Fighting for freedom on the Internet

Should Web surfers be allowed to go to any Internet site they want, use their computers to make free phone calls or download big video files without paying extra?

Millions of Americans who connect to the Internet can do all those things now, and in all likelihood, they'll be able to do those things in the future. To make sure of that, Congress has been working on proposals to enshrine the right of "Net neutrality" into law....

Appropriate Framework for Broadband Access to the Internet over Wireline Facilities

The availability of the Internet has had a profound impact on American life. This network of networks has fundamentally changed the way we communicate. It has increased the speed of communication, the range of communicating devices and the variety of platforms over which we can send and receive information. As Congress has noted, “[t]he rapidly developing array of Internet . . . services available to individual Americans represent an extraordinary advance in the availability of educational and informational resources to our citizens.” The Internet also represents “a forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique opportunities for cultural development, and myriad avenues for intellectual activity.” In addition, the Internet plays an important role in the economy, as an engine for productivity growth and cost savings.

Verizon Wireless Customers Can Now Pre-Register for the New LG VX9800 - The Ultimate Wireless Multimedia Device

Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service provider, and LG Electronics MobileComm (LG Mobile Phones) invite customers to register to purchase the new multimedia LG VX9800 handset before its official introduction in October. Beginning today, Verizon Wireless customers can register for the VX9800 by logging on to http://www.verizonwireless.com/.

Available exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers, the VX9800 uses advanced wireless technology and design to offer a complete multimedia entertainment experience along with the latest in wireless phone communication. Whether streaming news and sports video highlights on Verizon Wireless' V CAST service, downloading and watching crystal clear V CAST video clips from the hottest names in entertainment, or listening to favorite songs through the phone's MP3 player and stereo speakers, customers will notice that the VX9800's overall design typifies the latest in wireless technology.

The VX9800 features the coolest trends in mobile communications including Bluetooth(R) technology for certain profiles and a 1.3 megapixel integrated camera and camcorder. Easy to use external memory capability means customers can purchase a MiniSD(TM) memory card and use it to play their own MP3s, or transfer digital pictures, music files and video clips easily from PCs to their wireless phones.

The VX9800 comes equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard for easy access to messaging applications and VZEmail with Wireless Sync that lets customers send and receive e-mail directly from their VX9800s. With Wireless Sync, customers can get new e-mails, calendar, contact and task information sent to their VX9800s as long as the PC is left on. Wireless Sync also allows for synchronization with POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts so customers can stay connected to friends, family and business contacts -- all with one device.

"The VX9800 represents the ultimate convergence of today's most innovative mobile technologies and brings the very latest advances in wireless entertainment and handset design together for a complete multimedia experience," said Mr. Juno Cho, president, LG Electronics MobileComm. "An evolution in wireless phone technology, the VX9800 represents a giant step forward for both LG and Verizon Wireless in our quest to bring next-generation multimedia entertainment and communications tools to today's cutting-edge customers."

In addition to its mobile media and advanced communications capabilities, the VX9800 also includes some of the most advanced mobile phone features available to wireless phone users today including:

-- Internal LCD Display: 262K Color TFT, 320 x 256 Pixels, 15 Lines -- External LCD Display: 65K Color TFT, 160 x 128 Pixels, 9 Lines -- QWERTY Keyboard for Easy Messaging -- Unobtrusive Internal Antenna -- Bluetooth-Capable -- compatible with devices that support the headset, hands-free, and/or dial-up networking profile(s); pair up to 20 Bluetooth-capable devices; send vCard via Bluetooth (some Bluetooth profiles not supported) -- EV-DO High-Speed Data Connectivity + -- V CAST-Capable -- stream and download video clips (15 fps) with high- speed EV-DO technology + -- Mobile Web E-mail -- easy access to Hotmail(R), AOL(R) or Yahoo!(R)e-mail accounts + -- VZEmail -- Wireless Sync E-mail + -- Get It Now(R)-Capable -- download games, ring tones, wallpapers and more + -- Mobile Web 2.0(SM) Capable + -- Mobile Instant Messaging (IM) + -- PIX and FLIX Messaging Service (MMS) -- send and receive messages with text, sounds, photos or videos + -- Enhanced TXT Messaging (SMS/EMS) + -- MP3 Player with Customizable Equalizer -- Dual Speakers for Stereo Sound -- MiniSD Memory Port to Store Pictures*, Videos*, Sounds** and MP3 Music -- 1.3 Megapixel CMOS Camera with Flash -- Business Card Reader -- Record 15-Second Video Clips (15 fps) -- Save up to 315 Videos @ 176 x 144 or 153 Videos @ 320 x 240 Pixels -- Video (Camcorder) Format: 3g2 -- Camera Resolutions: 1280 x 960, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 176 x 144, 160 x 120 Pixels -- Zoom: Up to 4x (varies by resolution)* -- Save up to 365 Photos @ 160 x 120 or 16 Photos @ 1280 x 960 Pixels -- LCD Dual Mode for Self-Portraits -- Close-up Mode for Photos at Close Range* -- Self-Timer: 3, 5 or 10 seconds -- Customizable Brightness*, White Balance*, Shutter Sound, Color Effects, Photometry and Orientation (Portrait/Landscape) -- Night Mode -- Text to Speech (English) -- Full-Duplex Speakerphone -- Advanced Speaker-Independent Voice Recognition (English & Spanish) -- Voice Commands: Call Someone, Digit Dial, Voicemail, Missed Calls, Messages, Time & Date -- Voice Memo Recorder (1 Minute Each; Up to 200 Memos Total) -- 72-Chord Polyphonic Ring Tone Support -- 15 Unique Default Ring Tones -- Personal Organizer: Calendar with Scheduler, Alarm Clock, Notepad -- Tools: World Clock, Calculator, Ez Tip Calc -- Speed Dial (98 Entries + 1 Voicemail Default) -- Address Book with 1000 Contacts -- each stores 5 numbers, 2 e-mail addresses and picture ID -- External USB Capable -- Vibrate and Silent Modes -- TTY/TDD Support -- Hearing Aid Compatible (M3-Rating) -- Standalone Mode (RF Off) -- English and Spanish Language Support -- Frequency: 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 1.5 GHz GPS, 800 MHz CDMA (Dual-Mode) -- Dimensions: 4.57" (H) x 1.97" (W) x 1.00" (D) -- Weight: 5.19 oz. -- Memory: 128 MB Flash/64 MB SRAM -- Standard Battery: 1,300 mAh Lithium Polymer -- Usage Time: Up to 4.16 Hours* -- Standby Time: Up to 8.3 Days*

The LG VX9800 will be available beginning on September 26 for $299.99 after $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement at http://www.verizonwireless.com/. On October 1, the LG VX9800 will also be available for $299.99 after $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement in more than 1,900 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores across the country and at Circuit City locations.

For more information about Verizon Wireless' products and services, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/. For more information about LG Mobile Phones, visit http://www.lgusa.com/.

+ Verizon Wireless digital service and subscription required. V CAST service is not available in all areas. * Adjustments available in both camera and video modes. * User-generated pictures and videos only, not from downloads. * Certain features may use more power and cause actual standby and usage time to vary. ** Voice memos and sounds received via MMS. About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 47.4 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com/. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

FCC proposes telecom help in areas hit by Katrina

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has proposed giving about $211 million to help low-income residents, health care providers, relief agencies, schools, libraries and telecommunications providers in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.


According to an FCC press release, the commission will also create a blue-ribbon panel of experts from the public safety and communications industries to review the impact of the hurricane and propose ways to improve disaster preparedness, network reliability and public safety operations.


