The Mercury News in Silicon Valley recently published an op-ed by Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter. The piece outlines the potential pitfalls from the FCC's recent announcement to extend net neutrality rules to the wireless world.
For the 200 million Americans who increasingly rely on their mobile phones to manage their connected lives, this subtle rule change could have a raft of unforeseen consequences, say many mobile operators and the labor unions who work with them. These could include a slowdown in investment, job cuts and worse.
Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter just published a Huffington post entry that discusses the wireless catch 22 of extending proposed net neutrality rules to the wireless industry at a time when we are facing a looming spectrum crisis.
With mobile data traffic growing at 100 times the rate of wireless voice traffic, a serious supply-demand imbalance is headed our way - one that can only be relieved by government leadership to make more spectrum available to keep pace with consumer demand. The technological and policy quandary? How to address this profound and pressing national need, while at the same time asserting that we have to potentially make the crisis worse by fixing these fast-evolving networks with what are widely viewed as unworkable engineering mandates.
What's the solution - long-term strategies and data-driven decision-making. Read more about Jonathan's suggestions in the article here.
Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter just published a Huffington Post entry that discusses the wireless catch 22 of extending proposed net neutrality rules to the wireless industry at a time when we are facing a looming spectrum crisis.
With mobile data traffic growing at 100 times the rate of wireless voice traffic, a serious supply-demand imbalance is headed our way - one that can only be relieved by government leadership to make more spectrum available to keep pace with consumer demand. The technological and policy quandary? How to address this profound and pressing national need, while at the same time asserting that we have to potentially make the crisis worse by fixing these fast-evolving networks with what are widely viewed as unworkable engineering mandates.
What's the solution - long-term strategies and data-driven decision-making. Read more about Jonathan's suggestions in the article here.
Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter just published a Huffington Post entry that discusses the wireless catch 22 of extending proposed net neutrality rules to the wireless industry at a time when we are facing a looming spectrum crisis.
With mobile data traffic growing at 100 times the rate of wireless voice traffic, a serious supply-demand imbalance is headed our way - one that can only be relieved by government leadership to make more spectrum available to keep pace with consumer demand. The technological and policy quandary? How to address this profound and pressing national need, while at the same time asserting that we have to potentially make the crisis worse by fixing these fast-evolving networks with what are widely viewed as unworkable engineering mandates.
What's the solution - long-term strategies and data-driven decision-making. Read more about Jonathan's suggestions in the article here.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski made news today announcing his intent to open a regulatory inquiry into the merits of imposing so-called 'net neutrality' rules on the wireless sector. The move adds another high-stakes conversation on top of a broad inquiry into the future of wireless and the methodical, inclusive march toward a national broadband plan.
At first glance, the announcement appears to be a populist slam-dunk. The term 'net neutrality' has no agreed-upon definition in policy circles. But in popular culture, it has become synonymous with free speech. And, whether you watch Fox News or read Huffington Post, that's one issue virtually all Americans can agree on.
Momentum is clearly building for greater regulation of wireless and broadband. But as we wade deeper into these issues and contemplate changing the environment that has led to such rapid and profound innovation today, it is worth thinking through the possible implications to consumers, innovators and our economy.
As we do so, here are three areas that should be foremost in policymakers' minds:
Consumer experience. The notion that all applications and websites are created equal has an appealing, egalitarian ring to it. It's proven a reasonably workable concept for wired broadband networks. But it poses the risk of potentially calamitous disruption to the wireless consumer experience.
Wireless and wired broadband networks are very different both technically and operationally. In fact, a primary reason mobile has exploded over the past decade is precisely because these networks are prudently managed. When's the last time, for example, your mobile device was overcome by viruses? Yes, many want mobile devices with endlessly customizable options - and the marketplace certainly delivers a wide array of choices - but most consumers also take the technology for granted and want to connect to people and information without a second thought.
