|
Cisco Government
Affairs E-Update
Volume
1, Issue 11
27 April 2001
Brought to
you by Cisco Government Affairs Online: www.cisco.com/gov
CISCO.COM/GOV AND E-UPDATE FEEDBACK
As we continue to build out
Cisco’s Government Affairs web site, as well as our new service, this
E-Update, we welcome comments, criticisms, praise and suggestions.
Please send any feedback to John Earnhardt at jearnhar@cisco.com.
To contact any member of the
Government Affairs team, please visit our “Contact Us ” page. http://www.cisco.com/gov/contact/index_ext.html
This Week@Cisco
in Government Affairs
Top 10 Cisco
Network Academy Countries (by total academies)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States 3974
UK 521
Canada 237
China
138
Germany 127
Italy 125
Australia 115
Spain 101
Japan 99
Romania 96
Read more about Cisco
Network Academies at http://www.cisco.com/gov/people/cnap.html
CISCO@INTERNATIONAL
CISCO’S SCHEINMAN
AT SUMMIT OF AMERICA – Cisco Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs
met with world leaders this past weekend in Quebec City to discuss broadband’s
role in increasing productivity. His
message to government leaders, “Choose your nation’s standard of living.”
Read more at: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/ts_042201.html
SOUTH AFRICA
PLANS E-COMMERCE LAW - South Africa plans to introduce a long-awaited
new electronic-commerce law by the end of the year, Communications Minister
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said on Friday at the start of a two-day meeting
of industry players to thrash out aspects of the new regulations. http://special.scmp.com/NLet/NLet.asp?Sec=technology&SSec=internet&Id=ZZZ8BLI5SLC
(free registration
required)
IT E- PROCUREMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN ITALY: The Italian Government
s e-procurement business model that was implemented at the end of February
2000 in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness of public sector
purchases is performing well. Public e-procurement hinges on a dedicated
company, CONSIP S.p.a., owned by the Ministry of Treasury and responsible
for the public sector purchase of goods and services. According to reports
public administrations are saving costs in the range of 20% to 25% of
their annual aggregate budgeted expense
DE EXTENSION OF DEUTSCHE TELEKOMS XXL TARIFF: The German Regulatory Authority
for Telecommunications and Post has approved an extension of Deutsche
Telekom's "XXL tariff" which provides for flat rate Internet
usage until October 31 2001. Deutsche Telekom is obligated to report
to the regulator on the development of the number of users and on usage
in order to allow the regulator to monitor that pricing is cost oriented.
DK 3G AUCTION UPDATE: According to the latest information from the Government,
the 3G auction is to be held in July/August 2001 rather than September/October
2001 as previously contemplated. EU Commissioner Erkki Liikanen and
Danish consultants have criticised the rules of the auction for not
allowing potential bidders to cooperate in the funding of 3G networks.
HU STATUS OF THE DRAFT UNIFIED ACT ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS: The parliamentary
debates on the draft Unified Telecom Act are expected to drag on for
some time however there is still a chance that Parliament will approve
the bill during its spring session. Most of the Act's provisions are
expected to enter into force in December 2001 when Matáv's monopoly
for domestic long distance and international calls ends. The provisions
regarding significant market power (SMP) are expected to enter into
force on 1 October 2001 and regarding number portability on January
1 2003.
E-CONFIDENCE INITIATIVE: TIME FOR STAKEHOLDERS TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS -
The European Commission's e-confidence initiative has been a practical
response to the deficit between a growing rate of internet penetration
in Europe, and the continuing low confidence in e-commerce and cross-border
transactions.
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=MEMO/01/148|0|RAPID&lg=EN
E-MARKETPLACES: NEW CHALLENGES FOR ENTERPRISE POLICY, COMPETITION AND STANDARDIZATION
- Speech by Erkki LIIKANEN,
Member of the European Commission responsible for Enterprise
and the Information Society. Made at the Workshop on
"E-marketplaces: new challenges for enterprise policy, competition
and standardisation" in Brussels, 23 April 2001 -
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=SPEECH/01/179|0|RAPID&lg=EN
ENDESA ANNOUNCES INTERNET CONNECTION
THROUGH ELECTRICITY , FASTER THAN THROUGH CABLE OR ADSL - Endesa
anuncia el éxito de la conexión a Internet a través de la electricidad.
http://www.expansiondirecto.com/edicion/noticia/0,2458,9267,00.html
(In Spanish)
SINGAPORE TO
GIVE BROADBAND A PUSH - The Singapore Government said it plans to spend
up to S$30 million (about US$16.5 million) to boost the pace of innovation
and adoption of broadband internet services and applications. http://special.scmp.com/NLet/NLet.asp?Sec=technology&SSec=internet&Id=ZZZUVRKKYLC
(free registration
required)
LONG DISTANCE BATTLE IN BRAZIL - VoIP -- voice over Internet protocol --
offers the ability to call anyone using a PC with an Internet connection.
