The Future of TV is Now!
The future of TV is now. According to a recent report by TNS, “nearly one-fifth of American households who use the Internet watch television broadcasts online, double the viewership from 2006.” Not surprising when you consider that more people than ever tuned into the Olympics online – thanks to broadband.
With the fall television season upon us, the online TV explosion continues. The major networks all are offering an unprecedented number of new and returning shows online (some in advance of their network premieres) all thanks to broadband. Just last week, NBC.com had its most watched video ever – 5.7 million online views—with the return of Tina Fey to Saturday Night Live. Amid the current financial crisis, many Americans also are relying on broadband for Wall Street updates, with record daily CNBC.com viewership spiking 26%.
Whether we want escapist fun or the latest facts, broadband brings our content to us on our terms. Of course, it’s nice being able to watch your favorite shows when you feel like it – instead of rushing home for the start of “Grey’s Anatomy.” But there’s also virtually unlimited programming, from millions of amateur videos to sites like MLB.TV, where you can watch nearly every game of the major league baseball season – over broadband. See a theme?
Thanks to the billions (with a B) in investment being made by America’s broadband providers, the high-speed Internet and all that it makes possible is reaching more and more Americans. In the absence of heavy-handed government regulation – broadband continues to flourish – making our lives a little easier and, yes, entertaining.
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Live from Cleantech Forum XVIII
While we continue to work through technical difficulties at the event site (technology is great but sometimes can be a headache) we are still listening intently to the presentations and discussions taking place at the Cleantech Forum in Washington DC. They’re focused on the future of the environment and new technologies that are instrumental to the rather large effort to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint. There was a mention of the disadvantage people in rural areas have because of their inability to get to their job without driving. Telecommuting over broadband networks can allow people to perform their job at the same level without ever leaving their home, even in rural areas. Increased access to broadband for these rural areas would allow more people the flexibility in their work that people in urban settings experience. This would make staying near home or in the area of their choice more of a possibility. Access to robust, high-speed Internet networks over broadband is the starting point of making that concept a reality. More to come …
Cleantech Forum XVIII
We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. The livestream for this event will begin later today
ITIF Aims to Turn Down Heat in Broadband Policy Debate
“It’s Time to End the Broadband Policy Wars,” was how the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) billed its report release and panel discussion Tuesday. Unfortunately, it seems that the best we can hope for is a temporary (and tenuous) cease-fire.
The panel, moderated by ITIF President Robert Atkinson, featured Harold Feld of Media Access Project, Scott Cleland of the Precursor Group and NetCompetition.org, and Ken Peres of the Communications Workers of America.
Atkinson opened the event by asking both sides to tone down the rhetoric and focus on fact-based debate. “Just because you work for a large telecom company doesn’t mean you’re evil and just because you believe in municipal wireless networks doesn’t mean you’re a communist,” declared Atkinson. While arguing that there is a legitimate government role in making sure America has more broadband, Atkinson cautioned that blanket regulations of the still-developing broadband industry are generally inadvisable. Atkinson’s new paper on this issue is available for download from ITIF.
Feld, a proponent of so-called “net neutrality” regulations argued that the principals in the broadband policy debates rarely fit into neat “right” versus “left” categories. Rather, the debate has been what role government should have in setting broadband policy. While the aim of the event was to focus on the issues at hand rather that the rhetorical heat generated by partisans on both sides, Feld argued that a “robust debate” was not a bad thing. Feld also suggested that the role of the FCC should shift from its current efforts to “find the 50 yard line,” in broadband policy debates but instead to listen to both sides and choose the side with more convincing arguments.
Cleland animatedly took aim at so-called “bandwidth hogs” in Silicon Valley who would likely profit from the investments made by telecommunications and cable companies in building out robust broadband networks. He took issue with the methodology of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s (OECD) broadband rankings that paints a misleading picture of the state of U.S. broadband deployment compared to other nations. He also encouraged a more thorough debate on the cost and utilization of broadband networks and an acknowledgement that wireless broadband and other broadband platforms are playing a growing role in the US broadband marketplace.
CWA’s Ken Peres urged policymakers to focus on the goal of universally available, higher-speed broadband deployment. Peres suggested a framework in which the private sector would continue to be heavily relied upon to deploy broadband in urban and suburban areas where broadband investment tends to be more profitable. In less profitable and unprofitable areas, he urged a greater government role in deploying broadband both in public-private partnerships like Connected Nation and via other public efforts.
The broadband policy wars won’t be ending anytime soon. But we commend ITIF for attempting to bring greater attention to the underlying issues affecting broadband.
Broadband Playing a Major Role in Our Political Process
A little tired and a lot more informed about our political process…NextGenWeb recently returned from two busy weeks at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions. We were on site to live stream events and hear what was on people’s minds, specifically relating to broadband. And, of course, we rode the exciting new wave of technologies bringing the democratic process to more people via the Internet.
