News Leadership 3.0

Posts tagged with: Broadband

February 23, 2010

Google’s “Gig” fiber network: Could it help your town?

On Feb. 10, Google announced the initial, experimental roll out of their own high-speed broadband fiber network—initially to “a small number of trial locations” across the US. According to Google’s blog: “We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.”
What might such internet access mean for local civic engagement and the health of communities?

(This is part of a series of guest posts by Amy Gahran. Amy is looking how news organizations and other institutions can implement the findings of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, This joint project of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Aspen Institute Communications and Society program produced the report, “Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age.” See all posts in this series.)

By Amy Gahran

Being able to send and receive data at a gigabit per second primarily means that two-way, real-time use of video, games and simulations, medical scans, remote monitoring and control, databases, and other kinds of large or complex files or communications would suddenly become easy and reliable.

For example: What if any community member could easily attend a local meeting without having to find a babysitter or make a special trip—simply by using by reliable, real-time, two-way video conferencing? What if local hospitals or clinics could instantly share high-resolution MRI images with leading medical experts around the world for instant consultation? What kinds of job and education opportunities might arise? What could it mean for local news, information, and education?

Of course, gigabit-speed broadband also would allow more mundane types of internet use. If some or all of your community previously had little or no access to broadband, simply allowing everyone to do better than dial up would be a huge step forward.

Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of search products and user experience—and co-chair of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy—noted in a recent interview that Google’s Gig project supports Recommendation 8 of the Knight Commission report, which says:

“Set ambitious standards for nationwide broadband availability and adopt public policies encouraging consumer demand for broadband services.”

The Knight report focused on government leadership for nationwide broadband access. The FCC is currently formulating its National Broadband Plan, and many companies and organizations (including Google) have submitted ideas and comments to FCC for this plan. But in the meantime, companies can push ahead with their own broadband access projects.

Said Mayer, “Here at Google, there’s been a return to focus on access issues. Especially community wifi and broadband access to communities. We had a debate on the Commission about what does ‘high quality access’ really mean for local communities? The Commission decided that it had to mean broadband. Google’s Gig project pushes the boundaries around the issue of broadband access.”

Access to the internet remains a crucial issue throughout the US. A February 2010 report from the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration notes:

“Despite the growing importance of the Internet in American life, over 30% of households and 35% of persons do not use the Internet at home, and 30% of all persons do not use the Internet anywhere. Those with no broadband access at home amount to more than 35% of all households and approximately 40% of all persons, with a larger proportion in rural areas in both categories. Overall, the two most important reasons given by survey respondents for not having broadband access at home are ‘don’t need’ and ‘too expensive.’ Inadequate or no computer is also a major reason given for no home broadband adoption. In rural America, lack of availability is a much more important reason for non-adoption than in urban areas.”

ACTION STEP If you’re interested in bring Google’s gigabit fiber network to your community, you can nominate your community through Google’s request for information (RFI). Deadline for nominations: March 26.

Google apparently is giving strongest consideration to nominations from eager, willing, and capable local governments. So before you nominate your community for Google’s fiber network, it’s a good idea to meet with local government officials to get their buy-in. Ideally the nomination to Google should be made by local officials—but if you’re the one making the nomination to Google, make sure to clearly demonstrate active local government interest and involvement.

News organizations in towns vying to get fiber broadband from Google can support this effort through journalistic investigation and coverage. What’s the current status of broadband access in your community, really? Double-check local broadband provider’s claims of geographic availability and upstream/downstream.

Paint a picture of a possible local future. Talk to local technologists, government officials, and civic groups: If your whole community had access everywhere to a gigabit fiber network, how might that affect the local economic development, jobs, education, health and welfare, and civic engagement?

Embrace debate. Obviously, a ubiquitous gigabit-speed fiber network wouldn’t have pros and cons for any community. Some points for public discussion:

Cost. Google is not offering to do this for free. Communities will have to pay for the service. Google says this cost will be “competitive,” but can your town really afford even that? For more far-flung rural communities, roll out costs might be even higher.
Commitment. Google’s current project is just an initial experiment. It’s unclear what kinds of long-term commitments Google is willing to make to communities. Could your community come to rely on its fiber network, only to be abandoned by Google, or to have it taken over by a more costly owner?
Local government readiness, attitude. What kind of shape are your civic data systems and processes in currently? If they’re currently a mess, faster internet access won’t fix that. Also, if this project doesn’t have any influential champions in local government, or if local officials or agencies generally resist transparency or change, civic benefits might be few.
Local values and culture. The fiber network can carry any kind of content—including violent video games, offensive music, religious and political extremism, and porn. Is your community willing and able to manage such challenges?
What about mobile phones? Gigabit-speed fiber networks are geared mainly toward computers. Yet mobile phone proliferation is much higher than computer use in almost every US community. If a Google Gig might not be the bets approach to connectivity in your community, consider what more you could do with cell networks, especially cellular broadband.

