Unlicensed Spectrum: Cablevision Tests the WiFi-Only Waters

18 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Cablevision Tests the WiFi-Only Waters

2015-03-18
Mitchell Shapiro
Blog

I ended an earlier post in this series by suggesting that Cablevision’s launch of Freewheel, a WiFi-only wireless service, marks a new chapter in the emerging “nomadic multiscreen multimedia service battleground.” In this post I’ll elaborate a bit on what I meant by that. That earlier post reviewed the cable industry’s 20-year history of launching then aborting ventures intended to use licensed spectrum to compete in the wireless market. As comments made to investors in 2009 by Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis suggest, the balance of risk and rewards in these ventures never proved attractive enough for Comcast and other cable operators to […]

15 Mar 2015

Signs of Healthy Competition in the Online Video Market

A March 10 article in Variety by Todd Spangler discusses recent competitive trends in the sector of the online video market that has long been dominated by Google’s YouTube platform. Its main theme is summed up by a quote from Peter Csathy, CEO of investment and consulting firm Manatt Digital Media, who sees “a critical mass of threats that represent real challenges to YouTube’s complete dominance for the first time.” As one would expect in a media industry trade publication, Spangler’s long and informative piece approaches the subject mainly from a “who’s winning and who’s losing and why” perspective. If there could […]

12 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Cable’s 20-Year Quest for a Wireless Strategy

In an earlier post I discussed how a handful of small startups (Republic Wireless, FreedomPop and Scratch Wireless) are offering low-cost “WiFi-first” mobile services targeting mainly cost-conscious smartphone-toting millennials. In February, these relatively small-scale and modestly-capitalized “wireless disruptors” were joined by a much bigger player: Cablevision Systems, a cable operator that generated nearly $6.5 bil. in revenue last year and whose network passes more than five million homes and businesses in the tri-state New York City metro area. As proclaimed in bold letters on the home page of its new Freewheel service, Cablevision’s marketing message is “Goodbye data limits. Hello Generation WiFi.” And, […]

07 Mar 2015

The Internet, Open Data, and Civic Engagement in Detroit: Video of Quello Seminar

2015-03-07
William Dutton
Blog

This video presents a talk by Garlin Gilchrist, the Deputy Technology Director for Civic Engagement in Detroit, with Kat Hartman, and Professor Marc Kruman responding. The presentation is about 20 minutes, followed the responses and about 15 minutes of discussion. Quello Center Seminar on the Internet and Civic Engagement in Detroit from Quello Center on Vimeo. Garlin focused on the launch of Detroit’s Open Data initiative, and the work of his office on the role of the Internet and related information and communication technologies in supporting civic and community engagement. He discusses initiatives the City of Detroit has been fostering, […]

05 Mar 2015

Electric Co-ops as a Vehicle for Bringing Fiber to Rural Areas

2015-03-05
Mitchell Shapiro
Blog

I recently listened to an interview with Randy Klindt, General Manager of Co-Mo Connect, a rural electric co-op building a gigabit fiber network in Central Missouri. It reminded me that the nation’s rural electric co-operatives can be effective vehicles for deploying advanced communication infrastructure in relatively high-cost and underserved rural areas. Like most electric co-ops, Co-Mo serves a very rural area. Its service area spans 2,300 square miles and includes roughly 31,000 electric meters. That’s only about 13.5 meters per square mile. As Klindt points out, member owned co-ops like Co-Mo have a different perspective than private companies when it […]

04 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: A One-Man WiFi-Only Experiment

A recent WSJ article (subscription required) by Ryan Knutson begins with the provocative question “Do you really need a wireless phone company?” A few sentences later he notes that while “[i]t is almost impossible to imagine life without a cellphone…imagining life without a cellphone bill is getting a lot easier.” To address his “do we need a wireless phone company” research question, Knutson undertook a one-person experiment. As he explains: For 30 days beginning in January, I disconnected my iPhone from AT&T Inc. and lived entirely off the free Wi-Fi connections that are available nearly everywhere. It wasn’t exactly seamless…But with […]

03 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Startups Offer Low-Cost WiFi-First Service

In my introductory post on unlicensed spectrum I noted that two small startup companies, Republic Wireless and FreedomPop, are making creative use of that spectrum to offer low cost voice and Internet service. These two companies were the focus of a mid-February article in the New York Times by Brian Chen. As Chen explains, “FreedomPop and Republic Wireless…offer services that rely primarily on Wi-Fi networks, and in areas without Wi-Fi, customers can pull a signal from regular cell towers.” FreedomPop, which has 80 employees, offers software that enables smartphones to automatically join Wi-Fi networks…For $5 a month, users can gain […]

26 Feb 2015

A Viewpoint on the FCC Decision on Network Neutrality by A. Michael Noll

2015-02-26
William Dutton
Blog

Net Neutrality by A. Michael Noll Do not become confused over the debate over net neutrality. The definitions and principles are all quite basic – and simple. There is a tendency to define the Internet by what services can be obtained over it, for example: email, telephone, video, information. But that approach to definition would work too for the old telephone network, which provided such services as: voice, data, fax, and information. This is not how to define the Internet — or the telephone network. The network is how access to various services is obtained — it is not the […]

26 Feb 2015

Launching the Net Neutrality Impact Study

MSU’s Quello Center is launching a study of the impact of net neutrality. With the support for net neutrality regulations at the FCC, and in the White House, the debate should quickly move from theoretical speculation to empirical realities: What will be the actual impact of net neutrality regulation? The net neutrality debate has galvanized a wide variety of stakeholders in opposing camps around the wisdom of this regulation on the future of a global, open and secure Internet. Proponents argue that net neutrality will keep the Internet open and in line with its early vision by not advantaging those […]

24 Feb 2015

Comparing Cable TV in Korea and the USA: Major Differences

2015-02-24
William Dutton
Blog

Following a presentation to visiting Korean executives, Professor Sung Wook Ji provided a brief summary of major differences between cable systems in the US and Korea. Professor JI was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University, and has recently been appointed to an Assistant Professorship at Southern Illinois University. He received a Ph.D. from the Dept. of Telecommunications at Indiana University, Bloomington. This brief video focuses on these dramatic differences. Ji interview from Quello Center on Vimeo. Sung Wook Ji’s primary research interests center on the interdisciplinary intersections of Mass Communication, Economics, […]

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