Cerf

Vint Cerf understands the Internet.  Widely recognized as one of the two “fathers” of what eventually grew into today’s Internet, Cerf has watched a network launched by the United States Department of Defense grow into an economic powerhouse driving a knowledge-based economy.

Today, Cerf works as an Internet evangelist for Google, promoting the company’s innovation in the next generation of the broadband experience.  He brings decades of advice to Internet Service Providers the world over: upgrade your networks.  But more importantly, he told attendees of Juniper Network’s Nextwork conference, upgrade exponentially, not incrementally.

Cerf’s remarks Wednesday targeted the conundrum of coping with increasing video traffic on the Internet.  Cerf pointed to his employer’s construction of a gigabit fiber to the home network in Kansas City as the best antidote to traffic congestion.

Simply put, Cerf believes bandwidth must be increased exponentially and not through incremental upgrades that try and stay one step ahead of demand.  Google intends to prove gigabit fiber broadband is cost-effective and within reach of providers.  A side benefit of building next generation networks is the opportunity for innovating new online applications.  Many of tomorrow’s online innovations are simply impossible on a constrained, incrementally upgraded network that often requires accompanying traffic limiting schemes.

“When you are watching video today, streaming is a very common practice. At gigabit speeds, a video file [can be transferred] faster than you can watch it,” Cerf said. “So rather than [receiving] the bits out in a synchronous way, instead you could download the hour’s worth of video in 15 seconds and watch it at your leisure. It actually puts less stress on the network to have the higher speed of operation,” he said. 

Wu

So far, many providers are considering Netflix and other video traffic a threat to their networks, and are attempting to collect tolls to allow Netflix content to reach subscribers (Comcast), or are considering Internet Overcharging schemes that combine usage caps with overlimit fees to discourage customers from watching too much (AT&T, Time Warner Cable).

At another session held Tuesday, Tim Wu, Columbia University law professor noted efforts by several U.S. providers to do away with all-you-can-use broadband.

Wu said phone companies like AT&T are ideally looking towards replicating the cell phone model on broadband — leaving users to guess how much usage they will rack up over a month, knowing most will be wrong.  As the consumer, he noted, you end up buying too much or you face steep overlimit fees for underestimating usage — either way “you are screwed.”  Wu called consumption-oriented pricing “abusive.”

Wu also said wireless carriers in particular are uneasy with the open, “ownerless” concept of the Internet.  Their instinct is to own, control, and manage networks.  Their only success so far is trying to advocate for fast, premium-priced traffic lanes, and slow “free lanes” for everything else — a key reason why many consumers advocate to preserve the open model of the Internet through enforced Net Neutrality.

Wu called these efforts by phone companies to control traffic “dangerous.”

Krone

When David Krone decided to quit his job as senior vice president of corporate affairs at Comcast to go to work as Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid’s top aide, he got quite the parting gift from Comcast — $1.2 million to cover the cost of the condo he bought just a year earlier.

Comcast’s agreement to make Krone whole, even during one of the worst real estate markets in recent history, was quite a relief for the man who had to make do with a severance package worth $2.9 million.  Now Krone is slumming it on a Senate aide’s salary — $165,000 a year.  That is less than the $270,000 Krone contributed to various candidates, mostly Democrats, since 1989 according to the Center for Responsive Politics.  The Center for Public Integrity says he is Reid’s biggest donor over the past two decades.  Now Reid is his boss.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Krone spent years as a cable industry lobbyist, living in a penthouse unit above Reid’s own condo at Washington’s Ritz-Carlton.  Reid even sought to help Krone win a commissioner position at the Federal Communications Commission — an agency that oversees the cable industry Krone lobbies for, a position Krone declined.

In January 2008, Mr. Krone became a top executive at Comcast, working on public affairs, government relations and public-policy issues. He moved to Philadelphia, paying $1.95 million for a condo, real-estate records show.

After less than 10 months, however, Mr. Krone decided to bail out of the job. Friends say he was unhappy because he had expected to be more involved in top-level decision making than he ended up being.

By then, the real-estate market had declined. When he told Comcast he was quitting, the company agreed to pay him $2.07 million—allowing him to recoup his original purchase price, plus closing costs, according to Mr. Reid’s office.

Companies often cover real-estate losses when trying to woo prospective employees. It is extremely rare for them to do so when an employee quits, say executive-compensation experts. “Severance benefits and even golden parachutes generally don’t protect executives against personal real-estate losses,” says Chuck Yen, an executive-compensation consultant with Grant Thornton LLP.

“Comcast did not know that David Krone was going to Harry Reid’s office or to any other government or regulatory agency” when his separation agreement was negotiated, according to company spokesman John Demming.

Some people familiar with the matter say the company wanted to make sure that he didn’t harbor any ill will after leaving, given his connections. As a heavily regulated cable and media company, Comcast has a lot at stake in Washington.

When Mr. Reid invited him to Capitol Hill several weeks after he left Comcast, Mr. Krone thought it was to discuss another FCC post, Mr. Krone told friends. Instead, Mr. Reid offered him a job, and Mr. Krone accepted.

In April 2009, four months after Mr. Krone started in the Senate, the property sold for $1.09 million, $980,000 less than Mr. Reid’s office said he received from Comcast.

“Whether or not they lost money when they sold it is irrelevant,” said Jon Summers, Mr. Reid’s spokesman.

