Michael Calabrese: All Publications, Events and Press

International Summit for Community Wireless Networks 2008

Communications — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/28/2008 - 4:00pm

The New America Foundation/Wireless Future Program is pleased to announce that the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks (ISC4CWN) will be held on May 28th – May 30th, 2008 in Washington, DC.

Co-hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at its downtown headquarters, IS4CWN is the largest gathering of community wireless networking developers, implementers and allies working to build universal, low-cost wireless broadband networks around the world. The Summit serves as an integral lynch pin for connecting and supporting an alliance between technologists, government leaders and community advocates implementing wireless networks worldwide, and providing a rare international forum for discussion of technology, policy and practical solutions to problems facing community wireless.

Since the first National Summit for Community Wireless Networks in 2004, over 300 Community Internet and municipal broadband projects have sprung up in the United States alone. Previous summits have also helped to spur the development of community wireless networks in places such as Chile and Venezuela, Ghana and South Africa, and throughout Europe. This year’s Summit will focus on how these networks can better serve their target populations, the policies needed to support broader deployment of community wireless systems, and the latest technological and software innovations.

For more information and to register, please visit the conference website.

Michael Calabrese in San Jose Mercury News | Auction Takes 'First Step' to Open-Access Wireless

Communications — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:01:00 -0400

New America in the News:

San Jose Mercury News | Auction Takes 'First Step' to Open-Access Wireless

. . . Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation, said Verizon's ability to subsidize certain handsets gives it enormous market power in determining which devices and applications will ultimately become popular with consumers.

But Calabrese said the auction did help achieve the goals of increased openness and innovation. "We need to extend these consumer protections, but this was an important first step," he said. . .

The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

Communications — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:15:00 -0500

A New America Event
03/06/2008 - 12:15pm

The Internet, social networking and peer-to-peer (p2p) communication have transformed how people connect, as well as the scope, scale and speed of mass collaborations. This transformation has opened the door for self-emerging and increasingly complex virtual forums, allowing individuals to collaborate and organize from worlds apart.

Please join us for a discussion about what happens when people are given the tools to do things together, without needing traditional organizational structures. Shirky will discuss his new book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, which explains how the Internet, social networking, p2p technologies are just beginning their revolutionary impact on cultural creation, social movements, business, and traditional hierarchical structures and organizations.

Clay Shirky was an expert on the Internet and emerging technology even before there was a World Wide Web. He has written extensively about the Internet since 1996, with regular columns in Business 2.0, FEED, OpenP2P.com and ACM Net Worker, as well as articles that have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, Wired, and other leading outlets.

Michael Calabrese in NC Business Journal | Azulstar Backs Out of WinstonNet Wireless Initiative

Communications — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:33:00 -0500

New America in the News:

NC Business Journal | Azulstar Backs Out of WinstonNet Wireless Initiative

. . . Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C. said the lure of non-taxpayer financing has proven strong, but not realistic.

Municipal wireless "is very viable, but what's come into question is this corporate franchise model that is premised on a free lunch for taxpayers," Calabrese said. "Where cities have embraced municipal wireless as a public service or a means to achieve greater efficiencies, it's working fine."

Calabrese pointed to St. Cloud, Fla. as an example, where he said the city paid to install a network and hired a private company to operate it, calculating that money saved from efficiencies like automated meter reading and streamlined building permit applications would make the money back over time. About 70 percent of the adult population of St. Cloud uses that network, Calabrese said. . .

Michael Calabrese in RCR Wireless | State's Role in Consumer Protection Bill Pondered

Communications — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 11:11:00 -0500

New America in the News:

RCR Wireless News | State's Role in Consumer Protection Bill Pondered

. . . "Allowing consumers to purchase unsubsidized handsets without a long-term wireless service plan, and at a fee no higher than subsidized wireless plans, would begin to knock down those obstacles and promote increased consumer freedom in the wireless market," said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation. . .