The call can arrive directly in the phone equipment at very low rates.
Sometimes, for free. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,43194,00.html
CISCO@WASHINGTON, DC
FDR AND GOP
- Republican lawmakers are touting a solution to America's economic
woes that is more FDR than GOP: a government program to subsidize the
spread of broadband Internet services to the nation's hinterlands. http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,23860,00.html
RURAL STATES
PROMOTE ROCKEFELLER TAX-INCENTIVE BILL - Rural states, seeking ways
to get high-speed Internet access to their residents, are urging Congress
to approve a tax-incentive bill proposed by Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller,
D-W.Va., saying states have had success with similar measures. (National
Journal’s Tech Daily)
TAUZIN PUSHES
THROUGH BROADBAND BILL - Under the watchful eye of sponsor Rep. W. J.
"Billy" Tauzin, a House subcommittee passed a bill Thursday
that would engineer major changes in the 1996 Telecom Act long sought
by the regional Bells.
http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?96195:3446579
CLECs OPPOSE
TAUZIN-DINGELL BROADBAND BILL - Upon the reintroduction of a bill seen
as damaging to their industry, competitive telecommunications groups,
Internet service providers and other groups organized a press conference
this week denouncing the legislation. The groups criticized the measure
as "more special favors for the Regional Bell operating companies"
that would "threaten the future of competition in the telecommunications
industry," according to a release from Voices for Choices. (National
Journal’s Tech Daily) http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20010425S0007
THE DEPARTMENT
OF COMMERCE will invite some 20 Latin American information technology
anagers to the US for some heavy e-business training with some of the
nation's largest manufacturing and service companies. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/164829.html
http://www.ita.doc.gov/media/fellowship423.html
ACLU CRITICIZES
BUSH'S ATTITUDE TOWARD VOTING REFORM - With the U.S. House holding its
first hearing on election reform Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) said President Bush and congressional Republicans are not
doing enough to fix the nation's election system.
"To borrow a basketball metaphor," said Christopher
Anders, an ACLU legislative counsel, "it looks like President Bush
and the majority party are trying to run out the clock on election-reform
legislation." Despite the need to act quickly, Anders added, Bush
did not include any funds for election reform in the budget he sent
to Congress. (National Journal’s TechDaily)
CISCO@US STATES
ALEC STUDY:
INCREASED EDUCATION SPENDING DOESN'T IMPROVE PERFORMANCE -
Spending more
on education doesn't mean students learn more, says a new study on student
achievement. The study shows no evident correlation between conventional
measures of educational inputs, such as expenditures per pupil and teacher
salaries, and educational outputs, such as average scores on standardized
tests.
http://www.alec.org/admin/uploadedfiles/education2000.pdf
WIRELESS LAPTOPS
FOR COLLEGE - Framingham State College plans to require all freshmen
to own wireless laptop computers next year, becoming the first Massachusetts
public campus to mandate that students use the technology in their classes.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/114/metro/College_will_require_laptops+.shtml
INVESTIGATING
INNOVATION - When governments come up with innovations, they are often
widely celebrated. But the process of innovating has been largely ignored.
In a new report from the PricewaterhouseCoopers Endowment for the Business
of Government, The Challenge of Innovating in Government, researchers
surveyed government innovations award-winners in the United States and
the British Commonwealth to chart obstacles to innovation and determine
how those obstacles are overcome. The report identified five building
blocks to innovation, including a systems approach, new technology,
process improvement, outside involvement and community empowerment.
The report is available at www.endowment.pwcglobal.com/grantdetails.asp?gid=84
OREGON GROUPS
STAND AGAINST NET TAXES - A bill to ban Internet sales taxes
is on its way to the Oregon House after winning Senate passage, and
grassroots activists are celebrating the moment.
