The Broadband Debate: Is White Space the Answer?

By John Greaves

The Federal Communications Commission has been working for months on a National Broadband Plan to transform how we use and allocate broadband spectrum.  That plan will finally be presented to Congress on March 17 and may directly impact wireless providers who advocate remedying  spectrum shortages by reallocating white spaces between analog TV channels for broadband use. Broadcasters believe such use would interfere with broadcast television programming.  Meanwhile critics say there is no real-world data proving white spaces are the answer.

“There are some delusional technologists who believe that white space devices will compete with LTE and WiMAX, but it’s extremely unrealistic to think that white spaces will have an effective range of 30 miles with just 4 watt EIRP,” says George Ou, policy director for the think tank digital society. “There are no white space devices for consumers and even if someone comes out with a new product, it will likely be very expensive since it isn’t widely produced.”

White space proponents cite Spectrum Bridge’s white space deployment in Claudville, Va., as proof that white spaces can deliver.

Ou calls Claudville more symbolic than practical saying, “they probably could have used 5 GHz for the point-to-point backhaul connections. Claudville is using Wi-Fi for the last mile rather than white spaces because there are no white space devices on the consumer end.”

Rick Rotondo, chief marketing officer for Spectrum Bridge disputes this.  “We tried using Wi-Fi at 2.4GHz, 5GHz would never have made it; 2.4 didn’t make it,” Rotondo says.  “We did use Wi-Fi for the last hundred feet, not the last mile, but for the last hundred feet because there are Wi-Fi receivers built into laptops and smartphones and that’s who we wanted to be able to connect to this network,” he says.

Alan Tilles, legal counsel to numerous public safety and business radio users agrees. “If you look at Wi-Fi in the time we’ve been able to use it, you have a service that obviously has to worry about legacy.  Here you have a new technology and you don’t have to worry about legacy equipment and so you can see even farther in the future and be as creative as you can be with regards to coverage area and possible services,” he says.

Google spokesperson Dan Martin says, “The white spaces are like Wi-Fi on steroids - delivering higher connection speeds across much farther distances than traditional Wi-Fi. Because of the much longer range of these spectrum signals, wireless broadband access utilizing the TV white spaces could be brought to more consumers using fewer base stations,” Martin says.

Rotondo also cites 5GHz’s poor propagation. “If you think propagation and wall penetration are bad in 2.4GHz you’re really going to hate 5GHz. It has very poor propagation characteristics in non line of sight conditions, very poor wall and ceiling penetration and it does not propagate around corners whereas TV white spaces have excellent propagation, very good building, wall and foliage penetration and it can also bend around obstacles,” Rotondo says.

However, propagation has drawbacks. “The white spaces are really not a very good choice for Wi-Fi substitution because in Wi-Fi scenarios you don’t want the signals penetrating the walls and going into your neighbor’s house or apartment,” says Richard Bennett, an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation research fellow who has contributed to Wi-Fi standards for 15 years.

Digital society’s Ou agrees.  “It’s bad enough with 2.4 GHz getting interference from 8 of your adjacent neighbors who are trying to use the same channels you’re using, but getting 700 MHz interference from 50 of your neighbors would be really bad,” he says.

Where does 700MHz apply? Bennett says we have two problems, the last mile and the middle mile. “Actually the last mile breaks down into two divisions, fixed and mobile. The most challenging thing is the mobile in the last mile and these frequencies below 3GHz are the best for addressing that problem. As far as fixed goes you can take 3-6GHz and that works pretty well and then for the middle mile applications you need to get into the higher frequencies and the reason is when you’re building the middle mile you want something that behaves actually more like a wire than like a radio,” he says.

Ou says, “The solution is to eliminate the white space gaps altogether by consolidating all of the broadcast channels into a solid block with modern digital technology. This not only frees up to 180 MHz of valuable bandwidth, but it also preserves the spectrum for the broadcasters and protects them from interference.  The channels that are freed up should be auctioned off to licensees for high power applications that will make it cheaper to deliver broadband to rural areas.”

Tilles asks, “Is there any reason why we cannot exploit white space to the point of having a certain portion of it be licensed, a certain portion of it unlicensed and of the licensed portion have a portion that is set aside for auctioned services and another portion that is set aside for non auctioned services like public safety?”

Rotondo thinks we should dynamically allocate spectrum on an as-needed basis. Meanwhile, Spectrum Bridge just launched another experimental white spaces deployment in North Carolina. “What’s different about the deployment in Wilmington, N.C., and New Hanover County, North Carolina, is it’s what is called a smart city application. We’re looking at specific applications that white space can be used for to help the city deliver existing services more cost effectively as well as new services using this white spaces technology.”