Broadcast to Broadband

Ron Tang — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Although much public attention has focused on the US digital TV transition -- and the resulting reallocation of analog TV channels by auction to wireless carriers -- the US Federal Communications Commission will decide how to reallocate an even larger swath of prime TV band spectrum this year: the unused “white space” between occupied DTV channels. This reallocation of unused spectrum from broadcasting to broadband permits unlicensed access for both fixed and mobile applications.

In 2002, the FCC’s Spectrum Policy Task Force recommended that spectrum efficiency and innovation could be enhanced by reallocating unused and underutilized spectrum for both flexible-use… more

Reply to Oppositions to Petition for Reconsideration

Wireless Future — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:31:00 -0500

Michael Calabrese in Telecommunications Reports | 'Positives, Negatives in Band Auction'

Communications — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:00:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Open Access Advocates See Positives, Negatives in FCC's 700 MHz Band Auction (Telecommunications Reports)

Michael Calabrese, vice president of the New America Foundation and director of its Wireless Future Program, concluded that the sale has produced “mixed results with respect to the public interest.” He noted the open access provisions on the 22-MHz C block have been triggered, but said the winner of the spectrum will “most likely” be Verizon Wireless. And he noted the D block reserve price hasn’t nearly been met. ...

Verizon Wireless’s announcement “sounds good, but really the question still remains ... will it lead to real openness and will market forces alone lead the other carriers ... toward the sort of consumer choice and open network innovation that we need?” Mr. Calabrese asked. “We’re very skeptical of that.”...

Mr. Calabrese said the FCC, as it mulls new rules for the D block, should consider requiring the bidder to be a wholesale-only provider, which would lead to additional competition in the market. Public interest groups and others had unsuccessfully sought such a mandate on the C- and D-block spectrum.

Ex Parte Comment on XM/Sirius Merger Conditions

Wireless Future — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:13:00 -0500

Michael Calabrese in InfoWorld | "$4.7 billion bid in 17th round of the 700MHz auctions"

Communications — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:12:00 -0500

New America in the News:

$4.7 billion in the 17th round of the 700MHz auctions (InfoWorld)

The FCC may have to re-auction the spectrum without the reserve price and perhaps without public safety obligations, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Spectrum Policy Program at think tank the New America Foundation.

Michael Calabrese in RCR Wireless News | 'Auction rings up $2.4B in first-round bids'

Communications — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:38:00 -0500

New America in the News:

700 MHz auction rings up $2.4B in first-round bids (RCRNews.com)

“An unfortunate combination of tight credit markets and bad policy choices is likely to result in the biggest incumbent wireless carriers acquiring the lion’s share of licenses in today’s big auction of TV band airwaves,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program and VP at the New America Foundation. “The FCC imposed multi-billion reserve [minimum] prices on the spectrum, which will shut out all but the biggest companies, resulting in no new competition.”

Calabrese added: “The auction’s major wild card is Google. Even if Google is outbid in the end, they could transform the wireless marketplace by bidding at least $4.6 billion, the reserve price that triggers open access and consumer choice conditions that the FCC has imposed on the winner of the largest, nationwide block of spectrum [the C Block]. Google's bidding behavior will determine if this auction opens wireless networks so that consumers have a choice of devices, software and content in the future.”

Michael Calabrese in The Associated Press | 'Airwaves Sale Is Payoff for Digital Move'

Communications — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:52:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Airwaves Sale Is Payoff for Digital Move (The Associated Press)

Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation, said, "It's quite likely the D block will have to be re-auctioned without the reserve price."

Michael Calabrese in TIME | 'Will Google Go Mobile?'

Communications — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:30:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Will Google Go Mobile? (TIME Magazine)

...The speed of innovation depends on whether a newcomer like Google or Qualcomm, both of which are registered bidders, has the money and the will to acquire enough licenses to break into the wireless game and force the telecom companies to break old habits. Sure Google has the cash, but do they really want to get in the labor-intensive business of broadband networks? Already, startup Frontline Wireless, a venture supported by a group of Silicon Valley investors, has gone belly up, unable to secure funding for its intended bid on the discounted public-private D block of the 700 MHz spectrum that will share airwaves with public-safety responders.