Chairman Kevin Martin said Sept. 15 that the FCC will provide funding for the areas hit by the hurricane through four Universal Service Programs. Through its program for low-income consumers, the FCC will provide support for wireless handsets and a package of 300 free minutes for evacuees and for those in the area without telephone service. The program will also help pay to reconnect residents to the telecom network during rebuilding. The commission estimates that those initiatives will cost about $51 million.


Through the FCC’s program for rural health care providers, public and nonprofit health care organizations providing services to victims in the region can apply for discounts on advanced services used with telemedicine applications. The FCC estimates about $28 million in support.


In addition, schools and libraries in the affected region can resubmit requests for 2005 and 2006 E-rate funds, which could provide $132 million in support. The program gives schools and libraries discounts of 20 percent to 90 percent for Internet access, telecom infrastructure and internal connections. The FCC oversees the program, and a nonprofit group called the Universal Service Administrative Co. administers it.


Finally, the FCC will waive or modify rules to allow BellSouth to prioritize Universal Service Fund money to help it rebuild wire centers and facilities damaged by the hurricane.


In addition to the blue-ribbon panel, Martin also proposed creating a new Public Safety/Homeland Security Bureau to coordinate public safety, national security and disaster management activities within the FCC. Those activities are currently scattered across multiple FCC bureaus. The new bureau would develop policies and rules related to public safety and priority emergency communications, continuity of government operations, disaster management coordination, and network reliability and interoperability, among other issues.


During an FCC Open Commission meeting in Atlanta Sept. 15, Willis Carter, chief of communications for the Shreveport, La., Fire Department, testified that he visited four parishes affected by the hurricane and saw a lack of coordinated command and control, no direct support for communication centers and personnel, and an inability to communicate.


“Today, most of the area’s emergency communications are operating at least in a limited capacity,” said Carter, who is also first vice president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International. “However, there is still much to be done to restore full communications capabilities, which in some cases will require the rebuilding of total networks.”


He said governments must take several steps to prepare for future disasters. They include allocating funding to build and maintain public safety communications networks to “withstand worst-case scenarios,” setting up redundant sites to quickly restore 911 service, reserving interoperable radio spectrum for supplemental and replacement radio systems during a disaster, and giving adequate funding and radio spectrum to operate interoperable radio communication systems with state-of-the art capabilities.


“Just as Sept. 11, 2001, helped to focus the nation on the communications issues facing our first responders,” Carter said in his testimony, “Hurricane Katrina has revealed that much still needs to be accomplished to provide public safety personnel with the communications tools they need to protect the safety of life and property.”

Sprint gets smarter

After launching its wireless NFL football coverage this week, Sprint Nextel on Friday unveiled the first handset designed to run on the company’s high-speed wireless network.

The multifeatured “smart device” from UT Starcom Personal Communications, formerly Audiovox, can access the Web from Sprint’s EV-DO, or Evolution-Data Optimized, wireless network and is the first phone to use the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.

In addition to accessing the Web through Sprint’s network, the Starcom PPC-6700 is the first Sprint phone that also can access Wi-Fi networks.

“With Wi-Fi, 3G and EV-DO high-speed wireless data, our customers now have more choices for staying productive while on the go,” said Vicki Walker, vice president of marketing and product for Sprint.

Sprint launched high-speed wireless service for business customers in July. The so-called third generation, or 3G, service allows mobile workers to access the Web with notebook computers equipped with a wireless card.

The Starcom phone extends that service to a handset for the first time, and is the first volley in an expected high-speed shootout as Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless compete for consumers who want to use their phones for more than talk.

Verizon has been advertising its consumer-oriented high-speed V-Cast service heavily this month, using an ad campaign featuring actress Pamela Anderson, singer Shakira, basketball star Shaquille O’Neal and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Sprint is expected to launch its consumer high-speed service this fall. The company’s EV-DO service is now available in 75 markets and more than 100 airports, the company said Friday.

V-Cast is available in 61 markets.

