broadband to the home: broadband to america

June 2008 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 41

Summit keynoter Deborah Taylor Tate gets it. She understands broadband technology and she understands its prom-ise – in large part, we think, because she’s served in the trenches. She was a founder of a home for addicted women and their children, a leader in revamping the men-tal health laws in her home state of Ten-nessee, and senior advisor to a governor. She’s an attorney and spent six years on the Tennessee Regulatory Authority – she was chair when she was appointed to the FCC in 2006. (We interviewed her at length for our September 2006 issue, online at www.bbpmag.com). Here’s what she told Summit attendees in Dallas on April 30:

The Broadband Properties Summit is a premier event for the nation’s leading developers and providers

of broadband service. And as industry leaders, you recognize that broadband is critical to our country’s future – criti-cal not only to the communications sectors but indeed to every sector of the economy, from healthcare to education and financial services and more. Having just returned from the 7th APEC TEL meeting – an Asian-Pacific Ministers of Communications and Information con-ference in Bangkok – I can assure you that broadband is the number one issue globally as well.

In Bangkok we had sessions ranging from cyber security to digital prosperity

to challenges facing universal service. Your agenda here also is ambitious, focused on the prac-tical applications of technology to achieve broadband deployment.

While the US leads the world in broadband connec-

tions – 100 million as of the beginning of this year – there is still much to do. I want to assure you that whether the is-sue is the recent and very successful $19 billion spectrum auction, or support for a rural health care initiative, or nu-merous other issues across all platforms – all of these underscore the Commis-sion’s efforts to promote broadband to all Americans, regardless of their race, gender, income or ZIP code. We apply this goal of promoting broadband at all times, and to all services we oversee. Whether considering rules for phone service, cable service, terrestrial wireless service or satellite service, the overarch-ing and critical communications goals of the Commission include the promo-tion of broadband deployment.

Why BroadBand MaTTersEven if we looked only at the economic effects, the gains from further broad-band deployment would be enough to get our attention. A recent study by Connected Nation estimated that in-

creased availability of broadband across the US would have a positive economic impact of $134 billion.

But of course, this is about more than just numbers. A broadband connection to the World Wide Web literally is a con-nection to our very wide world. With the click of a mouse, our children can go on an educational adventure – to the Lou-vre or the Library of Congress, on an ex-ploration of the Great Barrier Reef or the Great Wall of China. Adults can attend class at a university across the country while holding a job across town.

They can also participate in local civic affairs or even get involved in poli-tics at the national level. In fact, in just one presidential cycle, political Internet advertising has gone from essentially zero to estimates that it will exceed $100 million in 2008. In addition, workers can positively impact their productiv-ity and even obtain virtual employment opportunities. Families can get better access to health care, such as teleden-tistry, telepsychiatry and even telesur-gery. Telecommuting for doctors makes the physical distance between provider and patient immaterial, and this ability to shrink distances that isolate our most remote communities makes broadband particularly critical in rural areas.

I am very involved with issues such as telemedicine and electronic medi-cal records in Tennessee and know that Hiawatha Broadband was discussed in a previous panel, and I applaud what you and many others are doing for our most

While the US leads the world in broadband connections – 100 million as of the beginning

of this year – there is still much to do.

Broadband to the Home: Broadband to America

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42 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | June 2008

remote and sometimes isolated citizens. I have had the opportunity to see first-hand in Alaska how broadband commu-nications enables this kind of empower-ment for those who are most physically isolated. In short, broadband revolution-izes how we communicate, how, where and when we work, how we educate our children, the delivery of health care and public safety, as well as how we entertain ourselves.

hoW We’re doingBecause broadband is critical to our country’s future, there is much work yet to be done. But before I describe where we should look to go, let me say a few posi-tive words about how far we’ve come.

