear cool and relevant. The perfect way to do that is to use social media. GovGirl says stop reporting on dull City Council resolutions as your lead, and instead use creative social media approaches to get the word out on your programs and projects.
Big data projects are improving health care in ways that could improve patient care and lower costs, government leaders and medical experts told audiences in Stanford this week at the Big Data Roadshow sponsored by TechAmerica and the Stanford Center for Professional Development.
In a major announcement, the Washington D.C.-based Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) said today that it will launch a new initiative called the "Information Technology Alliance for Public Sector" (ITAPS) that "will promote — through market-shaping advocacy — federal/state/local government understanding and procurement of cutting-edge technologies, while fostering an enabling regulatory environment for access to such technologies.”
In yet another surprising announcement, Google.org (the philanthropic arm of Google) last week announced a $2 million grant to the De Novo Group, a little known Berkeley organization headed by Yahel Ben-David that will work with researchers from Stanford University and UC Berkeley to bring affordable broadband service to rural communities. In a project named "Celerate," De Novo has put out a call for communities within 250 miles of its headquarters in Berkeley to be a test bed for early prototype deployments. The call for applications to communities may be viewed here: http://denovogroup.org/main/celerate-announcement/ by interested communities.
Every year, CTIA the wireless association gathers the best and brightest minds in the mobile space to directly engage mobile app developers, corporate and government CIOs, CTOs and IT staff, and vendors to discuss what’s happening in the fast growing mobile space. This year’s conference in San Jose’s Convention Center starting yesterday and continuing until Friday features hot issues like privacy, security, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) issues, and mobile app and platform development.
George Schmitt, Kris Rinne and Craig Farrill celebrated their induction into the 2013 Wireless Hall of Fame Tuesday at the Fairmont Ballroom in San Jose, CA. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, also inducted, remained in Washington, D.C. for negotiations regarding the federal government shutdown. Photo: Richard Mayer
There is never a good time for a government shutdown. This comes from a scarred veteran of the 1995 federal government shutdown. In 1995, I was a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) when the federal government was shut down between November 14th to 19th, and from December 16, 1995-January 6, 1996.
Broadband advocates are celebrating after Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday signed two bills — Senate Bill (SB) 740 (Padilla-D, Pacoima) and Assembly Bill (AB) 1299 (Bradford–D, Gardena) — that will bring more broadband access to rural Californians and disadvantaged communities. SB 740 overcame opposition from the California Cable & Telecommunications Association, but ultimately, cable reached agreement with the author on amendments and withdrew its opposition when the bill was pending in the Assembly.
A Special Review Committee (SRC) report released last week found that the FirstNet Board activity has been sufficiently open and transparent, despite public allegations made by board member Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald of Story, Iowa at the April Board meeting. Sheriff Fitzgerald’s allegations included a lack of openness and transparency in making board decisions, a failure to circulate information to board members, and that public safety members and the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) had lacked input in network planning decisions.
On Wednesday, legislation aimed at expanding the adoption of broadband in California was approved by the Legislature and today will move to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 740 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) passed the State Assembly by a vote of 59-16-3. The bill required a two-thirds vote. Last night, the bill moved back to the State Senate where it passed on a procedural concurrence vote due to amendments accepted in the Assembly.
The TechCrunch DISRUPT conference in San Francisco’s Design Center is a swarming of software-oriented Silicon Valley start-ups, venture firms, foreign techies, and media. Everywhere you go, there’s people in T shirts with hand held video cams recording "real time" from every angle the presenters and the packed exhibit floor. Who needs the NSA when we have these surveillance folks?!