Tilles says, “I believe that the Wilmington experiment is exactly the type of uses that we’d like to see, which include non-consumer uses for necessary communications activities within the jurisdiction.”

As debate continues about what to do with 700MHz, many will look to the National Broadband Plan for direction.

Google Broadband: One Giant Step For Google

By James Zipadelli

Google is planning on building and testing its own high-speed broadband networks in select U.S. cities, the company announced in its blog recently. The company has put out a request for information (RFI) until March 26 to see how many communities want to participate in this experiment. A Google spokesman says, “We will connect at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people, in one or more trial communities across the country.”

One city that is participating in Google’s experiment is Baltimore, Md. A team of technology and business leaders began working Feb. 22, and entrepreneur Dave Troy says Baltimore’s government and research institutions are also on board. “We hit the ground running,” Troy says. “We have world-class research institutions (the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University). One of the things Google listed is 3-D medical technology. This is something that Hopkins has done. We can do that right here.”

According to Troy, there were other reasons Google’s experiment benefits the city. For example, Baltimore’s proximity to Washington, D.C., makes it helpful if there is a question on regulations. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed Feb. 17, 2009, included the Broadband Initiatives, which has essentially the same goal: to “accelerate broadband deployment in unserved, underserved, and rural areas and to strategic institutions that are likely to create jobs or provide significant public benefits.” Troy says that Google’s experiment helps because it creates competition. “Not only is Google getting access to more people, but they are doing it by using an open access approach,” Troy says.

Asked for clarification, the Google spokesman says, “We will allow third parties to offer their own Internet access services, or other services, using our network. We believe this approach will maximize user choice as well as spur greater innovation and competition. Most providers in Europe and many places elsewhere in the world operate open access networks.”

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, which represents cable operators, is optimistic. “We look forward to learning more about Google’s broadband experiment in the handful of trial locations they are planning, says spokesman Brian Dietz. “The cable industry has invested $161 billion over the past 13 years to build a nationwide broadband infrastructure that is available to 92 percent of U.S. homes, and we will continue to invest billions more to continually improve the speed and performance of our networks and provide tens of millions of consumers with the best possible broadband experience.”

Not everyone is pleased with Google’s experiment, however. Scott Cleland, president of Precursor and chairman of NetCompetition.org, called Google’s announcement a “PR stunt.”

“This is classic Google,” Cleland says. “Everything is about them. When the nation is trying to move from a jog to a run, they’re wanting to take airplane rides.” Cleland says the timing of the announcement was poor because it coincided with the National Broadband Plan.

“They want a gigabit to the home, which is 50 times more than people have right now, and there aren’t any applications other than Google’s plan that takes advantage of that network,” Cleland says. “Google is the biggest bandwidth consumer in the world because YouTube broadcasts over the Internet and it’s 14 times bigger than any video broadcaster. Google is constantly crawling the trillion pages on the Internet.”

AT&T spokesperson Jenny Bridges was cautiously optimistic. “We commend (FCC) Chairman (Julius) Genachowski for his plan to set an ambitious goal for broadband deployment in America,” Bridges says. “But in setting a 100mb goal, the FCC surely recognizes the massive investment by the private sector that will be required. As the Commission’s own broadband team estimated, it would cost an additional $350 billion to bring 100mb service to every household in America. It is thus all the more important that the FCC resist calls for extreme forms of regulation that would cripple, if not destroy, the very investments needed to realize its goal.”

Verizon Wireless spokesman James Smith says, “The Internet ecosystem is dynamic and competitive, and it’s delivering great benefits to consumers. Google’s expansion of its networks to enter the access market is another new paragraph in this exciting story.” To learn more about Verizon’s network, VerizonFIOS, click here. VerizonFIOS serves 16 states including Maryland and Washington, D.C., according to the fact sheet.

Baltimore’s Troy says the benefits for the city from Google’s experiment are just beginning. “It will make Baltimore a world-class destination for technology entrepreneurs,” Troy says. “It also will keep people here that might go somewhere else. The combination of those two things makes it extremely compelling.”

Iomega v.Clone

Anyone who has to work in multiple locations or visit clients is familiar with the road-warrior ritual of lugging along a laptop containing your files and programs. Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a clone of your PC on a portable hard drive that you could just slip into your pocket or briefcase and take with you? That’s the value proposition offered by Iomega v.Clone software. Developed by EMC utilizing VMware technologies, v.Clone enables you to create a clone of your PC onto an Iomega USB hard drive.  It lets you take your operating system, files, settings and applications with you.  Plug the hard drive into any available PC and use all your applications, including office software, email programs and browser favorites. The v.Clone software will save any changes you make and sync all your data when you return to your primary computer. It takes the hassle out of traveling with a laptop.

