Broadband

Two interesting news articles from the WSJ and NYT today.

"Internet Providers Move to Shape Broadband Push" (The Wall Street Journal) "President-elect Barack Obama's call to improve the nation's broadband infrastructure has cable and phone company lobbyists maneuvering to get a leg up. Policies under serious consideration are corporate tax credits to build new wireless or landline infrastructure, government-backed broadband "bonds" and grants to companies or local governments, legislative aides and lobbyists close to the process say. There also is strong agreement that low-income consumers need to be encouraged to sign up for broadband -for example, through vouchers to purchase computers or discounts on monthly service. Public-interest groups are clamoring for conditions to be imposed on carriers that receive tax credits, such as pledges not to degrade any Internet traffic, a principle referred to as "net neutrality."

"Internet Use Grows At Meetings, As Do Challenges" (The New York Times): "The advent of cheap, user-friendly —but bandwidth-heavy— streaming video technology changed the status quo drastically. Demand at hotels and convention centers has spiked, as businesses add videoconferencing to their meetings and guests download media. Adding to the logjam, hotel managers are moving toward Web-based tools for managing back-of-the-house departments, using more bandwidth, too. Nick Price, CIO and CTO for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, said that bandwidth has been doubling year over year."