CALIFORNIA
PANEL APPROVES VOTING-TECHNOLOGY BILLS - The California Assembly
Elections Committee this week tackled two voting-technology bills. The
sponsors of A.B. 55 and A.B. 56 now back each other's bills, which means
they could move as a package, according to the California Voter Foundation. Before approving A.B. 55 on an 11-4 vote, the
committee amended it to include provisions on training poll workers,
allowing Internet voting at polling places and posting a "voters'
bill of rights" at precincts. But some lawmakers expressed concern
about the absence of a paper trail with electronic voting.
SITE
OF THE WEEK – ITALIAN GOVERNMENT
BROADBAND SITE
The government
of Italy has established a site for the roll-out of broadband, including
action plans for “Broad band Infrastructures as a Fundamental Condition
for Development.”
The
site (In English): http://www.palazzochigi.it/fsi/eng/approfondimenti_eng/broadband.htm
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS HIGH TECH COMMUNITY
Issue of the week:
Broadband Deployment - Add your thoughts at Cisco’s High Tech Community
- http://forums.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Community/HtCom?page=main.
FACTS
AND STATS OF THE WEEK:
INTO THE FUTURE
- An e-business survey from IDC asserts that over the four-year period beginning in 2001, more than $5 trillion will
be spent worldwide to develop more efficient ways to conduct business
online. IDC predicts that the number of e-business websites will double
during the period and that by 2005 US consumers will spend $700 billion
on goods and services purchased online. By that year, the survey also
forecasts, 30% of internet users will be native English speakers.
INTERNET BIG
IN JAPAN - The Japanese government reports that 37.1% of the population,
or over 47 million people, had access to the internet in 2000. It was
an increase of 74% from the previous year. 37.2 million people (29.3%
of the population) accessed the web from personal computers, while 24.4
million (19.3%) used mobile phones. Another 1.38 million used video
game systems or televisions. The government said that the sum of the
individual access figures exceed the 47 million total because many users
accessed the internet using more than one device.
UNCLE SAM GOES
ONLINE - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reports that including returns
prepared by accountants and other professionals, a total of about 40
million tax returns will be filed online in 2001. 6.6% of US taxpayers
filed using their home computer, a 35% increase from 2000. The 40 million
electronic returns represent a record 30% of all US filings, but the
IRS hopes to increase the figure to 80% by 2007.
For more Facts and
Stats on the New Economy, visit our Facts and Stats page.
Also, see our special State of the Internet report on this page.
For daily, topical
Facts and Stats visit our Hot
In Tech page.
TECH
NEWS STORIES OF THE WEEK
POWER FIRM
USES NET TO CONTROL AIR-CONDITIONERS - The Long Island Power Authority
(LIPA) in New York has come up with a novel way to
conserve electricity, it plans to regulate central air-conditioning
in homes and small businesses remotely through the Internet.
http://special.scmp.com/NLet/NLet.asp?Sec=technology&SSec=internet&Id=ZZZDELI5SLC
(free registration
required)
PACT PAVES
WAY FOR INTERNET WATCHES - AOL Time Warner said it signed a pact with
Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group that involves the development of a new
line of watch products that enable Internet access. http://special.scmp.com/NLet/NLet.asp?Sec=technology&SSec=leinews&Id=ZZZATRKKYLC
(free registration
required)
INTERNET SUBSCRIBERS
IN MEXICO CHOOSE TELMEX - According to Mexican newspaper El Financiero,
telecommunications company Telmex has the greatest number of internet
subscribers in Mexico. Telmex had 563,000 registered users at the end
of Q1 2001. Spanish internet portal Terra follows with 136,000 registered
users and America Online Latin America (AOLA) has 70,000 registered
subscribers. El Financiero states that although AOLA is aggressively
marketing in the country, it is not available in important cities such
as Acapulco, Oaxaca, Cancun, Zacatecas and Mexicali.
SMALL INTERNET
PRESENCE OF EUROPEAN SMEs - A recent Gallup poll found that 70% of European
small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) do not have internet access.
Gallup reports that there are 19 million SMEs in Europe and less than
one-third are active in business-to-business or business-to-consumer
markets.