Features:

• Create a virtual image of your computer’s primary hard drive
• Includes all the operating system, all applications, text files, images, videos and personal settings
• Plug and play with an Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 computer
• Capable of creating multiple clones on one hard drive, space permitting
• Automatically synchronizes files and folders between clone and primary computer
• Ideal for users with multiple computers

Watch v.Clone in action:

Virtualizing a Future in Green IT

By Moria Byrne

As the IBM senior-certified IT architect for IBM Global Business Services, John Lamb works as part of an influential group of architectural engineers changing how IT departments approach energy usage.

An information technology leader who has worked on IT systems for the New York Stock Exchange and other industry leaders, Lamb implements new money and energy-saving techniques as part of IBM’s Project Big Green project. The project will redirect USD $1 billion per year to increase energy efficiency of IBM products and services. As part of a team of technology engineers building data centers for a South African mobile phone company, Lamb helped the company provide energy and services to the local community without expending energy resources.

As part of the IBM Global Business Service team and author of more 50 white papers and two other books on technology, Lamb shares his technical expertise on energy-saving techniques with businesses in the U.S. as well as IT businesses with in his latest book, The Greening of IT: How companies can make a difference for the environment. Lamb explains how cloud computing, more efficient cooling systems, increased use of energy metrics, incentives and better hardware are all changing the role of IT operators from energy users to energy watchdogs. His book is intended for both CEOs and technical engineers by providing both the why (savings and increased productivity) and the how (a technology guide of how to apply energy savings techniques) of energy-saving IT techniques. Lamb recently spoke with DMB’s Moria Byrne.

What are the major trends in IT Green Technology right now?
There is a growing awareness about energy consumption in the IT business community. Also, the economic downturn has forced companies to look for ways to reduce costs.

Fortunately, even in this bad economy, electricity is doing well, which means IT will continue to grow. For example, Google has 450,000 servers and keeps growing. What this means is that the company needs to keep building upon a tremendous database.

Does cloud computing play an important role in IT energy conservation? Absolutely! Ten years from now, everything will be done through cloud computing. It is a way to optimize a data center.

IBM consulting expects the number of server shipments to grow by six times and the number of server databases by 69 times. Information technology keeps growing. It reflects how data centers keep growing. In South Africa, we are working with a mobile phone company with a tremendous customer service database. A lot of the information is regulation customer information, etc. The company has 2 Pedbites of information; that’s 10,000 GB! This is a tremendous amount of data. Overall, IBM is building more than 70,000 GB of new information a day.

Were you able to save a lot of energy by using cloud computing for the South African mobile phone company?
IBM moved all 10 database servers into a private cloud where the energy is shared. IBM worked with a company to make their system of 1,000 data servers more efficient. It was hard to keep track of 1,000 servers and going around to keep up the power supply. Now, their power is all in one server. Companies can save a lot by consolidating data servers.

It’s important to create a network, to consolidate and centralize data centers. Cloud computing makes a global network possible. Currently, IBM has 10 virtual servers. Energy costs were greatly reduced by cloud computing. Yet, consolidating data center isn’t enough; companies must moderate metric systems by new standards.

And cloud computing is your way of virtualizing data centers?
Before laptops and the like, which was 40 years ago, every department had their own terminal. It turns out if you wanted to share energy from one center to another, you couldn’t. We decided to go back to the future and make computer systems highly available, uninterrupted service with high-end supplies of energy. This way when the power goes out, the computers keep running. Now, the power is all in one data server.

You save a lot of energy. It’s like taking 10 houses and turning them into an apartment building in which residents are sharing the same heating system. With cloud computing, we don’t have to think about the servers running out of power.

Virtual just means you don’t have separate servers but systems sharing (like a printer) a bigger storage device. For instance, if you have two stand-alone servers with 10-percent capacity and one is using at 5-percent capacity and [another one is] using at 10-percent capacity, it’s better for the two systems to work together. As one is underused and the other is used to its capacity, you still have 5 percent energy capacity to spare.

Do you think that IT departments will be responsible in 10 years for keeping their energy consumption in check?
Absolutely. IT departments will be responsible for their own energy bills. Currently, there is no repercussions when an IT department wants an additional server. There isn’t a good chargeback system in place.

IT departments would have a certain number of GB of storage per month or fiscal quarter.  If a department decides that they need 100 GB more, they will be charged for the additional GB out of their departmental budget. IT departments take responsibility for their electric bills and consider energy needs carefully before increasing GB storage.

