A Transatlantic Dialog (with IDATE, France): Gigabit Networks, Kilobit Government?

Columbia Institute for Tele-Information

Presentation of Ron Binz, Chairman

Colorado Public Utilities Commission

Halloween 2008

Caveat

• I am one of three equal commissioners• My positions are my own• I am confused by many things and have not

made up my mind on much at all• I don’t even agree with some of the things I say• Good advice: don’t believe everything you think

I first met Eli Noam about 1986 when CITI was a relatively new organization. Eli was speaking at a NASUCA conference and was using a new-fangled device called a laptop computer.

Eli set up the computer with software that automatically scrolled his written speech, much like a teleprompter.

The software apparently allowed him to specify how long the speech should run, adjusting the scrolling rate to exactly fill out the time allotted for the speech.

Unfortunately, Eli’s software would not permit pauses or questions during the speech without recalculating the speed necessary to complete the balance of the speech during the allotted time.

This meant that, if interrupted, he had to speed up to cram everything in.

That did not present a problem for Eli, who, as a New Yorker, was accustomed to speaking fast.

However, it was a different matter for his audience, who were trying to listen and simultaneously decode his accent.

They were reduced to waving their hands in the air, asking him to slow down, when, of course, he could do nothing of the sort.

Eli, thank you for 25 years of CITI

Eli, thanks for twenty five years

of CITI.

Major Characteristics of US Broadband Policy

• BB penetration ranks 15th in OECD report• Based on inter-modal competition• Mainly duopolistic: consists almost entirely

of incumbent and telco and cable carriers, especially for small users

• Decreasing number of intra-modal (telco) competitors

US Advanced Services Lines(>200 Kbps in each direction )

0

10

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30

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50

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Jun2000

Jun2001

Jun2002

Jun2003

Jun2004

Jun2005

Jun2006

Jun2007

Mill

ions

of L

ines

US Broadband (?) LinesUS Broadband Lines

US Broadband Lines by Bandwidth(June 2007 in Mbps)

0.2 < Speed < 2.540.2%

Speed > 250.2%

10 < Speed < 255.5%

2.5 < Speed < 1054.2%

10 000

20 000

30 000

40 000

50 000

60 000

70 000

80 000

90 000

100 000

Japa

n

France

Korea

Sweden

New Z

ealan

d** Italy

Finlan

d

Portug

al

Austra

lia

Norway

Luxe

mbour

g

United

Kingdo

m

German

y

United

States

Canad

aSpa

in

Greece

Hunga

ry

Belgium

Czech

Rep

ublic

Denmark

Switzerl

and

Nether

lands

Slovak R

epub

lic

Austria

Icelan

d

Poland

Irelan

d

Mexico

Turkey

Average advertised broadband download speedby country, Mbit/s, October 2007

Broadband average monthly subscription priceOct. 2007, USD PPP

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Czech Republic

Slovak Republic

Mexico

Iceland

Hungary

Poland

Norw ay

United States

Portugal

Australia

Canada

Luxembourg

Austria

Turkey

New Zealand

Belgium

Greece

Italy

Korea

Ireland

Netherlands

France

Denmark

Japan

Sw eden

United Kingdom

Sw itzerland

Germany

Finland

News in Broadband Competition• Growth of FIOS

– FTTH, 50MB BB• Growth of U-verse

– FTTP, FTTH, IPTV• Bundling Cable, BB, Phone• 700 Mhz Auction• Campaign for use of white spaces

Verizon’s FIOS Offering

AT&T’s U-verse Offering

Recent Developments in NN

• FCC Comcast Order• Role of NN in Presidential and Senate

campaigns

Protect the Openness of the Internet: A key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most open network in history. It needs to stay that way. Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet. Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal devices. They have a right to receive accurate and honest information about service plans. But these guarantees are not enough to prevent network providers from discriminating in ways that limit the freedom of expression on the Internet. Because most Americans only have a choice of only one or two broadband carriers, carriers are tempted to impose a toll charge on content and services, discriminating against websites that are unwilling to pay for equal treatment. This could create a two tier Internet in which websites with the best relationships with network providers can get the fastest access to consumers, while all competing websites remain in a slower lane. Such a result would threaten innovation, the open tradition and architecture of the Internet, and competition among content and backbone providers. It would also threaten the equality of speech through which the Internet has begun to transform American political and cultural discourse. Barack Obama supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some web sites and Internet applications over others. This principle will ensure that the new competitors, especially small or non-profit speakers, have the same opportunity as incumbents to innovate on the Internet and to reach large audiences.

Thanks for the invitation.

I look forward to our discussions.