[1st-mile-nm] FCC approves CenturyLink, Qwest merger with conditions

Thu Mar 24 10:08:30 PDT 2011

John

The most important part of your email is the last piece " since economics
often play a minor role in such decisions " this is were the whole view on
broadband and connectivity is wrong. ( Yes i know you mean cost to service
but it goes deeper )

Ill use the Kazak example. I was sent this by a friend of mine at NOAA who
are major funders in many of these initiatives as environmental data
collection is a billion dollar market and accuracy and dependability of data
is a major issue and that why huge investment is being made in systems like
this ( yes US tax dollars )   Gotta have the big backbone and then plug in
the sites by any means necessary.   To them the real economic model is right
up front especially with ferengi experts writing checks and showing them how

We always talk about the speed of the system and its size but pay little
attention to the return value of what it can really do and what that means
in economic returns current and in the future.

You were probably present when *Deutsche Telekom* made a bid for US West and
that was the model they were using which has now been picked up by other
European Telcoms like Alcatel. Probably in your filing system its still
around , go look at the return layer value and how they wanted to go about
it. Sadly they have now been sunk in the US by smart devices like Iphones
and Ipods , talking of which there was a great conference up here on smart
radio which you would have loved, If you want a link let me know

Metcalf's law still applies especially to the ultimate $$$$$ value of what
systems can do.

To understand that you have to put on your bit hat and learn what network
design best practices 101, how they are designed and and how they GROW are,
which I doubt many today do, certainly at the telcoms and cable companies I
deal with.

You are totally correct in the middle mile and the "latest rush to dooooooo
something "  but this again is politics with getting the money out there
before you have developed a standard and practice of how to use the money
and what the end result needs to be.  Getting a local electrical utility to
commit to 30% of its value in debt to build something they do not know how
to is insanity but I am sure that problem will breed a bunch of experts
which I suppose is some form of job creation.

So John next time you are up on the hill ( The pajarito one ) go ask them
how much they spend on environmental data collection and utilization ( and
how they do it )  and what that costs them to get it right and wrong ?  Then
dig deeper for other uses,  will not even mention parametric modeling but
that again is huge $$$ return.

Then think about what the transmission of this and similar data is worth.

Love the Sacred Wind metaphor,

Be well

( : ( : pete

-- 
--------------------------------------
Pete Baston
IDEAS  "I"  Quality Assurance - Due Diligence
www.ideapete.com
Cell: 303-579-6531
Mailto:pete at ideapete.com

On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 9:48 AM, John Badal <jbadal at sacred-wind.com> wrote:

>  Peter,
>
>
>
> Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t WDM enable each strand of a fiber
> route to carry an OC192, which operates at a capacity of nearly 10 Gigs?  If
> that’s the case, the backhaul capacity (which is what Kazakh’s system is) of
> only one of our national carriers can ramp up to 1,440 Gigs.  Multiply that
> by the number of national and regional fiber routes commonly possessing 96
> fiber strands or 144 fiber strands,  and we get a big number.  The issue
> really is for us, and certainly will be for the Kazakhs (except those
> pillaging on horseback), how much of it will be lit and driven to the
> neighborhood node to be made locally available.  I think we’re witnessing
> the local telcos now making a mad rush to the node in urban areas as a pure
> defensive move against the Cable TV companies.
>
> As for rural areas, the Broadband Stimulus program largely backed the
> middle mile and, I bet, a good chunk of that goes to rights of way payments.
>  Do we need fiber to every node in rural areas?  My take is no, but I’ll let
> the policymakers make that decision since economics often play a minor role
> in such decisions.
>
>
>
> John
>
>
>
> *From:* 1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org [mailto:
> 1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org] *On Behalf Of *peter baston
> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 23, 2011 3:35 PM
> *To:* David Breecker
> *Cc:* Richard Lowenberg; 1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org
> *Subject:* Re: [1st-mile-nm] FCC approves CenturyLink, Qwest merger with
> conditions
>
>
>
> Shucks even the Kiwis are talking 100 Gig
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/17/alcatel_bids_110g_kiwi_fibre/ by
> the french no less and look whats happening in the fourth world
>
>  " Valsecchi says. Elsewhere, Kazakhstan telco Kazakhtelecom recently put a
> 100Gbps link in the backbone network between Alma-Aty and Taldy-Kurgan."
>
> Yikes where does that leave the USA ?
>
> Nice one for Jason " Kazakhtelecom  is XXXXXXXX faster than our system "
>
> ( : ( : pete
>
> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 4:14 PM, peter baston <pete at ideapete.com> wrote:
>
> Its here from the " National "sic plan although its a future goal so dvide
> by year and political willpower
>
> http://newamerica.net/publications/policy/broadband_speeds_in_perspective
>
> http://www.broadband.gov/
>
> *The U.S. National Broadband Plan sets a goal of 4 Mbps downloads (1Mbps
> upload) by 2020, which, by comparison is a minimum of a half-decade later
> and often substantially slower than other countries. The concomitant goal of
> 100 Mbps access for 100 million households by 2020 would cover an estimated
> 74-76% of the population.[25]<http://newamerica.net/publications/policy/broadband_speeds_in_perspective#_ftn25> 10
> years ago, the United States was a leader in broadband penetration; however,
> the latest OECD ranks the U.S. 15th, behind France, Sweden, Canada, and a
> dozen other countries.[26]<http://newamerica.net/publications/policy/broadband_speeds_in_perspective#_ftn26>As our research clearly documents, even if the U.S. achieves its current
> broadband speed targets by 2020, unless it substantially raises its
> broadband goals, the country will remain substantially behind many other
> countries. *
>
> Why is this a too low Junk speed,   simple speeds are measured in megabits
> and storage in Megabytes ( 8 bits in a byte ) so the true target for 9 years
> out is .5 megabyte per second down and .125 megabyte up which I am sure is
> what the target in the FCC and agreement plan defines although today who
> knows, cocombinet goal is per price fluctuaion so they wil not be giving you
> 100 mps / 12.5 megabytes per second at $10 a month in the future or today.
>
> The Jetsons must be laughing their heads of and thank goodness for smart
> wireless and Steve Jobs
>
> For those of you who are interested this is what we missed 10 years ago
> http://www.ideapete.com/leapfrog.html and why the smoke and mirrors with
> speeds http://www.ideapete.com/megaBS.html
>
>
>
> ( : ( : pete
>
> --------------------------------------
> Pete Baston
> IDEAS  "I"  Quality Assurance - Due Diligence
> www.ideapete.com
> Cell: 303-579-6531
> Mailto:pete at ideapete.com
>
>
>    On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 3:24 PM, David Breecker <
> david at breeckerassociates.com> wrote:
>
> Does this rely on a standard FCC definition of what constitutes
> "broadband"?  And would someone please remind me of what that too-low figure
> is?
>
>
>
> dba | David Breecker Associates, Inc.
>
> Santa Fe: 505-690-2335
>
> Abiquiu:   505-685-4891
>
> www.BreeckerAssociates.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mar 23, 2011, at 1:23 PM, Richard Lowenberg wrote:
>
>
>
>   *FCC approves CenturyLink, Qwest merger with conditions*
>
> Mar 23, 2011 12:02 PM
>
>
> http://broadcastengineering.com/news/fcc-approves-centurylink-qwest-merger-with-conditions-20110323/
>
>
>
>
> The FCC <http://www.fcc.gov/> approved the merger March 18 of CenturyLink<http://www.centurylink.com/>and Qwest
> Communications International <http://www.qwest.com/>.
>
> As a condition of the approval, the FCC imposed protections against the
> risk of harm to competition and ensured the merged entity will live up to
> its commitments to expand its network and launch a major broadband adoption
> program for low-income consumers, an FCC statement said.
>
> Based on the companies’ agreement to certain conditions, the FCC found that
> the potential public interest benefits of the merger are likely to outweigh
> the potential harms.
>
> Among the conditions for approval were steps to improve broadband adoption
> for low-income households. Specifically, the conditions include requiring
> the launch of a major broadband adoption program focused on connecting the
> millions of low-income consumers in the combined company’s 37-state
> territory.
>
> The company also must offer qualifying households broadband starting at
> less than $10 per month and a computer for less than $150 and keep the
> window open for five years for qualifying consumers to sign up. And, the
> company must make a significant annual commitment to marketing, outreach and
> digital literacy training and include detailed reporting on outcomes and an
> independent analysis of the program’s effectiveness.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Richard Lowenberg
> P. O. Box 8001,  Santa Fe, NM  87504
> 505-989-9110 off.; 505-603-5200 cell
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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