Cisco Government
Affairs E-Update
Volume 2, Issue 11
8 March 2002
Brought to you by
Cisco Government Affairs Online: http://www.cisco.com/gov
This Week@Cisco in Government Affairs
Cisco's E-Update
keeps you up to date on the major policy news of the week. Focusing
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and telecom in general, the E-Update is a great source of information
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INTERNET AND BROADBAND MILESTONES
HALF
BILLION PEOPLE HAVE HOME NET ACCESS
- Nearly half a billion people around the world had access to the
Internet from their homes by the end of last year, Nielsen/NetRatings
said Thursday. The Internet measurement firm said some 498 million
people could surf the web from home by the end of 2001, a jump of
5.1 percent from the figure in July-September. People in Asia continued to hook up faster
than anywhere else, with home web access growing 5.6 percent in the
last three months of the year from the previous quarter.
Europeans were next, with connections up 4.9 percent, followed
by computer users in Latin America and the United States, which had
respective growth rates of 3.3 and 3.5 percent.
North America continued to have the largest share of the global
Internet audience at 40 percent. Europe, Middle East and Africa accounted
for 27 percent and Asia 22 percent. Some 60 percent of households
in Singapore could log on to the Net.
South Korea and Hong Kong ranked second and third at 58 and
56 percent, respectively. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=582&u=/nm/20020307/wr_nm/tech_internet_dc_4
U.S. BROADBAND NET
USE EXCEEDS 50% FOR FIRST TIME - Surfing the Net via broadband
made up more than half of the time U.S. Internet users spent online
in January, the first time high-speed usage has outpaced that of narrowband,
Nielsen//NetRatings said today. The milestone comes as new research
shows that the Internet is becoming a more integral part of everyday
life while Congress mulls changes that would relax regulations on
broadband. Broadband use totaled
nearly 1.2 billion hours, or about 51 percent, of the 2.3 billion
online hours logged altogether last month, the audience measurement
service said. That shows a dramatic increase over year-ago usage,
which came to 727 million broadband hours or 38 percent of the total
time spent online. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174980.html,
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-852084.html
This Week@WASHINGTON, DC
COMMERCE
SECRETARY CALLS BROADBAND 'NEXT BIG MOVE' AND A WHITE HOUSE PRIORITY
- The Bush administration recognizes that "broadband
is the next big move and revelation in this high-tech world we are
moving into," Commerce Secretary Donald Evans said on Wednesday,
stressing that the provision of high-speed Internet services is very
important to the president. Evans
said he saw firsthand the benefits of high-speed Internet access when
he served on the Board of Regents at the University of Texas and the
university was experimenting with distance learning and health science
offerings online. Broadband will transform lives" by "delivering
knowledge all around the world," Evans said.
The administration needs to focus on "broadband potential
for the next decade and beyond," he said. It will be essential
to helping the poorest countries pull themselves out of poverty by
bringing education to the far reaches of the world and bringing state-of-the-art
health care to areas that currently lack it, he said.
http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/techdaily/pmedition/tp020306.htm
(Paid subscription required)
SPEECH: "BROADBAND:
THE SKY'S THE LIMIT AND IT'S NOT FALLING (YET)" - Remarks by
Bruce P. Mehlman, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, United
States Department of Commerce: “Why is Broadband So Important? - Economic
Growth - We saw the economic value of the Internet
and information technologies during last decade. According to the
Commerce Department's Economic & Statistics Administration, IT-producing
industries (which represent only 7% of all businesses): accounted
for roughly 28% of overall real economic growth between 1996-2000;
created jobs twice as fast as the national average from 1992-2000,
jobs with high economic impact because they paid on average twice
as much as other private sector jobs; reduced overall inflation. From
1989 to 2000, inflation in IT-intensive industries was just 1.3% per
year on average, compared with 3% in less-IT intensive industries;
and improved American productivity. IT products and IT-producing industries
have contributed roughly two-thirds of the extraordinary American
productivity growth that appeared in the latter half of the 1990s.
And it's worth noting that this productivity endures. During each
of the previous eight recessions, productivity growth has turned negative.
