| 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. Click EUpdate to become a subscriber.
If you have high-tech public policy news or announcements that you think other e-update subscribers would be interested in, please send them to john.earnhardt@cisco.com. There are over 1300 subscribers to Cisco Government Affairs' eUpdate. CISCO GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS WEBSITE - Please visit www.cisco.com/gov to view our worldwide government affairs website. You can reach any member of the team at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/govtaffairs/contact/. Also see Q&A with Laura Ipsen, Vice President of Worldwide Government Affairs, as she reviews the issues that Cisco is focusing on: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/media_info/public_policy_overview.html |
| TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK |
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CISCO PLANNING AGGRESSIVE APPROACH TO SECURITY—CEO John Chambers laid out the Cisco's seven-year network security plan during a keynote speech at RSA Conference in San Francisco. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/networks/0,39020345,39188213,00.htm Let us know what you think about our blog!!! – We have to crawl before we can walk and we are slowly learning how to add value through blogging. Check out our public policy blog and let us know what you think – either by adding comments or sending us an e-mail. http://www.cisco.com/gov/blog |
| This Week@WASHINGTON, DC |
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SUPPORT SOUGHT FOR CENTRAL AMERICAN TRADE PACT - The Bush administration is working to build support for the Central American Free Trade Agreement with a focus on boosting economic ties in the face of rising competition from China and mobilizing support among a growing Hispanic population in the United States. http://www.washtimes.com/business/20050216-103700-5074r.htm FCC PROBES BLOCKING OF INTERNET PHONE CALLS - The federal government is looking into allegations that as many as 200 people who switched from traditional telephone service to placing calls via the Internet had their new service disrupted by the local telephone company in their area. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31082-2005Feb16.html FCC RAISES $2.25 BILLION IN SALE OF AIRWAVES—The U.S. government raised $2.25 billion in an auction of wireless airwaves that ended on Tuesday, with Verizon Wireless and a partner collectively winning 63 licenses with almost $697.4 million in bids UNCLE SAM GETS 'D-PLUS' ON CYBER-SECURITY—The Department of Homeland Security led a list of seven agencies that received flunking grades for their cyber-security efforts in 2004, with the federal government at large earning an overall grade of "D-plus" from a key congressional oversight committee SECRET SERVICE: FRAUD THREATENS ECONOMY—Internet fraudsters, motivated by money and armed with sophisticated technology, pose an increased economic threat as they steal private data from companies and individuals, the director of the U.S. Secret Service said MERGERS RAISE CONVERN OVER INTERNET ACCESS - On the surface, the frenzy of telecommunications mergers in the past few weeks raises relatively clear-cut questions for lawmakers and regulators who will be weighing the deals: Will consumers and businesses be harmed if long-distance choices disappear when AT&T and MCI are swallowed by telephone giants SBC and Verizon? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27724-2005Feb15.html A Regulatory Maze Ahead for a Recast F.C.C. - Most people expect the huge telecommunications mergers recently announced to be approved in the current political climate, but the deals could prompt a considerable fine-tuning of existing rules. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/15/business/15regs.html (Free registration required) |
| This Week@EMEA |
