That’s Entertainment! The Oscars Online March 8th, 2010

How do televised events like the Oscars draw both a broader and younger audience?  This year, in addition to doubling the number of best picture-nominated films, the 82nd Annual Academy Awards launched a social media campaign replete with smartphone apps, a trivia competition, and live Twitter feeds from the award ceremony.

To kick off Oscar’s social media makeover, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences streamed the nominations announcement live on Facebook – encouraging fans to watch and share their reactions with friends.  The free Oscar smartphone app, downloaded approximately 25,000 times, shared trailers of nominated films and encouraged users to make their own winner predictions.  And Oscar.com captured viewer data for its marketing efforts by encouraging consumers to register to receive mobile alerts, participate in the site’s “Live Challenge” trivia game, and receive email updates and other communications.

Social media even helped catapult a relatively unknown film to “Best Animated Feature” status.  With a limited budget, the company promoting “The Secret of Kells” chose to market the movie via social media.  The filmmaker’s blog, which chronicled the movie’s production since 2005, helped promote “The Secret of Kells” Edinburgh Film Festival win.  Screenings were scheduled at animation schools, and a viral word-of-mouth campaign on Facebook and Twitter propelled the fan base from there.  Animator and “super-fan” Jamie Bolio served as a citizen publicist, promoting the film and sharing DVDs of the production with the Los Angeles cartooning industry.  While the film didn’t take the top award on Oscar night– it’s widely agreed the picture would never have been in contention without this creative online effort.

For those who find the red carpet more fascinating than the awards, ABC streamed its live red carpet show at Oscar.com for two hours prior to the show, and attached it to a Facebook discussion engine.  There was even a designated spot on the red carpet for celebrities to answer fan questions posted on the Academy’s Facebook page.  And if you missed acceptance speeches or want to see the extended, backstage version, Oscar.com has all of these clips and more ready to view at a click of a button.  Now that’s entertainment your way brought to you by broadband.

Connected Shelter from the Storm February 11th, 2010

We in the tech world like to bring demonstrations to Washington to talk about all the potential of broadband in our lives—from health care to small business to reducing our carbon footprint to keeping in touch with work and community.  Over the past week, the entire nation’s capital became a living laboratory of just how important broadband has become in our modern lives and connected economy.

Through nearly a week of snow, ice, blizzards and their aftermath, Washingtonians kept key components of our city and our government working.  We both sought and shared information and assistance.  And, as the days wore on, we even relied on the social nature of online community to stave off cabin fever.

Approximately 50 million Americans have been affected by ‘Snowmageddon.’  From the federal government to small businesses, schools and community centers, closings have been rampant.  But thanks to broadband, many of us – including the staff here at USTelecom – have stayed connected and conducted business (almost) as usual.

How has the high-speed Internet kept commerce from careening to a halt?  Telework tops the list.  As the National Weather Service urged citizens to stay home, many of us seamlessly shifted to our home computers trading emails with colleagues and marching diligently toward our deadlines.

What’s at stake for the public and private sectors?  Productivity and cost.  The federal government loses an estimated $100 million each day its Washington offices close.  Fortunately, agencies such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have enabled more than 80 percent of eligible staff to telework – promoting productivity despite weather conditions and defraying the costs of a federal shutdown.  White House staff also continued to work through the storm via broadband, and President Obama supports increasing the rate of federal employees with teleworking capabilities to 50% by 2011, which would be a 10-fold increase from 2009.  And while the FCC may have had to postpone some of its meetings, Chairman Genachowski sent an email to staff acknowledging those at the agency who were “working hard from home.”

Another benefit of broadband?  The power to communicate with and help others.  Snowmageddoncleanup.com encourages people to offer and receive help – a stuck car here, an elderly neighbor in need of a shovel there and a virtual city of good Samaritans.  And for those looking for some good old-fashioned, cold-weather fun, the Internet was a big help there, too.  High-spirited (and safe) snowball fights have been a fixture of city parks, and social media helped organize 2,000 snowball-lobbing enthusiasts, who descended on Washington’s Dupont Circle last weekend.

The days of disconnection when weather strikes are ebbing, thanks to home broadband – and our desire to stay on track and in touch.  We often talk about online community as something separate and apart from ‘the real world.’  As the sun shines on our city once again, perhaps one lasting lesson is that they were never quite so far apart as they seemed.

The Broadband-Enabled Smart Grid February 3rd, 2010

From the President and the FCC to the nation’s leading broadband providers, developing smart grid solutions is a hot topic, and for good reason. After all, implementing smart grid technology represents the 21st century evolution of the electric grid, utilizing new, broadband-powered innovations capable of advancing energy conservation and independence.

As the FCC puts the finishing touches on its National Broadband Plan, and considers the role broadband will play in its smart grid recommendations, U.S. telecom providers of all sizes and in all areas of the country are well positioned and ready to offer  innovative smart grid solutions. Building on years of substantial communications infrastructure investment, and with powerful national networks in place, these  providers possess the core competencies to support effective smart grid solutions.