Both Sprint and Verizon use EV-DO technology.

The services allow subscribers to surf the Web at speeds of 400 to 700 kilobits per second, with a top speed of 2 megabits per second. That makes them more or less comparable to digital subscriber line, or DSL, services available to consumers at home.

High-speed service through the new Sprint handset is available in three plans ranging from $15 to $25 a month, in addition to regular wireless service.

The PPC-6700 offers a laundry list of other features. It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a 1.3-megapixel digital snapshot and video camera, and is Bluetooth-enabled to connect with wireless headsets and car kits.

The Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system gives users access to Outlook Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile and Excel Mobile, and allows Sprint business subscribers to synchronize their e-mail and calendar remotely.

The phone has a slot for a memory card to transfer music, photos and video from desktop computers.

“We believe the PPC-6700 really is the next-generation mobile device,” said Philip Christopher, Starcom’s president. The phone is “designed to enable professionals to virtually carry office capabilities in their pocket,” he said.

Targeted for business users, the PPC-6700, at just over 6 ounces, will be available in Sprint stores next week for a retail price of $630 before rebates and discounts.

Sprint shares closed Friday at $25.38, up 48 cents.

Sprint CEO Visits Warsaw

With the recent merger of Sprint and Nextel, the decision was made to spin off the portion of Sprint that provides local service in Warsaw and several surrounding communities.

Daniel L. Hesse, the chief executive officer of Sprint’s local telecommunications division, met with a representative group of Sprint employees to explain the new corporate structure and answer employees’ questions.

Hesse is no stranger to northern Indiana – he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame. He holds master’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University. Hesse has spent more than 27 years in the telecommunications industry, with 23 years at AT&T, including various senior management positions.

The new company, which hasn’t officially been named, will be responsible for providing service to 7.6 million existing customers in 18 states. The company will be the largest non-Bell telephone company in the United States, with more than $6 billion in annual revenues. Financially, the company will be rated investment grade, pay dividends and be a Fortune 500 company, similar in ranking to nationally known companies like Southwest Airlines and Starbuck’s Coffee.

Hesse said, “This allows us to focus more intently on the local markets and offer one-stop shopping to our residence and business customers for local wireline service, DSL, long distance, wireless service under our own brand and entertainment services through our agreement with DISH Network. Our ‘Job 1’ is is to do a great job in our local territories.”

The company, which will include North Supply, will employ more than 16,000 people. The headquarters will remain in the Kansas City metropolitan area, but be segregated from the Sprint-Nextel organization. There are no plans currently to change the structure or personnel in the Warsaw area, but local Sprint employees perceive the change as positive.

Mike Brill, Indiana director of customer service, headquartered in Warsaw, said, “This gives us a greater sense of localness and allows us to increase our focus on small and medium business customers in addition to our residential customers. It also provides us with the commitment to a longterm relationship in the local communities we serve

Sprint launches Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC phone

Sprint has announced what it claims is the first Pocket PC phone in the US to run Microsoft's new Windows Mobile 5.0 software platform. The Sprint PPC-6700 is a CDMA handset with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard plus a 1.3 Mpixel camera and EV-DO, WiFi, and Bluetooth capabilities.

The PPC-6700 is rumored to be manufactured by Taiwanese ODM (original device manufacturer) HTC, based on that company's Apache reference platform. It's powered by a 416 MHz Intel XScale PXA270 embedded processor and reportedly comes equipped with 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of Flash memory. It features a unique, sliding QWERTY keyboard that opens from the side and automatically changes orientation from portrait to landscape viewing mode. The device also boasts a 1.3 Mpixel camera with built-in flash, digital zoom, and camcorder functionality.

The PPC-6700 supports the Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) high-speed wireless data protocol with claimed average download speeds of 400 to 700 Kbps and peak rates up to 2.0 Mbps. In areas that don't yet have EV-DO service, the handset falls back to 1XRTT throughput rates. WiFi and Bluetooth wireless are also built in.

