Mobile TV

Mobile TV Showcased at NAB Show

Posted by Sam Churchill on April 17th, 2009

LG Electronics announced Friday that it will begin mass production of mobile DTV receiver chips in June that enable local television broadcasters to transmit mobile television.

LG and Harris are the primary developers of the ATSC Mobile DTV Standard. The emerging standard is expected to be formally ratified by early third quarter with the initial release by 31 December 2009.

LG and ATSC will be demonstrating a number of mobile DTV prototypes that use the new LG chip at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas next week. LG Electronics will display prototype personal mobile DTV and portable DVD players, CDMA and GSM mobile phones, and a Dell Mini 10 netbook, the first laptop PC with integrated ATSC MobileDTV capability

WRAL, the CBS affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., has already started mobile DTV broadcasts (see Dailywireless:Bus TV in Raleigh).

The 800-member Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), also voiced his support for LG’s commitment to chip production. The Open Mobile Video Coalition was formed by Belo Corp., Fox Television Stations, Gannett Broadcasting, Gray Television, ION Media Networks, NBC and Telemundo Television Stations, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Broadcasting Co. Together, these groups own and operate more than 280 television stations reaching 95 million homes. According to OMVC, more than 65 stations in 25+ markets, covering more than 35 percent of U.S. television households, are already committed to delivering mobile DTV services in the current year.

The candidate ATSC-Mobile/Handheld (M/H) standard is based on the MPH (Mobile Pedestrian Handheld) mobile DTV transmission system jointly developed by LG Electronics (Zenith) and transmitter manufacturer Harris Broadcast. It is also now supported by Samsung, which had previously pushed its own mobile DTV system.

ATSC, a relatively minor standard on the global stage, received 10 submissions in its request for proposals for a Mobile and Handheld Standard (ATSC-M/H).

The ATSC Mobile DTV system achieves extra robustness for mobile reception by adding extra training sequences and forward error correction on the 19.4 Mbps data stream of DTV broadcasts. It selects some of the MPEG-2 segments and allocates payloads to carry the Mobile DTV data in a manner that existing legacy receivers ignore. It can take 4-6 Mbps out of the data stream. Critics argue mobile TV will lower the quality of HDTV pictures. It also insures that LG and others in the ATSC gang can keep royalty payments coming for their ghost-sensitive, 8-VSB ATSC standard.

Field trials were conducted during March and April of 2008 in the Las Vegas and San Francisco Bay areas. The ATSC Mobile DTV system uses MPEG-4 AVC and optionally SVC video coding (pdf). A single base format of 240 lines x 416 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio, progressive scan, is specified, with the ability to increase the resolution or quality through use of the SVC option.

CBS was allowed to stream the March Madness NCAA basketball games over both cellular and WiFi networks, but it was optimized for Wi-Fi. NBC may bring Hulu to the iPhone soon. NBC.com’s mobile website served 2.4 million video streams in Q1, which is more than the total number of streams served in all of last year.

Print is reluctantly moving to the web, but broadcasters have just as much to loose. Everybody’s got to go. Wikipedia compares dozens of video services and Lifecasting solutions from Livecast, Mogulus,Molv, Stickam, Qik and UstreamTV, among others.

Smartphones will win. Broadcasters will loose.

By 2012, Strategy Analytics projects that smartphones will comprise 30% of all handsets shipped, or about 452 million out of 1.5 billion handsets.

By then Symbian will still hold 39% of the smartphone OS market, with Linux/Android at 22% and Apple at 18%, says the research company.

Mobile phone operators, which control smart phone distribution, are not anxious to threaten their revenue from pay services (like MediaFLO or MobiTV) with “free” television services (like ATSC Mobile DTV), unless they get a piece of the action.

The Television Bureau of Advertising says ad revenue at the US’s largest stations has slid 9.3% decline for the fourth quarter of 2008. Revenues are expected to sink even further.

source : dailywireless.org

NAB 2009

NAB 2009

Posted by Sam Churchill on April 20th, 2009

At the 2009 National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas this week, manufacturers are showing off the latest in mobile television, IPTV, and 3-D television. Over the past 80 years, the NAB Show has evolved from a small, broadcast-centric show into a wide ranging assemblage of industries.