Providers like you should be ap-plauded for the more than 100 million broadband connections in the country as of mid-2007, and our policies should encourage you to continue to invest heavily in broadband deployment. The Telecommunications Industry Associa-tion estimates that broadband spending was $15 billion in 2007 and that this fig-ure will rise dramatically to $23 billion by 2010. More than 99 percent of the US population lives in ZIP codes where a provider serves at least one customer.

Broadband via DSL is available to 82 percent of the households that receive service by a local exchange carrier, while broadband via cable modem is available to 96 percent of households that receive cable television. Virtually all of our schools have high-speed Internet connec-tions, and have had them for a number of

years, thanks in large part to the E-rate program. Workplace broadband connec-tions are more and more common.

This investment is part of the revolu-tion occurring in the broadband market-place as true convergence has become a reality, with the Internet breaking down the barriers that previously separated networks. Telecommunications compa-nies are deploying next-generation fiber networks. Cable operators continue to upgrade their networks to enable them to offer digital video, broadband and voice service. Wireless carriers are upgrading their networks and acquiring spectrum to offer advanced mobile services and even video in the palm of your hand.

At the same time, we can and should improve broadband access to more of our citizens. Much has been made of the recent OECD report that the US ranks 15th among 30 OECD nations in broadband penetration. But in order for such a statistic to be useful, we need to understand what it really means. For ex-ample, as the Phoenix Center points out, the OECD report does not consider dif-ferences in the size of households across countries, nor does it count Internet ac-cess that is available via the thousands of hotspots and libraries in the US. Moreover, broadband usage depends on a variety of factors, ranging from de-mographics, to educational levels, to, of course, the price of broadband.

When considering broadband pen-etration in the US – and what policy-makers might do to promote more of it – we should be mindful of the unique characteristics of the US market. And

when we compare the US market to that of other countries, we should be mind-ful of how countries differ.

For example, failure to properly con-sider differences in household size or population density across countries can confuse the analysis. To illustrate with an example that is a bit more personal for me, consider South Korea, which has an impressive level of broadband pene-tration. While South Korea is about the same size as my home state of Tennessee in terms of geography, it is much larger in terms of population.

In fact, in order to equal the popu-lation of South Korea, Tennessee would need to add roughly everyone in the nearby states of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Caro-lina, Virginia and Kentucky. High population density enables the achieve-ment of a higher penetration rate. These are basic economics of the industry that you, the providers of service across the US, understand better than anyone. It’s easier to achieve a high penetration in Manhattan than Mississippi.

This is not to say that there is no role for policy. We all want broadband to do as much to promote jobs in Mississippi as it does in Manhattan. The question, therefore, is what is the right policy?

regulaTory PhilosoPhyI have been a strong proponent of a light regulatory touch for broadband service provided over cable systems, telephone lines, power lines, and wireless plat-forms. This helps ensure what we refer to as a level playing field – or equality of

Families can get better access to health care, such as teledentistry, telepsychiatry and even telesurgery. Telecommuting for doctors

makes the physical distance between provider and patient immaterial, and this ability to

shrink distances that isolate our most remote communities makes broadband particularly

critical in rural areas.

FCC Commissioner deborah Tate keynotes the summit.


regulation – among competing provid-ers, no matter the technology or busi-ness model.

Such a light-touch approach also is consistent with my regulatory philoso-phy, which is simple, straightforward, and built on a long tradition of limited but effective government. It calls for, first and foremost, regulatory humility – something I have tried to practice, both as a state regulator and now a federal one. I look to and especially encourage the industry – you – to put forward cre-ative, market-based solutions whenever possible.

I recognize that most of the consumer benefits we see in the communications sector of the US economy are directly re-lated to the significant levels of competi-tion in this sector, driven by deregulatory policies that have encouraged investment and thus fostered that competition.

Of course, I also understand the need for regulation to promote well-specified social goals that otherwise might not be addressed, such as E911. More specifi-cally, I understand the need for regula-tion if and when there is a clear market failure. Such market failure is probably less common in communications mar-kets as compared to other sectors, but we should not assume that it does not exist.

