Cisco Government Affairs E-Update

Volume 1, Issue 17
8 Jun 2001
Brought to you by Cisco Government Affairs Online: www.cisco.com/gov

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NEW UPDATED FACTS AND STATS!!!!

-Technology companies that used the Internet as part of their business in 2000 experienced 2.7 times higher productivity than those that did not use the Web (13.4% increase vs. 4.9% increase). (PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mar. 2001).

- Almost 1 billion people around the world will be using the Internet by 2005, according to IDC. This growth will drive e-commerce revenues to over USD5 trillion by 2005, up from USD354 billion in 2000. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356808&rel=true

For hundreds of Facts & Stats on the Internet, the Internet Economy and Internet related processes go to Cisco Government Affairs Facts and Stats page. http://www.cisco.com/gov/factsNStats/index.html

This Week@Cisco in Government Affairs

CISCO@WASHINGTON, DC

EDUCATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE – Cisco Washington Representative Michael Timmeny Cisco Washington, DC intern Rebecca Wright this week attended a White House briefing on the President's education bill. A poll showing support for testing was presented. Speaking to the group was Margaret LaMontagne, the President's Domestic Policy Advisor and Sandy Kress, who is a principal adviser to the president on education.

Poll Results discussed at White House education briefing http://www.ets.org/aboutets/measure.html

(Educational Testing Service (ETS) Report)

TAX CUT SIGNED INTO LAW - President Bush this week signed into law the $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax relief package. The law does not include a permanent extension of the research and development tax credit that business and technology interests had sought. But it does include some tech-related language, such as a tax break for parents who buy computers or Internet access for their children.

NO CHANGE IN E-RATE - The FCC probably will not go forward this year with its proposal to adjust the way it calculates which schools receive e-rate funds because the overwhelming number of comments from education groups and the telecommunications industry indicated the timing was bad, according to sources familiar with the comments. (TechDaily)

PRESIDENTIAL PANEL SET TO URGE BIG TECH RESEARCH BOOST -

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010604/tc/technology_research_usa_dc_1.html

POWELL: CHANGES IN THE AIR FOR FCC - http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO61129,00.html

DEREGULATION KEY TO BROADBAND FREEDOM: http://www.pff.org/pr/pr060401AmSpec.htm

A market-oriented high-tech policy plan is vital to broadband deployment and thus to renewed vitality in the high-tech business sector, writes PFF President Jeffrey Eisenach in his latest American Spectator article. http://www.pff.org/AmSpecJune01.pdf (Adobe Reader required)

DOD WARNS OF WIRELESS SPECTRUM OVERLOAD - http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/4397-1.html

TAUZIN DINGELL BILL CRITICIZED AT JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING -

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week on HR 1542, the Tauzin/Dingell "Broadband" bill. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) are sponsors of a competing pair of bills that would provide further protection for Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs). Supporters of both the Tauzin/Dingell bill and the Cannon/Conyers bills assert that their bills would promote the deployment of broadband services. HR1542 is scheduled for markup by House Judiciary on Wednesday, June 13.

See, prepared statements of:

Jim Glassman (AEI): http://www.house.gov/judiciary/glassman_060501.htm

Margaret Greene (BellSouth): http://www.house.gov/judiciary/greene_060501.htm

Clark McLeod (McLeod USA): http://www.house.gov/judiciary/mcleod_060501.htm

and Tom Tauke (Verizon): http://www.house.gov/judiciary/tauke_060501.htm

Chairman Tauzin's bill would remove the current restrictions that prevent regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) from offering in-region long distance (i.e., interLATA) broadband Internet services. The current in-region interLATA restrictions, which Congress enacted as part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, allow RBOCs to offer long distance service only after opening up their local markets to competitors. Further, the bill would remove some of the unbundling, collocation, and interconnection requirements for all incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) in relation to the ILECs' broadband networks. H.R. 1542 also would require ILECs to build out their broadband facilities to their central offices over a five year period. Regarding Internet service providers (ISPs), the bill would: (1) require ILECs to allow users a choice of ISPs; (2) require ILECs to permit ISPs to interconnect with ILECs' high speed data service to provide Internet access; and (3) require ILECs to allow ISPs to collocate equipment in order to provide internet access to users. (Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP Update) http://www.swidlaw.com/