About 90,000 attendees and 1,500 exhibitors are expected at this year’s NAB. Some 16 special pavilions will be spread across the entire Las Vegas Convention Center, occupying more than 800,000 square feet of exhibit space.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ASTC) has approved the Candidate Standard for mobile tv, which provides television broadcasters a technical scheme to deliver TV content and data to mobile and handheld devices utilizing a small portion of their 6 MHz DTV channel. LG and Harris are the primary developers .

The emerging ATSC Mobile DTV Standard is expected to be formally ratified by early third quarter with the initial release by 31 December 2009. It supports over-the-air delivery of digital broadcast content to cell phones, laptop computers, netbooks, handheld PDAs, portable media players and gaming devices. It would (probably) be “free”, and allow broadcasters to stream one or two channels from their local transmitters.

It would compete with subscription-based FLO TV (formerly MediaFLO) using UHF Ch 55, and MobiTV, using cellular networks. Broadcasters hope to launch mobile DTV on over 60 stations in 22 cities, covering about 35 percent of US television households by the end of this year.

Washington DC was announced today as the first city to get Mobile TV, although WRAL, the CBS affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., has already started mobile DTV broadcasts (see Dailywireless: Bus TV in Raleigh).

The consumer trial in the greater Washington, D.C. market, encompassing the ninth U.S. media market, will go live in late summer. Fox Television Stations’ WDCA-DT, Gannett Broadcasting’s WUSA-DT, ION Media Networks’ WPXW-DT, NBC Universal’s WRC-DT, PBS’ WHUT-DT and MHz Networks, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s operated WNUV-DT and National Datacast are initial participants. The coalition anticipates adding more stations to the trial in the near term.

Mobile TV vendors smelled heat with lots of streaming media announcements.

• MobiTV announced a new service called MixTV which combines free over-the-air DTV broadcasts with on-demand content using the WiMAX network. MobiTV may work with content from PBS and the CW networks, paired with a seven-day on-demand window via mobile WiMax.
• Expway says it powers more than 12 Mobile DTV booths at NAB’09 with its FastESG ATSC-MH Service Guide solution. FastESG is the first Mobile TV Service Guide and allows delivery of a Program Guide and Logos, as well as pay services, Music & Video Clip downloads, Weather forecasts, News reports and Sport statistics.
• The 4Caster C4 encoder and M2 mobile encoder, from Envivio, support the proposed ATSC Mobile DTV candidate standard for mobile television broadcast in the U.S.
• Axcera will demonstrate its complete end-to-end ATSC Mobile DTV transmission solution at NAB 2009. The solution comprises the company’s ATSC Mobile DTV Pre-Processor/Multiplexer for combining terrestrial and mobile content along with an electronic service guide (ESG) into a single transport stream, feeding an ATSC broadcast transmitter
• UDcast introduced an ATSC Mobile solution is a continuation of their efforts in DVB-H and DVB-SH. UDcast is a pioneer in the creation of mobile TV standards that have enabled the development of mobile TV ecosystems through partnerships with major telecom and broadcast infrastructure providers.

The first-wave list of Mobile TV broadcasters includes at least one broadcaster in seven of the top 10 markets, including the largest, New York City (WPXN-TV). Not included is Los Angeles (DMA no. 2). The smallest market on the early-rollout list is Toledo, Ohio (DMA no. 73) and the market with the most commercial commitments so far is Columbus, Ohio (DMA no. 32)—with its ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and CW affiliates on board.

National Datacast isn’t mobile television, but operates in a similar manner. It uses DTV to multicast data over the PBS television network. It’s a commercial subsidiary of the Public Broadcasting Service.In deciding how to allocate their 19.4 Mbps DTV bitstream, TV stations will have a variety of content mixes that include HDTV, mobile and SD broadcasts, and datacasting.

Broadcast group owners think they should have exclusive and indefeasible free access to the public airwaves at no cost to them. Meanwhile they propagate falsehoods about white spaces proposals. Broadcasters generally define “public service” as what makes them the most money. Period.