In a world where streaming video is becoming more common, an 'all bits are created equal' decree could run a fairly extreme risk of degrading the wireless experience of many to accommodate the mobile content habits of a few. Available spectrum is finite. Capacity must continually be managed in a dynamic way. Do we really want the FCC to be not only the regulators of wireless networks, but also its engineers and network managers?
The Commission likely will carve out a few obvious exceptions. One would hope, for example, that we can agree that real-time health monitoring should take precedence over a neighbor's kid downloading the latest Hannah Montana movie. But the most exciting innovations often come from unexpected - and thus unanticipated - places. Who knew that the number of mobile applications downloaded on just one brand - iPhone - would exceed one billion in its very first year? Regulations can confine mobile's vast potential in ways we cannot easily predict today and will likely underestimate to our detriment.
Investment. We all know what happens when too many cars pile onto the freeway. One obvious solution is to build more lanes. This takes billions of dollars in investment. The most compelling argument I've heard on this front, came from a small Internet provider in Wyoming. 'I'm all for free speech,' he said, 'but I'm not for free beer.' His point: Given that we all are free to express ourselves on-line and off, any new regulations must carefully balance the broad public interest in keeping robust investment flowing into these networks. Free beer and free speech are both wildly populist notions. But only one makes for constructive, sustainable policy.
Of course, the stakes go well beyond the ISPs to consumers and the broader mobile innovation community. Both depend on robust, well-managed networks to deliver a quality experience that fuels demand for not only more bandwidth, but exciting new uses for it.
Innovation. One negative outcome would be regulations that are far from neutral. Let's be honest: vested interests exist on both sides of the net neutrality fence. The FCC needs to find a balanced path forward - one that ends the divisive debate about whether the government should allow innovation at the edge or in the networks. Clearly, we need both to keep pace with consumers and make the most of mobile innovation.
We are in a technology environment where the demands placed on wireless networks are increasing exponentially. This is a good thing for mobile innovation because it means we are delivering new and diverse consumer benefits on a much broader scale. To keep the innovation flowing, we need policies that clearly comprehend that network management is central to this ongoing progress.
Agree or disagree on this one divisive policy issue, I believe that all wireless stakeholders share a genuine commitment to encouraging innovation, investment, as well as diversity of content, services and applications. As we take a closer look at how we achieve these goals, we should resist a rush to judgment. Through 20-plus years of Democratic and Republican Administrations, entrepreneurs, innovators and consumers have driven mobile innovation and growth.
Increased and imprudent government intervention could cut short an extraordinary run that has delivered real consumer, social and economic benefits, and has the promise of doing even more in the days and months ahead. The risk of unintended consequences could derail so many positive advances and opportunities underway. Are we taking a constructive step forward or walking the plank on mobile innovation? Only time - and the quality, balanced nature of the coming deliberations - will tell.
It's a new day and things will never again be the same.
No, I'm not talking about the new Administration since others at HuffPo have already captured that moment's magic. Instead I'm talking about the inauguration itself. Matt Richtel at The New York Times had it right - it was "a wireless Woodstock."
When it came to coverage, the three traditional news sources - the TV nets, radio, the wires - had company: the mobile phone user.
Never in U.S. history has a single event been so well documented from so many different angles as this inauguration. More important, never before have ordinary onlookers been so integral to the coverage.
For mobile users and app writers alike, this was the equivalent of opening night on Broadway. Take a look:
A company called PointAbout created a special GPS-related app for the inauguration that guided users to the Mall via Metro or street directions. It also offered to find free hotspots, inaugural balls and the nearest Starbucks.
CNN, The New York Times and other MSM actively solicited emails of real-time photos and commentary. Leading up to the inaugural, their homepages encouraged mobile users to send clips, vids and comments. Throughout the day, they displayed the images.
The image-sharing site Photobucket put its Inauguration Day photos on a separate, dedicated server. No word on how many photos have been uploaded but the company usually handles 7-10 million uploads a day.