RURAL BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT BILLS INTRODUCED IN SENATE AND HOUSE - Companion rural broadband deployment bills were recently introduced in the Senate (S. 966) and in the House (H.R. 2038), entitled the "Rural Broadband Enhancement Act." The bills would make loans at 2 percent interest available for the costs of construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and equipment (including consumer equipment) to deliver broadband service in rural communities. The loans would be granted by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), in consultation with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Any non-Federal public or private entity that submits a plan in accordance with the bill's requirements may be eligible. An eligible project must have the capability to deliver broadband service and to make access to the same generally available throughout an "eligible rural community," which is a community that has fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. Also considered will be the extent to which the area is unserved or underserved by broadband service, the size of the area, and the potential number of subscribers to the broadband service available through the project. The aggregate value of the loans cannot exceed $3 Billion, and the program would end on September 30, 2006. (Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP Update) http://www.swidlaw.com/

U.S. FEDERAL BOARD GOVERNOR LAURENCE MEYER: "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NEW ECONOMY" - http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2001/20010606/default.htm

117,000 H1-B VISAS ISSUED SO FAR THIS YEAR - http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38893-2001Jun7.html

AMERICA’S FACE TO WORLD NOT HIGH-TECH - At the State Department, where government officials are responsible for watching the world, thousands of employees must get in line to use the World Wide Web. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010608/tc/wired_state_1.html

CISCO@INTERNATIONAL

This week Laura Ipsen, Director, Worldwide Government Affairs and Terry Walsh, Managing Director of Australia & New Zealand met with senior government officials from The National Office for the Information Industry (NOIE), the Department of Communications Competition and Consumer Branch (DCITA) Canberra, The Office of the Minister for Communications, Information Techhnology and the Arts, and Members of Parliament to discuss broadband, e-government and education issues in the country. While in Canberra, Cisco hosted a series of Senior Circle discussions to explore the status of the Internet Economy and the policies that will be critical for Australia's leadership in the region. Cisco IBSG staff Michael Gill and Martin Stewart-Weeks also participated in the meetings. Today, Australia has internet penetration of over 45% of its population.

AUSTRALIA PLANS NATIONAL BROADBAND BACKBONE - http://www.chronicle.com/free/2001/06/2001060403t.htm

BLAIR RE-ELECTED PRIME MINISTER OF U.K. - Tony Blair will return to Downing Street today after a second landslide general election victory and a rout for the Conservatives more dismal than 1997. The Prime Minister has won his place in the history books by becoming the first Labour leader to secure a second full term in office. He called the achievement “extraordinary . . . an historic moment. This country is a better country today than it was in 1997. I believe that five years from now it will be a better country than today.”

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,636-2001193617,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/08/world/08BRIT.html

EU TELECOMS REGULATORS UNITE FOR TOUGHER LINE - Telecoms regulators are planning to form a pan-European authority amid fears that multinational companies are "picking off" national regulators through concerted lobbying campaigns. The new regulatory body likely will have a formal legal status under the umbrella of European Union telecom legislation and would be the first EU-wide industry regulatory organization. But member governments have opposed the suggested plan. http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT33Q37VONC&live=true&tagid=ZZZPCGI2B0C&subheading=telecoms

E-GOVERNMENT APPEALS TO CANADIANS - Online voting would be readily accepted by Internet users in Canada, according to the results of a new poll from the CF Group.

http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356821&rel=true

REPORT URGES WORLD LEADERS NOT TO IGNORE "DIGITAL DIVIDE" - http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166432.html

Full report is available for purchase at http://www.idc.com

CONSOLIDATION OF CHINESE PORTALS SEEMS INEVITABLE - http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010605/wr/tech_china_internet_dc_1.html

CHINA AN 'OPPORTUNITY, NOT AN ENEMY' - China's developing high-technology industry is an opportunity for, not an enemy of, Taiwan's hi-tech sector, according to leading industry figures.

http://breakingnews.scmp.com/NLet/NLet.asp?Sec=technology&Id=ZZZPA9QCFNC

GERMANY TO ALLOW 3G NETWORK SHARING - http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1370000/1370948.stm

EU PROPOSES PLAN TO SECURE THE INTERNET - http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5092291,00.html

E-LEARNING AND E-TRAINING - http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/articles.html?id=010606000612&query=Cisco

FIRMS COUNTING ON EUROPE TO CATCH UP IN FOR LONG WAIT -

http://digitalmass.boston.com/news/globe_story.html?uri=/dailyglobe2/157/business/Firms_counting_on_Europe_to_catch_up_in_for_long_wait-.shtml

