May 2009 Archives

I recently came across an amazing U.K. company: GBTV, presumably an acronym for Great Britain Television.

This site is dedicated to delivering high quality, high impact, and editorially driven content in the British Finance, Government, and Health Services Sectors.

All of their programs are available for free (although you need to register with them) and cover such topics as:

• Engaging communities through high-speed broadband - Interview with Richard Steel, President of Socitm. (Which would not play directly on my PC--perhaps because I'm in the U.S.--but which downloaded just fine for replay);
• Driving up recycling and energy efficiency - Paul Bettison, LGA Environment Board;
• Accelerating wind energy usage in the UK - Interview with Maria McCaffery; and
• Preventing data leaks in the public sector - Interview with David Stanley, Proofpoint.

The channel delivers a host of informative and timely information for the digital citizen who wants to stay informed about current issues, and seems to have added a workable fluff-filter (weeding out most but the essentials) as part of their approach.

GBTC recently launched their LocalGovTV channel as a web-cast vehicle for governors of public bodies, for council members and senior executives across all public sector organizations and is available free to an unlimited audience at anytime, at any location via the internet.

Other channels include: HealthExecTV, and eGovEuropeTV.

The areas of GBTC focus include:

• Charities
• Children's Services
• Climate Change
• Local Government
• Mobile Working

The site is growing in popularity (now sports 1.2 million hits a month), and for a good reason; and now provides the full spectrum of technical services spanning Internet-TV operations to live web casts and satellite broadcasts.

They produce programs ranging from full-length magazine-format programs to corporate profiles and case studies with the blend of editorial insight and production quality expected of national broadcasters.

A great effort, which I hope will meet with even greater success. And one that I'd like to see replicated on a broad scale here in the U.S.

I am fascinated with the newspaper industry and where it is heading. It seems that the consensus is that the industry as a whole is dead and kicking, in other words, it is quite alive, but losing profitability.

Alive

According to an NAA presentation Scarborough Research reported that in 2008, 100 Million adults read a newspaper on an average weekday. Now, that's not dead by any stretch. The same report puts it in perspective: 98 million adults watched the Superbowl, 63 million watched the world series, 60 million watch any reality television show, and 42 million visit amazon.com.

According to Comscore Research, newspaper websites are #1 in 22 of the 25 top markets. Scarborough Research adds to that that 42% of all Internet users visit a newspaper website at least once a month.

Nielsen Research reports that in January of 2009, 75 million unique visitors (which does not include re-visits, of course) visited a newspaper website).

These are good stats, and should cheer any newspaperman.

Even so, according to this presentation, "Newspapers are not as profitable as they were a year ago or even two years ago. Many newspapers have dropped from a 30% margin to maybe a ten to fifteen percent margin... Overall, the beleaguered newspaper industry's financial health has been weakened but remains healthy by most measures. In this environment, that is an achievement."

How?

The presentation goes on to report that "Newspapers are expanding the growing list of digital products and niches. Proctor and Gamble realized years ago that consumers want their toothpaste in a variety of ways. From the days of one size and one flavor, they have offered dozens of options to meet consumers needs, from pastes to gels to whiteners to breath fresheners etc. Newspapers today are recognizing that their consumers too, enjoy their newspaper in a variety of ways and it is our job to deliver that newspaper to them in whatever form they require.

"Beyond the web sites, you are seeing more newspapers offering mobile applications, some newspapers experimenting with e-readers, newspapers working with printers on personalized newspapers and more. The bottom line here is that our reader's needs must be met and we are in the information industry not printers. We are moving quickly to meet those changing needs."

Strengths

Why do 100 million adults pick up a newspaper every day? Sure, a lot of that is from sheer momentum: generations have done precisely that. But more importantly, most are after local new, and the newspaper industry recognizes that.

"Newspapers remain at the heart of the local conversation. No one tells consumers more about what is going on in the community than newspapers. For advertisers, newspapers are finding incremental ways to target locally. Newspapers are inserting themselves as the hub of community information and interactions, providing platforms to share local content, host discussions and provide in-depth community information.

"Most of this centers around Geographic communities, e.g. TribLocal, Bluffton Today. The, New York Times plans to provide hyper-local blogs for various metro area communities, etc.