The social media website FriendFeed rolled out a 300 percent increase in server capacity to handle inaugural and post-inaugural traffic.
None of this happened by accident. CNN reported that mobile carriers increased capacity by as much as 70 percent and it seems to have paid off.
So in addition to the inauguration staff, there's one more group that deserves to take a bow: tens of thousands of mobile users who gave the nation a unique view of a great event.
Originally posted on Huffington Post, January 22, 2009
A tip o' the hat to our own Jonathan Spalter for this op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News:
"As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take power, sadly one of his first acts as president may be to power down his beloved BlackBerry smart-phone. Why must the leader of the country that created the Internet,e-mail and various other advancements be forced to forego modern technology?"
To put the answer in auto terms, our technology is like Daniel Craig's Aston Martin DBS. Meanwhile, the Presidential Records Act became law the same year as this. Any questions?
In 2008, more than 260 million Americans will use more than 2 trillion wireless minutes. It's beyond debate that our Commander-in-Chief should be able to be a part of this experience.
Time is out with its list of the 2008 Gadgets of the Year and - no surprise - wireless products are dominant. Of Time's top five gadgets, every one has a wireless capability. That includes the Peek for inexpensive wireless email, the MacBook and iTouch from Apple (natch!), the G1 phone and a new SD memory card.
That last one is particularly useful for those who use their mobile device as a camera. The card, by Eye-Fi, uploads photos automatically from your camera to your online photo service. It also beams pictures to your hard drive, which means no more searching for that lost USB cable. It also can geo-tag them so six months from now you'll know where that picture you took on vacation was taken.
Also in the top 10 is a mobile GPS system by Dash that uses wireless data compiled from a network of drivers in your area to offer real-time information on traffic congestion. Definitely a help when it's raining and you're wondering whether to take the Bay Bridge or the 101 out of San Fran.
Cell phone pioneer Amos Joel passed away last week. He was 90 years old. It is important we remember him. In 1972, he won the patent for the invention which allowed cell phone users to make uninterrupted calls while moving from one cell zone to another. His vision paved the way for so much innovation in the mobile phone industry. On behalf of all of us at Mobile Future, and the billions of mobile phone users around the world who daily benefit from his pioneering work, we send our condolences to Mr Joel's family, and our abiding thanks.
If Tom Kalil has his way, mobile technology and services will be at the heart of American global development policy.
So says his visionary and timely new report, "Harnessing the Mobile Revolution," published recently by NDN, the innovative Washington D.C. policy group.
The next Administration, says Kalil, a science and technology policy advisor at Cal Berkeley, has an unprecedented opportunity to leverage advances and investments in the mobile sector to catalyze critical development goals such as providing safe drinking water, new vaccines, therapies, point-of-care diagnostics, clean energy, and improved crops that are more productive, nutritious, and drought-resistant. And not a moment too soon, he warns, as to date, the U.S. government has largely overlooked the power of mobile services to help improve the human condition. It is time, argues Kalil, for the blinders to come off.
Says Kalil: "Even in the absence of enlightened U.S. government leadership, mobile services will become more ubiquitous, affordable and versatile. But the missed opportunity will be to leverage this large and growing private sector investment (in mobile technology and services) for public purposes, such as ensuring fair elections, helping a community health worker save the life of a mother or young child, and giving a farmer or small business owner access to the credit they need to build a path out of poverty."
Kalil argues that policy-makers in Washington have a historic but limited window of opportunity to work in partnership with the private sector to ensure that mobile technologies increasingly can be agents of productive social, economic and political development. The use of mobile technologies has exploded, particularly in the developing world, where there are now more subscribers than in the developed world. Some forecast that there will be over 5 billion mobile subscribers in the next two years - a fact that has encouraged the development economist Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University to conclude that "the cell phone is the single most transformative technology for development."
