Blog | News & Information on Wireless Services & Telecommunications
Posted: 04/15/10 by Molly Kocour
Congress is making progress on important legislation that is near and dear to Mobile Future's heart - the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act. This week, the House passed the bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), and charges the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration to account how and where private stakeholders are using spectrum. It is expected to be passed by the Senate and signed into law soon. Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter issued the following statement in response to the bill's passage:
“We applaud the passage of the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act in the House. With wireless Internet usage projected to grow at 100 times the rate of wireless voice traffic over the next 10 years, spectrum is a precious resource. The passage of this bill helps pave the way to make more spectrum available quickly and responsibly to keep pace with consumer demand and enable the next wave of mobile innovation and economic opportunities.”
You can read more about spectrum here.
Posted: 04/15/10 by Mobile Future Team
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski issued a statement last Thursday outlining the Commission’s ongoing efforts to achieve the much-applauded National Broadband Plan (NBP).
"We are putting the National Broadband Plan into action," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "The Commission's Bureaus and Offices have already begun executing on the strategy the National Broadband Plan lays out to connect all Americans to broadband, unleash innovation and investment, enable job creation, and ensure a bright future of economic opportunity and prosperity."
And to ensure these goals — employment, continued innovation and investment, the FCC must tread carefully among potential regulation landmines. We want to nurture the broadband sector, which has been a tremendous boon to our country and economy — not stifle it with unnecessary roadblocks.
Posted: 03/16/10 by Jonathan Spalter
Cross-posted from Huffington Post
Heading into the mid-term elections, these are divisive times in the nation's capital. But today Washington witnessed a rare moment of comity, as the Federal Communications Commission released its much-anticipated National Broadband Plan. All five commissioners signed a joint statement embracing the broad objectives of the plan.
It will take days, if not weeks, for the various stakeholders to fully digest a blueprint of this ambition and scope. But before the detail-oriented debates ensue -- and the inevitable divisions emerge -- it's worth taking a moment to step back and offer an appreciation of the process that got us to this potentially historic day.
President Obama was elected on the promise of inclusive and connected government. In crafting this plan, the FCC offered a compelling model of how that gets done. The efforts of Chairman Genachowski and his broadband team have been exceptionally open. The three dozen policy workshops on topics ranging from civic engagement to connected health were webcast live and archived online, allowing ample opportunity for citizen engagement. Several dealt exclusively with the potential of mobile broadband, ranging from thoughtful debates on spectrum to discussions of bleeding-edge applications and wireless deployment. Commissioners also reached outside the beltway, holding nine field hearings throughout the country to bring diverse perspectives into the conversation.
As for the product itself, I am heartened that the Commission recognizes the critical role wireless technology can play to spur global competitiveness, innovation and sustainable job creation. Profoundly significant to mobile consumers and innovators alike is the vow to free up 500 megahertz of wireless spectrum. This is essential progress to support the boom in connected devices -- from the iPhone to the Kindle to mobile medical tablets, digital textbooks and future innovations yet to be imagined.
Other regulatory proceedings that may flow out of the plan could be more polarizing. The depth of division and passion on both sides of the net neutrality regulatory debate is well-known. And, the rumors of an attempt to overturn the Supreme Court's landmark Brand X decision, which essentially upheld the privatized nature of U.S. broadband networks, would likely make the net neutrality debate look like a walk in the park.
Likewise, narrower proposals to create new rules -- whether to impose wholesaling requirements or mandate the provision of "free" broadband services -- would affect many aspects of the already intensively competitive and innovative wireless market and could actually undermine the very laudable objectives of the national broadband plan. The FCC must resist these extreme calls and tread carefully to avoid disrupting an American industry that leads the world and is working extremely well today.
Among the cornerstones of the plan is a 'shoot for the moon' goal of connecting 100 million U.S. households to 100 megabits per second broadband service over the next decade. Goals of this ambition require an unshakeable policy foundation that is unequivocally supportive of investment. This means the many rulemakings that likely flow out of this plan must be cohesive in nature -- pulling in the same constructive and unifying direction and staying true to the Chairman's early and firm commitment to fact-based, data-driven decisions.
As we look to the future, I hope the Chairman remains steadfast in his commitment to encouraging a wireless ecosystem that can fundamentally transform our society and our economy. As we begin the long and hard process of translating bold ideas into concrete, attainable and constructive actions, the hard work is yet ahead. It is my hope that we stay true to this open and participatory process and keep in sight the larger goals of advancing deployment, accelerating investment and promoting genuine competition.
History will judge this plan on its effectiveness. If it does so favorably, a nod is due to the process that got us to this day. It's a famous old adage in Washington that you don't want to see the sausage being made. But thanks to the very innovation we unite today to celebrate and advance, a new era of openness and participatory government has arrived.
Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future, has been founding CEO of leading technology, media, and research companies, including Public Insight, Snocap, and Atmedica Worldwide. He served as an advisor to and spokesperson for Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration. www.mobilefuture.org.
Posted: 03/16/10 by Mobile Future Team
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Federal Communications Commission released a National Broadband Plan, as directed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, designed to stimulate economic growth, spur job creation, foster innovation and investment, and improve education, health care, energy efficiency, homeland security and more.
The following statement should be attributed to Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future:
"We commend Chairman Genachowski and the broadband team at the FCC for demonstrating the vision and leadership required to tackle the challenging task of creating a National Broadband Plan. We are particularly heartened that the Commission recognizes the critical role wireless technology must play in charting a clear path forward and the need to identify additional spectrum to spur global competitiveness, innovation and sustainable high quality job creation.