Do you think government incentives are going to become increasingly important in pushing IT companies to use energy more efficiently?
I think there will be an increase over time in the number of government rebates available. More government-sponsored incentive programs to push companies to change would make a difference. The government of California put pressure on BGE. Now, the company receives rebates for reducing energy costs in California.

In 1977 or 1978, there was a big energy crisis. IBM was concerned about cutting servers. Then, energy suddenly got cheaper again. Things are going to get bad if you don’t give people incentives. Would they make the same energy choices without it? I’d like to think so. I think things are changing, I think this is a permanent change.

How are you changing IBM applications for maximum energy efficiency?
It’s not just about saving energy by using more efficient hardware and better infrastructure, it’s about the applications, too. You can do 50 percent of your work in 50 percent of the space. If you optimize your applications, you can save up to half your energy.

Both Google and Amazon use private clouds to store their information. Clouds allow large companies to make their information available and transferrable to staff in India or Beijing as readily as someone in NYC.

Do you think all companies will be using cloud computing in the future?
Yes. Ten years from now, every company will be using cloud computing. Most large companies will use private clouds to consolidate different data centers. This way, the company information is protected and only available to specific employees. Smaller businesses will use public clouds or not have a data center at all.

How can the Internet support these new clouds?
High-bandwidth is on the rise in major international cities and cloud computing internationally will be more easily accessible. Already, I have seen strong bandwidth in international cities such as Bangalore, India, where IBM currently has 70,000 employees.

And as bandwidth grows within companies, the need for more space will also continue to grow within data centers. Companies will increasingly be able to house information where ever they choose. For example, IBM has data center operators in Brazil that manage the data centers physically housed in Chicago.

Do you see any other countries other than the U.S. leading the way in Green IT?
China is on its way to becoming the world’s largest producer of renewable energy, yet it remains one of the most polluted countries on earth. India is also on a green IT boom.

To diagnose how to have energy used in data centers download the following online software tool from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Moria Byrne is a freelance journalist and editor. Her work has been featured in: Baltimore Business Journal, Maryland Daily Record, The Jewish Times and The Narragansett Times.

HP-Microsoft Merger Promises Upgrades in Cloud Computing

By James Zipadelli

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series regarding issues relating to cloud-based services. First up: How will this partnership increase dependability for cloud-based services?

Hewlett-Packard and  Microsoft agreed on a three-year, $250 million pact to increase cloud-based services to their consumers. The question is, how will this partnership improve the dependability of cloud-based services?

In a paper, “Benefits of HP-Microsoft deal,” Gartner Research analysts Donna Scott and Andrew Butler say both companies have the technology to make this work - but “truly integrated solutions that drive elasticity will take months or years to deliver.”

“Though HP has long touted its Adaptive Infrastructure vision (now called Converged Infrastructure), most IT infrastructures are not very dynamic or optimized in runtime execution outside of mainframe environments. However, UDCFs [unified data center fabric] such as HP’s Matrix and its Flex-Fabric infrastructure enable flexible connectivity among servers, storage and networks. This, combined with virtualization, can achieve real-time infrastructure (RTI), the foundation of cloud infrastructure,” Scott and Butler write.

Both companies are on board with this venture. In this video announcing the partnership, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says, “Over the next three years, we intend to make it simple, fast and cost-effective for our customers to build IT systems that scale quickly as business conditions change and opportunities emerge.” Ballmer also says a deal with HP has been in the works since last April.

Jeff Carlat, director of marketing for blade servers and infrastructure software for HP Enterprise Business adds, “Private and public cloud computing will benefit from this agreement and the forthcoming solutions through the ability to procure complete infrastructure compute solutions from HP that converge the compute, storage and networking infrastructure with the management and application layer of the solution stack. This will provide customers with highly modular and optimized compute platforms that will reduce deployment times and increase service levels for delivering the application to the customer.

“Through this new agreement, HP and Microsoft will deliver integrated virtualization and management across heterogeneous data center and cloud environments,” Carlat says. “Integrated, interoperable management solutions for both physical and virtualized environments enable IT environments to be automatically provisioned, managed and continuously self-tuned. Customers can automate application deployment, system monitoring, power management and server performance while ensuring interoperability in a mixed data center environment. This will result in substantial reductions in management resource requirements and deliver greater ROI.”

Jeffrey Bolden, a partner with Princeton Junction, N.J.-based Blue LotusSIDC, says the partnership “makes sense” because the cloud-based service allows both Microsoft and HP to save money on an internal data center and 24/7 staffing.

