I'm curious to know WISPA's official position on this is. Looking back in the archives, I see little discussion about this, but the only way this information is going to be obtained, is if ISP's are required to determine the location of each census unit and then plot on maps of the census unit each customer and count them up. At this moment, I have no idea what a "census unit" is, how it is determined, or even how to find out that information, much less plot hundreds of customers spread over thousands of square miles. Frankly, I haven't the time.
Unless software exists to automate this, this is going to be rather man-hour intensive for anyone with more than 20 broadband customers. Is WISPA going to lobby to defend us from this big pile of free labor the FCC wants us to do so they can claim political credit, or are they going to sell us down the river by lobbying for it? It seemed that no organized resistance existed for the first mandate to report, and unless we start defending ourselves from the do-gooders in DC, we're going to end up with mountains of work and nothing but a headache and some legal papers from bankruptcy court to show for it. Every industry I know of is VEHEMENT in telling the federal goverment to back off from mandates... Why does the ISP industry just keep rolling over and getting reamed? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ <insert witty tagline here> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Harnish" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'WISPA General List'" <wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 6:03 AM Subject: [WISPA] FCC approves new method for tracking broadband’s reach > > HYPERLINK "http://www.wispa.org/?p=215"FCC approves new method for > tracking > broadband’s reach > > > Filed under: HYPERLINK "http://www.wispa.org/?cat=1"General at 7:02 am > HYPERLINK "http://www.wispa.org/?p=215#respond";(no comments) HYPERLINK > "http://www.wispa.org/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=215";(e) > > WASHINGTON–As expected, federal regulators on Wednesday voted to overhaul > the way they measure how widely broadband is available across the United > States. > > For years, the Federal Communications Commission has been drawing up > reports > on the state of U.S. Internet access availability based on methodology > that > considers 200 kilobits per second (Kbps) service to be “high speed”–and > such > access to be widely available even in ZIP codes that may, in reality, > house > only one connection. > > The decision to move away from that methodology is potentially > significant. > Critics, both inside and outside the agency, have charged that the > inadequacy of data that the FCC collects semiannually from Internet > service > providers hinders both the government’s ability to set smart pro-broadband > policies and could slow investment on the technology side. It could also > help federal regulators determine whether HYPERLINK > "http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9897103-7.html"the United States is > really > as far behind in broadband penetration as some international studies have > suggested during the past few years. > > If not for good government data, “our economy would come to a screeching > halt,” said Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat. For example, > manufacturers depend on unemployment and gross domestic product figures to > set their production targets, and schools and hospitals rely on U.S. > Census > numbers to project demand for their services, he said. > > “When companies and investors put money into e-commerce or voice over > Internet Protocol or Internet video…they need to know what kind of > broadband > infrastructure America actually has,” Copps said. > > Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said, “This is really the first > step toward the national broadband strategy that we so desperately need.” > > Despite his support for the new data collection method, FCC Chairman Kevin > Martin said he believes the United States has made incredible strides in > broadband deployment since he joined the commission in 2001, with the > number > of lines growing from 9 million to more than 100 million. Still, he > acknowledged, “there is certainly more work to be done.” > > The FCC, as is typical, won’t release the full text of the changes it > adopted for a few weeks, but here’s a rundown of major components > described > at Wednesday’s meeting: > > • 200Kbps speeds are no longer considered “broadband.” Until this point, > the > FCC has considered any service that produces 200Kbps speeds in the upload > or > download direction to be “high speed.” With Wednesday’s vote, that > methodology is no more. Now, 768Kbps, which is the entry-level speed > offered > by major DSL providers like Verizon, will be considered the low end of > “basic broadband,” a range that extends to under 1.5Mbps. > • Broadband service speeds will have to be reported both for uploads and > downloads. Previously the FCC had six big categories of broadband speeds, > and they effectively only tracked download speeds. Now the agency says it > will require reporting on upload speeds. Pro-regulatory advocacy groups > like > Free Press say that’s a