LATIN AMERICAN MOBILE WEB GROWING - Emarketer reports on a new study of the mobile Internet in Latin America which shows that 17 percent of Internet users in the region who already own a mobile phone plan to upgrade to a WAP phone in the next year.

http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356828&rel=true

YOUNG TAIWANESE ADDICTED TO NET - Over half of Taiwanese school students have been to a cybercafé, and 400,000 visit such cafés at least once a week. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356809&rel=true

SATELLITE INTERNET ACCESS ON THE RISE - The worldwide market for Internet access via satellite continued to grow steadily last year. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356829&rel=true

EUROPEAN ACCESS MARKET STILL GROWING - The European Internet access market is set to grow by a compound rate of 30 percent up to 2005, according to IDC. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356813&rel=true

BROADBAND IN SOUTH KOREA - South Korea boasts a broadband penetration rate of 50%, compared to 15% in the US. Senior Analyst Ben Macklin reviews the state of the high-speed market in the region. http://www.emarketer.com:8001/analysis/broadband/20010529_bband.html?ref=wn

CISCO@US STATES

BROADBAND HITS 9 MILLION-HOME MARK IN U.S. - http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5092009,00.html

CABLE TRUMPS DSL IN NORTH AMERICA - Kinetic Strategies Inc. finds that with 6.4 million cable modem customers in the US and Canada, cable multiple system operators (MSOs) hold a 70% share of the North American residential broadband market. As of 1 June 2001, digital subscriber line (DSL) providers counted 2.9 million residential subscribers in the region. Kinetic Strategies reports that the North American household penetration rate has reached 8.2%, and providers are adding an average of 119,000 new broadband customers per week.

E-LEARNING: BANDWIDTH, BANDWIDTH, BANDWIDTH - http://www.chronicle.com/free/v47/i39/39a03201.htm

UTAH GOVERNOR'S E-MAIL TO SILICON VALLEY FIRMS: “MOVE HERE, WORK HERE” -

http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=15447

INTERNET ACCESS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS ROSE TO 77% LAST YEAR - An estimated 77% of U.S. public-school classrooms had computers with Internet access last year, up from 64% in 1999, according to a recent U.S. government study. http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB991763657946918844.htm (paid subscription required)

FULL REPORT: "INTERNET ACCESS IN U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOMS 1994-2000" - http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001071

WHAT ARE THE "CYBERSTATES" IN THE U.S.? - http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166493.html

BROADBAND BATTLE IN RURAL VIRGINIA - The southwestern Virginia town of Bristol, with just 20,000 residents, is an outpost in a battle over who will wire rural America for high-speed Internet and data services.

http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB991860790592533441.htm (paid subscription required)

TRAINING PROMISED VIA NET IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/wednesday/atlanta_tech_b3d1abbb64b7526a1050.html

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS HIGH TECH COMMUNITY –

Issue of the week: Broadband Deployment - It is estimated that 2.5 BILLION hours were wasted with people accessing the Internet via dial-up. Broadband access, or always-on, high-speed internet, allows productivity increases, standard of living increases and new applications that haven't even been thought of. Broadband can be delivered via satellite, wireline, wireless, cable, fibre and technologies are being tested for access through electical wires. Broadband is the future of the internet and the future of communications. What are some examples of the ways broadband has added to your productivity?

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:

AUSTRALIAN PARENTS GO SURFING - According to a 2001 Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) study, 50% of parents from Australian households with internet access go online every day. 25% of children use the ’net every day, though 54% use it at least once a week. Just 7% of

Australians surveyed, however, view the internet as the most important medium for news and information.

DATA ON WIRELESS DATA - The North American wireless data market will grow to 137.5 million subscribers in 2005, Gartner Dataquest predicts. The market had 7.3 million users in 2000. While 38% of wireless data subscribers used circuit-switched service in 2000 – the most of any technology type -- Gartner forecasts that 70% will use the faster cellular packet networks by 2005.

INTERNET MORE THAN JUST THE WEB - Internet users in Asia spent a total of 284,830 days online in March 2001, according to NetValue. 52.1% of their time was spent on non-web protocols such as e-mail and instant messaging. China was the only country in the region where users dedicated more than one-half their time to the web. Hong Kong users led in percentage of time spent on instant messaging (32%), Taiwanese users led in e-mail (28%) and Korean users led in audio and video streaming (18%).

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.

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

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