Cisco Government Affairs E-Update

Volume 2, Issue 41

22 November 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 on broadband, education and e-government areas, but covering high-tech and telecom in general, the E-Update is a great source of information for policymakers. To subscribe, send a message with “subscribe” in the subject line to “Subscribe-eUpdate@cisco.com

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THERE WILL BE NO E-UPDATE PUBLISHED NEXT WEEK.

This Week@WASHINGTON, DC

WHAT IS BROADBAND? - The debate about the need for a national broadband policy has been pushed to the back burner by national security issues, but before it comes back to a boil the industry needs to agree on what broadband is. There are those who say the roughly 1M bit/sec DSL and cable TV modem links are broadband, while others, such as Intel President and CEO Craig Barrett, scoff at that, saying broadband is up around 100M bit/sec.  Reality probably falls somewhere in between.  http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/1118broadband.html

SENATE PASSES HOMELAND SECURITY ACT - President Bush won congressional approval for his proposal to create a Department of Homeland Security as the Senate joined the House in launching the largest government reorganization since the Defense Department was created in 1947.  In one of the final acts of the 107th Congress, the Senate voted 90 to 9 to fold 170,000 employees from 22 agencies into a new department charged with the responsibility of shoring up the nation's defenses against terrorism. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11934-2002Nov19.html

INTERNET PROVISIONS IN SECURITY BILL - Internet providers such as America Online could give the government more information about subscribers and police would gain new Internet wiretap powers under legislation creating the new Department of Homeland Security.  Provisions of the bill tucked into a section about ``cyber-security enhancements'' received scant attention during debate.  Most of these provisions passed the House as part of separate legislation in an overwhelming 385-3 vote during the summer, but they were never considered in the Senate. Many are similar to changes made last year under the USA Patriot Act, which included new laws affecting Internet wiretaps and hacker investigations.  http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Homeland-Security-Police.html (Free subscription required)

OVERKILL TRIPS UP CYBERSPACE SECURITY PLAN - OP-ED By Peter S. Tippett, an international information security expert, has advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff on cyber-warfare.  - Steeped in civic idealism and putting forth the ever-optimistic "call to action," the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace provides a solid start for the way that government, corporations and individuals need to view Internet security.  The strategy, an effort by the Office of Homeland Security, was outlined in September to allow 60 days for public comment. The plan now moves to the purview of the soon-to-be Department of Homeland Security.  http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-tippett20nov20,0,5216751.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopinions

CHANGE URGED IN BROADBAND POLICY - A group of technology and media companies including Microsoft, Disney, Yahoo and eBay plans to send a letter to the Federal Communications Commission today arguing that the open nature of the Internet will be lost unless the agency amends its broadband policy.  The formation of the group signals a growing fear that the F.C.C., in an effort to spur investment in broadband Internet services, is ceding control to a handful of cable and phone companies over a network long seen as inherently immune to controlling influences. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/18/technology/18LETT.html

WI-FI JOINS BROADBAND ACCESS DEBATE - Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and George Allen (R-VA) plan to introduce a bill to ensure that Wi-Fi options are seriously considered as a viable method of broadband deployment. Entitled "The Jumpstart Broadband Act," the bill asks the FCC to make more free-to-use spectrum available in bandwidths strong enough to send signals across several miles at a time. The bill also sets guidelines to prevent signal interference, which is currently a problem with Wi-Fi networks. "This debate has reached an unproductive stalemate and fails to consider that other technologies are available that can jump-start consumer-driven investment and demand in broadband services," the senators said in a letter to colleagues.

http://news.com.com/2100-1033-966667.html?tag=fd_top

ECHOSTAR WINS BACK SATELLITE LICENSE - Federal regulators reversed themselves and reinstated a license for Echo- Star Communications Corp. to launch a satellite with high-speed Internet capabilities.  The Federal Communications Commission in June revoked EchoStar's license for using the high-speed Ka-band frequency because it said the satellite TV company missed construction milestones.  EchoStar appealed and submitted a photograph of a satellite under construction with the high-speed capability. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rup21.10nov21,0,1948684.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dbusiness

SPEECH: TECHNOLOGY-LED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT in the Post-Bubble, Post-9/11, Post-Enron America, Remarks by Bruce P. Mehlman, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, United States Department of Commerce.  http://www.ta.doc.gov/Speeches/BPM_021115_T-Led_ecDev.htm