The PPC-6700 is one of the first Pocket PC phones to feature Windows Mobile 5.0. Its application Software includes updated version of Office applications including Outlook Mobile and the new PowerPoint Mobile. Sprint says the PPC-6700 also supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for over-the-air synchronization of email and calendar information with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

"We believe the PPC-6700 really is the next-generation mobile device," said Philip Christopher, president of UTStarcom Personal Communications. "Built with business applications in mind, the sliding keyboard and advanced data capabilities are just two of the many features, which when paired with Sprint's advanced wireless service, are designed to enable professionals to virtually carry office capabilities in their pocket."

Availability
The PPC-6700, marketed by UT Starcom Personal Communications, will be available next week through Sprint's business and sales channels for $629.99 "before discounts and promotions," the company says. The device will be offered nationwide in Sprint Stores and online later this year.

New Global Telecom

Frost & Sullivan's recent
analysis, North American Hosted IP Telephony and VoIP Access Service, selected
New Global Telecom (NGT), Inc. as the recipient of the 2005 Customer Service
Leadership Award for its 6DegreesIP wholesale-hosted IP telephony service. The
company's solutions have helped service providers make use of the growing
opportunity for business and residential voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
services rapidly and cost-efficiently.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has
exhibited excellence in customer service within its industry. The recipient
company has developed and implemented new customer care systems that have set
unprecedented standards for customer interaction, timely response, and/or
attention to customer needs. It has implemented a system that effectively and
efficiently responds to the perceived needs of its end users.

NGT has based its 6DegreesIP product suite on the hosted IP telephony
platform of BroadSoft's BroadWorks and the product also includes a range of
services to create a turnkey, managed solution. These VoIP solutions
incorporate feature packages, local and long distance VoIP services as well as
many ancillary features such as on-demand conferencing.

The 6DegreesIP product suite leverages NGT's extensive network
origination/termination footprint, its sophisticated network management
capability, retail billing, and OSS functionality, customer premise equipment
(CPE) testing and support, as well as sales, marketing, and training support.

"Throughout 2004, NGT leveraged the advanced capabilities of the
BroadWorks' IP telephony platform and its superior customer service and
support programs to attract many wholesale customers," says Frost & Sullivan
Research Analyst Elka Popova. "By December 2004, it was already carrying 20
million VoIP minutes per month and growth in the company's customer base was
recently enhanced by the migration of a large number of Level 3's former
customers."

The transfer of ICG's originally retail VoicePipe service to NGT's
wholesale platform validated NGT's superior capabilities and value proposition
yet again. Currently, NGT has over 40 wholesale customers including unbundled
network element platform (UNE-P) competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs),
Internet service providers (ISPs), application service providers (ASPs), data
network providers and Tier 1 carriers.

Almost 75 percent of NGT's end users are business customers and the other
25 percent are residential. By the end of 2005, NGT expects its customer base
to reach 60,000 seats, based solely on current signed customer contracts. The
company anticipates over 80 percent of these seats to be made up of business
users by the end of 2005.

"NGT's commitment to deliver greater customer value and superior customer
service is apparent with its ability to rapidly deploy and provision most of
its solution in less than 90 days, thus enabling the speedy launch of VoIP
services," notes Popova. "NGT customizes each implementation, which includes
dedicated account management resources, and involves extensive training and
support services."
NGT's training curriculum comprises seven modules that are unmatched in
the industry. Customers receive access to the 6DegreesIP Resource Center,
where they can download sales/marketing materials, view the latest CPE
information and access product and support documentation. NGT is also known
for its continued innovation and responsiveness to customer needs and
feedback. In the last 12 months, it has had five major product releases that
offer aggressive functionality to service providers and end users. It has also
added conferencing, origination, termination, 800 service, international
service, 729 support, state-based billing, trunk replacement, and device
certification to meet customer needs.
"NGT continuously strives to enhance the value of its solutions and to
provide its wholesale customers with greater opportunities for improving
revenues while curtailing costs," observes Popova. "Through technology
innovation, training, and marketing and sales support, it enables clients to
stand apart from competitors and improve customer satisfaction and retention
rates."