At both conventions, several of the same critical questions were asked about the future of our country, and the interesting thing is…broadband will play a major role in answering all of them! We were at events that discussed issues from health care to energy, the environment to education. One quick tour of our site, and you’ll find real-life examples of how broadband is playing a constructive role on all of these important priorities.
Throughout the conventions, one thing that stood out was the sheer volume and diversity of new technologies being utilized. NGW brought events to the public via broadband that would have otherwise only been accessible if you bought a plane ticket and traveled to the host cities. Hundreds of bloggers, too, followed the conventions and posted a steady stream of new material and diverse perspectives. And, there were numerous WiFi hotspots throughout the cities, ensuring broadband for anyone wanting to stay connected.
Four short years ago, the idea of bringing this much access to our political conventions would have been unthinkable. But this year, thanks to broadband, people all over the country were more connected than ever to these important conversations. From the first speech to the final gavel, everyone was connected over broadband. What will the conventions bring in 2012? Okay, we’ll catch our breath first and answer that later!
Of course, NGW can bring all the action to you, but YOU have to participate in our community to make the most of it! If you’re interested in making your voice heard as we explore using technology to solve our country’s biggest challenges, please take the time to explore all that NextGenWeb offers and come back often for updates, insights and good conversation. In democracy, every person can make a difference. Together, thanks to broadband, we’re doing just that!
Steering Committee on Telehealth and Healthcare Informatics livestream
Please click the window below to view the archived video of this event
Telemedicine in Real Life - Inova Health System
NextGenWeb recently traveled to Falls Church, VA to take a facility tour of e-ICU Envision, part of Inova Health System. Inova Health System is a not-for-profit health care system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services. The e-ICU is a remote monitoring center that helps support medical personnel for 5 hospitals across northern Virginia. Critical care nurses are on call 24-7 to provide this support via high speed broadband networks.
Inova Health System uses state-of-the-art technology to connect specialist physicians in remote locations to hundreds of patients in hospitals across Northern Virginia. Video, audio, and other data including vitals and medical history are transported across high speed broadband connections to allow real time communication.
Through telemedicine, broadband has the potential to deliver huge cost savings to America’s health care system – over $300 billion annually. Click below to see a video of our facility tour and to see how Inova is utilizing broadband to deliver better healthcare to more people at a faster rate.
The Wireless Explosion
For those naysayer’s out there always boo-hooing the U.S. when it comes to broadband, be sure to check out Olga Kharif’s article today on the U.S. closing the “Mobile Innovation Gap.” According to Kharif the competitive balance is shifting as the “focus of the wireless world moves toward Internet communications.”
According to Nielsen Mobile’s survey of 70,000 U.S. wireless subscribers, Americans buying smartphones, capable of Web access and application downloads, is up to 16% in 2008, up from just 6% a year ago. That is a sizeable jump!!
This isn’t the only good news we’ve gotten lately on the state of wireless broadband in the U.S. When it comes to our economy, which is something we’re always thinking about, regardless of the political season, wireless broadband technologies are really moving the needle. A report by CTIA projects that wireless broadband will add $860 billion to U.S. GDP over the next 10 years, with the market for mobile voice and Internet services exceeding $427 billion by 2016.
The explosion of wireless broadband technologies shows that U.S. high-speed Internet services continue to flourish under pro-investment policies that expand the universe of choices and innovation for American consumers and companies. From growing businesses to improving the delivery of specialty health care services, broadband is advancing the U.S. economic recovery and Americans’ quality of life. Mobile is just one exciting new chapter in this remarkable story.
Broadband Benefits America’s Youth
Today NextGenWeb attended an event sponsored by Thinkfinity and Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG). While there we had the chance to speak with Patrick Gaston, President of the Verizon Foundation. He told me about some of the things the Foundation is focused on, particularly education and the Thinkfinity site. The Verizon Foundation has donated $34 million to develop Thinkfinity, which is the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation’s literacy, education and technology initiatives.
Both Peter Davidson, Verizon Senior Vice President for Federal Government Relations and Congressman Buck McKeon (R-CA) talked about global competition and the importance of creating an environment that will allow America’s children to compete with employees from places like China and India. Thinkfinity is an online resource vital to this kind of education. That’s right – an online resource. The Internet is eliminating the “zip code barrier” which means kids from anywhere can access the world’s best educational resources over the Internet – regardless of where they live. Yet another reason to make sure broadband becomes more and more ubiquitous – something Verizon is keenly aware of and working on along with America’s other 1,400 broadband service providers who together are investing $60 billion this year alone to improve America’s communications infrastructure.
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