Here are just a few examples of new partnerships underway.  Working in collaboration with Cooper Power Systems, AT&T offers smart grid sensors that will help utilities better manage their grid and SmartSynch. Along similar lines, Verizon Wireless and Ambient Corporation have developed Open Smart Grid Communications Architecture, an integrated solution for utilities deploying smart grid programs that leverages the reliability and breadth of Verizon’s network. Meanwhile, Qwest and Current Communications have a trial underway with Xcel Energy utilizing DSL to backhaul smart-grid data from connected homes.

From reducing resource consumption to increasing the reliability and efficiency of the power grid, smart grid solutions have much to offer. Given broadband providers’ capabilities and vision on this front, we will see many more innovative smart grid developments in the years to come that benefit consumers and our environment.

USTelecom & Cisco Conduct Data Center Virtualization Webinar January 21st, 2010

Virtualization is a growing technology trend that has evolved from replacing the traditional 1:1 server architectures of just a few years ago, into the areas of virtualized storage, and virtualized networks. All of this creates a new opportunity for today’s datacenters to provide tremendous cost savings, environmental savings and overall efficiencies that have given birth to the “Cloud Computing” model.

On Thursday, January 21st, Vaughn Suazo from Cisco provided our audience a review of Cisco’s comprehensive vision and architecture for Virtualized Data Centers along with their impact on “Cloud” computing models. Vaughn began with the basic building blocks of virtualization and proceeded all the way through to actual service provider implementations of virtualized systems, networks and cloud computing data centers.

If you’d like to view the archived version of this webinar, it will be available on-demand at:  http://www.ustelecom.org/Events/Default.aspx.

The TV Cart Before The Network Horse January 7th, 2010

The big news out of the recently opened 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is that TVs are going 3D and they will be arriving ready to be connected to the network.

Skype announces HD Video Conferencing: Although network connected TVs were not really a surprise because of the demand of Internet based video, the announcement that Skype will be delivering HD video conferencing through Skype-enabled TVs may have caught a few folks off guard.  Skype will be embedding its service on HDTVs from LG and Panasonic, which will also be offering HD webcams that can pick up audio and video from a typical “couch distance.”

3D Agreements Take Shape: DirecTV and Panasonic have agreed to jointly launch three HD-3D channels by June. They are hoping that the buzz created by the movie Avatar will jump-start the demand for HD-3D equipped televisions. The DirecTV-Panasonic partnership creates a 3D system from the original filming all the way to the television. DirecTV is also in talks with Viacom, CBS and NBC.

Greater demand for bandwidth: With just these two announcements, it’s not so difficult to envision the demand for greater bandwidth across all aspects of the network (access & backbone) when these products become mainstream. Stay tuned.

Preserving History Online November 19th, 2009

When we think of historic preservation, images of the physical world come to mind – the Sistine Chapel…a pre-Revolutionary home…an ancient text.  But broadband has brought a new genre of preservation to life, taking audio, visual, and written communications into the digital age.

Just this week, the online recording archive WolfgangsVault.com will begin posting free streams of 1,000 to 1,200 individual performances from the Newport Jazz Festival.  The $5 million dollar music preservation project has successfully recovered live performances dating back to at least 1955.  For the music lover, Wolfgang’s Vault unearths a treasure trove of jazz legends from Count Basie to Thelonious Monk, and many more.  In addition to the goal of preservation, the project is a love letter to the Newport Jazz Festival, which has faced challenging times in recent years, raising questions about the festival’s future.  But, thanks to broadband, these historic tracks will live on online.

And, speaking of online, have you ever wondered what happens when websites with a historic context disappear?  The Library of Congress’s Digital Preservation Program is intent on saving this kind of content, and has built a preservation network of over 130 partners nationwide to serve as stewards of this information.  Through digitalpreservation.gov, Americans nationwide can search archives of historic web pages, including national elections, 9/11, and more.  The site also features extensive digital collections dedicated to everything from historic newspapers, prints and photographs to veterans’ history and American culture.  Even local libraries are starting to adopt digital preservation – from digitizing and uploading old high school yearbooks to scanning old images and texts.

Broadband is proving to be a powerful resource for preservation, as well as an easy way of sharing these artifacts with the world.  Lucky for us, relics of our past that might otherwise vanish forever can now be enjoyed online.

The Science of Online Bargain Hunting November 13th, 2009

With the holidays approaching, penny-pinching consumers are on the prowl for online bargains that can save green and give joy.  How can consumers use broadband to find the best deals?  Beyond web surfing and search engines, the social media world is now turning trolling for sales into a science.

Take Cheaptweet.com, for instance.  Using a mix of their own algorithm and Twitter to compete in the social-shopping arena, Cheaptweet unearths the best deals and discounts in the Twitterverse.  The site catalogs these discounts in real-time, and has searchable sections that show deals related to everything from Black Friday to grocery store coupons.  Or, you can join “Shop It To Me,” an online sale alert email service and website that boasts 2.5 million subscribers.  The company sends daily e-mails to customers with links to items available on sale and in their size from over 100 retailers.

