Author: Mark Milliman

Mark Milliman is a Principal Consultant at Inphotonics Research driving the adoption and assisting local governments to plan, build, operate, and lease access open-access municipal broadband networks. Additionally, he works with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to increase the value of their intellectual capital through the creation of strategic product plans and execution of innovative marketing strategies. With more than 22 years of experience in the telecommunications industry that began at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Mark has built fiber, cable, and wireless networks around the world to deliver voice, video, and data services. His thorough knowledge of all aspects of service delivery from content creation to the design, operation, and management of the network is utilized by carriers and equipment manufacturers. Mark conceived and developed one of the industry's first multi-service provisioning platform and is multiple patent holder. He is active in the IEEE as a senior member. Mark received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Is municipal broadband more important than net neutrality?

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I had high hopes for this article because the author successfully saw the link between the two concepts.  Maybe he read my tweets.  There is a definite correlation between municipal broadband and net neutrality, but I have only read one or two articles that actually get it right.  

Municipal broadband evolved from the concept that the cost of building these networks is prohibitive so it is a function that the government could provide.  That concept is fine when no service provider is serving an area but most of the municipal broadband deployments have one or two franchised providers.  This situation results in the government competing with private enterprise.  Granted that a duopoly does not create a competitive market, but the government has several advantages over private enterprise that makes it an unfair competitor.  Also, any subsidization of broadband networks by taxpayers creates an unfair advantage.

The reason that there are not more competitors for broadband network is that they are extremely expensive to build.  Investors do not like waiting almost 10 years to see if their investment is going to yield a profit which is what would happen with 3 or more competitors.  People seem to overlook that fact when accusing the incumbents of snuffing out the competition.  Economics have snuffed out the competition.

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New fiber optic line planned from Casper to Colorado

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Wyoming Governor Matt Mead Joined the Line-Up ...

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead Joined the Line-Up of Speakers (Photo credit: USFWS Mountain Prairie)

By TREVOR GRAFF Star-Tribune staff writer

Gov. Matt Mead announced Tuesday the planned installation of a new fiber optics line that will run from Casper to the Colorado border.

Advanced Communications Technology, based in Sheridan, is installing the line as part of the Governor’s initiative to boost the expansion of broadband services in the state’s rural regions.

“Any time we expand broadband, it benefits people and business. ACT is one of many companies operating in Wyoming. This means more options for Wyoming people and more access points for communities from Casper to the Colorado border,” Mead said.

With the new line, ACT’s network will now service the entire state.

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Google Fiber Is Beginning to Look Like a Head Fake

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How a little knowledge is a dangerous thing especially in the hands of people making investments.  There is no question that “The Motley Fool” provides investment advice; therefore, it is in the business of analyzing and editorializing so I’m fine with Tim’s predictions.  I’m just going to debunk them as foolish.

Google’s Wi-Fi initiative is complementary to Google Fiber.  Their objectives are to increase people coming to Google properties to look at ads and content.  We all know that Wi-Fi signals barely cover most homes and that they need a wired network behind them to work.  What Google is doing is providing public broadband access to compete against other wireless providers.  These little Wi-Fi hotspots will not provide a signal into residential neighborhoods so it is no threat to Google Fiber that has deviated from its initial mission.

Secondly Google is supporting the misinformation campaign of “net neutrality” because it is in its best interest all the while expanding Google Fiber and Wi-Fi to prepare for the era of “walled gardens” should they occur.  Providing free power and cooling is a token effort for only those content providers large enough like themselves and Netflix to deploy thousands of servers across the country instead of relying on content delivery companies and managed services.  

Is it still net neutrality when a small startup cannot afford to create their own caching appliance to deploy in all of these offices like Netflix and Google?  Aren’t these little startups at a disadvantage and a virtual walled garden is created?  Hmmm.  The content providers, of which Google is one, are merely trying to preserve status quo to maintain their bandwidth costs and keep smaller players out of the game all while trying to appear to be not evil.  

I’m not saying Google is evil no more than I’m saying that Comcast is evil.  They are just behaving like any market-driven company until they divert from capitalism and use the government to gain a business advantage.

By Tim Beyers

English: Comcast service van, Ypsilanti Townsh...

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL  ) (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) may not need to blanket the country with Fiber after all, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.

According to a report in The Information (via Android and Me), the search king plans to supply businesses with low-cost Wi-Fi equipment for enabling broadband access at retail locations and the like. A recent deal with Starbucks to power Wi-Fi at its various locations could serve as a template for others.

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Google Fiber Fights Buffering Issues for Users

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Google has done a good job of avoiding the discussion of the effects of the equipment in their and other networks have on quality of experience.  They discuss what happens outside their network and imply that buffering problems are caused by the content providers, other service providers, and inadequate peering arrangements.  I agree that all of those components are potential culprits for the dreaded “buffering” message, but Google neglects to mention that network equipment, in and out of the Google network, contain buffers.  