The 3D pavillion features software, editing and display solutions to create cutting-edge 3D content. Exhibitors include 3ality Digital, 3DTV and Electronics & Telcom. Research Institute (ETRI).

European broadcaster Sky has already begun testing over-the-air transmissions of a 3D TV service and various manufacturers, including Mitsubishi, have produced 3D-capable sets.

Next3D, that follows the H.264 specification, today announced the first 3D Movie players for Sony PS3 game consoles and Apple computers. The free downloadable player software, combined with Next3D’s content delivery service, will allow consumers to download and play full 1080p theatrical 3D high-definition movies and other 3D content on PS3’s, Mac computers and, as previously announced, XBOX 360’s. It uses shutter glasses.

In IPTV, Yahoo is also offering widget technology for TVs, which it co-developed with Intel. The Yahoo Widget Channel provides access to Flickr, Yahoo News, Yahoo Weather and Yahoo Finance, USA Today, YouTube, eBay and Showtime Networks, among others. Motorola, Samsung, and Toshiba are all planning to add Yahoo Widgets on some of their new TVs.

Adobe announced today its latest version of its Flash for Internet connected TVs as well as set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, and other digital home devices. The main purpose of the TV and consumer electronics optimized Flash is to allow viewers to see high-definition video, interactive applications and new user interfaces right on their TVs. Adobe executives said they believe that the technology will be available by the holiday 2009 season within the U.S., and will be first installed directly into televisions.

As part of the announcement, the company revealed a number of partners that plan to use the technology, including, Intel, Comcast, Disney Interactive, Netflix, Atlantic Records, and the New York Times Company.

In other news, MotoSAT, debuted its Messenger series of auto pointing Ku-band antennas. Messenger supports high definition broadcasting (MPEG-4), satellite newsgathering (SNG), and video conferencing using a 1.2 Meter or .98 Meter reflectors.

The Television Bureau of Advertising says ad revenue at the US’s largest stations has slid 9.3% decline for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Mark Shubin explains, “This much is known about the future: It’s unpredictable”.

source : dailywireless.org

Fouth Screen : Thinking outside the box

Fourth Screen: Thinking Outside the Box

Posted by Sam Churchill on April 20th, 2009

OpenPeak has created a ‘fourth screen’ (after tv, computer and cell) for the home. It’s a hub that combines features of the telephone, TV, PC and cell phone into a compact, communications center.

The intuitive navigation menu on the 7″ touchscreen makes it easy to make calls, play music, share photos, and organize your household. The device, powered by an Intel Atom processor, features 1GB of built-in storage, WiFi connectivity, an ethernet port, an audio out jack, and USB socket. It runs a cellular-branded version of the OpenFrame software, which appears to be based on Ubuntu linux. It is a wired device (no battery operation).

O2, a large cellular carrier in the UK is offering it to subscribers for £149.99 or free if taken instead of a handset when upgrading or signing a new 18 or 24 month contract. Mobile Industry News has a review:

Overall I found the Joggler to be a bit of a disappointment. I’m familiar with the OpenFrame platform this is based on and was expecting to find the same Flickr, YouTube and RSS content included. Unfortunately the only place the Joggler can show photos from is the built-in 1GB of storage or a USB stick.

O2 Joggler first look from Dan Lane on Vimeo.

I think it’s safe to assume that any family that’s tech-savvy enough to buy one of these on launch has someone in it that already uses an online calendar such as that provided by Exchange or Google and it would make sense to sync with that calendar. The kids might not need to know that Daddy is in a meeting with his boss but at least some availability information would be useful. The biggest disappointment of all is that I know the OpenFrame platform has a Dominos Pizza button and the Joggler does not!

I think the Joggler is a good start to what is essentially a new market for MNOs but I can’t help but think that an untouched OpenFrame device would be more appealing to a wider audience. I certainly know of some other MNOs that are working on similar device offerings so this should be a very interesting market to watch over the next 12 months.

