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Tuesday Evening Links - - Tue, 09 Mar 2010

Speakeasy CEO talks VoIP success networkworld.com
Comcast: ITV Ready For 50 Networks Later This Year; Targets 100% Deployment of EBIF in Motorola Footprint by Midyear multichannel.com
FCC Plan Asks for Govt.-Funded Broadband Training yahoo.com
Apple s Draconian Secret iPhone Developer Agreement Goes Public wired.com
Smartphone app botnet experiment blows up a storm theregister.co.uk
New Internet Explorer code-execution attacks go wild theregister.co.uk
It's official: Adobe Reader is world's most-exploited app theregister.co.uk
Windows 7 SP1 will be brought forward theinquirer.net
Iowa House OKs Cell Phone Ban for Young Drivers wirelessweek.com

FCC Hopes To Use Some Spectrum For 'Free or Cheap' Wireless - But you might want to see if they can fix the USF first... - Tue, 09 Mar 2010

The FCC has begun their sales pitch for the nation's first national broadband plan ahead of its formal unveiling next week. As we've been discussing, we haven't been too impressed by the plan's failure to tackle competition, or its tendency to make proclamations that sound good but are rather empty upon closer inspection. The FCC is back today making headlines about how the agency hopes to help the estimated 100 million Americans without broadband by offering "free or low cost wireless plans" according to Reuters:

Looking at the actual FCC statement (pdf) however, there's no real explanation of how exactly the agency hopes to do this. The statement also suggests that the FCC will "consider" such a plan, not neccessarily that they'll implement it. With spectrum obviously a limited resource, clearly the FCC's thinking about some kind of subsidy package to the nation's telcos if they provide cheaper service. Of course the FCC already plans to subsidize carriers as they examine "reforming" the long broken USF system.

That reform, according to several people familiar with the plan, could involve a new monthly fee on broadband connections used to expand the plan to cover residential broadband (right now it covers only rural phone service, and broadband provided to schools). We're told the fee is slated to be somewhere around $1 a month per person, but could be higher when the final plan is unveiled. However, "free or low cast wireless service" seems like a long shot.

Reforming the USF is a very complex and difficult task in and of itself, given the fund (and the e-Rate program) has a bit of a history as a poorly supervised mess, according to GAO studies. $25 billion has been dumped into e-Rate alone since 1998, though the FCC for many years didn't track where it went. That means that maybe that money helped, or maybe it didn't. Maybe it just found its way into the pocket of a phone company, or maybe it helped buy a high school PC in Pensacola, Florida.

One thing we know is that AT&T and Verizon have been lobbying Uncle Sam very hard for several years to ensure they get a bigger chunk of the USF pie. From the looks of things they're going to get it to the tune of several billion per major incumbent annually, according to one plan source. Getting more money for incumbents will be the primary goal. Maybe consumers will see that money put to use in tangible ways like "free or cheap" wireless service -- but maybe they won't.
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Illinois Next Up To Approve Verizon/Frontier Deal - Though Judge's report finds the deal isn't good for consumers or Frontier - Tue, 09 Mar 2010

According to a new 46 page Illinois study by a state Judge, Verizon's proposed sale of their networks in Illinois would harm consumers. The $8.5 billion deal immediately infuses Frontier, which has 2.3 million customers, with 4.8 million new residential and small-business phone lines and 1 million broadband connections. Such a huge influx of new customers will restrict Frontier's ability to offer low-price, quality service -- and to raise funds for upgrades, improvements and expansion:

Unions and consumer advocates continue to protest the deal, given the debt and huge influx of support issues will likely put broadband expansion and upgrades on the back burner. Of course the alternative (having Verizon stay in markets it doesn't want to upgrade) isn't particularly compelling either. Despite repeated warnings and studies within regulatory agencies showing the negative impact of the deal, regulators in six states have proceeded to unanimously approve the deal anyway.

In other words, expect Illinois regulatory approval in short order.
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Cisco Changes The Universe And Mankind Forever! - Well ok, not really. They just unveiled a new, really fast router... - Tue, 09 Mar 2010

Late last month Cisco began leaking word to media outlets that on March 9, they'd be "making a significant announcement that will forever change the Internet and its impact on consumers, businesses and governments." Given the fact that the country was fawning over Google's new 1 Gbps fiber to the home trial announcement at the time, it seemed like Cisco was getting ready to announce some kind of significant counter punch.

