The Promise of M2M
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, February 3, 2012 · 
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Imagine a typical workday in the not-too-distant future. Your cell phone alarm goes off. Thirty minutes earlier it communicated with your thermostat, requesting your preferred temperature. Ten minutes prior it started your coffeemaker and it now turns on your TV to your favorite news channel as you wake up.
You’re surprised that your alarm went off 20 minutes earlier than you expected. That’s because it retrieved weather and traffic information and understood that you needed to leave the house earlier due to a snowstorm. It also communicated with your car to ensure that the electric engine re-charged itself overnight, as planned.
As you finish getting ready, it beeps again to inform you that it’s starting your car to de-ice the windows. It contacts your GPS to send the most updated directions based on road closures and information. As you leave the house to drive away, your car signals your home automation system to lock all doors, change the thermostat to save energy and arm your security system.
This automation is possible thanks in large part to machine-to-machine (M2M) technology. In its most basic form, M2M involves devices that communicate autonomously, without human involvement. M2M indicates that everyday objects are readable, recognizable, locatable, addressable and controllable through the Internet. In fact, M2M is now synonymous with the “Internet of things.” Read more
Do Consumers Need to Understand Wireless Technologies?
Posted by Jesse Ward on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 · ·
Last week in Wilmington, N.C., database operator Spectrum Bridge launched the first commercial wireless network using unlicensed spectrum that was freed up in the shift from analog to digital television. In essence, the network operates in the white spaces between TV channels.
The technology is particularly useful for serving less densely populated areas, such as rural areas, where most vacant TV channels can be found. The low frequencies used by the white spaces travel well through buildings and varied terrain and can operate in a 50-mile radius with a single access point. Read more
Google’s Next-Gen Network is Delayed by Pole Attachments
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, January 27, 2012 · (1) ·
Last March, when Google announced it planned to build a 1 Gpbs FTTH network in Kansas City, I was left with the distinct impression that the Internet giant thought it would be a relatively easy undertaking. After all, Google is not traditionally in the business of network build out, yet the ambitious project was conceived with the intent to showcase next-generation deployment techniques, apps and network characteristics such as open-access and consumer choice.
Nearly 10 months later, the company has been plagued by right-of-way issues that have slowed down the network build out and service launch. It’s difficult to determine just how much of a delay has occurred since Google won’t publicly admit that its network build out is behind schedule. According to the Kansas City Star, a local paper, the company had planned to enroll customers in late 2011, and launch its service in the first quarter of this year. However, Google has yet to install any cables. It’s now estimating a service launch date later this year.
Just what is the holdup? The paper reports that Google is now engaged in a debate about how it will hang its wires on utility poles and the associated fees and costs. Read more
VOTW: Will New RIM CEO Save the Company?
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, January 23, 2012 · ·
And last but not least, our video of the week (VOTW).
Industry Demands Scrutiny of Verizon-Cable Agreements
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, January 23, 2012 · ·
Last week Comcast and Verizon Wireless announced that they will launch a new marketing program in Seattle and Portland, Ore., selling their respective services to the other’s customers.
This is the first marketing promotion under the new landmark partnership which was announced last month, whereby Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $3.6 billion to a consortium of cable providers for 122 advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum licenses covering approximately 259 million people, or more than 85% of the U.S. population. Additionally, the cable companies and Verizon Wireless entered into a joint re-sale, marketing and technology development agreement. Separately, just a few days later, Verizon Wireless entered into an similar agreement with Cox Communications to purchase 20 MHz of AWS spectrum licenses covering 28 million POPs for $315 million. Read more
The Implications of SOPA and PIPA for Small ISPs
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, January 19, 2012 · ·
Update: As of this morning, January 20, there is no congressional action planned in either house. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has postponed the cloture vote previously scheduled for January 24 on PIPA. However, Sen. Reid said he remains “optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks” on disagreements over its provisions. Also this morning, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said that his committee won’t take up SOPA until “there is wider agreement on a solution.”
Two new congressional bills, SOPA and PIPA, have received widespread attention from tech trade outlets and mainstream media sources, many of which have issued a battle cry that the Internet will be unjustly censored. Yesterday, thousands of websites joined the protest, committing to “digital darkness” for 24 hours as a means to draw attention to the proposed anti-piracy legislation.
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, HR 3261) was introduced on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas), along with 12 co-sponsors. In the Senate, its closely related cousin is the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT IP Act, or PIPA, S 968) which was introduced on May 12, 2011, by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and 11 bipartisan co-sponsors.
In short, the draft legislation aims to protect U.S. based content providers by restricting end user access to infringing, foreign websites. Since the website is located offshore, a lawsuit against the website owners in a U.S. court would be futile. Read more
Industry Event Focuses on Spectrum Shortage
Posted by Jesse Ward on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 · ·
A panel composed of government and industry representatives was in agreement today that access to spectrum is one of the most important policy and technical considerations for the evolution and growth of wireless broadband networks and devices. “The Wireless Home and Wireless Policy” event featured a keynote presentation by Rick Kaplan, FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief, and a panel discussion.
Sponsored by Broadband Breakfast — a Washington-DC based news organization — the panel also consisted of the FCC’s Rick Kaplan; Fred B. Campbell, Jr., President and CEO, Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI); Walter B. McCormick, Jr., President and CEO, USTelecom; Grant Seiffert, President, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA); Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA); and moderator Drew Clark, Chairman and Publisher, BroadbandBreakfast.com. Read more