By contrast, during the economic downturn of 2001, productivity growth
has remained robust at well over 2%. We believe broadband - high-speed,
high capacity Internet access and usage - can extend the IT revolution
and further improve U.S. productivity and competitiveness, helping
to restore robust growth to our economy and increasing Americans'
standard of living in the 21st century.” http://www.ta.doc.gov/Speeches/BPM_020304_Sky+Limit.htm
TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL
K. POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Before the
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary of the
Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, on the FCC's Fiscal Year
2003 Budget Estimates - “I noted that one of the FCC's central policymaking
focuses is, and should be, the promotion of efficient, widespread
deployment of broadband infrastructure. Recognizing the importance
of broadband deployment—a topic of conversation that is extensively
discussed here on Capitol Hill, as well as at the Commission, Wall
Street, and Main Street—the Commission is taking a concerted, comprehensive
approach to bring regulatory clarity to what is, at best, a murky
and confusing policy area. To that end, the Commission has committed
significant resources to consider and initiate several proceedings
that pointedly address broadband issues. Of course, our actions in
this area will first and foremost be grounded in the Act, taking into
account the statutory objectives of competition, universal service,
and consumer protection. It
is important to emphasize that while we have committed significant
resources to initiating or completing various rulemakings, the legal
and regulatory issues implicated here have yet to be resolved. But
they must be resolved if we collectively intend to facilitate the
ubiquitous availability of broadband to all Americans. The Commission
welcomes the input of all Americans in our deliberative process—especially
the opinions of the Members of this Subcommittee and Congress as a
whole—as we proceed in developing a regulatory framework for successful
broadband deployment.” http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-220614A1.pdf
(Adobe file)
BUSH TECH ADVISORS
WILL TACKLE BROADBAND DEMAND - White House high-tech
advisors hope by June to recommend some "first steps" that
the Bush administration can take to boost demand for broadband Internet
service among U.S. consumers. "It turns out that the access to
existing broadband ... is not being exploited by consumers,"
President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)
Co-chairman John Marburger told reporters on a conference. The panel
will look at what sorts of applications need to be developed to spur
consumer demand for broadband as well as what obstacles may be standing
in the way of broadband adoption, Marburger said. Among those possible
obstacles, the panel will address security concerns, pricing issues
and the extent to which copyright restrictions are preventing consumers
from having access to rich broadband content. http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/15494-1.html
ELEPHANT MISSING
FROM THE CIRCUS: WHERE’S THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION? - In
the wake of last week’s House vote on Tauzin-Dingell, the focus of
the broadband circus now moves on to other rings:
the Senate, the FCC, and even the Supreme Court. More political
animals than ever are expected to be on display when action resumes,
with traditional telecommunications players in the show increasingly
joined by Internet and other tech industry players. Yet, there’s an
elephant missing from the tent: the
Bush Administration. After months of internal deliberation, the executive
branch has not staked out a position on broadband regulation. How
and when it finally does so will be a critical factor in the show’s
finale. The recent 271-158 House vote for the Tauzin-Dingell bill
was a significant boost for broadband deregulation. But conventional wisdom uniformly, and correctly,
says the bill stands no chance in the Senate. Perhaps more fruitful
would be a broader, less Bell-oriented approach addressing impediments
to wireless and cable broadband, and broadband content, in addition
to telephone issues. Otherwise, the Senate debate may disintegrate
into efforts to increase regulation, not reduce it.
For these reasons, most eyes are focusing on ring number two,
the FCC. The Commission now has five proceedings underway which promise
regulatory relief of one kind or another for broadband.
But no final actions have been taken; even tentative conclusions
have been few. Many deregulation supporters are worried –
why isn’t Chairman Powell moving faster? http://www.cei.org/gencon/016,02839.cfm
NTIA
URGES FCC TO PERMIT LIMITED SECONDARY MARKETS FOR SPECTRUM - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA) submitted a comment to the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) in its long running rule making proceeding regarding taking
tentative steps towards creating secondary markets for spectrum. The
NTIA submitted its comment in the form of a letter from NTIA Director
Nancy Victory to FCC Chairman Michael Powell. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fccfilings/2002/secmarkets_030702.htm
POLITICAL MEDDLING
IN THE INTERNET IS ON THE RISE AND NEEDS TO END - Only a few years
ago, politicians and regulators at least paid lip service to the idea
that government should stay out of the Internet as much as possible.
