The Internet Innovation Alliance is a broad-based coalition of business and non-profit organizations that aim to ensure every American, regardless of race, income or geography, has access to the critical tool that is broadband Internet. The IIA seeks to promote public policies that support equal opportunity for universal broadband availability and adoption so that everyone, everywhere can seize the benefits of the Internet - from education to health care, employment to community building, civic engagement and beyond.
The leaders and supporters
of IIA
Rick Boucher
Honorary Chairman
Bruce P. Mehlman
Co-Chairman
Jamal Simmons
Co-Chairman
Tracey Sawicki
Executive Director
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Friday, May 29
Sylvia Aguilera, Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership, discusses the technology needs of Hispanic communities.
Thursday, May 28
When it comes to Internet search, Google remains unstoppable. But that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from re-entering the fray. Their new engine is called Bing, and as Read Write Web has a preview:
For the most part, Bing’s interface resembles that of today’s Live Search, with a large ‘cover image’ on the front page that surrounds the search box. The major difference in the user interface is the addition of guided searches in the left sidebar, though Microsoft says that the real changes are under the hood. The company argues that it can bring a new approach to Internet search by providing a richer, easier, and more organized search experience. This, for example, means that Bing will integrate data from consumer reviews when a search brings up a restaurant.
According to Microsoft, a chink in Google’s armor is the fact close to 30% of searches are abandoned. Whether that, and Bing’s other features, will be enough to cut into Google’s massive search share remains to be seen.
Yesterday the FCC released its report on the state of rural broadband. Ars Technica digs in:
The document urges reform of the Universal Service Fund, but is very brief about how. It looks for ways to encourage interagency cooperation, recommending that the FCC create a “comprehensive website that will provide a centralized access portal for information concerning all federal programs addressing broadband.” But beyond that, the report calls for the continuation of the National Economic Council’s interagency working group, and not a lot more. Much of the essay is an encyclopedia of extant consultative agreements between states, localities, Indian tribes, and Federal agencies.
More coverage of the report from the Wall Street Journal.
Once upon a time, AOL seemed poised to dominate the Internet. It was easy, it was quick, it offered a filter of safety from the wilds of the open Internet. So popular was the service that in the year 2000 Time Warner forked over a staggering $147 billion to buy the service.
Now, not even 10 years later, Time Warner is finally jettisoning AOL from its holdings. What was once king has turned into peasant.
The Internet Innovation Alliance presents its Biannual Symposium:
Developing a National Broadband Strategy: Deployment, Adoption and the Stimulus
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
8:45 a.m. - 2 p.m.
The Newseum, 8th Floor
Breakfast and lunch will be served
Please RSVP to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The Symposium will:
• Examine the steps necessary to bring broadband access to unserved and rural communities
• Address issues of broadband demand and how content can be a driver of broadband adoption
• Discuss the future of broadband Internet, deployment of stimulus funds and impacts on minority and underserved communities
Featuring:
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III
With panelists:
Sylvia Aguilera, Director, Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership
Becky Collins, Small Business Owner
Howie Hodges, SVP of Government Affairs, One Economy Corporation
John Horrigan, Associate Director, Research, Pew Internet and American Life Project
Craig Settles, Industry Analyst, President of Successful.com
Scott Wallsten, Senior Policy Fellow, Vice President for Research & Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute
Wednesday, May 27
The FCC’s rural broadband report? The one submitted for comments way back in March? Evidently it’s going to be released sometime today.
Stay tuned…
UPDATE: The report has been released and is available in handy pdf form.
The BBC reports, Japan—once saddled with one of the slowest and most costly broadband networks in the world—has managed to dramatically turn things around:
Seeing the country fall behind dramatically in terms of fixed Internet use the government decided to act: the end result was a seriously fast fibre-based FTTH 1Gbps (gigabits per second) (fibre-to-the-home) network at one of the lowest price-per-megabits anywhere.
That means a film, for example, can be downloaded in the time it takes to make a cup of tea.
If it can be done there, it can be done here.
Federal stimulus is rarely speedy. Case in point: The $4.7 billion earmarked for broadband stimulus under the control of the NTIA. Reports GigaOm:
One of the federal agencies responsible for administering $4.7 billion in broadband stimulus grants has quietly delayed its plans to approve and distribute money under its program. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration late last week issued a statement noting that it will accept grant applications in September and aims to distribute its first grants in December. However, in a March meeting it had said it hoped to accept grants in April and May and start delivering the first round of funding in June.
The delay isn’t expected to be a major roadblock, but as GigaOm notes, it does show how using two government agencies to distribute funds can make for a pokey process.
While the U.S. struggles to craft a national broadband strategy—complete with $7 billion in federal funds waiting to be deployed—there are hints that the Obama administration may be considering a more radical idea, one based on recent plans in Australia. Reports NextGov:
A senior adviser to President Obama is touting the idea of spending tens of billions of dollars in public funds to build a nationwide, state-of-the-art broadband network featuring speeds 100 times faster than today’s technology.
While there has been no formal Obama administration commitment to such infrastructure investment, Susan Crawford, special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy, has said she is “personally intrigued” by an ambitious plan by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
His plan proposes a public-private partnership that would invest up to $33 billion over eight years to build and operate a fiber-optic broadband network reaching 90 percent of homes and workplaces. Wireless and satellite technology would be used to reach the remaining 10 percent in the outback.
Whether such a plan would be feasible on U.S. soil is unknown. But as building out broadband access for all Americans picks up steam, expect more eyes to be on Australia’s model.
TechCrunch wonders if one of the most popular websites in the world was sold too late:
There are a handful of industry-changing Web 2.0 names including MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But unlike those other Web 2.0 behemoths who have the luxury of waiting out revenue challenges as their user base surges and the economy recovers, YouTube’s runaway success meant extremely high bandwidth costs and legal worries early on. It’s one of the only companies in that list that should have sold early while the momentum was high.
Evidence: Nearly three years after the acquisition, the mighty Google still hasn’t figured out exactly how to monetize all those eyeballs either. Industry estimates say YouTube spends half a billion or more a year in bandwidth costs. That’s not to say it was a bad acquisition, particularly considering Google’s stock currency was tantamount to monopoly money back then. But you have to wonder, if YouTube were alive today, how much more would it have been forced to raise and at what terms?
The web has led to a flood of free content. But from newspapers to video sites like YouTube, the question remains: How do you make money?
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