necessary step in part because of HYPERLINK > "http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9872464-38.html"Comcast’s admitted > throttling of peer-to-peer file-sharing uploads. > • Upload and download speeds will have to be reported in a more specific > way. At the moment, the broadband speeds most commonly offered by cable > and > telephone companies are lumped into two major categories: those between > 200Kbps and 2.5Mbps, and those between 2.5Mbps and 10Mbps. The FCC’s new > rules would require them to be broken down further, in an attempt to > address > charges that the current buckets have the potential to overstate the > number > of high-end subscriptions and understate the number of low-end > subscriptions. Those new tiers will be: 1) 200Kbps to 768Kbps (”first > generation data”); 2) 768Kbps to 1.5Mbps (”basic broadband”); 3) 1.5Mbps > to > 3Mbps; 4) 3Mbps to 6Mbps; and 5) 6Mbps and above. > • ISPs will be required to report numbers of subscribers, and at the > census-block level. Under the current methodology, ISPs report only the > number of ZIP codes in which they have at least one subscriber, and they > report numbers of lines nationwide. Now they’ll have to report the number > of > subscribers in each census tract they serve, broken down by speed tier. > The > FCC decided to use census tracts because researchers may be able to use > other demographic statistics collected by the U.S. Census, such as age and > income level, to gain insight about what drives broadband penetration > rates. > • ISPs will not have to report the prices they charge….yet. Democratic > commissioners and liberal consumer advocacy groups had argued such a step > is > necessary to give consumers an idea of the value they’re getting for their > money–and to compare U.S. prices to those for comparable services abroad. > Copps said on Wednesday that he continues to believe it’s a “mistake” to > omit that requirement, and Adelstein also voiced concern. But a majority > of > the commissioners opted to push that decision off until another time and > gather more comments. > > Each of the five commissioners voted in favor of adopting the order, > although some attached reservations about some portions of the rules. > Adelstein said he would have liked to see the commission require that ISPs > distinguish between residential and business customers when doing their > reporting. Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell said he was concerned > that some of the definitions contained in the rules–particularly that of > broadband–could have negative long-term effects. > > “Government cannot outguess the genius of free markets, nor should it > try,” > McDowell said. > > Representatives from the cable and telephone industry had advised the > commission against making major changes to its data collection methods. > They > said they would not be able to comment on the FCC’s vote Wednesday until > after reviewing the full text of the order. > > The old method’s last gasp > In an ironic twist, at the same meeting, the commissioners narrowly voted > to > adopt the FCC’s latest report about the state of American broadband > deployment–except based on the old methodology that they went on to > revamp. > Because of that, Copps and Adelstein ripped apart the report and said they > couldn’t support its conclusions. (Martin, McDowell, and Republican > Deborah > Tate voted for adoption of the document.) > > The HYPERLINK > "http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280906A1.pdf"report > (PDF), which covers the first half of 2007, concluded that “broadband > services are currently being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and > timely fashion.” > > High-speed lines–meaning, mind you, capable of 200Kbps or greater data > transfer speeds–grew from 82 million to 100 million lines during that > time, > the FCC said. Its report also found that an Internet service provider > reported having at least one connection in 99 percent of the country’s ZIP > codes, and that 99 percent of the American population lives in those ZIP > codes. > > Copps, for one, called the ZIP code methodology “stunningly meaningless.” > > “I’m happy we’re starting to change our benchmarks,” he said, “but my > goodness, how late in the day it is.” > > The FCC’s actions drew mixed reviews from groups who have been pressing > for > better broadband data and Net neutrality rules. > > Gigi Sohn, the president of Public Knowledge, one such group, commended > the > FCC’s new data collection plan, although she said she would have preferred > to see price data included and information about residential and > commercial > customers separated. She also deemed it a “mystery” that the FCC also > chose > to issue the broadband availability report “when, mere moments later, the > Commission admitted the inadequacy of the information.” > > WASHINGTON–As expected, federal regulators on Wednesday voted to overhaul > the way they measure how widely broadband is available across the United > States. > > > > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.10/1421 - Release Date: 5/7/2008 > 5:23 PM > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! 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