So why is everyone in Washington clamoring to meddle in the online
world now? At the Federal
Communications Commission, a new proposal would make it easier for
the Bells to dominate high-speed Internet service. In Congress, the
controversial Tauzin-Dingell bill seeks to accomplish the same thing.
Meanwhile, over at the Copyright Office, they're mulling a plan that
could kill the fledgling Internet radio industry. And if Sen. Fritz
Hollings has his way, the personal computers of the future will be
designed to congressional specifications.
Nothing escapes government entanglement, of course. But this
current flurry of activity is especially troubling for two reasons.
First, technology is complicated, which makes these issues easy to
get wrong. Second, all of the measures directly affect consumers --
yet consumers seem to have very little voice in these debates.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1015192154381628400.djm,00.html
(Paid subscription required)
HOUSE
COOL TO COPY PROTECTION - The
U.S. House of Representatives doesn't seem willing to intercede in
an increasingly bitter dispute over embedding copy protection controls
in all consumer electronic devices. Key legislators in the House have
indicated they're skeptical of the government mandating anti-piracy
technology, an approach that Democrats of the Senate Commerce Committee
endorsed during a hearing last Thursday. Fretting that online piracy of digital content
will imperil sales, Hollywood studios have asked Congress to bypass
their negotiations with Silicon Valley firms by requiring that all
PCs and consumer electronics sport technology to prohibit illicit
copying. Senate Commerce Chairman Fritz Hollings (D-South Carolina)
has championed this approach. "Mr.
Coble believes Hollings' approach would have the government mandate
specific software standards governing encryption or access to copyrighted
works, which are transmitted digitally in lieu of negotiated industry
standards," said a spokesman for Rep. Howard Coble (R-North Carolina),
the chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50784,00.html
BUSH'S TOP IT OFFICIAL, NORM LORENTZ,
TALKS ON TAXES AND TECHNOLOGY -Imagine April 15 becoming an insignificant date on the
calendar. Anyone who
pays federal income taxes -- and spends hours filling out forms and
hunting for financial records just to meet that tax deadline -- probably
wouldn't mind avoiding that deadline each year. Norman Lorentz wouldn't
mind, either. Lorentz is the Bush administration's new chief
technology officer, and a big part of his work is overseeing a major
effort to coordinate the government's now largely disparate online
efforts to make them more user-friendly. The Bush administration's
$2.1 trillion budget plan for the government's next fiscal year calls
for the elimination of what it calls "islands of automation."
http://www.idg.net/ic_827192_1794_9-10000.html
E-GOV CHIEF PUSHES
TEAMWORK - E-government chief Mark Forman told a gathering of government
and industry executives today that sharing information is not enough
to produce a true e-government for citizens.
He said that integration of information across agencies is
the key and that working together is the way to get it done.
"One thing we've learned from homeland security is that
we have to get together." http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0304/web-forman-03-04-02.asp
IRS CRITICIZED OVER
MODERNIZATION - The Internal Revenue Service received bad marks in
a new report that said the tax agency's modernization program has
encountered cost overruns and delays.
The latest criticism of the multibillion-dollar effort to modernize
the IRS' computers comes from the Treasury Department's inspector
general for tax administration. The IG said that a review of four
audits of systems modernization projects showed that the IRS and its
prime contractor, Computer Sciences Corp., "have been overly
optimistic about their timetable" for delivering changes, and
changes are needed to make sure there are no problems. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0304/web-irs-03-07-02.asp
USDA PLANNING TELECOM
NETWORK - The Agriculture Department plans
to build a departmentwide telecommunications network that would provide
a scalable, secure and reliable infrastructure for data, according
to Ira Hobbs, acting chief information officer at the USDA.
