DSL Prime: Real Telecom Journalism

With so much vapid journalism out there, DSL Prime celebrates the best journalists and researchers and their stories, such as the true stories of those who are in line to run the FCC.

by Dave Burstein of DSL Prime and Future of TV [February 18, 2005]

The story of the coming week—and perhaps year—will be malware
—Pip Coburn

Best telecom reporting, 2004 part 1
May SBC erect a toll booth on the Internet?
This isn't just an SBC story, although their latest plan (1 Mbps DSL) makes them most vulnerable. Telefonica Brazil talks openly about building a walled garden. BT is doing similar, blocking more than an hour a day of competitive video by introducing a bandwidth cap. That's obviously aimed at protecting their video, because they did perfectly well without a cap even when bandwidth prices were three times as high as they are today. Deutsche Telekom is among the most outrageous, charging so much for bandwidth even their own T-Online subsidiary finds it very difficult, and others will be kept out.

SBC made headlines at CES with their new set top/home gateway, a story Almar Latour, Andy Pasztor and Peter Grant broke in last August in the Wall Street Journal. Their reporting was much more than an ordinary scoop, because they asked the crucial question of whether SBC's new box is designed to limit choice on the Internet. They reported

"SBC and EchoStar plan to restrict the box's Internet access to just a few movie and music sites, at least at first. Giving subscribers broad access to the Web could make it less likely they would pay extra for premium channels such as HBO and Showtime sold by Dish Network.

'The content that gets through to the TV is going to be the content that the [two partners] are comfortable with,' says Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff. 'It's not really in their best interest to create an alternative distribution method' for the Internet at large."

The story set off a firestorm at the FCC, where Bob Pepper and Mike Powell have been preaching the "end-to-end principle." SBC had to carefully review their policy, and shortly after affirmed to DSL Prime, "SBC does not plan to give meaningful preference (in terms of bandwidth allocation) to any particular video service or video content provider" Michael Coe, speaking for SBC on the record. "We don't plan to limit access from computers or give bandwidth preference to content." A senior FCC official took SBC statement as a firm commitment that video not part of SBC's package would get through. I hope that proves true.

Lightspeed, as publicly described, appears to maintain the walled garden design of Microsoft's standard IP TV, giving protected bandwidth to chosen content using QoS. Microsoft's system could possibly work as an open system, with direct access at the edge of SBC's net to other video providers. SBC's order alone is large enough to persuade vendors to offer that functionality, but it was not in the SBC RFP circulating on Wall Street.

I'd hate to be Ed Whitacre's successor in two years at the FCC if they fail on this one. Others developing their own video service face the same choice. Do they protect their own video, raising low margin video revenues, or do they stay open and reliable, preserving customers on their DSL and fiber services?

Seidenberg and Babbio have both discussed an open system as a smart business choice that will attract more customers. Neither Verizon's own video division nor most others is happy to compete without protection through "technical measures," however.

Reporters and interested readers who'd like to point out other outstanding stories, please send a note to editor (at) dslprime.com. I'll be writing up Paul Davidson's USA Today reporting on universal service and the Kansas City Star on the mafia and rural telcos.

Editorial: Knowledgeable FCC commissioners, not the usual
BellSouth CTO Bill Smith and Qwest CEO Dick Notebaert are far more qualified to be FCC commissioners than the predictable "policy" types being suggested to replace Powell and Kathleen Abernathy (projected by Jessica Zufulo to also be leaving). George Bush won the election (without my vote), and is entitled to nominate commissioners with his point of view. No one is likely to get either job without the support of the Bells, so my suggestions of independent candidates like entrepreneur Jeff Pulver (a friend) or MIT's Dave Clark have no chance. Someone like Niel Ransom would be an inspired choice. He just resigned as CTO of Alcatel, wants to return to America, is universally respected, has policy experience, and worked years for BellSouth.

I'm sick and tired of commissioners who need on-the-job tutorials from Bob Pepper to understand what's going on in telecom beyond the narrow, lobbyist dominated beltway.

Several of the candidates bring history that should disqualify them. Mike Gallagher of NTIA recently sought a lobbying job at NCTA, Jim Granelli reports in the LA Times. Applying for a job like that while still serving in government is tasteless at best. Even uglier is the road Becky Klein took to the job, raising funds for her hopeless congressional campaign based on a white house hint she'd go on the FCC when she lost. To me, that's an abuse that overrides the work that won her respect from colleagues. The Austin Statesman broke that story, followed by Steve Labaton at the NY Times. It's inexcusable that other reporters covering FCC prospects don't pick up competitive reporting like that.

Copyright 2005 Dave Burstein.
The DSL Prime Newsletter is reprinted with permission.

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