9 to 5 Mac shows off a mock image of what the newest iPhone 5 will probably look like. Pay close attention to the rounded edges and bezel. (click to enlarge)

Apple’s wildly popular iPhone series gets an upgrade in September as the Cupertino, Calif., company prepares to unveil iPhone 5.  Although the new model is not expected to support 4G/LTE networks, significant upgrades are in the works for the next series of phones:

• iPhone 5 will use Apple’s new iOS 5, which means improved messaging and photo sharing;
• An improved 8-megapixel camera, up from the current 5-megapixel one that got mixed reviews on iPhone 4;
• The introduction of the A5 processor, currently used in iPad 2, to provide more power for apps and features;
• An edge-to-edge screen and rounded glass.

The iPhone currently accounts for half of Apple’s revenue and has almost an 18% share of the smartphone market and dropping.

To counter Google’s increasing share of the smartphone market with its Android operating system, Apple also promises to deliver a stripped-down, less powerful budget-priced iPhone series for the developing world.  While prices have not been announced, the new budget phone is likely to be priced at least $100-200 less than western models.

With iPhone 5 also expected to include built-in support for either GSM or CDMA networks, Apple’s newest phone could be released simultaneously by both AT&T and Verizon.

Whether customers will be able to take their phones activated on one carrier to another is another matter, as is whether Sprint, T-Mobile, and smaller carriers will be allowed to sell it.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Apple Introduces iPhone 5 6-22-11.flv[/flv]

Even without support for 4G/LTE, iPhone 5 is still likely to generate considerable enthusiasm, especially among would-be Verizon customers waiting for the next version of the phone.  But by then, unlimited data plans will be a dream.  Bloomberg News and WFXT-TV in Boston discuss iPhone 5’s release, and a clip from CNBC’s ‘The Titans’ explains the marketing genius of Apple and its iPhone product line.  (2 minutes)

Rep. Anna Eshoo

Legislation forcing carriers to tell the truth about their 4G wireless speeds is scheduled to be introduced today in Congress by its author and chief sponsor, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.)

The Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act would require carriers to disclose the minimum data speed of their respective networks and better explain plan pricing and coverage.  While many consumers believe “4G” means vastly superior speeds and performance, in reality some wireless carriers have labeled even incremental network upgrades as delivering “4G” service, even if speeds are only incrementally better.

“Consumers deserve to know exactly what they’re getting for their money when they sign-up for a 4G data plan,” said Rep. Eshoo. “My legislation is simple – it will establish guidelines for understanding what 4G speed really is, and ensure that consumers have all the information they need to make an informed decision.”

Specifically, the legislation would provide consumers with the following information at the point of sale and in all billing materials:

• Guaranteed minimum data speed
• Network reliability
• Coverage area maps
• Pricing
• Technology used to provide 4G service
• Network conditions that can impact the speed of applications and services used on the network.

The legislation also requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to evaluate the speed and price of 4G wireless data service provided by the top ten U.S. wireless carriers in order to provide consumers with access to a side-by-side comparison in their service area.

“Consumers want faster, more reliable wireless data service, and I look forward to working with industry and consumer groups to achieve this goal,” Eshoo added. “We need to enhance transparency and ensure consumers are fully informed before they commit to a long-term service contract.”

The bill faces tough prospects in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and industry groups are likely to oppose the measure.  Eshoo has tangled with both in the recent past as a prominent supporter of Net Neutrality.

LightSquared, feeling pressure after independent studies showed significant interference problems created by its wireless broadband network, suddenly announced a “solution” to the problem — one getting skeptical reviews from those critical of the project.

The would-be mobile broadband provider claims it will abandon a 10MHz band adjacent to that used by GPS, moving further down “the dial” in hopes of avoiding future interference problems.  Company officials hailed the move, claiming it solves the GPS interference problem except for certain high precision GPS receivers that could still suffer from the further distant LightSquared signals.

“This is a solution which ensures that tens of millions of GPS users won’t be affected by LightSquared’s launch,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, LightSquared chairman and CEO. “At the same time, this plan offers a clear path for LightSquared to move forward with the launch of a nationwide wireless network that will introduce world class broadband service to rural and underserved areas which still find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide.’’

But LightSquared’s decision to remain in the same vicinity of low powered satellite signals has not impressed its critics.

Among the largest is Save Our GPS, a coalition of GPS users and manufacturers who fear LightSquared could ruin GPS service for millions of Americans.

“This latest gambit by LightSquared borders on the bizarre,” said Jim Kirkland, vice president and general counsel of Trimble, a founding member of the Coalition. “Last week LightSquared unilaterally delayed filing of the study report that culminated months of intensive work to evaluate interference to GPS, because they purportedly needed two more weeks to analyze the results. LightSquared’s supposed solution is nothing but a ‘Hail Mary’ move.  Confining its operation to the lower MSS band still interferes with many critical GPS receivers in addition to the precision receivers that even LightSquared concedes will be affected.”

Kirkland said it’s time for LightSquared to find an entirely different set of frequencies for its service, well away from GPS.

As LightSquared’s challenges continue, the one potential bright spot may be its agreement with Sprint Nextel allowing Sprint to resell LightSquared’s 4G network.  The agreement includes sharing upgrade and equipment expenses, but could be extended to include spectrum resources owned or controlled by Sprint.