At the same time, we should not as-sume there will not be “government fail-ure,” such as when we adopt rules and

regulations that we expect will benefit consumers but, in the long run, do not in fact do so. I recognize that policymak-ers, like businesspeople in the market, make mistakes, too. Perhaps this is why former President Ronald Reagan used to say that the nine most feared words were “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Well, I’m from the govern-ment, and I’m here to listen. My door is always open and I value your input as we consider such critical issues and their impact on broadband deployment.

In short, I favor a common sense, bal-anced approach to regulation, one that neither overreaches nor fails to respond to specific problems. There are many re-cent examples of how the Commission has taken such a balanced approach.

PoliCies ProMoTing BroadBandWith regard to our deregulatory poli-cies, the Commission has removed ma-jor impediments to broadband deploy-ment. There are many examples.

1. We have classified broadband pro-vided by DSL, BPL and wireless technologies as “information ser-vices” that will be subject to fewer of our outdated legacy rules.

2. We streamlined our video franchise process, which will make it easier for new entrants such as telcos to pro-vide broadband service as part of a triple play – voice, video and data.

3. We recently launched a $400 mil-lion, nationwide pilot program to promote broadband for health care facilities.

4. We also recently made available more spectrum for the provision of wireless broadband services in the 700 MHz auction that raised more money than any spectrum auction in US history. This spectrum is part of the DTV transition – scheduled for February 17, 2009 – and portions of it will be used to provide commer-cial services, to include fixed and/or mobile wireless broadband services, while other portions will be used to provide an interoperable broadband network for the benefit of public safety. [For more information, check out the Web site at www.dtv.gov.]

5. In addition, we have taken steps to reform our universal service program so as to make it more efficient and

When considering broadband penetration in the US – and what policymakers might do

to promote more of it – we should be mindful of the unique characteristics of the US market.

And when we compare the US market to that of other countries, we should be mindful

of how countries differ.

FTTh Council chair Mike hill chats with FCC commissioner deborah Tate.


Dan TerheggenDirector, IMCC

Henry PyeMDU Chairman

Joe SavageFTTH Council

MuniciPaliTieS

christopher MitchellInstitute for Local Self-Reliance

MulTi-HouSing

chris ackerForest City Residential Management, Inc.

Steve SadlerPost Apartment Homes, L.P.

BroaDBanD aPPlicaTionS

Masha ZagerApplications Editor, Broadband Properties

Mike WhalingVice President, Business Development, Infinisys

New Profit oPPortuNities: LiviNg - worKiNg - PLAYiNg

aPril 27–29, 2009DallaS, TX

M A r K Y o u r c A L e N D A r s

5 Years of fttH cornerstone winners. Includes symposium and related activities

Meet a variety of visionaries and community leaders who’ve deployed Fiber-to-the-Home over the years. Hear their own experiences and the reports of experts in a wide range of fields who’ve been studying them.

liVing: The Fiber-to-the-home lifestylePatterns of everyday life are emerging that are revolutionary — and made possible only by

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WorKing: Flexibility, Freedom, ProductivityExperts are witnessing an historic re-integration of work, family, and play with digital capabilities

profoundly affecting architectural styles and more

Playing: The impact of Virtual activities More fun, more stimulation, new and expanded ways of interacting. Reports from

our editors and contributors and experts around the world.

www.bbpmag.com • 877-588-1649&


s P e c i A L t H A N K s t o t H e s e 2 0 0 8 P A r t i c i P A t i N g f i r M s

adCADC has been a global network infrastructure provider for over 75 years. Its complete line of high-performance passive connectivity solutions lets customers implement FTTP networks from the Central Office to the Premises and include its OmniReach® for distribution, access, and MDU/CPE applications. Visit www.adc.com, or call 800-366-3889.

advanced Media TechnologiesAMT specializes in CATV, satellite, HDTV, fiber optics, and IP video. It distributes leading manufacturers such as Motorola, DX Antenna, Blonder Tongue, Drake, Olson, Adtec, and Force, and is also the North American distributor for the Amino video over IP set top box. Visit www.amt.com or contact Rob Narzisi at [email protected], or 888-293-5856.

aT&T Connected CommunitiessM

Delivering Innovative Communications and Entertainment Solutions to the Single-Family and MDU Industries. Visit att.com/communities or contact Joya Adams at [email protected], or 888-899-9051.