About New Global Telecom, Inc.
New Global Telecom, Inc. is the leading provider of wholesale-hosted VoIP
solutions and outsourced network management services. Through its New Global
Telecom and General Telecom brands, the company delivers IP and TDM switch
partitioning, outsourced network operations and VoIP services to carriers and
service providers, including CLECs, ISPs, VPN providers and VoIP-centric
companies worldwide. NGT's 6DegreesIP product suite of managed wholesale VoIP
products offers service providers a highly effective, turnkey solution to
address residential and business end-user needs. 6DegreesIP includes a
complete range of telephony features, extensive local & long-distance calling
footprint, integrated retail OSS, worldwide conferencing capability, training
and other support. TDM-to-IP and IP-to-IP switching services are also
available. For more information, please visit http://www.ngt.com .

About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering
with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than
40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting,
growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and
develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that
includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment
community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique
global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies,
econometrics, and demographics. For more information, visit

Making VoIP service a little simpler

As the popularity of Internet phone service -- Voice over Internet Protocol -- continues to grow, two companies have made setting up the service at home a little bit easier. Normally, in order to get broadband phone service going, a customer would have to connect their DSL Internet connection or cable wire to a router, then connect that to a special VoIP adapter, and connect that to a phone.

But both New Jersey-based Vonage and Santa Clara-based 8x8 are now selling phones that have adapters and routers built into one appliance, so all customers need to do is plug their Internet DSL or cable wire right in.

Vonage's phone, the VTech IP8100-2, merges its router and adapter and comes with two cordless handsets to place around your house. 8x8's UIP 1868P phone, made by Uniden, combines router, adapter and phone all into one unit and includes one cordless handset. Both phones retail for about $150 plus the cost of monthly VoIP service, and are available in electronics stores throughout California, the companies

Telecommunications upgrade is key to coast economic growth

As rural electrification and the railroad were to the development of the early American West, the spread of telecommunications technology will be the key to the economic development of the West of the future, including the Oregon coast, says Onno Husing, director of the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association (OCZMA). His organization is now spearheading a coast-wide effort to bring the most advanced telecommunications to the coast.

All-season business
The conversion of coastal businesses from seasonal to year-round has been a goal - and a struggle - for many in Lincoln County. Prompted by that reality, some businesses on the coast are already adapting to the new globalized world through the use of telecommunications. For example, Husing points out, the Lighthouse Deli, run by Jim Iverson, "has a big Internet business" that enables the South Beach food shop to reach customers around the country in all seasons.

"Seventy percent of his business in winter now is through Internet sales. I came with Jim one day at 6 a.m. to watch him turn on the computer to see what his Internet orders were overnight. He's on Yahoo and eBay and he's all self-taught. It's a whole new world out there."

The Lincoln County Economic Development Alliance, working with county government and organizations like Husing's, took the lead several years ago in the first coordinated effort at bringing telecommunications technology to the Oregon coast, with the creation of CoastNet. That linked Lincoln County with the Willamette Valley, and through the Bonneville Power Administration's regional telecommunications system, the world, by leasing space on otherwise unused fiber optic cables owned by the Central Lincoln People's Utility District. And it ultimately prompted Qwest, which had viewed the coast as a backwater, to come in with its own fiber optics system.

But the world, and especially, telecommunications, moves on. In order to provide more advanced, faster and greater capacities, the OCZMA, based in Newport, has been looking into a telecommunications project for the entire coast. "The coast as a whole is a poor region," says Husing, "and we really need a way to bring new businesses and new jobs here. The new telecommunications technologies could be that."