"I don't expect that the auction will result in a major new market entrant," says Michael Calabrese, director of the wireless future program at the New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C. think tank. "I think Verizon will end up bidding more because it is worth more to them to keep out a new entrant." more

New America in Broadband Reports | 'Verizon Announces Open Access Conference'

Communications — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:18:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Verizon Announces Open Access Conference(BroadbandReports.com)

...Today the company announced they'll be hosting an Open Development conference in March, hosted by a think tank named the New America Foundation. Verizon's Open Development Initiative will use the conference to promote and discuss Verizon's plans to encourage development of devices capable of running on Verizon's CDMA network.

Michael Calabrese in InfoWorld | 'Trust But Verify'

Communications — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:11:00 -0500

New America in the News:

'Trust but verify' open mobile network pledges (InfoWorld)

...Carriers including AT&T and Verizon Wireless have promised to open up their networks, but the FCC will need to watch the prices that carriers charge customers who bring their own devices to the networks, said the FCC's Michael Copps, speaking Tuesday at a New America Foundation forum. The FCC will also need to monitor the complexity of certification for new devices and applications, he said. ...

Right now, "you don't get a discount for bringing your own phone," said Frieden, author of a New America Foundation paper calling on the FCC to regulate open network access. more

New America on CNET | "No need to mandate 'open' mobile networks...yet"

Communications — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:35:00 -0500

New America in the News:

FCC official: No need to mandate 'open' mobile networks...yet (CNET News.com)

...Federal Communications Commission Democrat Michael Copps said he would not "strongly object" to sitting back, for now, and watching how recent "voluntary" promises by wireless carriers pan out. For instance, ostensibly because of the threat of regulation, Verizon Wireless recently said it would generally start allowing any phone to run on its network, and allow any application to run on those devices, by the end of this year. Other carriers, such as AT&T Wireless have also been playing up their perceived openness as a marketing tactic.

"I hope it is as good as it sounds," Copps told attendees at an event here organized by the New America Foundation. "But we have to ask: has the reality shifted quite as much as the rhetoric has shifted?" more

'Free My Phone!'

Communications — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:30:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/22/2008 - 11:30am

"Free My Phone" was the impassioned headline of Wall Street Journal personal technology columnist, Walt Mossberg, who took both the wireless carriers and the FCC to task for not giving consumers the choice to use the devices and applications of their choice. Currently, wireless carriers can restrict the phones and other devices consumers can use on their network, what device features they can access, and what software applications and content they can download. This "locking and blocking" has been prohibited in relation to traditional wireline telephone service since the 1968 Carterfone decision by the FCC gave consumers the right to purchase their choice of equipment and to connect any telephone or safe device without carrier-imposed limitations.

The event examined the current debate regarding the ability of wireless carriers to limit consumer freedom and whether an increasing marketplace trend toward more openness will be sufficient, or if regulation extending the wireline Carterfone rules is needed to ensure consumer choice and freedom in the wireless telecommunications market. New America also released a paper by Rob Frieden of Penn State University, which described the FCC precedent for wireless Carterfone regulation.

FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps served as keynote speaker. Commissioner Copps commended pledges from Verizon and others to increase openness on their wireless networks, but cautioned that the FCC should “trust but verify” those promises. “I really hope that, when I open my Wall Street Journal and Business Week in 2009, our next panelists will be telling me that the wireless marketplace is every bit as vibrant as the rest of the consumer electronics marketplace,” Copps said.

Walt Mossberg highlighted the growing need for government intervention to pry open the wireless market and increase consumer freedom. He noted that when consumers purchase a new computer, they do not have to get permission from their Internet service provider (ISP). Stephen Wildstrom agreed with Mossberg and further expressed concern over the increasing practice of wireless and wired providers to interfere with Internet content and services under the pretext of network management.