By Amy Gahran, 02/23/10 at 7:00 am
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March 09, 2010

National Broadband Plan: Opportunities for community news, civic engagement

On March 17, the FCC will deliver to Congress the controversial new National Broadband Plan—and this morning the nation got a preview of what this plan offers at an event co-hosted by the Knight Foundation at the Newseum in Washington DC. There will be much in this plan that could affect the future of US civic engagement, local news ecosystems, and the news business.

News organizations and news entrepreneurs should give this plan a close read—and also the recently published US consumer survey on broadband that the Brookings Institution conducted on FCC’s behalf. Getting familiar with this information now could help you spot emerging opportunities for providing news and info that strengthens local communities.

By Amy Gahran

The full National Broadband Plan has not yet been released—despite numerous “preview the plan” notes on Broadband.gov, the actual document is not online yet. However, on Feb. 18 the FCC did publish its recommendations for key national broadband priorities, which should be reflected in the forthcoming plan. (See press release, report.)

The Obama Administration authorized the FCC to create a National Broadband Plan as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009—which included several broadband initiatives intended to accelerate US broadband deployment. Widespread broadband is considered to be a crucial component of the development of a viable “digital public square.” Since broadband expansion could also expand the availability of public wireless net access, this could also prove to be a significant boost to mobile net access.

The Knight Commission recognized broadband’s potential for civic engagement in recommendation 8 of its 2009 report:

“Set ambitious standards for nationwide broadband availability and adopt public policies encouraging consumer demand for broadband services.”

In that report, the Commission also expressed skepticism about whether the federal government’s current approach to broadband policy “is sufficient to ensure the US will reach full-fledged universal digital citizenship.”

Similarly, the US consumer survey on broadband offers crucial market context for local news/info providers. This data is very fresh—it was gathered October-November 2009. It focuses on home access to broadband, which is crucial from a civic engagement perspective since people tend to follow civic issues outside of work/school hours. A few highlights:

Broadband users value community news. Nearly 40% of surveyed broadband users said they consider keeping up with community news an important reason reason for going online. Only staying in touch with family and friends was rated important by more users (68%). African-American broadband users are especially likely (51%) to say that the Internet is very important to them for keeping up with community news and entertainment. A third of rural broadband users say their online access to community news is important.
US Broadband is widespread, but unevenly distributed. Currently 65% of US adults use a high-speed internet connection to go online from home. However, only 52% of households with an annual income less than $50,000 have broadband at home. And only 46% of US adults whose highest level of education is a high school diploma have home broadband. Also, 59% of African-Americans and 49% of Hispanics have home broadband.
Local/community news broadband demographics. Among broadband users, slightly more women (82%) than men (78%) get local news online. Parents are especially likely to get local news online (86%). A majority of broadband users in all age groups get local news online, ranging from 86% for 18-29 year olds to 58% for seniors 65+. Education level has a minor effect: 75% of adult broadband users with less than a high school education access local news online, compared to 85% for college plus. Income level shows a similar variation: 75-85% for all income levels, with the lowest level of local news importance falling in the middle income range ($50-75,000).
Cost affects usage. 36% of non-broadband users cite cost as the main reason they do not have home broadband. Also, broadband billing often lacks transparency: “On average, Americans pay nearly $41 per month for broadband service, but half of those who receive their broadband in a bundle with other services cannot identify the Internet portion of their bill.”
Perceptions of relevance.According to the FCC/Brookings consumer survey, 22% of Amercians do not use the internet at all. Of that group, about 35% indicated the internet is not relevant, interesting, or useful to them. Many non-internet users are also low-income. However, ArsTechnica recently reported on a new Social Science Research Council study that appears to counter the common myth that the internet and home broadband are less useful or relevant to poor people.

ACTION STEPS: When it is available, download and review the National Broadband Plan (which will be posted to Broadband.gov), and consider how it might affect your community and business in the coming years.

Track the action. Either attend (if you’re in the DC area) or watch the archived webcast of this March 16 BroadbandBreakfast.com event: Top Congressional tech staffers will discuss Setting the Table for the National Broadband Plan: Where to from Here?. Representatives of the main Congressional committiees hashing over the plan will be there: the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. (Good committees to start monitoring regularly.)

The National Broadband Plan is highly controversial—expect a big political battle here. Large, established businesses such as cable companies, broadcasters, and telcos have much at stake and are throwing substantial lobbying muscle toward protecting their interests. Expect that the there will be changes to the plan between the time it goes to committee and the version that eventually makes it to the floor of Congress.

Another great resource for tracking this issue is Drew Clark’s BroadbandBreakfast.com blog—one of the best sources of news and update for national, regional, and state broadband issues.

Track what’s happening in your state broadband task forces, commissions, or authorities. For local or community news ventures, this might be the most effective place to sway broadband policy to encourage local news and civic engagement.

Assess local obstacles to broadband penetration. Ask locals about the reasons cited by survey participants about why some people aren’t adopting broadband. Consider that the Knight report noted: “Communities cannot realize the full benefit of broadband deployment unless people actually connect to broadband networks. Thus the Commission encourages [efforts] to make broadband service more attractive.”

