A Reminder Why the Quello Center Net Neutrality Impact Study is Important

05 Sep 2015

A Reminder Why the Quello Center Net Neutrality Impact Study is Important

In the past week or so I’ve seen several articles that remind me how important the Quello Center’s empirically-grounded study of net neutrality impacts is for clarifying what these impacts will be—especially since net neutrality is one of those policy topics where arguments are often driven by ideology and/or competing financial interests. As far as I can tell, this series of articles began with an August 25 piece written by economist Hal Singer and published by Forbes under the following headline: Does The Tumble In Broadband Investment Spell Doom For The FCC’s Open Internet Order? Per his Forbes bio, Singer […]

16 Aug 2015

Evolving Infrastructure Models: Telecom, Electricity & the IoT

2015-08-16
Mitchell Shapiro
Blog

Though not as essential as drinking water, I consider both electricity and Internet access to be core infrastructure, with high fixed costs and providing general purpose support for the requirements of modern life. As the Internet expands to include networked “things” as well as people, and electric utilities pursue a future “smart grid,” the scope of these two sectors’ activity seem likely to overlap more than ever in the future. One example of this is the widespread deployment by utilities of so-called “smart meters” connected via the utility’s own (usually wireless) network. Though it’s unclear how this strategy will evolve […]

13 Aug 2015

I got my Gig!

After thinking and writing about the benefits of fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) networks for a number of years, I’m happy to report that I’ve finally joined the small but growing population of U.S. households connected to the Internet via fiber networks delivering symmetrical gigabit speeds. I’m getting service from LightSpeed, a Lansing-based company deploying its network on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis (see this map for more details on the status of its network and service rollout). The installation happened yesterday (the fiber drop was installed the day before). It went smoothly, with Jeremy and Chris connecting the drop to a fiber network interface in […]

09 Aug 2015

Using ICT to Develop Infrastructure Systems for the “Digital Anthropocene”

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the design and management of society’s core infrastructure systems (which I define broadly to include things like healthcare, education, housing and “money”) in an era marked by several important trends (for reasons suggested below, I refer to this as the “digital anthropocene”): substantial (and currently destructive) impacts of human activities on natural systems, a planetary phase referred to as the Anthropocene; continued and arguably mounting evidence that the status-quo dynamics within our dominant political and economic systems are aggravating rather than reducing inequalities in wealth and related factors; the dramatic expansion in scope, content […]

25 Jul 2015

NYT Buries Lead, Muddies Water on EMF Health Issue

As I explained in an earlier blog post, I believe potential risks associated with our ever-more-intensive use of wireless devices, and the expanding body of research suggesting such risks do exist, are being unwisely ignored in our rush to enjoy the benefits of these technologies. As that earlier post suggested, I see a need for: 1) A much-expanded program of research focused on understanding and mitigating EMF-related health risks, especially for vulnerable populations; 2) A fact-based and respectful discussion of research and public policy issues related to such risks. Given my interest in this subject, I thought I might learn […]

27 May 2015

The Rush to “Smart” Meters: Maybe Not So Smart?

In a recent blog post I discussed a critique of today’s “smart meters” that focused on the technology’s shortcomings as a step toward creating a “smart grid” that reduces climate change risks and other negative impacts associated with our current carbon-intensive energy systems. In another recent post I discussed the need for more research on EMF health effects. In this post I’m going to revisit the subject of smart meters from a perspective informed by both of those prior posts. One of my goals is to use smart meters as a specific example of how, when making decisions about large-scale technology […]

25 May 2015

EMF Health Impacts: More Research Needed

I’ve long been an enthusiastic supporter of using information and communication technology to support healthcare, education and political and economic empowerment. My interest dates back to 1982, when I wrote a graduate school paper entitled The Human Development Network. At that time, cable TV and desktop PCs were the new technologies of the day, the first brick-sized portable cellphones had yet to hit the market, and the closest thing to smartphones and “wearables” were found in the fictional worlds of Star Trek and Dick Tracy. Given my longstanding interest in beneficial uses of technology, it’s exciting to see today’s explosion […]

20 May 2015

Are “Smart Meters” a Costly Diversion From the “Smart Grid” We Really Need?

I recently read a paper entitled “Getting Smarter About the Smart Grid” by Timothy Schoechle. Though the paper’s primary focus is the electricity industry, it seems a fitting topic for the Quello Center blog because it raises important questions about how best to use information and communication technology to support a sustainable energy system that addresses the increasingly urgent issue of climate change and other environmental challenges we now face. And it does so in a way that challenges conventional wisdom regarding the massive and costly deployment of so-called “smart meters” now underway across the country. The paper’s core argument, […]

14 May 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: More Capacity, Flexibility

2015-05-14
Mitchell Shapiro
Blog

In an earlier post I discussed the FCC’s recent decision to open up 150 MHz of spectrum in the 3550-3700 MHz band for unlicensed “General Authorized Access” usage as the lowest-priority usage category in a new three-tier model that includes protections for incumbent government users and provides for “Priority Access Licenses” assigned via auction. In this post I’m going to briefly review two other spectrum bands that the FCC has recently moved to make more available for unlicensed use. Together these changes have potential to increase unlicensed spectrum capacity and flexibility in terms of network designs and business models. 5 […]

06 May 2015

Is Even Live Sports Vulnerable in the Digital Age?

I was struck today by a Washington Post story by Cecilia Kang and Will Hobson that considers the potential impact of new apps like Periscope (owned by Twitter) and Meerkat on the highly lucrative live-sports media sector. Noting that its “live” aspect has largely protected televised sports from piracy and other digital-age erosions of control, Kang and Hobson suggest that this protection now faces a challenge from these new apps: Just hold a smartphone up to a television to record and stream what’s airing, and suddenly piracy is easier than ever. That stunning recognition arrived this past weekend when droves of boxing fans […]

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