“These Microsoft/HP server solutions are not an overwhelming change; what it does is allow a cloud center to roll out the apps and very quickly estimate what it’s going to cost to provide these services,” Bolden says. “They offer Microsoft server-based applications in an appliance platform, which means many more SaaS vendors, ISP and Colo are going to be able to provide them as a SaaS,” Bolden says.

“Microsoft apps tend to be less dependable than many of the competitive applications that cloud-based providers current provide,” Bolden continues.  “However, cloud vendors are vastly more reliable than internal IT departments for small business. So you might see an increase in dependability for a business, which was already going to choose a Microsoft app. But less reliability/dependability than they would have if they went to a cloud-based solution based on Unix applications.”

For more information on Microsoft’s cloud strategy, click here. For more information on HP’s Cloud Assure and consulting services click here and click here.

Google Steps Up White Space Chase

By John Greaves

Google recently made a significant move in the battle over white space by proposing to the FCC to be one of several administrators of a TV bandwith’s geo-location database. This is in response to FCC filings requiring such a database to minimize signal interference between white space devices and broadcast signals.

This is a key component of the fight to make unused white space available for bandwidth expansion, as signal interference is one of the key arguments made against such a move by white space opponents like the National Association of Broadcasters.

According to the proposal, Google would build and oversee the database as well as provide data repository, registration and determination of available channels/query process.

Having Google, a major industry player, be one of the administrators begs the question of whether letting Google keep track of what channels are available for bandwidth as well as the location and identification of all white space devices might not run counter to an open and competitive marketplace.

However, Rick Rotondo, CMO for Spectrum Bridge, which deployed the world’s first TV white spaces network and also applied to be a database manager, says Google’s proposal does not surprise him.

It’s a competitive environment,” Rotondo says. “But I think Google is actually trying to make the playing field more level.”

In a Jan. 8 blog on the Spectrum Bridge site, Rotondo had previously explained that the FCC is not granting unlimited authority in authorizing white space database managers.

“Specifically, in the case of TV white spaces database managers, the FCC is authorizing companies to represent themselves as being able to meet the minimum requirements the FCC has set out in its previous ‘Report and Order,’ as well as some new requirements spelled out in the recent Public Notice,” the blog states.

Rotondo’s comments echo Google’s official position on this issue. “I see myself here, in D.C., as playing kind of a defensive role, in terms of maintaining open platforms where they exist today, and more offensively, trying to be constructive in terms of creating new platforms and particularly ensuring that those new platforms also remain open to innovation and consumer choice,” says Richard Whitt, Google’s Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, in a January 2009 interview for CircleID.com.

That view has not changed. A Google spokesperson who asked not to be identified tells DMB, “We strongly supported the FCC’s decision to adopt an open, unlicensed model for white spaces, similar to what exists for Wi-Fi. Much as open, unlicensed access to the Wi-Fi spectrum has led to its widespread use, open, unlicensed access is also crucial to fulfilling the potential of white spaces.”

Whitt further supports the argument. “From the Google perspective, the C-Block, to us, was a successful story. We came into it with the hopes of triggering the openness conditions, by making the bid that would enable that to happen, which we did.”

Some may wonder if Google’s move signals the impending doom of 3G and 4G technology. However, such fears are unfounded, according to Digital Society analyst George Ou, a former network engineer who built and designed wired network, wireless network, Internet, storage, security and server infrastructure for various fortune 100 companies.

“The idea that you’re going to take unmanned white space and replace 3G and 4G is wrong. The guys that like white space always talk about propagation, and how Wi-Fi doesn’t have enough propagation,” Ou says. “What they don’t understand is propagation sounds like a good thing but it’s a bad thing. The more you can propagate the less you can use. The lower the power, the more the signal dies as it gets further away, the more you can use the same spectrum channels. That’s why Wi-Fi has such pathetically low signal strength, so you can reuse the same signals.”

Google tends to take the opposite view. A Google spokesperson says, “This spectrum is extremely valuable and has the potential to transform the way we connect to the Internet. As Larry Page has put it, ‘white spaces’ are like ‘Wi-Fi on steroids’ - wireless Internet with much faster speeds, stronger signals and more affordable costs.”

As far as the database is concerned, Spectrum Bridge’s Rotondo points out that the vague nature of the FCC’s ruling has left the door wide open for interpretation. “There is nothing saying you have to tell a device the best channel, you just have to give a list of available channels,” he said.

Google says it has yet to hear from the FCC regarding its proposal, which is understandable due to the enormity of creating a national broadband plan and presenting it to Congress in time for the new March 17 deadline.

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