Robert W. Quinn noted that AT&T had a longstanding policy to allow outside devices and applications on its wireless network. Anthony Lewis offered that Verizon through its "Any Apps, Any Device" -- an Open Development Initiative, wants to encourage new types of devices and work with developers to create innovation. "This will not work if I dictate to my customers," he said. Bob Calaff, T-mobile technology policy director, said the government needs to be careful about imposing new regulations on wireless carriers. "We're not talking about a toaster or a refrigerator or even a landline phone or a PC," he said. "When we head into these policy debates, we have to be mindful that these are integral components of the network and that one size does not fit all."

Rob Frieden argued that the FCC has ample statutory authority to extend Carterfone rules to wireless carriers and has extended similar consumer protections to other technologies and services. He provided that wireless carries have an economic incentive to limit consumer freedom. “Locking and limiting subsidized handsets helps carriers foreclose subscriber access to services, content and applications available from third parties that make no financial contribution to the wireless carrier and possibly compete with services offered by the carriers,” he said.

Chistopher Libertelli of Skype, echoed Commissioner Copps reservations concerning promises by carriers to open their networks. "Sitting here, we can't predict how these press released will turn into real consumer rights," Libertelli said. Blair Levin also expressed caution about Verizon’s Open Development Initiative, noting that Verizon would only move forward if the new network created both an additional revenue source, and did not take revenue away from its established proprietary network.

Michael Calabrese in Sacramento Bee | 'FCC auction to reshape telecom?'

Communications — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:41:00 -0500

New America in the News:
FCC auction may reshape telecom field (Sacramento Bee)
Unlike traditional cell phone or Wi-Fi signals, the 700-MHz spectrum can sneak through concrete walls, foliage, heavy rain and other barriers to wireless reception. "It's why you can get TV in your basement with rabbit ears," said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. ...

Michael Calabrese in Chicago Tribune on Smart-Radio Technology

Communications — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:42:00 -0500

New America in the News:

...Arguments that smart radios cannot use white space without causing TV interference are off the mark, said Michael Calabrese, vice president of the New America Foundation. The U.S. military uses this technology, he said.

One segment of radio spectrum controlled by the Department of Defense for radar transmissions is open to sharing with unlicensed devices in much the same way proposed for TV white space, Calabrese said. This month, the UK approved a digital TV white-space sharing plan similar to the one at the FCC.

Calabrese dismisses concerns over problems raised in testing the Microsoft gadget.

Failure of a single prototype is no reason to worry, he said, because FCC engineers are gathering information, not approving products for operation. Field tests are scheduled for January, and advocates hope that final FCC rules for white-space devices will be adopted in the spring.

"Smart-radio technology to detect radio signals and avoid interference has been around for a while," said Calabrese. "Darpa [a research affiliate of the military] has an XG program that allows the military to set down anywhere in the world, sense activity on airwaves and make a mesh network out of empty spaces.

"Getting this approved for civilian use is more a political hurdle than a technical one." ...

For the complete article, please click here.

New America, Ethos Group Wi-Fi Case Study in Broadband Reports

Communications — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:19:00 -0500

New America in the News:
When discussing the state of municipal Wi-Fi in Philadelphia, the conversation is almost always about whether or not Earthlink is going to hold up its end of the deal and build out the system. (That seems unlikely in the face of their recent Philly no-show.) However, The Ethos Group has taken a broader view of Philadelphia’s municipal wireless system. They’ve published a 64-page report (pdf) which reviews the entire history of the system.

“This report examines how Philadelphia’s municipal wireless initiative helped shape the national debate regarding the need for public broadband infrastructure and the impact the project’s successes and failures had on the local community. The Philadelphia story holds numerous lessons for decision-makers and regulators and is a powerful tool for understanding the interactions between network implementers and the constituencies these networks are supposed to serve.” ...

For more on this story, please click here. New America released the report titled, "The Philadelphia Story: Lessons from a Municipal Wireless Pioneer," at an event on December 11.