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SPEECH - Neelie Kroes, Member of the European Commission in charge of Competition Policy, “Regulating for Competition and Growth” - OECD Global Forum on Competition - http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference= EU BUSINESS AND CITIZENS TO BENEFIT FROM NEW EGOVERNMENT SERVICES - http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference= EU REGULATORS 'WELCOME' VOIP—The European Regulators Group has said it welcomes the introduction of VoIP services in Europe, according to common statement on voice over IP regulatory approaches issued following its twelfth plenary meeting UKRAINE TELECOM NOT ON 2005 PRIVATISATION LIST - DEPUTY PM—Ukrainian deputy premier minister Anatoly Kinakh announced on Tuesday that the new, post-revolution Ukrainian government has no plans to sell state telco Ukrtelecom in 2005. PLAN FOR PATENTING SOFTWARE STALLS IN EUROPE'S PARLIAMENT - In a rare move, the European Parliament demanded that a controversial proposal for a law on software patents be scrapped and that the debate begin anew. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/18/technology/18patent.html (Free registration required) BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE - The British charity Citizens Online has an ambitious goal - they would like all schoolchildren in the UK to have their own laptop by 2010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1415713,00.html IRELAND’S HEALTHCARE ON THE MOVE - Community nurses in Ireland have been given Blackberry communicators to help them spend more time with patients and less time filling in and filing paper records. HTTP://NEWS.BBC.CO.UK/1/HI/TECHNOLOGY/4273203.STM UK-T-MOBILE USES WIMAX FOR TRAIN WI-FI—High-speed wireless networking technology WiMax is to have one of its first public outings next month on Southern Trains, providing speeds of up to 32Mbps http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/wireless/0,39020348,39188192,00.htm PANAFRICA-NEPAD E-SCHOOLS INITIATIVE FINALLY GEARED UP FOR DEMONSTRATION PROJECT—A PROJECT billed as the world's largest multicountry attempt to improve education through technology has inched forward with the selection of schools for a trial. http://allafrica.com/stories/200502170241.html ETHIOPIA-US VOWS TO ASSIST 'PARTIAL LIBERALIZATION' OF ETC OFFICIAL CITES STRONG PRIVATE SECTOR RELATION FOR WTO—The United States (US) government announced plans to help Ethiopia on the promised "partial liberalization" of Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) in mid 2005. http://allafrica.com/stories/200502170258.html MOZAMBIQ-EUROPEAN AID FOR RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS—The European Commission is providing 8.2 million Euros (about 10.9 million US dollars) for the rehabilitation of the telecommunications networks in the southern Mozambican provinces of Gaza and Inhambane SOUTH AFRICA-ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR TELECOMS IN 2005—The recent liberalisation of the telecoms industry is going to rewrite the rules of the sector and has signalled a fundamental change in government's thinking. http://allafrica.com/stories/200502170468.html |
| This Week@Americas International |
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CANADA-INTERNET TELEPHONY A NO WIN CRTC CALL—The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is going to decide in the next few months whether and/or how it will regulate Internet telephony. BRAZIL-SÃO PAULO ALLOCATES US$193MN FOR E-GOVT - Brazil's São Paulo state government plans to invest 500mn reais (US$193mn) in e-government solutions in 2005, state governmental IT projects BRAZIL-MICROSOFT'S ANTIPIRACY PLAN HEADS SOUTH—Microsoft has launched its biggest initiative yet to combat rampant software piracy in Brazil, allowing only registered customers access to "non-critical" updates of its Windows operating system |
| This Week@Asia-Pacific/Japan |
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UNBOUND DOWN UNDER - To understand how hot new "wireless broadband" technology -- high-speed Internet access beamed to a computer through the air -- can change the telecommunications industry, consider how it changed one small Australian suburb's soccer club. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110858206160156717,00.html (Paid registration required) CHINA SAYS IT SHUT DOWN INTERNET CAFES - Chinese authorities shut down more than 12,575 Internet cafes from October to December last year for operating illegally, the government said. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/aptech_story.asp?category= EVERYONE WILL BE ON VOIP IN 5 YEARS, SAYS ASIA NETCOM—In five years every organisation in the world will be running some of their telecommunications on an IP-based network, and under-developed nations are showing the rest of the world how to do it, according to Asia Netcom's president and chief operating officer, Bill Barney TELECOM SUPPLIERS MAY MANUFACTURE IN INDIA—Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola are among the global telecom equipment vendors considering setting up infrastructure equipment manufacturing plants in India INDIA SEES $800 MILLION IN TELECOMS FDI THIS YEAR – India’s government expects over $800 million investment from foreign telecom companies in the coming year, IT and Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran said at the 3GSM Congress |