Looks like a “4G” device to me. The Verizon Hub is a home phone with an internet-connected base that offers users access to V Cast entertainment services, messaging, and email among other features. It will link up to an Application Store.

GiiNii plans to ship its Android-based portable media player and picture frame in October and January, respectively, according to a spokesperson. Archos announced an Android portable media player for mobile telephony.

BTW, Intel is finally selling their mini PCI based 5350 WiMAX / WiFi card. One might consider the three MIMO antennas, generally baked into the device, as a baseline since more gain is needed when inside buildings. The 5350 adapter delivers up to 13 Mbps+ downlink and 3 Mbps+ uplink using WiMAX and up to 450 Mbps over WiFi.

Apple’s iPhone first arrived in June 2007. However, the iPhone 3G — and the App Store — has only been available since July, 2008, giving it only a few months’ head start on its Android rival. The first Android handset — T-Mobile’s G1 — launched in October, 2008. A second handset, the Magic, is expected to arrive next month.

Nearly 162 million smartphones were sold last year, surpassing laptop sales for the first time, according to Informa. Gartner says there were 139.3 million smartphone sales in 2008, up 14% compared to 2007.

Informa predicts smartphone penetration of 13.5 percent this year, reaching 38 percent by 2013. Last year, just under half of smartphones sold were based on Symbian — a drop of 16 percentage points from the year before.

source : dailywireless.org

AT&T HSPA+

AT&T: HSPA+ Not LTE for Now

Posted by Sam Churchill on April 20th, 2009

Before AT&T implements LTE, it plans another HSPA upgrade that will bring 3G capacity up to 7.2 Mb/s,says Telephony Magazine, using software enhancements to squeeze one last boost in bandwidth from its current high-speed packet access (HSPA) network. That will boost speeds from 3.6 megabits per second to 7.2 Mb/s, said Scott McElroy, AT&T Mobility vice president of technology.

In March AT&T announced plans to invest between US$17 billion and US$18 billion this year to, “extend and enhance wireless and wired broadband networks to provide more coverage, speed and capacity.”

AT&T currently has the enhanced networks running in two test markets but plans to extend those capabilities to its entire network, according to Telephony. Later this year, AT&T plans to start migrating its 3G networks to evolved-HSPA (or HSPA+), which would triple peak speeds.

AT&T, previously known as Cingular, launched its HSDPA network in 2005, supporting 1.8 Mb/s, but boosted that capacity to 3.6 Mb/s by 2008. Most of the laptop cards and smartphones AT&T sells, including the iPhone, have the silicon necessary to access that additional capacity. AT&T is now in the process of field certifying 7.2-Mb/s devices on its two test networks, McElroy said.

AT&T will most likely skip the final HSPA iteration of 14.4 Mbps, said McElroy, since HSPA+ is now ready for prime time. Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (also known as: HSPA Evolution, HSPA+, I-HSPA or Internet HSPA) is a wireless broadband standard defined in 3GPP release 7.

That could enable AT&T to go straight to 21 Mb/s. HSPA+ actually encompasses a bevy of upgrades, including evolving to a flat IP core and the introduction of smart antenna technology, but AT&T is focusing on upgrades to the baseband, which will dramatically increase capacity without having to fiddle with the elements on the tower or in the core.

On 30 March 2009, CSL Limited, Hong Kong’s leading mobile operator, unveiled the first commercial launch of HSPA+ in Hong Kong (pdf), providing up to 21 Mbit/s on the downlink.

source : dailywireless.org

Taiwan WiMAX

Taiwan: WiMAX On the Move with Clear & Moto

Posted by Sam Churchill on April 21st, 2009

Clearwire is reportedly in talks with Global Mobile, one of six mobile WiMAX licensees in Taiwan. The strategic alliance may result in Clearwire taking an equity stake in Global Mobile, says Telecoms.Global Mobile is expected to secure a permit from Taiwan’s National Communications Commission(NCC) by the end of this month that will enable it to start installing its WiMAX network

Six 2.5GHz WIMAX licences in Taiwan were awarded in July 2007 - three for the northern part of the island and three for the southern part - but none has yet managed to launch commercial service. Lack of funding, combined with the economic downturn, has been the main reason for the delay. The companies include Far EasTone, First International Telecom, Global Mobile, Tatung, VMAX Telecom, and Vastar Cable TV System.