Those buffers fill and empty as packets transit through them.  When they are flooded with video traffic they fill to capacity and other traffic has to wait until the queue is not full anymore before it can start accepting packets again.  It is this effect that “slows” down packets on the network the most.  Network operators can either make the queues very large or they can choose to set up multiple queues to manage packets based on parameters such as traffic type.  This is where the issue of packet prioritization comes in.

Google is implying that since most of the problems with buffering happen outside their network, content caching in their network will solve the problem for Google Fiber.  It will certainly help but there are still multiple network elements between the caching servers and the customer that have queues that can become bogged down.  Proper traffic management will reduce the latency and jitter of those time-sensitive services to ensure a quality experience for all traffic types.  I truly wish that the people at Google Fiber would have discussed this aspect as well, but it would fly in the face of the other part of Google that is against paid peering and prioritization. 

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Google Fiber Logo

By Todd R. Weiss  |  Posted 2014-05-27

Google says it is working more closely with content providers to make service as efficient as possible, including allowing content providers to install their networking gear in Google facilities.

Google Fiber wants users to know that it is continuously working hard to ensure that its customers are getting the best service possible, making constant adjustments and configuring to keep bothersome video buffering to a minimum.

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FCC Chairman Wheeler pledges support for municipal broadband network efforts

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Commissioner Wheeler once again showed his support for competition despite the accusations that he is in the pocket of the industry.  Much like his proposed net neutrality rules, allowing municipalities to enter the broadband market creates competition against the incumbents, albeit from a governmental entity.  This pro-consumer stance that is more than just speeches is refreshing in an industry that is just lumbering along.

Although I do not personally agree with any governmental entity entering the private sector, laws that have been passed also prevent governments from forming public/private partnerships with companies to build broadband infrastructure and networks.  The laws as written typically prevent a government from building their own fiber infrastructure and leasing that infrastructure to communications service providers unless they were grandfathered.  I believe that this model of “open access” is not only economical and taxpayer neutral, but extremely pro-competition since many different service providers can offer their services without a huge capital expenditure in a last-mile network.

Open access broadband infrastructure is the smarter way for municipalities to go because it reduces the financial risk of running a business in competition with the incumbent providers.  The financial results of municipalities running their own communications business are mixed at best.  There are several examples in the country (e.g. Vermont, Minnesota, and UTOPIA) where companies have gone bankrupt and left bond holders and taxpayers to clean up the mess.  If a municipality only leases the infrastructure then they have potentially several carriers paying for the fiber, and those companies combined will have a larger potential market share than if it was just them selling the services.  Also, their expenses are greatly reduced because they don’t have to purchase the content, buy the equipment, and maintain a much larger staff to sell, market, and service customers. 

I applaud Commissioner Wheeler’s move because it demonstrates that he is pro-business and not just another political lackey with a social or specific industry agenda.

 
Editorial Director and Associate Publisher

Character for children of FCC

Character for children of FCC”Broadband” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In an address to attendees at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s (NCTA) The Cable Show in Los Angeles yesterday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler expressed strong support for the right of municipalities to supply broadband services using their own networks. Wheeler pledged to “preempt” state laws that restrict the construction and operation of such networks.

As high-speed broadband becomes a more important aspect of residential and business life, several communities, particularly in rural areas, have become frustrated while waiting for incumbent service providers to upgrade their services. Some have decided to build their own networks, often using fiber to the home (FTTH) technology, withLafayette, LA, Dalton, GA, and Chattanooga, TN, among the most high-profile examples.

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Verizon boosts revenue, income on mobile and broadband growth

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Verizon’s first quarter results demonstrate that fiber-based broadband is a winner even for large telecommunications companies.  It supplants their loss of POTS customers with higher revenue generating services.

FiOS installed in Montclair, New Jersey

FiOS installed in Montclair, New Jersey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By , IDG News Service |  IT Management

April 24, 2014, 9:01 AM — Driven by growth in mobile and Fios broadband customers, Verizon Communications on Thursday reported first quarter 2014 revenue of $30.8 billion, up from $29.4 billion a year earlier.

Verizon reported net income of nearly $6 billion for the quarter, up from $4.9 billion a year earlier. Net income attributable to Verizon, not including income for its former mobile partner Vodafone, was $3.9 billion compared to $1.9 billion in the same period last year. Verizon purchased Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless in a deal that closed during this past quarter.

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Sky, TalkTalk, CityFibre partner for 1-Gbps FTTH in York

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Lightwave Staff

Marsh Mills Plymouth 5 June 2009

Marsh Mills Plymouth 5 June 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UK service providers Sky and TalkTalk and fiber to the home (FTTH) infrastructure company CityFibre say they will create a new company that will deliver 1-Gbps broadband services in the City of York, as well as two other locations that they will reveal later.

The joint venture will leverage CityFibre’s existing metro fiber infrastructure in York and systems from Fujitsu (see“CityFibre, Fujitsu form UK FTTH engineering alliance”). Once FTTH extensions are in place, Sky and TalkTalk will retail competing broadband services over the fiber-optic network. The partners expect to begin connecting customers to the FTTH network in 2015.

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