Hobbs said planning for the "universal
telecommunications network" is in its early stages. However,
within the next six months, he hopes to complete a business case for
the program. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0304/web-usda-03-05-02.asp
CONTRACT
FOR HIGH-SPEED DEFENSE NETWORK PUT ON HOLD AGAIN - The saga over the award of a high-speed Defense Department network contract
continued Friday as the agency postponed announcing the award of the
contract for the second time, Government Executive has learned. Defense asked the five telecommunications companies
bidding on the Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN) contract
to hold firm on their final bids for another 45 days. This is the
second time in the past month that the Defense Information Systems
Agency (DISA), which administers the contract, has asked the companies
to give the agency more time to make a decision. DISA was to have
announced an award Jan. 25, but asked for an extension after Global
Crossing, one of the competing companies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection on Jan. 28. An announcement was expected March 4, but now
that all the bidding companies have agreed to extend their offers,
DISA has until April 18 to make an official announcement.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0302/030102h1.htm
This
Week@INTERNATIONAL
SPEECH: MR ERKKI
LIIKANEN MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, RESPONSIBLE FOR ENTERPRISE
AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY "THE BROADBAND CHALLENGE" - EICTA (European Information and Communications
Technology Industry Association) Conference Brussels, 7 March 2002
– “The leaders of the European Union in Lisbon in 2000 decided on
an Internet strategy which led to the endorsement of the eEurope 2002
Action Plan. Since then, Internet penetration has doubled in the EU.
The challenge now is to increase the effective use of the Internet
for e-commerce, public services, and at the same time to re-engineer
business processes. For this the Internet needs to become more convenient
(always on), cheaper, and faster. The time has come to design a comprehensive
European strategy to focus the efforts in broadband. The objective
is to make fast connections available as wide as possible at competitive
prices. Widespread access to broadband carries powerful
economic and social implications. Broadband will change the use of
the Internet, by improving its quality, by making users enjoy rich
content, applications and services, and by improving their productivity. http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=SPEECH/02/102|0|RAPID&lg=EN.
BROADBAND IN EUROPE
- There will be 28.1 million broadband subscribers in Western Europe
by 2008, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan. At the
end of last year, there were 3.8 million broadband subscribers in
the region. Frost & Sullivan expects major growth in 2003, particularly
as there will be a number of major broadband rollouts by companies
such as Deutsche Telekom and Telecom Italia. http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905357700&rel=true
FRANCE BROADBAND
INTERNET STRATEGY AND ISSUES - French National Regulatory Authority
chairman, M J.M. Hubert, gave a speech this week at an event promoted
by the University Paris Dauphine in Paris dedicated to Internet
today, its developments, trends and issues. Data, drivers to
allow Internet developments and services, usage, broadband for all,
competition, ADSL and unbundling of the local loop, internet mobile,
UMTS, mobile virtual operator and harmonisation of the European framework
were referenced in his speech which you can find at the ART URL
www.art-telecom.fr
(In French)
EC – REGULATION -
The European Commission DG Infosoc has published a number of tables
summarising information provided by Member States on 3G licensing;
network infrastructure sharing; and the provision of Wireless Local
Area Network (WLAN) services over licence-exempt bands. The Commission
documents are available on: http://europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/telecoms/radiospec/mobile/index_en.htm#Introduction
The tables indicate
that indeed in most countries infrastructure sharing is allowed /
not forbidden.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
LAUNCHES E-GOVERNMENT NETWORK – This week the European Commission
launched an international network to encourage the exchange of information
among governments. At this time, all but two European Union countries
are connected to the private European network called TESTA. Current
information shared among agencies includes data about social security,
trade licenses, road accidents, communicable diseases and European
job vacancies. The network links directly to the European Parliament
and provides groupware tools to assist in sharing resources across
national borders. TESTA is currently undergoing certification to comply
with recent European security regulations. http://www.washtech.com/news/govtit/15511-1.html
BIG COUNTRY, LITTLE
INTERNET - The inequitable deployment of broadband will only aggravate
the digital divide between town and countryside in the United Kingdom,
according to a report by Local Futures Group entitled 'On the Move'.
Kate Oakley, director of research programmes at the group warned that
if local authorities concentrate solely on getting their services
online as part of the government's pledge to get all of its service
online by 2005, people will be left out of the loop because of a lack
of access and awareness. Her comments follows news yesterday that
the government's portal for the people, ukonline.gov.uk, is failing
to draw in the crowds despite its reputed technological excellence.