Here are some of the statistics the report cites:
A rise of 10 mobile phones per 100 people is associated with a growth in GDP of 0.6 percent;
Every 1 percent increase in mobile penetration boosts foreign direct investment as a share of GDP by 0.5 percent;
Telecommunications investment in African countries such as Kenya and Senegal accounts for more than 10 percent of private sector investment in fixed capital;
The mobile industry has created 3.6 million jobs in India, not only through mobile operators, but through retail sales of airtime, handsets and SIM cards;
Chinese workers who travel for their work (e.g. taxi-cab drivers, plumbers, salespeople) have been able to reduce traveling by 6 percent - a productivity payoff worth $33 billion in 2005.
So what is to be done?
First and foremost, Kalil recommends that the U.S. government should establish new public/private partnerships to ensure that advances in mobile technologies and services - especially in the areas of public health, education, civil engagement, human rights, and financial services - can be more systematically accessed by communities which need them most. Creative examples of these partnerships in mobile technology have been implemented in countries like Zambia and Kenya. It is time for American engagement and leadership as well.
Second, official donors - the U.S. included - must direct more investment to increase the number of developing country entrepreneurs, programmers, researchers, government agencies, and non-profit organizations that are capable of designing and implementing mobile applications that address local needs. Kalil also argues that the private sector itself can do more to support the use of its technologies and applications as vehicles for positive development.
Last, Kalil argues that governments must move quickly to lower or eliminate the punitive taxes that have unwisely and disproportionately targeted the mobile industry so the industry can flourish, entrepreneurs can innovate, productive new jobs can be created, and consumers can gain access to better and less expensive services. Mobile and wireless technology is not a luxury and should not be taxed as such.
Indeed, as Kalil's important paper presciently establishes, mobile innovation is now more than a necessity; it increasingly is a vital vehicle for improving the lives, health, and well-being of the least powerful around the world.
Thanks to everyone who joined us yesterday for the Mobile Future Elections Forum on "How Mobile Technologies are Changing Elections." If you weren't able to attend, you can still watch C-SPAN's coverage of the event by clinking on the link at the top of our home page.
The event began with an introduction from our Chairman Jonathan Spalter and followed with a panel discussion and presentation from pollster Peter Hart.
Some interesting highlights from the discussion:
Mobile Future member Jed Alpert stressed how mobile technologies are the best form of communication to reach the most disenfranchised populations with a real-time channel of communications to voters. This November, Jed's company, Mobile Commons, expects to send out 1 million text messages on Election Day on behalf of his clients.
Former Giuliani campaign official Katie Harbath discussed how campaigns need to go beyond just text messaging. Mobile applications like Twitter and Qik really represent the next, important phase of communications because it enables rapid responses. She hopes that the next class in the House and the Senate utilize these tools to connect with constituents and interact with the media.
Michelle Mayorga announced Rock the Vote's new initiative with ChaCha, a free mobile answers service, to respond to voters questions via text message. The ChaCha Guides will provide informed, non-partisan answers to questions like polling locations, voting deadlines, and even the candidates' positions on issues from energy to taxation.
Casey O'Shea from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee explained that mobile technologies are not only crucial as a campaign tool but also as a government application. During Hurricane Katrina when O'Shea was a Chief of Staff for a Louisiana representative, constituents who were trapped on their roof by the storm sent text messages to relatives who then called the congressional office to coordinate rescue efforts for their relatives. It was the first time O'Shea truly realized the power of mobile technology and how it can save lives.
Finally, Peter Hart's presentation explored the latest poll findings on the election and the economy. He also discussed the effect that cell phone-only voters are having on polling. Because the sample of cell phone-only voters is a relatively new but growing part of the populace, pollsters are having trouble judging their effect on the polls but are working on ways to engage them. Additionally, a number of researchers are attempting to predict and study the voter turn-out of cell phone-only users so that they can adjust the polls accordingly.
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