Industry News

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Cisco: Video 90% of IP traffic by 2013
By Dan O'Shea

Cisco Systems released its latest research on IP traffic, showing that global IP traffic will reach more than 667 exabytes by 2013, and that video traffic will represent 90 percent of all Internet traffic by that time. Video now accounts for about one-third of all Internet traffic, the company said. Cisco has been an avid tracker and promoter of Internet video traffic stats in recent years as it has targeted new gear specifically to tackle the IP traffic boom.

From Fierce Telecom, June 10, 2009

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,2465151.story


U.S. ranks 28th in Internet speed among industrialized nations, study finds
Delaware has fastest connection in the country, according to telecom union

By David Sarno

August 30, 2009

When it comes to Internet speed, the U.S. remains far down the ladder of industrialized nations, ranking 28th behind leaders South Korea, Japan, Sweden and Holland, according to a study by a labor union for telecommunications workers.

Using data gathered from Speed Matters, a site that promotes greater Internet speeds, the Communications Workers of America compiled a list of broadband speeds in U.S. states and territories and came up with the average speed for the nation -- 5.1 megabits per second. That's a quarter of South Korea's 20.4 megabits and about a third of Japan's 15.8 megabits.

The study also pointed to the relatively slow rate at which the average U.S. broadband speed rose in recent years, gaining only 1.6 megabits since May 2007. That was a much slower increase than was seen in the U.S. states with the fastest speeds.

California, arguably the nation's most high-tech-friendly state, ranked only 11th among the states, well behind the national leaders. Still, the state's 6.6 megabits average put it ahead of where it was two years ago, when it ranked 22nd among states, with barely more than 3 megabits.

Delaware residents enjoy the nation's fastest broadband, at 9.9 megabits, nearly twice the national average, and up more than 5 megabits since 2007.

At the lower end of the speed range, sparsely inhabited states such as Idaho, Alaska and Montana were well below the national average.

Among the study's conclusions is that broadband speed is not equitably distributed throughout the country. If the U.S. wants all its citizens to have access to equally high-speed Internet, the union argues, it will have to invest heavily in telecommunications infrastructure.

Of course, when the U.S. spends some of the $7.2 billion allocated to broadband development in the federal stimulus package, the union's members would benefit from job creation.

"Every American should have affordable access to high-speed Internet, no matter where they live. This is essential to economic growth and will help maintain our global competitiveness," union President Larry Cohen said.

The study is not scientific: Some states had far more data points to draw from than others. And in a seemingly arbitrary decision, the study included U.S. territories Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, where slow speeds helped to bring down the average, but inexplicably not Guam and American Samoa.

On the other hand, if you've ever tried to check your e-mail in Montana, you know there's some truth to the figures.

dsarno@tribune.com



Fastest U.S. connections Ranked by megabits per second

1. Delaware ... 9.91

2. Rhode Island ... 9.79

3. New Jersey ... 8.86

4. Massachusetts ... 8.65

5. New York ... 8.43

6. Maryland ... 8.26

7. Virginia ... 7.91

8. New Hampshire ... 7.17

9. Connecticut ... 7.12

10. District of Columbia ... 6.94

11. California ... 6.64

12. Georgia ...6.49

13. Pennsylvania ...6.46

14. Illinois ...6.35

15. Louisiana ...6.26




Slowest connections

Puerto Rico ... 1.04

Virgin Islands ... 1.19

Montana ... 2.32

Alaska ... 2.34

Idaho ... 2.57

Wyoming ... 2.6

Hawaii ... 2.97

Arkansas ... 3.11

Vermont ... 3.32

Utah ... 3.34


Sources: CWA, Tribune Newspapers


Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

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U.S. may need as much as $350 bln to extend broadband

Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:33pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Expanding broadband usage throughout the United States will require subsidies and investment in infrastructure upgrades of as much as $350 billion, a regulatory panel said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is crafting a national broadband plan aimed at increasing usage in rural and urban areas. The report is due to be submitted to Congress in mid-February.

In a mid-course status report, an FCC task force said preliminary estimates indicate that investments in the range of $20 billion to $350 billion may be needed for wireless and landline infrastructure, depending on the speed of service. The range indicates the slowest speeds to premium fast speeds.

The report, which reflects information from dozens of workshops, did not provide initial recommendations. Panel members said they are still collecting data and studying how consumers are affected. It is expected to issue recommendations in the final report.

The potential costs for investment dwarfs the $7.2 billion set aside in President Barack Obama's massive economic stimulus package. The panel said transferring the universal services fund collected for traditional phone calls for broadband usage will not suffice.