Local Futures suggests that local authorities should look to satellite
and wireless as alternatives to broadband in the battle to get more
ICT services out to rural areas. However, the impetus for these alternatives
must come from central government. Oakley concluded that in the short-term,
rural communities face the prospect of an ever-increasing divide with
their town-living counterparts. http://www.silicon.com/bin/bladerunner?30REQEVENT=&REQAUTH=21046&14001REQSUB=REQINT1=51815
REVIEW
SUGGESTS CHANGES IN SPECTRUM TRADING - Mobile
phone operators with expensive third generation licences expressed
concern on Wednesday that proposals to allow them to buy and sell
spare airwave capacity with rivals could jeopardise their business
plans. While they publicly welcomed the recommendations, published in an
influential report for the Department of Trade and Industry, many
privately said that the sharing of 3G airwave capacity could damage
those operators which owned 3G licences.
The five operators that paid a total of £22.5bn for their 3G
licences are understood to want to thwart all attempts to bring in
legislation allowing the sharing of 3G airwave space with non licence
holders as this would open up this market space to new operators.
Some 3G mobile operators said privately yesterday that they would
only be willing to share 3G spectrum with other licence holders. http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3H4OSJHYC&live=true&tagid=ZZZLZDL1B0C
NTL
GOES FOR SPEED AS BROADBAND BATTLE HEATS UP - The battle between BT Group and the leading cable operators
for the UK broadband market escalated on Tuesday as NTL unveiled plans
to offer "the UK's fastest broadband service" starting in
April this year. Speaking
at the FT New Media and Broadcasting conference in London, Steven
Carter, the managing director and chief operating officer of NTL,
announced that the company would offer internet access speeds of 1MB,
about twice the highest speed it currently offers customers.
The move follows a promise from rival Telewest last week, that
the company would move towards providing 1MB access speeds in the
near future. http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3F2P3QFYC&live=true&tagid=FTDDMJNIFEC
BOOMING HIGH-TECH
ECONOMY REMAINS ENVY OF GERMANY - In Germany's most prosperous province,
even a near-recession can seem like good times.
Bavaria and its 12 million people are sometimes smirked at
by other Germans as a tradition-bound land of country cousins, oompah
bands and beer halls. But
the state has Germany's most forward-looking economy, a high-tech
powerhouse that has made its capital, Munich, a magnet for top talent,
investment and companies. Boosted by a well-funded state industrial policy,
software start-ups are one reason why Bavaria's jobless rate remains
at 6.8 percent, compared to 8.3 percent for all of western Germany
and 19.1 percent for the former communist east.
The average Bavarian is 15 percent richer than other Germans. Now that state governor Edmund Stoiber is challenging
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in the Sept. 22 election, Bavaria's successful
model -- dubbed ``laptops and lederhosen'' after the traditional short
leather pants worn in the region -- has people looking at how it's
holding up in an economic crisis.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/2002/03/04/business/2787944.htm
ITALY: Following the
joint proposal by Ministers Frattini (public function) and Stanca
(Technology Innovation), the Italian Council of Ministers has
approved a regulation, which, in line with Government plans for e-government,
establishes the framework for on line public procurement. Tenders
transparency, efficiency and savings are the three goals pursued by
the Government. This regulation puts Italian Government among the
worlwide IT adopter leaders. http://www.governo.it/sito_internet/prefs.html
(In Italian)
AFRICA GOES MOBILE
- Unless you are a fanatical observer or a deeply-embroiled participant
in the politics and policies of domain name assignation, the fact
that ICANN's next round of meetings is being held later this week
in Accra in Ghana is likely to have escaped your notice.
It is an important meeting, however, in so far as that it is
further evidence that Africa is becoming a stronger player in the
international Internet community. A few years ago, no major Internet-related
group would have deigned to hold meetings in Africa. A few meetings
isn't a cure-all, however, and most of the continent still lags far
behind on the wrong side of the digital divide. Despite the yawning
gap between Africa and most everywhere else in the world, the continent
is moving closer to bridging the divide.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/weekly_editorial.html
COMPUTER STUDENTS
"BRIDGING DIGITAL DIVIDE - Cisco Systems, Inc. and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are working together to provide
information and communications technology training to students in
Tanzania at affordable prices. Students of the program earn
Cisco Certified Network Associate certificates after completing a
four-month course. The course would normally cost $3000, but
the UNDP-Cisco initiative has cut tuition in half. In addition
to training, students receive career counseling and assistance finding
jobs managing small and medium-sized networks. Tanzania is a leader
among 24 African countries who have embraced the program and there
are plans to integrate the program into university curriculum. http://allafrica.com/stories/200203070013.html
ASIA PACIFIC E-LEARNING
ALLIANCE WHITE PAPER - Cisco is one of the Co-Chairs for this alliance,
which includes AOL-TW, Fujitsu, Sun Microsystems, Acer, Applied Materials,
Daesung Group, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Saba. The Alliance
was formed last year to produce a set of policy recommendations to
the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on e-learning which was
endorsed by the APEC Leaders Meeting in October in Shanghai last October.
