Group items tagged

Vint Cerf - Caught off Guard - Nevertheless Says what Needs to Be Said about our Misguided Policy

Basically it’s like little kids throwing a tantrum - I am not going to build this system unless you give me three scoops of ice cream and a pony.

Because this is serious infrastructure. It is very much like the road system and I have been ridiculed for suggesting that it be treated like the road system. “Oh you want the government to take over.”

"Today's vote is good news for European consumers," said Viviane Reding, the EU Telecoms Commissioner. "The European Parliament has today voted in favour of a strong and competitive Single Telecoms Market without borders for cross-border services, competition and investment in Europe. This will level the playing field for telecoms operators in Europe, enhance legal certainty, and broaden consumer choice."

the European Parliament today voted in favour of establishing a European telecoms regulator.

new body will be financed from the EU budget in order to strengthen its independence and to ensure equality among national regulators.

O3b Networks’ operational and technical development is well underway. Production of the initial constellation of 16 satellites has begun. The system’s 2,133 transponder equivalents will deliver low-latency Internet backhaul at speeds reaching 10 gigabits per second. Service activation is scheduled for late 2010. The scalable nature of the system allows for additional satellites to increase capacity and meet growing demand.

Since 2001 the UK Government has provided one billion pounds of “incentive” through state aid (channeled through the Regional Development Authorities), public-private partnerships and induced/aggregated demand from public services (egovernment projects, schools- and hospitals-online) to get BT to install DSL equipment in areas where the company said it was not “economically viable.” For documentation see “Broadband Procurement To Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness of Public Service Delivery” by Mike Gunston, UK Office of Government Commerce, presented at an OECD Broadband Workshop, Paris, France (2-4 December 2002). This huge subsidy bribe sum was supposed to achieve the Government’s goal of making the UK “the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by 2005″ (UK online: the broadband future - An action plan to facilitate roll-out of higher bandwidth and broadband services, Office of the e-Envoy, 13 February 2001).)

UK next-generation access: BT Vision or BT expediency?

But it would be a mistake to see the greatest pressure coming from the ‘fast’ end of the broadband market; in fact, it’s coming from the slow end

In several other European markets outside the UK, more than 15% of broadband subscriptions (as much as 30% in some) are now on cellular networks – up from next to nothing one year ago