• Far EasTone announced this week that Motorola had been awarded additional contracts to expand FarEastone’s WiMAX network in Taichung.Motorola will deploy its WAP base stations. Far EasTone, whose WiMAX licence covers a southern province, is the island’s third biggest mobile operator in terms of subscribers.
• First International Telecom (Fitel), has already confessed that its serious financial problems could jeopardize its prospects of even making it to a commercial launch unless it can attract new investment. Fitel said earlier that it planned to raise an additional capital of about NT$2 billion (US$65.8 million) by selling new shares to foreign private investors, but Taiwan’s NCC rejected the application by Fitel to spin off its WiMAX business.
• Tatung InfoComm looks like it will be the first out of the gate. Holding a licence for some counties in the southern region of Taiwan, the company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Taiwanese conglomerate Tatung, says it will start commercial WiMAX service on the Penghu Islands on 27th April.
• VMAX - whose licence covers a northern province - was buoyed by an investment commitment of NT$386m from Intel Capital in October 2008. It says it is on course to launch commercial WiMAX service in either Q2 or Q3 this year.

The M-Taiwan project is a government initiative to accelerate WiMAX ecosystem development and create a nation-wide broadband network.

source : dailywireless.org

Bluetooth 3.0

Bluetooth 3.0 Announced

Posted by Sam Churchill on April 21st, 2009

The Bluetooth SIG has formally adopted Bluetooth Core Specification Version 3.0 + High Speed (HS), or Bluetooth 3.0. This latest iteration of the popular short-range wireless technology provides the same wireless Bluetooth experience – faster.

Bluetooth 3.0 gets its speed from the 802.11 radio protocol. Bluetooth is used to create the pairing between two devices, but the data transfer itself is handed off to Wi-Fi. That provides increased throughput to around 24 Mbps. In addition, mobile devices including Bluetooth 3.0 + HS will realize increased power savings due to enhanced power control built in.

In Tokyo this week, Bluetooth low energy technology was also announced. It aims to attract developers from the sports, fitness and health care industries.

Mike Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, says, ”Utilizing the 802.11 radio was a natural choice as it provides efficiencies for both our members and consumers – members get more function out of the two radios they are already including in devices, and consumers with Bluetooth 3.0 + HS products will get faster exchange of information without changing how they connect. We are excited to expand the possibilities of the PAN.”

SIG Director Foley explained to Dailywireless that it’s for Personal Area Networking, and device-to-device connectivity, not Wi-Fi applications like multi-user networking hubs or connecting your PC to a television. Next up is a prototype phase, said Dr. Foley, then it’s on to an actual chip implementation.

This newest version of Bluetooth technology builds on the inherent qualities of the current 2.1 + EDR version. That version made pairing different Bluetooth devices easier and more reliable among other features. As with all versions of the Bluetooth specification, v3.0 + HS provides backwards compatibility with the current spec. Once products reach the market, the easiest way for consumers to learn which devices are compatible with other Bluetooth enabled devices is to visit the Bluetooth Gadget Guide.

Consumers can expect to move large data files of videos, music and photos between their devices, without the need for cables and wires. Some applications consumers will experience include:

• Wirelessly bulk synchronize music libraries between PC and music player or phone
• Bulk download photos to a printer or PC
• Send video files from camera or phone to computer or television

The Bluetooth SIG’s formal adoption of the specification is only the first step in the product lifecycle. News out today from wireless chip manufacturers and Bluetooth SIG member companies Atheros,Broadcom and CSR shows the second step – getting silicon solutions to device manufacturers – is already underway. End products for consumers are expected to be in the market in 9 to 12 months.

This new specification includes several major enhancements:

•  Generic Alternate MAC/PHY (AMP)
•  802.11 Protocol Adaptation Layer (PAL)
• Generic Test Methodology
•  Enhanced Power Control
• Unicast Connectionless Data

On March 16, 2009, the WiMedia Alliance announced it is it will transfer all current and future specifications to Bluetooth, and the Wireless USB Forums. After completion of the technology transfer, the WiMedia Alliance will cease operations.