COMMANDER LAYS OUT I.T. CHALLENGES - The commander of U.S. Pacific Command (Pacom) has a few problems that he thinks information technology can do a better job of helping to solve.  Navy Adm. Thomas Fargo said that his command, like the rest of the Defense Department, has been charged with minimizing its footprint without affecting combat capabilities as it continues fighting the global war on terrorism, and he thinks IT can help.  Fargo said there are five main command, control, communications, computers, intelligence (C4I) and security challenges that IT can help Pacom overcome.  http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1118/web-pacom-11-20-02.asp 

BUSH AIDE: TECH TO LAG IN U.S. REVIVAL - The Comdex crowds got an Economics 101 lesson Wednesday as a presidential economic adviser offered a sobering analysis of the tech industry's future.  Corporate overinvestment in technology in the late 1990s will mean that even when the U.S. economy does pick up, technology spending is likely to lag, said Carlos Bonilla, special assistant to President George W. Bush for economic policy, speaking at the Comdex Fall 2002 trade show. That, he acknowledged, has been a bitter pill to swallow.  http://msnbc-cnet.com.com/2100-1001-966574.html

This Week@EMEA

BLAIR PLEDGES TO KICK-START BROADBAND - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised to give every school, university, hospital and doctors' surgery a high-speed link to the internet.  At present many public services connect to the web through a telephone line, but the government wants more access to the broadband connections.  The government is spending more than £1bn on broadband for key public services over the next three years as part of a £6bn investment in information communication technology.  "Britain has the potential to become a technological powerhouse," he said.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2481785.stm

E-ENVOY SUMMIT HELD IN LONDON - The event brought together e-Envoys from around the globe and announced the release of a benchmarking study on e-Government prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton and the 2nd annual review of the UK's efforts to get online.  Document links: http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/esummit-benchmarking/$file/indexpage.htm,
http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/esummit-ukoannrep/$file/indexpage.htm

NEW REPORTS FROM U.K. BROADBAND STAKEHOLDER GROUP - The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) is U.K. Government's key advisory group on Broadband. It provides advice on the Government strategy to meet its target for the UK to have the most extensive and competitive Broadband market in the G7 by 2005.  Second Annual Report and Strategic Recommendations, November 2002, Broadband Stakeholder Group Annual Report Drives Broadband Agenda, http://www.broadbanduk.org/

LOCAL LOOP UNBUNDLING MOVING SLOWLY - The European local loop unbundling process is still moving at a slow pace, according to the latest "DSL scorecard" from the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA). The number of unbundled DSL lines in the EU increased by 140,000 over the period from end-June to end-September, to reach a grand total of 360,000. This represents just 5% of total DSL lines (up from 4% when the last scorecard was published) and under 0.2% of total EU lines. Incumbent DSL lines, meanwhile, increased to 6.8 million from 5.8 million at the end of June. Germany remains the leader for incumbent DSL deployment with 2.6 million lines. The nearest challenger is France, with 880,000 lines, followed by Spain and Italy.  http://www.ectaportal.com/ectauploads/dsl_scorecard_oct02.xls

DOES BROADBAND ACCESS MATTER TO YOU? - Every school and doctor's surgery is to be wired up with a high speed link to the internet, Tony Blair has promised at a London internet summit. More than £1bn is to be invested in giving broadband connections to public services like hospitals and universities who currently use telephone lines to access the web.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2492105.stm

BREAKING THE BROADBAND BARRIERS - If you want to find out how much difference broadband makes to home net use, ask someone who has it to give it up and go back to using a dial-up connection. You will soon find out how strong their preference is.  And therein lies the problem for any government trying to convince people to switch to high-speed net connections.  Until you have it, the benefits are hard to appreciate. But once you use it the advantages are immediately and constantly apparent.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2492663.stm

LET THE FUN BEGIN - The final draft of a British communications bill published will likely appease industry, the government and the opposition alike. Members of Parliament were cautious to balance the requests for deregulation from industry and government, while ensuring that the needs of the consumer would not be lost. The foreign ownership debate will likely dominate the bill's ultimate passage, but perhaps the most significant act will be the creation of Ofcom, the new regulator designed as a watchdog over the sprawling media and communications sector.  http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,843938,00.html