| This Week@US States |
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PHILADELPHIA HOPES TO LEAD THE CHARGE TO WIRELESS FUTURE - If Mayor John F. Street has his way, by next year this 135-square-mile metropolis will become one gigantic wireless hot spot, offering every neighborhood high-speed access to the Web at below-market prices in what would be the largest experiment in municipal Internet service in the country. HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2005/02/17/TECHNOLOGY/17WIRED.HTML?EX= PHILADELPHIA’S BIG DIG – COMMENTARY FROM PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCILOR FRANK RIZZO - For just less than $11 million dollars, says Philadelphia Chief Information Officer Dianah Neff, the residents of the 135-square-mile city of Philadelphia could receive broadband anywhere. But on closer look, it may be that Ms. Neff--and hundreds of other municipal officials throughout the country--are creating the potential for their own Big Dig. HTTP://NEWS.COM.COM/PHILADELPHIAS+BIG+DIG/2010-1071_3-5579848.HTML?TAG=NEFD.AC INDIANA KILLS ANTI-MUNI BROADBAND BILL - An Indiana state bill that would have made it hard for cities to build their own broadband networks was killed on Wednesday after the proposal failed to reach a vote in the state's House of Representatives. http://news.com.com/Indiana+kills+anti-muni+broadband+bill/2100-7351_3-5580995.html?part=rss&tag=5575731&subj=news ILLINOIS BILL WOULD LIMIT MUNICIPAL BROADBAND - Legislation expected to be introduced in Illinois would put the kibosh on plans by local governments to offer high-speed Internet access and other services that would compete with companies like SBC. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cdh/20050217/lo_cdh/billwouldlimitmunicipalbroadband |
| Other Tech News Of The Week |
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CEO URGES MORE IT FOR HEALTH CARE - John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco Systems Inc., spoke with urgency about bringing the health care industry into the digital age. "Now is the time for change," he told the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference in Dallas. "We have to rapidly encourage electronic medical records for every American – now." http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/bus/stories/021605dnbuscisco.902b4.html (Free registration required) TIME TO REGULATE THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY? - A panel of security experts on debated the merits of regulating the software industry as a way to curtail software flaws--and hence reduce the volume of virus attacks. http://news.com.com/Time+to+regulate+the+software+industry/2100-7348_3-5579963.html?tag=nefd.top INTERNET FOUNDING FATHERS WIN TURING AWARD—Work done more than thirty years ago led to the modern Internet - and recognition on Wednesday for those who made it possible WHO WILL RULE THE NET?— A fierce battle is underway for “control” of the Internet. On one side is ICANN, whose current mandate runs out in 2006; on the other is the ITU, whose supporters insist governments have the sovereign right to rule cyberspace STUDY: NET PHONES KEY TO WIMAX SUCCESS—The wireless broadband standard called WiMax won't be ready for prime time for a couple of years, but when it does come out, Internet phone service could be the cash cow for providers, according to a study VERIZON, MCI LINK UP IN $6.7 BILLION MERGER—Verizon Communications has sealed a $6.7 billion deal with long-distance provider MCI as the telecommunications industry continues its spasm of megamergers MOTOROLA PHONES TO CALL ON WI-FI, VOIP—Motorola said Monday that it is developing cell phones capable of making calls using Wi-Fi networks, a big step for Internet phone forces now eyeing the wireless industry VONAGE SAYS BROADBAND PROVIDER BLOCKS ITS CALLS—Internet phone provider Vonage said it's asked U.S. utility regulators to investigate allegations that a "major" broadband operator is deliberately blocking Internet phone calls QWEST PLANS TO REVISE BID FOR MCI—Qwest Communications International Inc. said it plans to make a revised bid for MCI Inc. in an attempt to scuttle Verizon Communications Inc.'s deal to buy the Ashburn-based communications company |
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