more on Limits on wireless leave U.S. at risk

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Gerry Faulhaber <gerry-faulhaber () mchsi com>
Date: October 17, 2005 6:22:34 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Limits on wireless leave U.S. at risk


Reed claims firms were offering WiMax and WiFi mesh networks for  
first responders in the wake of Katrina and Rita.  He also mentions  
the role of municipal WiFi in this effort.  Coulda happened, but it  
seems wildly unlikely.  Is there any proof of this?

Professor Gerald R. Faulhaber
Business and Public Policy Dept.
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104

----- Original Message ----- From: "David Farber" <dave () farber net>
To: "Ip Ip" <ip () v2 listbox com>
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 8:54 AM
Subject: [IP] Limits on wireless leave U.S. at risk



> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: October 16, 2005 10:33:24 PM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Limits on wireless leave U.S. at risk
> Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com
>
>
> [Note:  This item comes from reader Mike Cheponis.  DLH]
>
> Posted on Sun, Oct. 16, 2005
>
> Limits on wireless leave U.S. at risk
> By Reed Hundt
> <http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/12917284.htm>
> For the past two years, everyone in Washington has agreed that the  
> country needs a new telecommunications law. But no one has been  
> able  to provide a reason in terms that any voter could grasp. One  
> of the  many outcomes of the Katrina and Rita catastrophes is that  
> we all  know, tragically and inescapably, that America needs a new,  
> up-to- date communications network. If a law will give us that,  
> then  Congress should pass that law. In a hurry.
>
> We can start by identifying some things not to do. For example,   
> Louisiana and Florida adopted legislation in recent years intended  
> to  slow the deployment of municipal wireless broadband  
> communications  networks. These states are not alone; a dozen other  
> legislatures have  tried to slow the deployment of municipal  
> broadband.
>
> In theory, the legislation has helped traditional suppliers of  
> fixed telecommunications services serve existing and potential  
> customers without competition from local governments. But this  
> public-policy  choice has hurt and will continue to impede first- 
> responder access to communications by making it difficult or  
> impossible for cities to  deploy on-the-spot wireless broadband  
> communication systems.
>
> In the wake of Katrina and Rita, ``new'' telecommunications  
> options,  such as wireless broadband, were among the fastest to  
> reconnect first responders and citizens in the affected regions.  
> These new  competitors are using the latest technologies, such as  
> voice over  Internet protocol phones, mesh networking, and WiFi and  
> WiMax  technologies that operate on unlicensed spectrum. In fact,  
> WiFi mesh  technology has demonstrated yet again that it is one of  
> the most  robust communications systems -- one that will stay up  
> the longest  when a catastrophic event occurs and can be back up  
> first to aid in  the rescue effort.
>
> In New Orleans, for example, wireless ISP Verge Wireless has   
> connected refugees in shelters throughout the city, in conjunction   
> with MCI using WiMax and WiFi mesh networking gear operating in   
> unlicensed spectrum. In addition to Web access, this network also   
> supports voice-over-WiFi phones and will soon support video   
> surveillance of the city, enabling first responders to handle more   
> crucial tasks. In fact, a Vonage phone connected to the Internet in  
> a  hotel in New Orleans was the first and only way for the mayor  
> and his  response team to communicate with the world for two days.
>
> Repeatedly in Congress and in legislatures, we have heard that  
> municipalities have no business being in the telecommunications   
> business. (Local community leaders heard much the same thing when   
> they sought to provide this newfangled thing called  
> ``electricity''  to under-served and rural areas a century ago.)
>
> Before the Katrina and Rita disasters, Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas,  
> introduced HR 2627, to ``prohibit municipal governments from  
> offering telecommunications, information, or cable services, except  
> to remedy market failures by private enterprise to provide such  
> services.'' In Texas, a state representative has introduced HB 789,  
> which, like  bills in other states, seeks to severely limit  
> municipalities or  municipally owned utilities from participating  
> in municipal broadband  projects.
>
> As is the case in life, having a broad range of approaches and   
> options is usually the best way forward.
>
> This means enacting laws that encourage municipalities and new   
> entrants to quickly build competing broadband infrastructure, such  
> as  the Community Broadband Act, proposed by Sens. John McCain, R- 
> Ariz.,  and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.
>
> Congress should grant $1 billion in federal matching grants to any  
> municipality that will pay 50 percent of the cost of such a local  
> wireless broadband network. Local government should let competitive  
> contracts and build city-by-city, county-by-county, coast-to-coast   
> WiFi network.
>
> Officials ought to reallocate a spectrum, probably in the 700   
> megahertz band, for a national wireless network reserved for first   
> responders. The local WiFi networks can be used by anyone with a   
> laptop. The first-responder network would be available only for   
> authorized emergency services. But for the first time all -- the   
> Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management   
> Agency, local police departments, local firefighters and so on --   
> would be on the same network. They could use similar equipment.  
> They  could communicate with each other, saving lives and taking  
> fewer  risks to do so. The Federal Communications Commission  
> should  reallocate the spectrum. Congress should appropriate the  
> money.
>
> Finally, Congress should ask the FCC to coordinate the repair and   
> relief efforts of the big commercial wireless, wire, cable,  
> broadcast  and satellite networks. The able new chairman of the FCC  
> has led a  bipartisan commission with energy and focus in assessing  
> what went  wrong and what can be done better to repair downed  
> networks. Congress  should give the FCC chairman the tools he needs  
> to make sure that we  all learn the hard lesson of Katrina and Rita.
>
> REED HUNDT, former chairman of the FCC, wrote this article for the  
> Mercury News.
>
> Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
>
>
>
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