As I sat this morning watching the live feed of the oil unleashed by British Petroleum (BP) in the Gulf of Mexico, I wondered about the role of IP communications in the event. Certainly, the reason that I can see the oil gushing out of the earth is because of the Internet. Most of what I read about the tragedy comes via Internet news sites and other IP sources. But, what role on a daily basis does the technology play?

I would be surprised if smartphones were not in use by BP, its contractors, volunteers, state and local officials to schedule daily work activity, document where the oil is approaching shore or creating havoc with various wildlife. Moreover, given BP’s size and financial resources, I am certain that they employ Unified Communications to support their daily business practices and processes. They probably use Skype to make international calls between the US and the UK. They certainly will find it easier to use emails and IM to contact each other and provide updates as to their progress or lack thereof. And I am sure that when escalation is required, transitioning from an email to IM to VoIP is not uncommon.

The role of IP communications in this case is broad based. It is supporting the delivery of information to interested parties such as me. It is supporting the role of those responsible for the cleanup such as BP, its contractors and volunteers. Finally, it is supporting the financial needs of businesses and people who are facing closure and the loss of their jobs. Today, IP communications is applied in nearly every aspect of our lives.

As Broadvox and I push forward the concepts and value propositions associated with VoIP and SIP Trunking, I would be remiss if I did not remind all of you that we use this data-centric technology to accomplish an incredible number of tasks every day. Internet Protocol is not a solution but it enables numerous applications, services, products and processes. At some point, the final solution to shutting off the spill will probably be an action initiated by a command sent over using IP.

Earlier this week the FCC announced that four out of five Americans do not know the speed of their broadband at home. Additionally, 91 percent considered the speed of their broadband to be sufficient for their needs. This is considered by some to be very revealing information. I for one look at it as “so what”.

Most Americans do not know what broadband is, let alone the kinds of options they have with regard to access. We hire a lot of everyday Americans to work at Broadvox for roles in customer service, accounting, legal, administrative support, etc. We find that we have to perform a basic transfer of knowledge with nearly everyone. Terms such as megabit and gigabit are used by the IP community as though they are part of the common vernacular but they are not. Apple celebrated selling one million iPads at launch, a tremendous success. However, one million people represents only 0.303% of Americans, which is good for Apple in that they can sell a lot of these before saturating the market. Clearly, most Americans do not have any specific knowledge of the iPad. Although, I would bet that 90% of you reading this blog do.

Consider the type of knowledge required to understand the broadband speeds needed to support email applications versus downloading movies. Then consider the percentage of Americans that perform either. According to Pew Internet and American Life Project data,  90% of US Internet users have sent or read email. While numbers reflecting the numbers of Americans who download movies evaded me as I wrote this blog, I am comfortable saying that it is less than 5%. Therefore, what value is a poll of Americans to determine the state of broadband today when most can be sated with speeds of 128 kbps?

Understanding whether we have sufficient broadband should be determined by those that understand the technology, applications and cost. Previously, I analyze the state of broadband in the US and found it wanting. You can read the series of blogs beginning with Deconstructing Curry and Broadband Statistics. I find the FCC’s desire to test the broadband of 10,000 Americans to be virtually worthless and the results ludicrous. However, if you want to volunteer to be part of this waste of taxpayer money go to www.testmyisp.com.

I will be upgrading my Internet connection in the next few weeks because I want to begin downloading movies. 1.5 Mbps has served me well over the years but now I must move on. I will become one of the less than 5%. However, I was never dissatisfied with my broadband and I know what broadband is.

See you on Monday with more on the IP ecosystem and another original recipe.

What a weekend for food! It began with a Tostada (fried corn tortilla covered with refried beans, spicy beef, cheese, chipotle cream and guacamole), French toast (with an apple sauce, honey and maple syrup), sweetbreads three ways (braised with mushrooms in a white wine sauce, deep fried with Panko crumbs and a remoulade sauce and grilled with a smoky BBQ sauce), and grilled tuna (with spicy soy sauce, a peach salsa and wasabi mash potatoes). Wow! I had little choice but to wonder what would be the most the most interesting of dish of the week. I considered everything I made to be rather interesting and I had measurements for everything. I wondered how many of you would really go to the effort of finding and then cooking sweetbreads. By the way, I order sweetbreads whenever they are on the menu. Finally, I decided on French toast. It needs a makeover and my version is fresh, different and very flavorful. Enjoy!

IP Connects US

Let’s remember that IP is green. It beats TDM by a mile. And it is a mile down that IP is now delivering us a live view of the British Petroleum oil leak in the gulf. This might not seem like an IP ecosystem subject but keep in mind we used the Internet to communicate the protest in Iran and the death of Michael Jackson. This time the story is miles offshore and under 5000 feet of water but we can view it live. That’s the power of IP communications. It is also why it is important to address the access and speed of broadband in the US. Without adequate access and speeds, this kind of information will not be available to the masses as viewing video is difficult with dial speeds or slower DSL.

