Continuing deceptions

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: GIBBS & BRADNER
07/19/05

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Net Insider columnist Scott Brader says the FCC's fifth annual
  report, "High-Speed Services for Internet Access," is as
  misleading as its predecessors
* Links related to Gibbs & Bradner
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Continuing deceptions

By Scott Bradner

The FCC just released the fifth annual report on the status of
"High-Speed Services for Internet Access" in the U.S. and its
possessions ( <http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad3411> ). Like
its predecessors, this report is fundamentally misleading on a
number of fronts.

The FCC produced this report and its predecessors because
Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (
<http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html> ) directed the FCC to
regularly "initiate a notice of inquiry concerning the
availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all
Americans" and from the results of the inquiry determine
"whether advanced telecommunications capability is being
deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion."
If the answer is ever no, the FCC is required to "take immediate
action to accelerate deployment of such capability." The Act
defined "advanced telecommunications capability" as "high-speed,
switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables
users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data,
graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology."

I have no idea what Congress in all of its technical prowess
thought it was talking about when it mentioned high-speed
broadband in the Telecom Act but all the network people that I
know would not consider any service of less than 1M bit/sec as a
"high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability."
In the first of its reports (
<http://www.fcc.gov/broadband/706.html> ) the FCC used the term
"broadband," but it arbitrarily defined this as a service
supporting at least 200K bit/sec in both directions.

Maybe because it became clear that few observers agreed with its
use of the term broadband to mean such a slow service, and maybe
because the numbers were not going to be all that impressive,
the FCC has now dropped the term and substituted "high-speed,"
which it defines as at least 200K bit/sec, but it only has to be
in one direction -thereby halving its already low requirement.
This is misleading at best.

It seems like the FCC has been able to confuse (deceive?) some
in the press who touted the growth in broadband usage based on
the FCC report. It also seems to have confused the FCC chairman,
who published an editorial in the July 7Wall Street
Journaltouting the growth of broadband deployment in the U.S.
Maybe no one told him that the FCC's own survey just reported on
high-speed, not broadband, access.

As I mentioned two years ago, which was the last time I looked
at one of these reports, ("Reading into the FCC's 'Net access
stats,"
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2003/0623bradner.html>
), there are a lot of other problems with the FCC's approach.

For example, its very misleading assumption that a single
subscriber to high-speed services in a ZIP code can tell you
anything about the actual availability of high-speed (never mind
actual broadband) service to people living in that ZIP code.

All of the statistics in the FCC report are "up and to the
right" and thus look good. It's too bad that it actually does
not tell us all that much about Internet service that can
actually be used for "high-quality voice, data, graphics, and
video telecommunications." Maybe someday we will find out but
maybe not from the FCC.

Disclaimer: Most of Harvard's stats are also up and to the
right, but I've seen no university opinion on the FCC's use of
such stats so the above is my own rant.

Bradner is a consultant with Harvard University's University
Information Systems. He can be reached at
<mailto:sob@sobco.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Scott Bradner

Bradner is a consultant with Harvard University's University
Information Systems. He can be reached at <mailto:sob@sobco.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Dupont
Reduce Fire Safety Risk in Your Network!

Concerns are rising about the growing number of combustible
cables present in buildings required to service the
ever-increasing demands of IT networks. More workstations are
taxing the infrastructure. These concerns are the thrust behind
new "limited combustible" cables that reduce fire safety risk.
Click here for news, a free demo CD and more. Visit DuPont's
Cabling center today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=108625
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Gibbs archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/gibbs.html

Bradner archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/bradner.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
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companies expect to reap? Check out NW's step-by-step guide on
how to determine the true cost and benefits of VoIP. Click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/research/2005/071105-voip.html>
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