In other words, if broadband becomes universally available and affordable throughout your community, what will it take really create a viable, popular digital public square that most people will use and value? How might you strengthen your community (and your business) by working toward that goal?

By Amy Gahran, 03/09/10 at 10:05 am
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March 19, 2010

National Broadband Plan: What it actually says about civic engagement

On March 17, the FCC finally presented to Congress the National Broadband Plan—a 360-page proposed policy to encourage the development of a robust, ubiquitous broadband infrastructure throughout the US. Last week I discussed why news orgs and journalists should pay attention to this plan.

Enhancing civic engagement is a key theme of the published plan. In fact, an entire chapter is devoted to this topic.

Here are some civic engagement highlights of the plan—and some possible implications for community-level news and information…

By Amy Gahran

Right at the top of Chapter 15, Civic Engagement, the National Broadband Plan highlights the connection between broadband access and the faltering traditional news business:

“The transition to new information technologies and services can open new doors to enhance America’s media environment—but with traditional sources of news and information journalism under severe stress in the current media and economic environments, we confront serious challenges to ensure that broadband is put to work to strengthen our democracy. Civic engagement starts with an informed public, and broadband can help by strengthening the reach and relevance of mediated and unmediated information.”

The plan’s civic engagement chapter makes 14 specific recommendations to create a broadband infrastructure that actively supports civic engagement at all levels of US society and government. The chapter’s second recommendation (15.2) specifically echoes and cites Recommendation 4 of the Knight Commission’s “Informing Communities” report:

Recommendation 15.2: Government should make its processes more transparent and conducive to participation by the American people:

For the Executive Branch, independent agencies, Congress and state and local government, all government meetings, public hearings and town hall meetings should be broadcast online.
Congress should consider allowing the American public to track and comment on proposed legislation online.

“...As a guiding principle, the Knight Commission has declared, ‘the public’s business should be done in public.’ Public hearings and town hall meetings are among the most direct and frequent opportunities for the public to engage in their democracy. Video streaming of government meetings expands access to the government by eliminating geographic limitations and allowing for ‘time shifting,’ so that a person who is unable to watch a meeting in real time (because they are at work, for example) can still watch the proceedings and provide feedback. That is why federal, state and local governments should require that all public agency meetings and hearings be streamed over the Internet. Additionally, these events should offer closed-captioning services to increase accessibility for persons with disabilities and, to the extent practical, enable individuals to ask questions online.”

POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITIES: Coordinating video streaming is not necessarily a strength of government, especially local government. If Congress provides funding for universal video streaming of meetings and hearings at all levels of government, there might be outsourcing opportunities for CSPAN-like businesses. News organizations and news professionals could be players here.

However, an even more crucial role for journalism and journalists in this kind of service would be offering context. Anyone who’s attended government meetings and hearings knows that it’s pretty hard to figure out what’s going on unless you’re already very familiar with the process, issues, history, players, interests, and jargon. News professionals could use broadband to provide easy real-time access to relevant context—news stories, backgrounders, documents, links, live text or audio commentary, etc.—that would help viewers understand what they’re watching.

Similarly, the language and formatting of legislation is generally excruciating to read—so mere availability would not necessarily encourage engagement. Furthermore, our state and federal legislative process is such that multiple “live” copies of the same bill often are available simultaneously, confusing people who are not government insiders. Where exactly should one leave a comment?

Journalists and others who are accustomed to following and explaining legislation might find business opportunities to layer context on proposed legislation—making it easier to understand what’s going on, what happens next, optimum timing for comments, and also getting citizens’ questions answered (since often people have questions before they can formulate comments). This is an example of applying journalism skills as a direct service, rather than simply as a means to create content that’s supported by ads or subscriptions.

Other aspects of Chapter 15 of the National Broadband plan may provide additional journalistic opportunities related to civic engagement. For instance:

“Recommendation 15.6: Congress should consider increasing funding to public media for broadband-based distribution and content.”

...This is followed by other recommendations to revise the Copyright Act to make it easier for public broadcasing organizations to use copyrighted material, and also to create a “federated national digital archive to house public interest digital content.” And further:

“Congress should consider amending the Copyright Act to enable public and broadcast media to more easily contribute their archival content to a digital national archive and grant reasonable noncommercial downstream usage rights for this content to the American people.”

...which could prove to have interesting implications for mashup culture—included journalistically minded uses of content.

WHAT’S NEXT: Macworld recently published a pretty good overview of what happens with the National Broadband Plan now that Congress is considering it. Of special interest to broadcasters is this point: “The FCC will also ask Congress to give it new authority to sell spectrum now controlled by incumbents including U.S. television stations.”

FOLLOW THE ACTION: On Twitter, the hashtag #BBplan provides lots of news and view on the plan. As I mentioned last week, the BroadbandBreakfast blog and state broadband commissions also are key sources as this policy debate unfolds.

By Amy Gahran, 03/19/10 at 12:15 pm
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