The Alliance has completed the work by producing a paper not just
on policy recommendations on e-learning but also to share on our corporate
best practices in e-learning. One of the major activities highlighted
is the Cisco Networking Academy Program, the largest e-learning lab
in the world with over 8,600 Academies in 134 countries. CNAP
was introduced as one of the public-private partnerships as well as
a program to help bridge digital divide through our partnerships with
NGOs. If you would like a copy of the white paper
(free), please e-mail jearnhar@cisco.com
and request one. It will be
also be available on Cisco’s Government Affairs Website – www.cisco.com/gov by the end of today.
(The report is in Adobe format.)
For more on Cisco’s Networking Academy Program, please visit
www.cisco.com/edu
This Week@US STATES
INTERNET USE STARTS
TO REFLECT OFFLINE DEMOGRAPHICS - Two recently released
studies, one from Pew Internet and American Life Project (PIP) and
one from Jupiter Media Matrix Inc., suggest that Internet use is starting
to reflect what happens in the offline world. According to the Pew
report, as people become more experienced with the Web, they become
more likely to shop or conduct other financial-related activities
online. Jupiter's report suggests that, in the near future, online commercial
transactions will more closely resemble real-world demographics. An
interesting forecast from Jupiter predicts that the number of online
shoppers will grow faster than the number of overall Internet users. Currently, there are 67 million online shoppers
and Jupiter expects that number to grow to 132 million over the next
four years. Meanwhile, the number of overall Internet users is expected
to show only single-digit growth during the same period. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/04/technology/ebusiness/04ECOM.html
(free registration required)
Full PIP report available
at: http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=55
INTERNET
ACCESS GAP CLOSING - For eighth-grader Dale Willis Jr., getting Internet
access at home means no longer having to wait in line at the library
for less than a half-hour at the computer.
It means no longer scheduling his school day around teachers'
availability to supervise. Willis,
13, exemplifies the difference having Internet access at home can
make. If people without home access are classified as disadvantaged,
the "digital divide" is larger than recent studies suggest.
According to the Commerce Department, 54 percent of Americans
used the Internet in September, up from 44 percent in 2000 and 22
percent in 1997 — with increases among all races, income levels and
educational backgrounds. Though there's disagreement over how much work
remains and what role government should play, the numbers show that
when it comes to basic access, the online population is looking more
like America in its diversity. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&u=/ap/20020304/ap_on_hi_te/internet_inequities_5
DIGITAL RANKINGS
IN THE U.S. - According to recent information from Scarborough Research,
in terms of home internet access, the local US market with the highest
level of internet penetration is Seattle/Tacoma, WA with 60% accessing
the internet from home within a past 30-days period. Other western
markets, like San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose and San Diego follow
Seattle with 58% accessing the net at home. Though highly-populated, Scarborough finds
that New York falls into 14th place with an at-home internet penetration
level of 52% and Los Angeles, CA holds 24th place with a 50% penetration
rate. http://www.emarketer.com/estatnews/estats/edemographics/20020305_scarb.html
FAST ACCESS TO THE INTERNET UNDERGOING GROWING PAINS - Susanne Dougherty,
knocked off-line for a couple of weeks during Comcast Corp.'s transition
to a new high-speed Internet network, reformatted her hard drive twice,
bought new antivirus software, and removed America Online's software
from her PC on the advice of Comcast technical support personnel,
to no effect. For Dougherty, of Gladwyne, Montgomery County, and many
other Internet users, Comcast's recent high-speed spills painfully
underscore the still-experimental nature of fast Internet access,
even as it evolves from a luxury to a relatively common appliance.