ITALY – 15.4% of the Italian children (350.000) going to elementary schools
(6 to 11 years) are surfing over the Internet. And 1 million and half of those, regularly
uses a PC. It is the result of a survey conducted by EURISPES in Italy. http://www.tgcom.it/ArticoloTgCom/articoli/articolo3466.shtml
ALMOST 35 MILLION
MOBILE WEB USERS IN ASIA - The number of mobile Internet users in the
Asia-Pacific region reached 34.4 million by the end of 2000, an increase
of 29 percent in 3
months, according
to Dataquest, a Gartner company.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356670&rel=true
SPANISH B2C
REMAINS SLOW TO TAKE OFF - Europemedia reports that online sales represent
less than 1 percent of all retail sales in Spain and further growth
is not expected in the
short-term.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356668&rel=true
OVER HALF OF
US FIRMS IN EARLY STAGE OF EBUSINESS - Eighty-eight percent of US businesses
now see the Internet as important to their buying plans and over a quarter
say they see cost savings from doing business online. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356671&rel=true
DIGITAL DIVIDE
PERSISTS IN LATIN AMERICA - A new report from Dataquest, which is owned
by Gartner, shows that the digital divide in Latin America is widening.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356662&rel=true
ONE IN EIGHT
HUNGARIANS HAS NET ACCESS - Europemedia reports that 14 percent of Hungarians
over the age of 15 now have Internet access, up from 9 percent in 1998.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356673&rel=true
DSL USERS JUST
LOVE THEIR HIGH-SPEED NET - Internet users with high-speed DSL connections
at home say their DSL link is an important household technology and
would rather sacrifice other media before they gave up their DSL.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356682&rel=true
INTERNET USERS
IN US SPENDING LONGER ONLINE - US Internet users are going online more
often and staying online for longer, according to new data from Jupiter
Media Metrix.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356672&rel=true
JAPANESE 3G
ON HOLD - In a serious blow to hotly hyped third-generation (3G) cell
phone services, Japanese wireless giant NTT DoCoMo Inc said on Tuesday
it was delaying the commercial launch of the world's first 3G network
by four months.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010424/tc/telecoms_docomo_dc_3.html
DRIVEN BY THE
GROWTH OF DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE (DSL) SERVICES, the global business
broadband sector will provide rich pickings for broadband service providers.
It will also enable small- to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to purchase
high-speed internet at a fraction of the cost of previous technologies.
http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/broadband/20010424_bband.html
3G IS NOT BROADBAND
- In the recently published eMarketer Broadband Report™, broadband internet
was defined as connectivity speeds of 256kbps and higher downstream
and a return path of 56kbps or greater, regardless of the device. In
the context of mobile wireless devices, the much talked-about third
generation (3G) of networks will not fulfill this definition for at
least the next five years, according to Durlacher's UMTS Report.
http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/wireless/20010427_wireless.html
(click on link to view graph)
CHINA UNHURRIED
ON 3G - Who needs 3G? Not mainland China or its twin cellular phone
giants, China Mobile (Hong Kong) and China Unicom, which bask in a wireless
market that could be the world's largest by next year and has no near-term
demand for any fancy, expensive, untested mobile high-speed third-generation
Internet technology. http://special.scmp.com/NLet/NLet.asp?Sec=technology&SSec=comm&Id=ZZZIIVKKYLC
HONG KONG SURFERS
PREFER LIFE IN FAST LANE - More than half of Hong Kong's 2.2 million
home Internet users will be surfing the Web on broadband connections
within a few months, according to a local research firm. http://special.scmp.com/NLet/NLet.asp?Sec=technology&Id=ZZZQTWKKYLC
(free registration
required)
CISCO
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS@2001
Cisco’s
top policy focuses for 2001 are the areas of Education, Broadband Deployment
and eGovernment. To read or
listen to our thoughts on these issues, please visit our Government Affairs home page or our visit
our multimedia section . http://www.cisco.com/gov/multimedia/index.html
E-UPDATE ARCHIVE
To view past issues
of Cisco’s Government Affairs E-Update, visit our E-Update Archive page . http://www.cisco.com/gov/archive/eupdates/index.html
DISCLAIMER
Positions in articles
and papers from outside sources are in no way endorsed by Cisco Systems'
Office of Government Affairs. We offer articles on topics of interest
to our audience to further the debate on the issues that are important
to high-tech. To view our positions
on the policy matters that we care about, please visit our Government Affairs homepage. – http://www.cisco.com/gov
SUBSCRIBING/UNSUBSCRIBING:
You are receiving this
update because you requested it. If you no longer wish to receive
this update, send a message with “unsubscribe” in the subject line to
gov-update@cisco.com.
If you received this
message because it was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe to
this weekly E-Update, please send a message to gov-update@cisco.com
with “Subscribe” in the subject line.
Or, visit our Government Affairs homepage (www.cisco.com/gov)
and click on the “Subscribe” button in the lower left-hand corner.
|