CablenoWThe GuideNOW on-screen guide is available in 3 versions – full screen, local weather, and advertising. Convert existing PCs using GuideNOW software. Web-based ads and messages for remote creation and editing allow multi-property operators to pull from the same data file. PlaybackNOW, a new self-contained playback system for scheduling up to 8 DVDs unattended, features a customizable countdown intermission slide show. CableNOW also installs DOCSIS cable modems. Visit www.cablenowcorp.com, or contact Kevin Brainard at [email protected], or 330-630-5550.

CalixCalix is the largest telecom supplier focused solely on broadband access, deploying over 450 FTTH communities. The 700 family of GPON ONTs is the industry’s most flexible, with support for Gigabit Ethernet and RF return. Coupled with the C7 and F5 GPON platforms, Calix offers a wide range of ONTs for single family and MDU applications. Calix GPON platforms are ideal for small business and cellular backhaul. Visit www.calix.com, or contact Dave Russell at [email protected], or call 707-766-3000.

Corning Cable systemsCorning Cable Systems is a leading manufacturer of fiber optic and copper communications solutions and network services worldwide. It pioneered many of the advances used in state-of-the-art networks. Products include network interface devices, test equipment, splice equipment, cable assemblies and connectors. Visit www.corning.com, or contact Stephanie Kosty at [email protected], or call 800-743-2671.

direCTV, inc.DIRECTV, the nation’s leading satellite television service provider with more than 17 million USA customers, is leading the HD revolution with 95 national HD channels – more quality HD than any other TV provider. Subscribers enjoy over 265 digital channels, exclusive programming, industry-leading customer satisfaction (surpassing cable for seven years running) and superior technologies including DVR and HD-DVR and the most interactive sports. Property owners and managers should call 888-483-4635.

display systems international, inc.Especially popular with MDUs and PCOs, DSI has offered an inexpensive, professional way to display ads and tenant information on a local cable channel since 1983. New features include free Internet weather, FTP and email page and schedule updates. Sound, video, animation, external device control, text animation and more are standard. LineUp, an inexpensive scrolling guide to current TV listings, lets you control the look. Listings are viewable on a browser. Visit www.displaysystemsintl.com, or contact Whitney Lemke at [email protected] or 877-934-6884.

draka Communications - americas Draka Communications is the world’s largest fiber cable manufacturer. DrakaxsNet innovations like Colorlock®xs coating, Bendbright®XS bend insensitive fiber and ezPREP® loose tube cables that make it easier and less expensive to deploy fiber. Visit www.drakaamericas.com, or contact Greg Williams at [email protected], 828-459-9787 or 800-879-9862.

Multicom, inc.Multicom is a full-line stocking distributor and manufacturer of products used for end-to-end integration of FTTx and MFH-2 applications, cable TV, and VoIP services. Headquartered in Orlando since 1982, Multicom stocks over 7,000 products from more than 85 of the world’s major manufacturers to build and maintain cost-effective systems over fiber optics, coax, and copper cable. Multicom also designs distribution for any application, as well as rack, balance, and crate headends. Visit www.multicominc.com, call 800-423-2594, or use [email protected].