More than eight new Bluetooth enabled products are qualified every working day and more than 19 million Bluetooth units are shipping per week, says the Bluetooth SIG, with over two billion Bluetooth devices in the marketplace.

The Bluetooth SIG includes Promoter group companies Ericsson, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia and Toshiba, along with over 11,000 Associate and Adopter member companies. The Bluetooth SIG, Inc. headquarters are located in Bellevue, Washington.

source : dailywireless.org

Telsa Motors

President’s Day with a President by Jeremy Snyder General Manager Tesla Store Los Angeles published Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Thanks to an invitation from one of our early investors, I found myself spending Presidents Day at a round-table luncheon with former President Bill Clinton with a Sterling Silver Tesla Roadster Parked directly behind us. The round-table luncheon took place in Burbank, Calif., at the only LEED platinum-certified airplane hangar in the world.

The moderator was environmentalist, entrepreneur and best selling author Paul Hawken, who co-founded the Smith & Hawken garden supply company in the late 1970s, among other successful companies. Guests included state representatives, local mayors, green-tech business pioneers, environmentalists and journalists. Shangri La Industries hosted the event, whose purpose was to promote the idea that clean technology and “green collar” jobs could kick-start our sputtering economy.

President Clinton focused on what he’s been doing for nearly 30 years – encouraging politicians, business executives and consumers that green products and green public policy are good for the economy *and* the environment. “If the world decides tomorrow to change the way it uses energy, it would create more jobs in more places than anywhere in human history,” he said.

He certainly didn’t have to persuade me. I joined Tesla precisely because the company is a pioneer in defining the new green economy. Tesla represents a crusade to shift the misguided yet ubiquitous mindset that “green” equals sacrifice. Anyone who has driven a Roadster knows that the car is miles ahead of comparably priced internal combustion cars – yet it burns no oil, produces no tailpipe emissions and is at least twice as efficient as a Toyota Prius hybrid.

President Clinton spoke eloquently of how responsible businesses must use technology to save both the economy and the environment. He even singled out Tesla – several times, in fact — as a shining example of the green tech movement. Tesla, he said, enables people to upgrade their lifestyle but reduce their carbon footprint. I was very proud to say the least!

During lunch, President Clinton announced he was eager to take the Roadster for a ride around the block. After the event, while others crowded around to take photos, I handed the keys to America’s 42nd president and urged him to join other world leaders in test-driving the coolest car on the planet. Unfortunately, at that very moment the secret service told him he had to depart.

I do, however, have a feeling President Clinton will be taking us up on our open invitation!

source : http://www.teslamotors.com/blog3/

Google

Google’s Marissa Mayer

Posted by Sam Churchill on March 6th, 2009

Google’s VP for products Marissa Mayer was on Charlie Rose last night.

Michael Arrington has the transcript. If you don’t have 57 mintues to watch it, here are the bulletpoints from Business Insider:

• Voice search will be here in five years, vision search in ten.
• What’s the next big idea? Killer apps involving cell phones like Google Latittude.
• The differences between Larry and Sergey: Sergey likes math, Larry likes to look at interfaces.
• You can’t take down your Facebook Wall anymore. People will get suspicious.
• Steve Jobs is as much a technologist as a marketer.
• The Internet needs to be as fast to use as a magazine.
• Google advertisers aren’t used to the pace of the (Google) news cycle yet.
• Most startups become marketing driven or sales driven, but Google’s remained very technology driven.
• Yahoo’s lost a lot of their good people and that’s why’re they’re failing.
• Social networking “is the equivalent of user crack.”

Charlie Rose is in Silicon Valley this week. A conversation with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, is scheduled for tonight.

source : dailywireless.org

Rual Broadband Intensified

Push for Rural Broadband Intensified

Posted by Sam Churchill on March 12th, 2009

This week a crowd of several hundred people attended the first meeting at NTIA’s Washington headquarters on how two U.S. government agencies should spend about $7 billion to improve broadband deployment across the nation (pdf).

Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps asked; “Where’s the policy for broadband? Where’s the action? Where’s the beef?”

The broadband deployment programs, part of a $787 billion economic stimulus package approved by Congress in mid-February (recovery.gov), are designed to bring broadband service to unserved and “underserved” areas of the country. But officials at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture told the crowd they are just beginning to work on details of much of the program, including a definition for “underserved.”

• The NTIA was allocated $4.7 billion for broadband programs in the economic stimulus bill, and plans to give out three rounds of grants, with the first round coming between April and June. The NTIA is required to allocate all the money by September 2010.
• The Rural Utilities Service, with about $2.5 billion to allocate, will also have three rounds of grants and possibly loans, with a funding notice coming out within 60 to 90 days, said David Villano, assistant administrator for telecommunications programs at USDA’s rural development program.

Still, the agencies need to hammer out the details of the funding programs, and along with the FCC, they will hold a series of public meetings this month to gather comments. Most of the meetings will be in Washington, but one will be in Las Vegas on March 17 and one will be in Flagstaff, Ariz., on March 18.

Companies are actively positioning their solutions.

• AlphaStar, a hybrid satellite/terrestrial broadband wireless service, is promoting its system as a solution to rural broadband delivery. AlphaStar@Home does not go directly to your home via satellite, such as 2-way satellite providers Spaceway and Wild Blue. Instead, AlphaStar uses a hybrid delivery method with terrestrial wireless for last mile delivery.
  

  AlphaStar and Computers & Tele-Comm, (CTC) announced today a joint venture to provide very high speed WiMAX 4G services for any area anywhere across the entire USA using this hybrid approach.

  “President Obama approved over $7 billion to foster rural and accelerated urban broadband infrastructure,” according to CTC President, Graeme Gibson Gibson. “By partnering with AlphaStar, we can build complex projects in areas that nothing else can reach.

  Organizations and groups can download the CTC authored Rural Reference Model (pdf). This model will help operators in their planning and budgeting process as it supplies baseline references, technical capability, and integration with other systems, says the company. It reviews the costs and benefits of delivering the last mile by various flavors of WiFi and WiMAX.

• TerreStar Networks expects to launch its 2 GHz mobile services satellite, TerreStar-1 on May 28th, 2009. It will combine satphone service with terrestrial broadband. TerreStar expects to be the first to offer a fully optimized 4G IP network over satellite. TerreStar-1, with an antenna almost sixty feet across, will be able to communicate with terrestrial base stations and standard wireless devices. TerreStar Networks expects to launch its 2 GHz mobile services satellite, TerreStar-1 on May 28th, 2009.
  
• The ICO G1 satellite, a similar geosynchronous satellite, operated by Craig McCaw’s ICO, was launched from Cape Canaveral last year (on April 14, 2008). It was the largest commercial satellite ever launched. ICO Global Communications also plans to supplement satphone service with an ancillary terrestrial component. The land-based network (ATC), when combined with ICO satellite coverage, will provide ubiquitous national coverage to end users, says the company. ICO has been surprisingly low key in promoting the service.
• Inmarsat released their 2008 results today — and the numbers are up. Total revenue for 2008 was $996.7 million, vrs $576.5 million in 2007, while EBITDA was $531.2 million vrs $388.1 million in 2007.
  

  Their new global I-4 spotbeam satellite network was successfully transferred to the latest Inmarsat-4 (I-4) F1 spacecraft on 24 February, 2009 and brings Inmarsat’s satellite repositioning programme to a successful conclusion.

  Chairman and CEO Andrew Sukawaty said, “In 2008 we saw sustained growth across all our market sectors and have delivered results well ahead of market expectations. Despite global economic uncertainty, Inmarsat Core trading results since the start of the year have been positive and we remain cautiously optimistic that we can deliver solid revenue growth in 2009.”