Part of the problem, they and some government officials say,
is a lack of competition, particularly for residential users. Large
cable and phone companies dominate the high-speed-Internet market,
and in some areas they do not compete with one another at all.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/2809724.htm
CHICAGO DRAWS UP
NET SOLUTION - CivicNet aims to bridge Chicago's big digital divide
- Chicago is dangling a carrot before a group of cash-starved telecom
companies: A 10-year contract to provide all of the city's voice and
data services, which should yield at least $31 million annually.
But there's a catch. The
winning bidder must engineer a dizzyingly complex networking task. Chicago wants to string fiber to about 2,000
city-owned facilities, including every school, library, housing project,
firehouse and police station. The city's hope is that once the network
is installed, telecom firms will extend it to homes and businesses
that otherwise wouldn't have high-speed Internet connections.
While other municipalities have undertaken similar projects,
the scale of Chicago's effort is unprecedented. CivicNet, as the city
calls it, will test whether local government can leverage its buying
power to get firms to bridge the digital divide without entering the
telecom business itself. http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0202250017feb25.story?coll=chi
HOUSTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
TO GIVE ALL TEACHERS NEW TOOL: LAPTOP COMPUTERS - Kaye Stripling,
in her first state of the schools speech since becoming superintendent
of HISD, will announce plans today to provide every teacher in the
district with a laptop computer.
Stripling said Tuesday that the Houston Independent School
District is buying some 15,000 laptop computers from Compaq Computer
Corp. that teachers can use to prepare lessons, check curriculum guides
and even post grades. "Teachers
are going to figure out pretty soon that this is truly an effective
tool that is going to help them to be more effective and efficient,"
Stripling said. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/1283034
OTHER
TECH STORIES OF THE WEEK
THE CORNER INTERNET
NETWORK VS. THE CELLULAR GIANTS - The informal Wi-Fi networks that
inexpensively provide wireless Internet access are fine, as far as
they go — which is generally a few hundred feet. But what happens
when there are enough of them to weave together in a blanket of Internet
coverage? What begins to appear is a high-speed wireless data network built
from the bottom up, rather than the top-down wireless cellular data
networks now being established by giant telecommunications companies. Many Silicon Valley engineers now believe that
it will be possible to take the tens of thousands of inexpensive wireless
network connections that are popping up in homes and coffee shops
all over the country and lash them together into a single anarchic
wireless network. Connections could theoretically be passed from one
Wi- Fi node to another, similar to the way wireless phone signals
pass from cell to cell, thereby significantly extending the wired
Internet. Modeled closely
on the original nature of the Internet, which grew by chaining together
separate computer networks, the technology — known as wireless mesh
routing — is being rapidly embraced in the United States as well as
in the developing world, where it is viewed as a low-cost method for
quickly building network infrastructure.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/04/technology/04MESH.html
(free registration required)
ECHOSTAR, SES ARE
NEGOTIATING HIGH-SPEED INTERNET VENTURE - EchoStar Communications
Corp. and Europe's SES Global SA, the leaders of satellite-industry
consolidation, are negotiating a joint venture that could spur space-based
efforts to provide high-speed Internet connections to U.S. residential
customers, industry officials said.
The venture, which could be announced as early as this week,
has strategic implications for the two expansion-minded companies.
While the terms under discussion don't involve any equity stakes and
the value of the venture isn't anticipated to exceed about $300 million,
both sides see the proposed linkup as a first step toward more-extensive
cooperation. Industry officials
familiar with the discussions said they are making progress and nearing
an agreement, but the officials cautioned that a much-smaller proposed
participant, Israel's Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., also is involved
in the talks and last-minute hitches could delay an announcement until
later this month or even block any deal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1015279226605733880,00.html?mod=technology_main_whats_news
(paid subscription required)
CYBERSPACE
COPYRIGHT PROTECTION REINFORCED - A landmark international treaty reinforcing the protection
of copyright in cyberspace came into force this week amid controversy
in the US and Europe over whether tougher copyright rules stimulate
or inhibit creativity on the internet.