As the various groups, ILECs, politicians, and interested parties begin the debate on how to address changes to the Communications Act, events such as this should be part of the discussion. Most of the time the focus of these debates is on new applications and technology, sometimes the discussion should include the need for basic access to information.

Earlier this week I was sent an article discussing activity in congress to revise the Communications Act or more formerly the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The writer referred to the act as the “telecommunications bible”. I thought about that for a bit and realized that a law would never be the telecom bible. For many of us, the telecom bible was called “Notes on the Network” published initially by AT&T. It was a technical overview of telecommunications in the US. When I was in switch engineering, I read it from cover to cover. I still have a copy of the 1980 release in my home library. Today the publication is maintained by Telcordia (previously known as BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research)) and has nearly 1500 pages at a cost of $700 (it will not be joining my copy at home anytime soon). But, I did find it curious how a set of rules and regulations have replaced the encyclopedia of telecom as its “bible”.

In any case, four members of congress, Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV), Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), Senator John Kerry (D-MA), and Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA), have asked for comments from members of the telecommunications ecosystem about revising the Communications Act. It is a logical next step given the “Third Way” announcement of the FCC to address net neutrality concerns. You can read my comments on the approach in “A Cautious Approach to Net Neutrality”. Simply put, the approach is to apply six of the rules related to telecom in Title II of the Communications Act to ISPs, ITSPs and broadband carriers and forbid the application of the others. While Broadvox cautiously likes the compromise as it allows us to continue to build an exciting company based upon IP technology and SIP, I have noticed that one the loudest critics is AT&T. Applying the “Third Way” will definitely be difficult and I am sure mistakes will be made. However, I wonder if AT&T is complaining because they see a lost opportunity.

AT&T protests,"We believe this is without legal basis. Make no mistake—when it regulates the networks that comprise the Internet, the FCC is in fact, and for the first time, regulating the Internet itself."

Therein lies the true basis for the tirade. AT&T plans to sunset its TDM-based network and transition to an all IP Network. They were seeing a day where they would no longer fall under the strict rules of Title II and be free to engage a market with very little oversight. Now they see that the FCC is positioning itself to maintain the role of overseer and continue to hamper AT&T. Telecommunications in the US is a very competitive environment but is facing another crossroads. AT&T and Verizon have captured 60% of the wireless market and, given their resources, visibility and acceptance will only see that market share increase. Should the same be allowed to happen to the Internet?

Usually, I have a very firm opinion on these things but on this, I need to study further. AT&T and Verizon have competed very aggressively against the other in wireless and that has been good for consumers. Will unbridled competition by the LECs (posturing as ISPs) be good for the Internet as well?

Have a great holiday weekend and see you on Tuesday with another great recipe!

The workhorse for digital communications beyond a private network has been the T1. The T1, which stands for Trunk Level 1, is a digital transmission link operating at 1.544 Mbps. For several decades, businesses have looked to T1s to provide their voice communications connectivity. However, as VoIP has evolved and grown in the marketplace. A channelized product, such as a T1 (24 voice channels), becomes an anachronism. It is cheaper, faster and more future oriented to install Ethernet for both internet and external network communications. The basic speed of Ethernet begins at 10 Mbps. Obviously, Ethernet beats a T1 for speed any day. However, for Ethernet to replace the T1 as the preferred connectivity option, its needs to be reliable, available and support broader distances from the primary central office or network element. Those requirements have now been met.

Carriers offering Ethernet connections are offering them with the same Service Level Agreements as for a T1. Its availability will soon be nationwide by several carriers and the distance from the central office to support Ethernet over copper (EoC) is now 12,000 feet.

Today, Broadvox, in conjunction with Covad, is adding EoC and Ethernet over Bonded SDSL to its broadband product portfolio. In addition, we prefer direct connections to our enterprise customers be made using IP technology or Ethernet versus the more expensive TDM or channelized T1.

As more carriers engage in both the deployment and selling of Ethernet connections, it behooves them to find ways to interconnect their Ethernet offerings to improve the number of “on-net” locations. Neutral Tandem announced in February the support for such Ethernet exchanges or points of interconnection. In addition to Neutral Tandem, Ethernet exchanges are offered by Equinix and CENX.

Andre Temnorod, CEO of Broadvox, spoke of his vision or forecast for the transition from TDM to VoIP beginning in the late 1990s. You can listen to his more recent comments presented during the Broadvox 2010 Partner Summit. The comments are part of a Kickoff Dialogue moderated by Rich Tehrani, CEO TMC. Take a listen and comments are welcomed.