"In print, newspaper readership declined a modest 2.7 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to Scarborough Research. Meanwhile, TV networks lost 7 percent of their total audience in the last 3 months of 2008 alone."

Prediction

I believe that if the industry focus on its "local" strengths, and widely diversify it's delivery vehicles: e-Readers like Sony Reader and Kindle (which just released the Kindle DX, featuring a considerably larger display to facilitate reading newspapers/magazines)--and, as Rupert Murdoch has recently indicated, begin to charge a (reasonable) fee for their online content--then the newspaper industry will resurrect itself famously.

According to the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), the U.S. Congress has appropriated $4.7 billion to establish a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program for awards to eligible entities to develop and expand broadband services to unserved and underserved areas and improve access to broadband by public safety agencies.

Of these funds, $250 million will be available for innovative programs that encourage sustainable adoption of broadband services; at least $200 million will be available to upgrade technology and capacity at public computing centers, including community colleges and public libraries; $10 million will be a transfer to the Office of Inspector General for the purposes of BTOP audits and oversight. Up to $350 million of the BTOP funding is designated for the development and maintenance of statewide broadband inventory maps.

On April 2, 2009 Mark G. Seifert, the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the NTIA testified before the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet of the U.S. House of Representatives concerning BTOP progress.

According to Mr. Seifert, the BTOP is "the first step in realizing President Obama's vision of bringing the benefits of broadband technology to all Americans. At its core, the broadband initiatives in the Recovery Act offer a tremendous opportunity to stimulate job creation and economic growth in both the near-term and for the future.

"President Obama believes in the transformative power of broadband. Broadband serves as an engine of economic development, enabling communities and regions to develop and expand job-creating businesses and institutions. Communications networks help improve the efficiency of virtually every sector of the economy. The Obama Administration is committed to harnessing the power of broadband technology to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and help lay the foundation for long-term prosperity for all Americans. Through the BTOP grant program - and in coordination with the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) grants and loans program - we are taking a critical first step in that direction.

He went on to report that, "the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently ranked the United States 15th among the 30 market economies of the OECD in terms of broadband subscribership per capita. President Obama believes that this must change. With access to broadband and the skills to use it effectively, Americans will be better able to compete, succeed, and lead in the 21st century's knowledge-based economy. Our scientists, universities, and researchers will need better broadband connections to continue our great tradition of innovation.

"The broadband initiatives within the Recovery Act mark the beginning of the process that we hope will result in the United States taking its rightful place as the world's leader in broadband deployment, availability, and adoption. To meet this challenge and to fulfill the statutory mandates of the Recovery Act, the Administration has set five goals for the broadband Recovery Act funding.

"Greater broadband availability and use will make a difference in the daily lives of our citizens. With access to broadband, students are able to learn and access resources far beyond their own classrooms or local libraries. Using telemedicine applications over broadband connections, doctors and other medical professionals can bring the latest medical advancements to patients in remote areas, resulting in immediate, efficient, and cost-effective treatment. Over broadband connections, small business owners are able to buy and sell their goods and services in both near and distant markets. Researchers and scientists require high-speed connections to collaboratively develop the new ideas that will keep our country in the lead. And all Americans have the potential to find new ways of making a living, developing and accessing information, and using other applications that enrich their lives using high-speed broadband. Broadband provides communities a canvas for innovation and economic development, that, by reason of either location or economic status, they have previously been unable to utilize."

BTOP Goals

Among the goals for BTOP, Mr. Seifert enumerated the following: "The program is intended to accelerate broadband deployment in unserved and underserved areas and improve access to broadband by public safety agencies. Significantly, however, while the Act focuses on supply stimulus, demand side stimulus is a critical goal. The Act specifies that the program be designed to stimulate job creation, economic growth, and the demand for broadband.

"Other purposes of BTOP include providing funds for broadband education, awareness, training, access, and support to a number of institutions including schools, libraries, educational and job-creating strategic facilities, as well as organizations that provide outreach and other broadband assistance to vulnerable populations.

"In accomplishing the purposes of BTOP, the Act contemplates that NTIA will consult with the states and with the FCC. We are also coordinating our activities with the RUS (Rural Utilities Service), which was allocated $2.5 billion in broadband Recovery Act funding for loans and grants.