The need
That project, says Husing, is looking at two forms of enhanced technology: broadband cable, and wireless (also known as "Wi-Fi") technology.
Broadband cable is essentially just that, a larger fiber optic cable capable of carrying telecommunications services that demand a far higher number of bits per second than the more common current technology can handle. Thus, where the modem in most computers today can transfer data at a rate of 56 kilobytes (KB) per second, large deployments of broadband capability now enable the transfer of 500 KB per second or more -10 times what the average home computer, or its telephone line, can handle
.
Husing's OCZMA "started in on this in earnest in February 2004, and we'll have a final report out September 30," he said. "The point is that we've got issues of poverty all up and down the Oregon coast, and many of the people I work for - the counties, cities, ports, soil and water conservation districts, as well as the Coquille Tribe - all recognize we have these issues. The data shows, for instance, that 70 percent of the kids in Waldport qualify for the school lunch program."

Many of the best and brightest among the coast's young people go inland to college and stay there after they graduate, even as senior citizens come to the coast to retire. Others come to build "trophy homes" which give the coast a "veneer of prosperity," Husing says, but are lived in only two months of the year, or are rented out, providing rental income to absentee owners far from the coastal economy.

These demographic changes are layered on top of the job losses the coast has sustained in the past decade to produce a sluggish economy. Here on the coast, Husing noted, the spotted owl crisis and its cut in timber harvests was followed by the endangered species listing of the salmon and then massive reductions in permitted catch for the groundfish. All these have made a coast-wide economic development, or redevelopment, strategy imperative, Husing says.

The opportunity
"With broadband, we have an opportunity to grow our existing businesses and to attract knowledge-based businesses from around the state, the region and the country, to the Oregon coast. We could see an increasing presence for cottage industries, businesses involved in intellectual property, and a variety of other kinds of businesses that want a high quality of life, and, due to the telecommunications revolution, no longer require being in an urban area."

One thing the coast does have is five community colleges, including the Oregon Coast Community College, here in Lincoln County. These colleges, Husing says, have "key roles to play in skills training, and in other regards, for this new technology."

And the central coast has several individuals who are at the top of their respective fields in new technology. The OCZMA technical team includes Dr. Edwin Parker, who literally wrote the book on the new telecommunications, and Ben Doti, who worked for years with the PUD telecommunications system and is now a telecommunications consultant. Also on that tech team are John Irwin, a telecommunications consultant from Southern Oregon, and Chris Tamarin, a technical expert with the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.

Husing says the project is intended to "create a new sector of our economy, or rather, expand it, because it's already happening now. We do see a lot of small and family businesses on the Oregon coast, quietly making a living out of small offices or from home offices, doing businesses with people literally around the world. They can do that because of broadband and because of the Internet.

"We will encourage more of those businesses," he says. "If we have adequate broadband, we can attract businesses, we can market the Oregon coast, not just as a nice place to visit, but as a place where those firms want to work in, do business in, and live in."

He emphasizes that "we are not talking about putting a big (computer) chip plant here, but about putting a think tank that designs new programs here."

The technologies
Broadband involves having "a big enough pipe," Husing explains, to push he volumes of data through. "It's like the difference between a garden hose you wash your car with and a fireman's fire hose," Husing says.
Current technology, without broadband, is usually limited to the 56 KB per second standard of most modems. "You can't do teleconferencing, or transfer video, with that technology," he says. Even DSL (digital subscriber line) can't really match broadband, Husing explained.

Sprint in Lincoln City offers DSL, and he said, "it's kind of broadband." But that phone company's network still largely uses a copper-based wire network that was originally "designed for analog uses, like your old TV set." And copper has its limits as to how well it can carry digital information, and in the amount of data it can handle.

Broadband is not, in this age of exponentially expanding technologies, the end-all and be-all of the telecommunications revolution. The next big thing is Wi-Fi - and OCZMA is looking at it, too.