"Subsidy mechanisms must also be considered as a means to universal adoption," the panel said in a statement.

The panel said the majority of Americans have Internet service at home, one-third have access to broadband but have not subscribed, and another 4 percent have no access.

However, those who have broadband are receiving slower speeds than what is being advertised, said the panel, which estimated that actual speeds lag by as much as 50 to 80 percent.

"It is actual speed we should be thinking of," Shawn Hoy, a business analyst for applications on the task force, said at an open meeting with FCC commissioners.

The panel, which is trying to envision a broadband ecosystem 10 years from now, also said broadband usage for online videos and music is increasingly used on mobile devices and putting a strain on networks, driving a need among carriers for more spectrum to meet consumer demand.

Big wireless providers such as AT&T Inc, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp and T-Mobile are seeking more spectrum as they roll out more sophisticated bandwidth-hogging smartphones such as Apple Inc's popular iPhone.

Cable companies such as Comcast Corp and satellite TV providers such as DirecTV also provide broadband products and services.

T-Mobile is a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

As the demand for smartphones, which many consider small computers, increases applications for those mobile devices they are expected to eat up more bandwidth, which will drive the need for more spectrum.

The panel said with next generation upgrades to the network it expects the sale of those smartphones will overtake the sale of standard phones by 2011.

CTIA, the wireless industry trade group, said spectrum is needed at least over the next six years. "The industry needs access to more spectrum so we can continue to meet the growing consumer demand," CTIA President Steve Largent said.

Another strain on the networks is the broadband usage during peak hours after work, which can result in network congestion and slower speeds.

(Reporting by John Poirier; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Bernard Orr)

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Editor's Corner FierceTelecom
Don't hang up on wireline yet
By Sean Buckley

When I look at this week's earnings from AT&T and Verizon, it's hard not to notice the fact that wireless is again the rock star while wireline services slowed a bit. At the same time, I can't help but try to make the case that wireline still does matter.

Let's look at this quarter's numbers first. AT&T's and Verizon's Q4 09 earnings report made it clear where the momentum is: wireline service revenue continues to decline while wireless thrives. During the quarter, Verizon signed on over 2 million wireless customers, but in the wireline division it saw its landline residential subscriptions decline. Similarly, AT&T signed on 2.7 million new wireless subscribers, but saw continued growth in IP-based consumer and business services.

Out of the two here, Verizon obviously fared worse with a $653 million loss in the quarter. In response to its losses in Q4 09, Verizon said it would get the scissors out this year to cut yet another 13,000 wireline jobs. Okay, so I get it, consumers and business users like the convenience of not being tethered so it's not hard to understand why they would ditch their bedrock landline voice connection for wireless. On the broadband side, who would not pass up the faster speeds of a cable modem or FiOS where available? Of course, the drive to fiber-based broadband comes at the loss of DSL subscribers.

Another factor contributing to landline loss, as told to me yesterday by Keith Galitz, President of Oregon-based rural telco Canby Telcom is the economy. "What's happened is the economic disaster that this country has faced has exacerbated the wireless-only movement," he said. "People have said they had to cut, when they held a wireless phone in their hand they decided to cut the hardline phone, so we have seen an acceleration of the loss of access lines."

However, Canby is clearly not sitting pat. The service provider has built out a Fiber to the Home network that currently reaches 1,000 homes in its territory and has been migrating to softswitch voice technology to offer competitive wireline business voice services such as IP Centrex.

But before you all start ringing the wireline-network-is-dead-and-wireless-is-going-to-take-over-everything bell, consider the recent news from Windstream Communications' proposed plan to spend $20 million on a multi-purpose fiber network that is designed to bring fiber to cell sites and coincidentally expand the reach of its Ethernet offerings to business customers.

But what really drove the point about the role of wireline home for me were comments a reader pointed out in response to the ongoing talks between wireline union members and AT&T Southwest. The point is that AT&T and Verizon are finding great technology will continue to depend on, wait for it, a wire.

"It is copper and fiber optic lines that connect the equipment to the cell towers that allow wireless technology," the reader said. "So, wireless only customers are still using non-wireless technology."

Obviously, what this reader is referring to is wireless backhaul, a market that's got every wholesale operator salivating as, yes, AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless make their migrations to LTE--a migration that will require lots and lots of wireline fiber-based bandwidth.

So before you hang up on wireline, remember that when you're making that call from your car or tweeting about Mel Gibson's comeback there's a wireline connection that's probably supporting that session. --Sean

[Stoppmann]

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB...d=yahoobarrons