• Alvarion also offers a complete line of RUS-accepted solutions with “Buy American” status using a range of unlicensed, semi-licensed and licensed frequencies. Alvarion says you can build your rural wireless network using 3.65, 5.3, 5.4, 5.8, 4.9, 2.3 or 2.5 GHz and qualify for funding by using RUS-accepted Alvarion solutions if you are currently working on projects to bring wireless broadband access to rural communities or have plans to develop such projects.
• Proxim Wireless announced a new bundle of wireless broadband radios designed for broadband connectivity, in association with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, The German Konjunkturpaket, the Digital Britain plan and more). Proxim is bundling 20 of their new Tsunami 5012-CPE license-free WiMAX subscriber units, designed specifically for the global residential market. In addition, they announced today their Government Grant Resource Guide which provides an overview of the options that are available to help fund wireless broadband networks.

Craig Settles, an industry analyst who helps community organizations develop broadband solutions, argues for municipally owned wireless broadband, even though most of the city-run WiFi networks have been a failure.

The premise behind the anti-muni position is that it’s a bad idea for municipalities to own broadband networks, or partner with private sector companies in broadband projects because muni-wireless networks failed. This premise doesn’t reflect two key points.

First, muni wireless as a government policy took hold because of blatant failure and direct refusal of incumbents to provide adequate service in rural and urban communities that wanted them. This has not changed. Even as incumbents come to the table of broadband stimulus, their supporters keep trying to justify the position that it’s not profitable to bring service to many of these communities. Or if only one service exists, no matter how bad it is, then no money should go toward developing other options. Sock puppets keep preaching the word that free market dynamics will save un-served communities–some day.

Second, many muni-wireless projects failed not because they were bad ideas, but because they were driven by an incredibly bad business model: private sector companies would bear all the costs AND give away many of the access services for free. One of the more awesome aspects of the stimulus bill is that it pushes grantees to have a business plan for sustaining broadband projects that get funded. In other words, those drafting the bill saw the muni-wireless problems for what they were–a failure of adequate planning.

A Tech Policy Institute broadband report (pdf) argues the U.S. is doing okay. When normalized by population, the U.S. ranks behind 14 other countries in penetration per capita by the OECD’s count. Broadband is available nearly everywhere in the U.S., but not everyone subscribes. According to the NTIA, 92 percent of U.S. households could subscribe to cable broadband services by the end of 2007 and 79 percent of households that could receive telephone service could obtain DSL.

The FCC estimates that telcos had been overpaid by $970 million, or 23%, from the High-Cost Universal Service Fund. Telecommunications providers must contribute to the USF fund through an assessment on their interstate and international revenues. The High Cost USF program ensures that consumers in rural, insular, and high-cost areas have access to telecommunications services at rates that are affordable and reasonably comparable to those in urban areas.

source : dailywireless.org

Google Voice

Google Voice: One Number & More

Posted by Sam Churchill on March 12th, 2009

Google is entering the Internet phone market with a product aimed at tying together all of your cellphone voicemail, landline messages and e-mail boxes.

Google Voice is a new program, coming soon, that assigns you a new central phone number to monitor all your various messages. Google Voice is currently available for GrandCentral users only, but will be open to new users soon.

You should be able to sign in to voice.google.com, pick up a new phone number in your local area code, and assign your various phone numbers to it. Now, when you get voice mail calls on your various phones, the messages are transcribed for free. They instantly show up in your Gmail e-mail box.

The service evolved from GrandCentral, which Google purchased last year. GrandCentral enables you to have one phone number that rings all your phones. Sometime today, GrandCentral should morph into Google Voice.

The free service offers the following features:

• Single number, follow-me ring / Internet calling - A single phone number consolidates all your other numbers.
• Multiservice, visual voicemail - Lets you see your voicemail queue and listen to messages online.
• Better text messaging - It can route text messages the same way as voice calls.
• Voicemail Transcription - Google’s transcription service uses a computer-based speech-to-text system.
• Free Conference Calling - Just ask participants to dial into your Google Voice number and press a button.

Unlike Gmail, there are no ads. Google hopes to make money on Voice by selling low-cost international calls.

source : dailywireless.org

Religion is a Control Tool

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Religion is a Control Tool