An Internet café, a town, city, or perhaps even a whole region like the Oregon coast can become a "Wi-Fi hotspot" in which a person with a laptop and the right chip from Intel can hook up into the Internet anywhere, without plugging into anything.

"It's like using a cell phone, which produces a cloud of signal that is portable. Wi-Fi produces a cloud of signal and if you're within it, you can access the Internet through it," he explained

OCZMA is not the only governmental entity in the country looking at enveloping an area in such a cloud. According to a recent issue of Business Week, EarthLink and Hewlett-Packard are now competing to build a 135-square mile citywide network for Philadelphia and its 1.5 million people, at less than $20 a month and just $10 a month to low-income residents. Minneapolis is taking bids for a 59-square mile citywide Wi-Fi and fiber network. Here in Oregon, adds Husing, the city of Keizer has its own Wi-Fi deployment process, and the City of Seattle is placing a Wi-Fi beacon on its famous Space Needle.

"It will be a public-private partnership. We'll be working with the private sector, and with the cities and counties to identify what added infrastructure people would like to have in their community," Husing says. "We'll ask interested communities to establish their own telecommunications committees; Lincoln County has one already, and Florence is roaring ahead, they started in 2002-03."

Second hand phones drive mobile boom

From the plebe to the peer, the cellphone has undergone a mighty metamorphosis - the plaything of the opulent is now a classless essential.
A rapidly expanding cellular circuit is sweeping across all sections of society - from vegetable vendors to milk sellers, maids and safaiwallahs - thanks to the burgeoning second hand cellphone market and the tariff war, those in the business say.

According to industry estimates, the GSM subscriber base touched 46.87 million last month.

"It is essentially the low cost of cell phones - whether new or second hand - which is responsible for the boom. For a user his relationship with the mobile begins with the instrument. If it is within his range, then he looks for various tariff plans available," says a Reliance Infocomm official, pointing out that "second hand cellphones are certainly driving the market."

"There is a large section of people - the lower income groups, who do not mind using a second hand phone. This is generating the business at the retail level on its own," he says adding, it is difficult to quantify the second-hand cellphone market as it is scattered and in the unorganised segment.

"The second hand mobile phones cost anywhere between Rs 800 to 1500 here but in villages and small towns, 7 to 8 year old models are available even less", says Madan, who runs the business in Central Delhi.

On the factors behind easy availability of second-hand phones, Madan says "the Indian mobile phone user refuses to junk an old instrument but passes it on to a new low-end user, helping the second-hand market to thrive."

"Every second day a new model hits the market. People now have the experience of using coloured handsets, camera phones and now there are even data enabled phones coming in the market.

Earlier a user changed the mobile every two years or so, now this time period has come down to 12 months or even less," says Ashwani Kumar, a cellphone retailer.

"The prices of the new models have also come down, which has helped this trend," says Kumar, but a new customer in the lower end prefers to go mobile for as little an entry cost as Rs 800. Price is still the biggest determiner of choice, he says.

"Most of the first time phone users generally went in for a landline. But what we are finding now is that they are skipping this and going directly for the cellphones because of low cost and mobility," says the Reliance official.

On the future of mobile telephony, he says "the potential for growth is still very high. The mobile density is still 14 per 1000 in India."

"Even today, you see big crowds at PCOs. These are people who neither have a landline nor a mobile... all of them hold big potential to be the future mobile customers," the Reliance official says.

Katrina damages Sprint switching center

A Sprint switching center in New Orleans was damaged during Hurricane Katrina, affecting long distance and Internet service in North Florida.

Sprint officials can give no timetable for fixing the outage, as they had not yet even been allowed into downtown New Orleans because of flooding.

The outage affects long distance service for individual customers and Internet service for business customers (who are routed through the long distance switch in New Orleans) but is not affecting individual residents' Sprint DSL.

A few businesses have been hobbled by the problem. Tangentially, delivery companies say service to hurricane-affected areas is being delayed.