Looking for something more interactive?  ShopStyle has a community section that invites customers to become virtual fashion editors or interior designers, posting their look books and tagged favorites.  Deals are shared within the community too, and can be linked to blogs or e-mailed to friends.  And for those interested in creating wish lists of desired items, Wists enables consumers to automatically share bookmarked sites, must-have items, and great deals.

So this shopping season, skip the crowds and let broadband do the work for you.  Bargains are just a click away.

Connected Habits Keep Us Close, Not Cut Off November 11th, 2009

Has the rise of technology—namely the Internet and mobile phones—increased our isolation and diminished our contact with the world? While some suggest this is the inevitable result of our hyper-connected age, a new study released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project says otherwise.

According to the study, the rich array of Internet activities and mobile phone ownership has triggered larger and more diverse discussion networks. In fact, those participating in a social networking service, such as Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn, have social networks that are approximately 20% more diverse.

But is online socializing causing a “cocooning” trend? Pew says Internet users continue to visit their neighbors and enjoy face time, and bloggers and cell phone users who often surf the web at work are more likely to volunteer in their local communities. The study also underscores the fact that many Internet users go online in public places, and in fact web users are 42 to 45 percent more likely to frequent neighborhood hotspots. For example, 38% of those who have visited a library within the past month logged onto the Internet, and 18% have jumped online at a coffee shop. Look around an airport or peek inside a Starbucks and it is clear broadband users are not hiding out from public spaces.

While the study doesn’t dispute the fact that the average size of a person’s core group of friends and family has been on the decline since 1985, it does indicate that this trend is not due to increased online activity. In fact, for many of us, the Internet and mobile technology allows us to stay close to friends and family who are scattered throughout the country—from swapping digital photos and blogging on personal passions to keeping up via email and reconnecting with childhood playmates on social networks.

It may be a while since you sat down and wrote a letter, but just think of the power of real-time communication over broadband, and the myriad ways it keeps us all connected.

Steering a Course with Innovative Apps October 22nd, 2009

Today, navigating the world has moved far beyond atlas territory, with innovative apps proliferating across the broadband landscape.

Need point-to-point directions?  Garmin Mobile for BlackBerry delivers this service without requiring memory cards or mapping data.  Or, if you’re looking for the best routes to beat morning traffic for a smoother commute, ‘Traffic’ will show you the way.  Have amnesia about where you parked your car?  G-park will GPS tag your spot so you can easily find your way back.  There’s even an app in the works to locate open parking spots on busy urban streets where these spaces are a hot commodity.

And then there are apps that act as your virtual concierge.  Looking for a restaurant near you?  Urban Spoon’s latest version uses GPS to scope out the neighborhood and provide realistic images of the closest restaurant options.  Also, Poynt, which recently reached 1 million BlackBerry downloads, uses GPS or cell-site locations to connect you with people, businesses, movie theaters, retailers and restaurants near you.  Or, for business travelers, WorldMate Live is a one-stop-shop travel resource.  The app automatically builds your itinerary including flights, hotels, and meetings; offers one-click access to relevant maps and navigation tools; features appropriate weather forecasts, time changes, and currency conversion, and much more.

In today’s connected world and with an abundance of apps at your fingertips, steering a course in the right direction is just a click away, thanks to broadband.

Competition Thriving in High-Capacity Services Market, Report Reveals July 16th, 2009

For the array of providers offering high-capacity services that connect businesses, web sites, cell towers and companies, a new USTelecom report makes clear that competition, investment and innovation is alive and well in the marketplace.  The analysis,  “High-Capacity Services: Abundant, Affordable and Evolving,” which compares data from telecom, cable, wireless and other broadband providers, shows a robust competitive landscape that affirms the pro-investment and innovation policies currently in place.  The facts also demonstrate that adopting policies that impose drastic price controls, as some suggest, is unwarranted and counter-productive to our national agenda of fostering economic growth and fueling American innovation.

Key findings of the report include:

The high capacity service marketplace continues to attract new growth and investment.  In fact, the report demonstrates a 15 to 20% annual growth rate with fiber-based, cable, and fixed wireless competitors alike expanding high-capacity services for business customers.

In the top 10 metropolitan areas, there is an average of more than 9 fiber competitors.  And, in the top 50 metropolitan areas, there are an average of six fiber competitors.  Despite the challenging economy, competing carriers are answering consumer demand and extending their networks.

Increased wireless usage is fueling competitive growth in the wireless backhaul market, which is projected to triple in the next two to four years.  However, this growth will rely on substantial new investment, which pro-growth policies will help stimulate.

Special access prices have continued to fall since pricing flexibility was granted in competitive markets.  Numerous independent studies (including GAO, 2006 and NRRI, 2009) confirm that prices for special access declined from 2001 to 2007.  New data in this report confirms that pricing trend, as prices have continued to drop.

High capacity deployment and innovative offerings continue to proliferate. The fact that diverse competitors continue to increase their offerings despite declining prices illustrates the growth and intensity of competition in the high-capacity services marketplace.

The bottom line: this report offers compelling evidence that an extraordinary level of competition and choice is the hallmark of the current high-capacity services marketplace. It also suggests that, with further data, which competing firms have refused to disclose, the FCC could determine once and for all that competition is thriving among high-capacity service providers.