This Week@Americas/International

WILL CANADA OPEN BORDERS TO INVESTORS? - Canada's industry minister said today that the government would review the country's limits on foreign ownership of communications companies and consider changing them to encourage investment and competition.  Any such change is sure to be debated intensely. The limits are widely seen as an important defense of national sovereignty and of a distinct Canadian culture against domination by American or other foreign companies.  Current law limits foreign owners to one-third of the voting stock of telecommunications holding companies and one-fifth that of operating companies. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/20/business/worldbusiness/20CANA.html (Free registration required)

This Week@Asia/Pacific

PEDAL POWER DRIVES LAOS NET DREAMS - Bicycle powered PCs should get remote villages online - Laos has come late to the internet age.  Diplomatically isolated and desperately poor, the country has only recently taken the first tentative steps towards cyberspace.  But stroll around the capital, Vientiane, and you can now find a number of internet cafes offering web access for just a few cents per minute.   Only four high schools in Laos have computers. Many students have to wait months before even getting a go.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2495537.stm

This Week@US States

COMMERCE OFFICIALS PRAISE NORTH CAROLINA BROADBAND MODEL - A flexible, bottom-up approach to deploying high-speed Internet access in North Carolina is an excellent example for other states and even countries to follow, Department of Commerce officials said.  The department has been examining impediments to wider use of broadband for quite some time, said Under Secretary of Commerce Phil Bond.  "While deployment of broadband has proceeded fairly rapidly, it's much like economic growth in that there can always be more," Bond told a media roundtable. "We believe it's a key to restoring robust growth in the economy."  North Carolina's Rural Internet Access Authority provides a great model for other states to follow, Bond said. The department invited the group's leadership to the roundtable to discuss the program's successes.  http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/627293p-4809294c.html

OTHER TECH STORIES OF THE WEEK

INTERNET DAMAGE FROM SEPT. 11 TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NEW YORK CITY WAS LIMITED, BUT BETTER CONTINGENCY PLANS ARE NEEDED - The overall effect of the damage to the Internet on Sept. 11, 2001, when the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings destroyed communications equipment and networks, was minimal, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. Internet service providers and users need to address some operational issues, however, to better prepare for and respond to future emergencies in light of the useful role the Internet played after the attacks.  http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309087023?OpenDocument

MCKINSEY STUDY DETAILS TECHNOLOGY'S ROLE IN BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY - The New Economy may look today like a hot-air bubble of Internet hype, but it left one lasting change on the U.S. economic landscape. The widespread adoption of technology has made American workers more productive and some businesses larger and more dominant, even during the recent recession, than they otherwise would have been. That's the conclusion of a detailed study of the role technology has played in transforming the economy since the 1990s. Written by consulting firm McKinsey & Co., the report finds that technology by itself is not ``a silver bullet'' for all industries. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4559923.htm
The Report: http://www.mckinsey.com/knowledge/mgi/IT/index.asp

BOOZ ALLEN STUDY FINDS US, UK, AND CANADA HAVE MOST FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENTS FOR E-COMMERCE - Sustained policy initiatives and inherent environmental factors keys to success. - A new study by Booz Allen Hamilton identifies the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada as the nations with the best environments for e-commerce, combining an up-to-date communications infrastructure with strong political leadership. Booz Allen examined both statistical indicators and government policies that affect e-commerce, identifying the most advanced e-economies and the reasons for their success.

http://www.bah.com/bahng/SilverDemo?PID=Home.html&contType=TABLE&dispType=HTML&Region=&Geography=&language=English&Taxonomy1=&Taxonomy2=&Taxonomy3=&SortBy=dateline+DESC&GroupBy=dateline+by+month&FORM_ACTION=BROWSE&style=item&sCacheID=&sNumHits=0&sNumJobHits=0&sNumVideoHits=0&ITID=207013

IDC: TECH TO HIT BOTTOM IN 2002 - This year may end up being the worst so far for high technology.  Research firm IDC said that the worldwide information technology industry will suffer its largest decline ever in 2002, shrinking by 2.3 percent. The company released the numbers Wednesday as part of its Worldwide Information Technology and Communications Spending Forecast. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-966634.html

NATIONAL CEO PREDICTS DATE OF TECH UPTURN - The upturn in the technology industry will be in full swing seven months and two days from now, according to Brian Halla, chief executive officer at National Semiconductor.  Using complex mathematical models, neural networks, historical patterns and an eye toward current events, Halla--with a dose of Vegas showmanship--predicted in a keynote speech at Comdex Fall 2002 on Tuesday that the tech industry will be at the apex of a wild growth swing on June 21, 2003, primarily driven by embedding radio and semiconductors into a wide variety of items. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-966496.html