Verizon enhanced CommunitiesFiOS delivers the speed, unsurpassed clarity, and bandwidth today’s residents expect – with an extensive HDTV line-up, crystal-clear voice and video, and the ability to handle future needs. Verizon Enhanced Communities has a proven track record in successful fiber deployments to single- and multifamily communities. Planning a new community or seeking to upgrade? We’ll help you create a community that tech-savvy consumers wish to live in today – and for years to come. Visit www.verizon.com/communities or contact Tricia French at [email protected], or 727-821-2586.

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more able to provide service were it is most needed. As Chairman of the Joint Board on USF, I can assure you we are reforming this $7 bil-lion program to more clearly focus on its original purpose of insuring all Americans have access to com-munications – including advanced services. I look forward to moving toward fundamental reforms and welcome your input to insure the stability and continuity of the fund while also insuring it supports the necessary infrastructure for broad-band to flourish, even in remote and insular areas.

6. Finally, as you have suggested, the Commission is taking action to obtain more granular information about broadband deployment. Just last month, we adopted an order that will help us collect significantly bet-ter data on the deployment of broad-band services across the country.

I also appreciate and encourage pri-vate, state and local efforts to enhance the availability of such information. As one example, the moderator of a previ-ous panel, Drew Clark, has established a new Web site, BroadbandCensus.com. This Web site encourages consumers to input data on which broadband provid-ers serve their particular area, lets them test download and upload speeds, and then makes this data available to other consumers. This is precisely the type of empowerment and education that ben-

efits consumers, often more effectively than government regulations.

PuBliC/PriVaTe ParTnershiPsAs a former state official, I also have been a champion for innovative public-private partnerships, in areas ranging from economic development to education to health care. Connect Tennessee is a great example of just such a venture, which is focused on promoting broadband in my home state of Tennessee, a state with a significant rural population.

Connect Tennessee coordinates with governments, communities, businesses, and service providers to identify sup-ply and demand conditions and tailor services to unmet needs. The program identifies barriers to consumer adoption where broadband exists and applies GIS mapping to identify areas where there is no broadband service, as well as where people live and businesses are located. It then helps establish a “business case” scenario to build out broadband.

This program is patterned after the successful Connect Kentucky program which, in a few short years, has built out broadband networks that provide access to 95 percent of Kentucky’s population, and Tennessee hopes to do the same by 2010.

When something works, we should encourage others replicate it. Thus, a na-tional Connected Nation has emerged from the successful model of Connect Kentucky, with projects that include not only Tennessee, but also Ohio, South

Carolina and West Virginia. All of these states have significant rural populations, which makes broadband deployment a challenge. But our rural and less-pop-ulated states and regions should not be left off the Information Superhighway, and thanks to innovative thinking by groups such as Connected Nation, it looks like they won’t be.

PriVaTe seCTor and PoliCyAs industry leaders, I ask for your input on what policymakers should do – and perhaps even more importantly, what we should not do – recognizing that staying out of the way is sometimes the wisest course of action for government. We must choose a path that is carefully bal-anced, providing the appropriate regu-latory relief which resolves a specific “harm,” allowing networks and carriers to respond to marketplace demands ef-ficiently and effectively, ensuring that consumers are informed and protected and competition is encouraged through the least intrusive and least costly regu-latory action.

Finally, because so many of you are network providers, I want to recognize the important role you play in network management. Earlier this month I was at Stanford University as part of a Com-mission hearing on network manage-ment, and in February the Commission held a hearing at Harvard University on the same issue. The question that is being asked – and it should be asked – is what is “reasonable network management.”

All network providers recognize that, with the widespread deployment of broadband, the type and level of Internet traffic is changing dramatically. One re-searcher recently reported that in Decem-ber 2007 a record 10 billion videos were viewed online. The largest US broad-band provider says consumer broadband traffic on its network has doubled in the last two years alone, and broadband cus-tomers are using 40 percent more band-width per year. One report estimates that the amount of information transmitted across the Internet in the US will be 50 times larger by 2015, equal to 50 million Libraries of Congress. Building faster pipes will be important, but this alone may not be sufficient. Even in Japan,

We must choose a path that is carefully balanced, providing the appropriate

regulatory relief which resolves a specific “harm,” allowing networks and carriers to

respond to marketplace demands efficiently and effectively, ensuring that consumers are informed and protected and competition is encouraged through the least intrusive and

least costly regulatory action.


where network speeds reach 100 Mbps, congestion is a concern.