We encourage the Chairman to remain steadfast in his commitment to encouraging a wireless ecosystem that holds the promise of fundamentally transforming our society and our economy. As the FCC moves toward the Plan's implementation, we urge the Chairman to continue along this bold roadmap to America's future by avoiding barriers that slow deployment, undermine investment, and stifle competition and innovation."
Posted: 02/09/10 by Mobile Future Team
Last week, the White House unveiled a great step forward in the fight to reduce birth defects. It's a public-private effort called the Text4baby campaign and according to the Associated Press, it is the U.S.'s first free, pre-natal education program to use mobile phone text messages.
Expecting parents should text "BABY" (or "BEBE", for Spanish texts) to 511411. They'll receive weekly texts geared to the baby's birth date that cover nutrition, immunization and birth defect prevention. The texts, which have been vetted by government and nonprofit health experts, continue through the baby's first birthday.
An added benefit: Several major wireless carriers have waived text fees for the service.
For more information, click here
Posted: 02/03/10 by Mobile Future Team
So you missed last night’s episode of “Lost”? No problem. Pretty soon, you’ll just stream it through your mobile phone. Read more here.
Posted: 01/27/10 by Mobile Future Team
The lights have dimmed at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center and for all the hype surrounding the iPad, the far more important issue involves the rapid impact that tablet computing will have across the wireless ecosystem.
If the iPad is a success, watch for hardware and software developers to respond in kind – and fast. Take hardware development: By the fall of 2007, consumers had shown clear interest in mobile phone touch screens. A year later, at least three other companies had unveiled touch screen phones. Since then, even more choices have emerged.
That, in turn, spurred the current surge in mobile apps. If tablet computers become a success, expect to see a huge amount of resources deployed for software development. Earlier this week, The New York Times’ Jenna Wortham once again showed why she has a reputation for being ahead of the curve on tech trends. On Monday, The Times published this article by Wortham on the broader implications of the iPad [Link]:
“Apple’s move to open up the iPhone to outside programmers in 2008 started a software-writing frenzy. [The iPad’s 10-inch screen and other features] could inspire developers to create new twists on apps, like games that two or more people can easily play at once on the same device.”
As with mobile phone apps, the growth of the “tablet app” market will continue to hasten America’s mobile adoption.
For policymakers, the importance of allocating enough wireless spectrum to accommodate consumers’ expected surge in mobile usage becomes even more important. Fortunately, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet recently approved a bill that’s a step in the right direction.
Posted: 01/25/10 by Mobile Future Team
A House Energy and Commerce panel recently approved legislation calling for an inventory of the nation’s airwaves, in an effort to identify how airwaves are being used, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article.
This is an important step toward identifying unused spectrum, which may be freed up or auctioned off to increase wireless spectrum.
"Additional spectrum for wireless services will be needed and will be needed soon," said Rep. Rick Boucher (D., Va.), chairman of the House subcommittee. An inventory of the nation's airwaves would be helpful in "revealing areas where relocations could occur or where spectrum sharing could be feasible," he said.
We are encouraged by these efforts to begin addressing our nation’s looming spectrum crisis and hope that Congress will continue to work quickly in passing this important bi-partisan legislation.
You can read the WSJ article here.
Posted: 01/21/10 by Allison Remsen
The outpouring of mobile donations in support of disaster relief in Haiti has been phenomenal and unprecedented. Immediately following the earthquake, Americans began reaching for their cell phones to make donations via text message. In the first day of a mobile call to action done solely through text messages, and made viral on networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, more than $5 million was raised for the Red Cross's relief work in Haiti.
Seven days after the earthquake hit, a record $22 million had been raised by the American Red Cross for relief efforts in Haiti, a groundbreaking statistic. Within hours after reports first emerged of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, all major wireless carriers agreed to utilize the mGive software application to allow users to text SMS short code 90999 and type "Haiti." A user's account would be charged $10 for the donation on their next bill and a user could text up to two times. Cell phone carriers chose not to charge users to send the texts and some carriers fronted the donations to the Red Cross to speed up delivery of money that is typically held up until a user is billed and money from customers is received.
The post-earthquake, text-to-give campaign reflects the growth trends in mobile use and texting -- not just in the younger demographic but in the over-35 group. Text messaging has grown exponentially -- with texting volume increasing 600% in just the past two years; mobile internet traffic is expected to grow 100 times faster than wireless voice traffic over the next decade; and 1 in 5 Americans already connect to the Internet daily over their mobile device. The ubiquity, power and reach of mobile phones make mobile giving a convenient and secure way to donate. In fact, cell phone campaigns may be reaching people who might not otherwise have made the effort to get involved.
This historical milestone in goodwill contribution is a hallmark of 21st century innovation and technology. For more information on how you can join the relief efforts please visit www.redcross.org
Posted: 01/20/10
The San Francisco Chronicle recently published an op-ed by Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter outlining the rapid growth of wireless and the need for sound public policy so that innovation and investment will continue.
As wireless connectivity takes on an even more central role in our economy and our society, we must acknowledge that we have come so far, so fast primarily because of the decisions of consumers and the vision of innovators, rather than the interventions of government. There is so much potential still to unleash, if we chart a constructive and balanced path forward.
You can read Jonathan’s op-ed here.
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Tags: Congress, Economy, Wireless Investment, Legislation, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Future, Mobile Future Board, Jonathan Spalter, Spectrum, Wireless Broadband, Wireless Innovation, National, Looming Spectrum Crisis, Mobile Broadband Growth