Today's the day, so what was this Internet-changing, paradigm smashing announcement? According to Cisco, it's...a new router.

According to the networking company, the new CRS-3 router technology is capable of transmitting data at about 322 Terabits per second, which Cisco claims is twelve-times faster than their closest competitor. Apparently, people pushing the Exaflood myth since 2007 will need to construct a new bogeyman.

According to the Cisco press release, the new CRS-3 offers enough bandwidth to transmit the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress in just over a second, or to allow every man, woman and child in China to make a video call, simultaneously. Cisco's own numbers have projected that Internet video should comprise about 60 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2013, and according to Cisco, the CRS-3 will "set the pace for the astonishing growth of video transmission, mobile devices and new online services through this decade and beyond."

AT&T sent us a press statement noting that the carrier had just completed a live network environment field trial of 100-Gigabit backbone network technology. "This trial included Cisco's new CRS-3 equipment," the company tells Broadband Reports. While good news at AT&T's core, it may not have a huge impact on your home connection, given AT&T's decision to milk last mile copper instead of upgrading users to fiber to the home technology.

But hey, you can still take the CRS-3 home with you for $90,000 (starting price) when it officially launches during the third quarter of this year. You know, take it home, set it up next to your 1.5 Mbps DSL modem, and pretend you're beating the hell out of the Exaflood.
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Google Conducting Set Top Android Tests With Dish - 'Target ads to individual households based on search and viewing data.' - Tue, 09 Mar 2010

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google continues to expand into, well, everything. The company is working in conjunction with Dish Network to test a Google-powered set top box based in part on the Android operating system. According to the Journal, Google's "trying to replicate the internet experience on TV, offering users the ability to search the Internet and explore web-based content via the device. The tests are currently ongoing in Google employee homes, and obviously bringing ads to your living room is Google's primary interest:

Cable won't much like Google encroaching into their dream territory of localized and behavioral cable TV advertising. The cable industry has been working hard on a unified advertising platform dubbed canoe, though they've struggled with the technology needed to make the idea of more nosy living room advertising a reality. The telcos too want in on the set top ad market, and it's unlikely that either cable or phone providers want to share their take of this market with their arch-nemesis Google if they don't have to.
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European 100Mbps Fibre Optic FTTH Broadband Growth Gaining Speed - Tue, 09 Mar 2010
The growth rate of next generation Fibre-to-the-Home ( FTTH ) 100Mbps broadband services in Europe, specifically those of the EU36 countries (including Russia), has increased markedly from 19% in June 2009 to 29% in December 2009 (Q4). There are now some 3.5 million EU FTTH subscribers and the service can already reach 25 million homes and buildings.

3 Mobile UK Bundles Mobile Broadband and Microsoft Office - Tue, 09 Mar 2010
Mobile operator Three (3) is offering Microsoft Office Home and Student for £59.99 to customers buying any Mobile Broadband contract. The move appears timed to coincide with a new general promotion from Microsoft that offers a FREE Office 2010 upgrade to anybody who buys Office 2007 now.

UK Broadband Have-nots Shrug Off Internet Access as Irrelevant - Tue, 09 Mar 2010
New Consumer Focus research - 'Broadband Minded' (.PDF) - has found that money is not the only barrier preventing low-income consumers from connecting to the Internet, many ‘non-connected’ consumers simply see the technology as irrelevant to their lives.

Samsung, Panasonic start selling 3-D TVs this week (AP) - Tue, 09 Mar 2010

AP - Want to be the first one on your block with a 3-D television? It will cost you about $3,000.

On latest guitar game, players strum real strings (AP) - Tue, 09 Mar 2010

AP - An upcoming musical video game lets players strum a real six-string electric guitar instead of tapping buttons on a fake instrument.

`Nobel of computing' goes to early PC designer (AP) - Tue, 09 Mar 2010
AP - A Microsoft Corp. researcher won the $250,000 Turing Award, one of technology's most coveted prizes, on Tuesday for his work helping design and build what is widely considered the first modern personal computer.