"We have been meeting regularly with various state entities as well as with our colleagues at the FCC and RUS and have met with various state entities as well. For example, we are currently talking to RUS about creating a common application form to make it easier for entities to file grant applications with both agencies. We welcome - and indeed are actively seeking - the input of our state colleagues as well as our colleagues at the FCC and RUS as we implement this important program.

"The Act also provides $10 million for our Inspector General (IG) to ensure vigorous oversight of these grant funds. One of the very first actions we accomplished was the transfer of that money to the IG. We have been meeting with the IG and his staff to ensure that the program design incorporates appropriate safeguards from the outset to protect the taxpayers' investment.

BTOP Implementation Activities

Mr. Seifert further reports that, "Since the passage of the Recovery Act on February 17, 2009, NTIA has taken decisive action to jumpstart the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The Agency is staffing up to administer the $4.7 billion program. Although NTIA has many talented people already in place with significant grant-making experience, we are in the process of greatly supplementing this core team to handle the high levels of interest. We are also in the process of creating the technical systems that need to be in place to handle the tremendous volume of applications that we anticipate.

"We are coordinating closely with other agencies responsible for implementing related Recovery Act initiatives, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Energy. Through constructive coordination, funds and expertise can be leveraged where appropriate--and duplication and redundancy will be avoided to maximize the utility of taxpayer dollars.

"NTIA has launched its BTOP website to provide the public a window into how the Government intends to invest its money - http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants.

Challenges

As to challenges, Mr. Seifert informed the committed that, "We face many challenges in the upcoming months. Some of our challenges are substantive policy issues. For example, there are a host of statutory terms like "broadband," "unserved," and "underserved" that we must define in order to give guidance to potential applicants. We must also decide the scope of the consultative role the states will play as we review grant applications. During our public meetings, various stakeholders gave us very valuable but divergent views about how we should deal with these issues and we are confident that the comments filed by April 13, 2009, in response to the RFI, will contribute greatly to our decision-making on these important threshold issues. We are very focused on creating metrics and requiring reporting that will allow us to understand whether the grants we make are effective in moving the country closer to the Administration's broadband goals.

"While these challenges will be significant, by far our greatest challenge will be determining a fair, equitable, and appropriate manner for selecting grant recipients. We fully expect a pool of strong and innovative applications that reflect the genius of the American people and together address all of the purposes set out in the Act. Our most daunting task will be to select from among these many deserving applications those that most wisely invest the people's money to create jobs and offer credible, functioning, and scalable models for accelerating the deployment of broadband."

For a full copy of Mr. Seifert's briefing, please go here.

On April 30, 2009, the Citizens for a Digital Future, an Atlanta, Georgia-based coalition of non-profits, organizations and industry members that recognizes that adoption of and access to broadband technology, launched in North Carolina.

Said John Watson, Charmin of the coalition, "In order for consumers to have access to the latest technologies and best services possible, it is imperative for North Carolina to ensure its laws are keeping pace with the proliferation of new and innovative telecommunications options available today.

"Citizens for a Digital Future supports policies that encourage investment in and deployment of broadband and other digital technologies that enhance our lives in so many ways."

The Citizens for a Digital Future has now launched in four different states: Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and will soon, I hope, make its presence felt in the remaining states of our union.

So far the coalition, which is completely voluntary and does not require membership dues or fees, have focused on deployment and administration of the economic stimulus package in its covered states, with up-to-date and interesting information about issues raised and hurdles to overcome in bridging the digital divide.

Other members of the coalition include: at&t, Btech, Inc., CBM of America, Condux, Enhanced Communications, Inc., Entone, Inc., Fiber Source, Inc., and many others.

Off to an auspicious start, I hope that this coalition will soon reach across the country and garner more and more members who share their vision:

"Citizens for a Digital Future recognizes that adoption of and access to broadband technology -- and its enhancements -- has become increasingly critical to the environment, for education, economic development and health care, among others. Our members support and advance public policies that encourage broad deployment and robust enhancement of broadband and digital technologies."

You can reach Citizens for a Digital Future here.