The copyright treaty, negotiated by the World Intellectual
Property Organisation (Wipo) in 1996, and a sister treaty protecting
sound recordings that comes into effect in May update copyright law
for the digital age. They have added some controversial features,
which have already led to a string of legal challenges in the US,
one of the first countries to introduce implementing legislation. The treaties outlaw attempts to circumvent
encryption and other techniques designed to prevent unauthorised copying
and ensure royalties are paid. Wipo
and the copyright industries distributing books, software, music and
films say the new rules will encourage copyright owners to put their
works online, by giving them clearer enforcement rights against piracy.
Dr Kamil Idris, Wipo director-general, said the treaties provided
a platform for creators to further exploit the internet with confidence.
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT33UMG1GYC&live=true&tagid=FTDDMJNIFEC
SBC
GROWTH ON TRACK; MAY WEIGH MERGERS - SBC
Communications Inc. , the No. 2 U.S. local telephone company, said
on Thursday it will meet its 2002 growth goals despite a drop in telephone
access lines and a sluggish economy.
SBC, which is the dominant local telephone company in the Southwestern
and Midwestern United States, also said it will develop a national
data network, and "will not be timid" about pursuing acquisitions
as the industry consolidates. The San Antonio, Texas-based company
plans to focus on building its operations in the United States by
expanding into new markets such as long-distance voice and data services,
Internet and wireless. It does not see much opportunity for growth
internationally. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&u=/nm/20020307/tc_nm/telecoms_sbc_outlook_dc_2
AMERICA ONLINE BROADBAND
UNIT WILL GET NEW PRESIDENT IN MAY - America Online has replaced the
head of its closely watched broadband unit, which is crucial to the
service's future growth. The
departing executive, Audrey Weil, 42 years old, was named president
of America Online's broadband group just last summer. She will step
down in May. During her tenure, America Online, a unit of AOL Time
Warner Inc., rolled out its high-speed Internet service on Time Warner
Cable systems in 23 markets. Ms. Weil will be succeeded by Lisa Hook,
44, who is currently president of the AOL Anywhere unit, a group that
places the America Online service on cellphones, pagers and other
devices. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1015542645288532080,00.html?mod=technology_main_whats_news
(paid subscription required)
COPYRIGHT
PROOF DUE IN NAPSTER CASE - A
federal judge gave the record labels suing Napster until Thursday
to produce documents proving they own the copyrights to 213 songs
that once traded for free over the song-swap service.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the labels to
provide certificates of copyright registration, or applications for
such proof, for top-selling artists such as the Beatles and Elvis
Presley. A special master,
Neil Boorstyn, was appointed by Patel to examine the labels' documents.
He will file a report to the court detailing whether the labels have
sufficiently established copyright ownership rights. Patel's latest order stems from her previous ruling, which was made
public Feb. 22. At that time, she gave notice to the major labels
that they would need to turn over documents proving they own the rights
to the songs. In that earlier
ruling, Patel also opened the door to legal discovery on Napster's
claims that the labels misused their copyrights to dominate the growing
online music distribution industry.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&u=/ap/20020307/ap_on_hi_te/napster_copyright_2
FACTS
AND STATS:
Harbor
Research predicts that by 2010, more than 500 million non-PC devices
will be networked. Harbor questioned 450 technology professionals
and found that in 2002, more than one-half are already working to
enable their devices for the internet and web services.
Gartner
Consulting estimates that the worldwide wireless e-business market
grew from $75 billion in 2000 to $110 billion in revenue in 2001.
Gartner analyzed more than 15 industries and 100 vendors providing
products and services for the wireless industry for its report, "Wireless
E-business: the State of the Market in 2000 & 2001." The
study also indicates that in 2000 and 2001, application development
claimed 67% of wireless service revenue.
Taylor Nelson Sofres Information Technology conducted a survey among 555
information technology (IT) professionals from six countries between
July and August 2001 to find that 63% of US companies and 66% of companies
in the UK plan to decrease their IT spending over the coming year.
Similar percentages in France (56%) and Japan (61%) however, plan
to increase their IT spending over the year.
Many companies in the US and UK have already incorporated the
internet into much of their business - the study determined that 93%
of US and 86% of UK firms use the net for customer relationship management
(CRM), marketing, to fulfill orders and sell to customers. On the
other hand, 60% of Japanese firms and just 36% of French companies
are using the internet for marketing or any other customer service
function.
For 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
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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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that we care about, please visit our Government Affairs homepage.
– http://www.cisco.com/gov
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