As usage increases exponentially, the need for reasonable network manage-ment becomes clear. At the same time, such reasonable network management should be consistent with the Commis-sion’s four principles of network neutral-ity, adopted in 2005. These principles state that consumers are entitled:

1. to access the lawful Internet content of their choice;

2. to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement;

3. to connect their choice of legal de-vices that do not harm the network; and

4. to competition among network pro-viders, application and service provid-ers, and content providers. From the inception, the Commission made it clear that these principles were subject to reasonable network management.

We again should be clear that we are talking about legal content and applica-tions. While the good news is that wide-spread deployment of new technologies, including peer-to-peer applications, holds tremendous promise to allow net-works to run more efficiently, the bad news is that, like any tool or technology, it can also be misused. I am particularly concerned with the ability of new tech-nologies to promote some of the most harmful threats online – child pornog-raphy, piracy, and privacy violations.

VoiCe For ChildrenSince arriving at the Commission, I have tried to be a strong and consistent voice arguing on behalf of children and fami-lies, and arguing against the increasing level of coarseness and indecent pro-gramming, as well as the negative im-pact of unhealthy food advertisements on the epidemic of childhood obesity.

For those of you in the content arena, I call on you to be part of the solution, us-ing broadband to educate our children, not just to entertain them.

I am very pleased that, at the mul-tinational level, much is occurring re-garding the protection of our personal information – information about where we go and what we do, as well as per-sonal financial and health-related data – and more importantly, the protection of our children. The International Tele-communication Union, the first lady of Egypt, the APEC ministerial meetings – all are raising the dialogue to a global level. Throughout all of our societies, we recognize our children are our greatest natural resource.

Today, of course, I hope to raise your awareness of this issue of protecting our children in the online world. I encourage all of you to adopt policies and provide tools in order for parents and caregivers to be able to provide a safe environment in the online world as well as the offline one. I continue to be concerned about the amount and type of illegal and dan-gerous online activities, which put our children in harm’s way, and the digital generation gap by which parents don’t even know all of the capabilities as well as the risks the Internet entails.

With regard to piracy, I’m from Nash-ville – Music City, USA – and so I see firsthand the effects of illegal use. Two thirds of the 20 billion illegal downloads worldwide each year are of US recorded music. We’ve suffered $203 million in lost earnings due to piracy in Tennessee alone. For the country as a whole, the US Chamber estimates piracy costs our economy $12.5 billion dollars each year, including negatively impacting research and development in pharmaceuticals and software and more, as well as the impact on thousands of Americans who are our nation’s – indeed the world’s – songwriters and storytellers.

ConClusionIn closing, I want to thank you again, not only for the opportunity to speak with you today, but for the important work you do every day. As I hope I’ve made clear, the deployment of broad-band is critical for our economic well-being, and for the numerous opportu-nities it creates in terms of education, health care, virtual jobs, and our multi-national competitiveness.

While policymakers have the ability to make rules that impact broadband deployment, we need to listen carefully to those who actually develop, invest in and deploy the service – that is, all of you, so please stay involved in these is-sues. For broadband, it is especially im-portant that we get the policies right, to ensure that our children are protected, our citizens are connected, and our country is competitive for generations to come. BBP

One researcher recently reported that in December 2007 a record 10 billion videos

were viewed online. The largest US broadband provider says consumer broadband traffic on its network has doubled in the last two years

alone, and broadband customers are using 40 percent more bandwidth per year.

As a former state official, I also have been a champion for innovative public-private

partnerships, in areas ranging from economic development to education to health care.

broadband to the home: broadband to america

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