WI-FI U.S.A. - In spring 2000, as the Nasdaq plunged 2,000 points, two vastly different companies quietly embarked on programs to offer their employees a whiz-bang new technology called 802.11b, or Wi-Fi--wireless Internet access. In LeMars, Iowa, ice-cream maker Wells' Dairy rolled out Wi-Fi to 120 users in its new corporate annex. One thousand miles west, in Provo, Utah, network software supplier Novell launched a wireless local area network (LAN) pilot program in its IT department. Both projects were wildly successful, but hardly anyone outside the companies noticed.  http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=210235

BUSINESSES, BIG AND SMALL, BET ON WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS - The ability to connect to the Internet from anywhere at anytime is creating a heightened buzz across the country. Both small companies and large corporations are competing for the opportunity to provide access to the Internet via wireless technology known as Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is the next big technology wave, many predict, creating "location aware" communications.  "This feels like the opening of the PC era when for the first time you could own your own computer," says Ken Biba of Vivato, a company competing in the bids of offering Wi-Fi services. "With Wi-Fi you can own your own communications. That's a profound social change." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/18/technology/18WIFI.html (Free subscription required)

VERIZON TO INSTALL WI-FI - In a sure sign that the upstart wireless Internet technology called WiFi is proving too powerful to ignore, Verizon Communications Inc. said that it will install such networks for small and medium-sized businesses. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021121/ap_on_hi_te/verizon_wifi_1

HOW TO LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND - Increasingly, school systems are adopting computer-based testing as their primary evaluative tool.  Electronic "smart tests" adapt to the test-taker's aptitude in real time and provide a more accurate reflection of the student's knowledge.  "Reliance on paper-and-pencil multiple-choice tests limits the kinds of skills that can be measured," concluded a RAND study.  "Computer-based testing offers the opportunity to develop new types of questions, especially those that can assess complex problem-solving skills by requiring examinees to generate their own answers." http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-111802B

STUDY SAYS 70% OF PARENTS HAVE USED THE INTERNET - New research has found that parents with children under 18 are more likely to have used the Internet, are more enthusiastic about technology and tend to fear it less than non-parents. A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project in Washington DC reported that 70 percent of parents have gone online, versus 53 percent of adults with no children. Lee Rainie, director of the project, said that parents likely learned their skills by watching their children, by sensing what's important to them, and by providing tech support for them. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/18/technology/18PEW.html (Free registration required)
The study: http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=75

PEW INTERNERT AND AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT REPORT – How Baby Boomers (ages 38-56) use the Internet compared to other age groups. http://www.pewinternet.org/releases/release.asp?id=53

FACTS & STATS

SOUTH AFRICAN B2C REVENUES TO RISE - Online consumer sales in South Africa are expected to reach ZAR65 million (USD6.7 million) over the holiday period, reports allAfrica.com.  http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358566&rel=true

PESTER POWER PUSHES NET SHOPPING SPREE - Over half of US parents with Internet access say they have been asked by their children to buy Christmas gifts that were first seen online.   http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358559&rel=true

MOST US INTERNET USERS HAVE BOUGHT ONLINE - A recent Business Software Alliance survey indicates that 93 percent of American Internet users have bought online.  http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358562&rel=true

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FOR ONLINE RETAILERS IN EUROPE - Online consumer spending in Europe during the holiday season is expected to reach EUR4.5 billion (USD4.54 billion), reports Netimperative.  http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358550&rel=true

NEARLY HALF A MILLION JORDANIANS TO GET ONLINE - A new forecast from Arab Advisors Group suggests that there will be close to half a million Jordanians online by 2006. http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358546&rel=true

A FIFTH OF FRENCH HOUSEHOLDS HAVE BROADBAND - Europemedia reports that 2.3 million Internet users in France have broadband connections.  http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358564&rel=true

US ONLINE HOUSEHOLDS EMBRACE BROADBAND - Nearly 30 percent of US online households now connect to the Internet via a broadband connection, according to a survey by Gartner Dataquest.  http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358565&rel=true

CISCO GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS@2002

Cisco’s top policy focuses for 2002 are the areas of Education, Broadband Deployment and eGovernment. 

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 Worldwide 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

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