Broadband Definitions for ARRA Proposals Set at 768 kbps Downstream and 200 kbps Upstream

"Broadband," for purposes of applying for grants or loans under NTIA or RUS broadband stimulus programs, in 768 kbps in the downstream, and 200 kbps in the upstream. As with every other specific rule, this is a minimum, not a maximum.

The provision seems designed to allow different platforms, with different capabilities, to be used. Also, the definitions will allow satellite and wireless broadband networks to qualify.

It probably will not hurt if a particular network has the ability to scale to higher speeds gracefully, either.

First Broadband Stimulus Applications Can be Submitted July 14

The first "broadband stimulus" proposals to either the NTIA or RUS will be accepted starting July 14 and applications will be accepted until August 14.

The Notice of Funds Availability runs about 120 pages so I have to read it first before I can say anything else!

Lower European Mobile Prices Start Today

New price curbs on the cost of using a mobile phone while outside a home state in the European Union took effect today.

The price for a roaming text has fallen to EUR0.11, from around EUR0.29.

Downloading data while roaming now costs a maximum of EUR1 per megabyte at the wholesale level compared with previous costs of about EUR1.68.

An earlier price cap of EUR0.46 per minute for an outgoing voice call has also fallen to EUR0.43, while the cap on voice calls received abroad has fallen from EUR0.22 to EUR0.19.

In addition, mobile operators have been forced to charge for calls by the second after the first half minute, instead of rounding up to the nearest minute, whilst operators must introduce per-second billing from the first second for calls received abroad.

The caps will further fall to EUR0.39 for calls made and EUR0.15 for calls received while roaming from 1 July 2010, and to EUR0.35 and EUR0.11 from 1 July 2011.

59% of WiMAX Providers Expect to Offer VoIP By 2011

Some 59 percent of respondents to a recent Infonetics Research survey globally plan to offer VoIP over WiMAX services by 2011.

As always is the case, market considerations are key. Attackers, with no legacy voice revenues to cannibalize, will be more eager to do so. Providers with large revenue streams to protect will be less likely to do so.

Of the operators surveyed, 41 percent are from Asia Pacific, 36 percent from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), 18 percent from North America, and five percent from Central and Latin America (CALA).

Generation Z: Shift Happens

Though there's a bit of imprecision about the terms Generation X, Y and Z, their behavior is closely watched for obvious reasons: at some point relatively soon, they will start to represent the center of gravity for most products and services.

Generation Z, people roughly born between 1995 and through 2000s, have some characteristics in common with Generations X (roughly born between 1965 and 1980) and Y (roughly born between 1980 and 1994). We perhaps make too much of the precise delineations. But some behavioral trends seem common to all three "generations."

They don't read newspapers.

They tend not to watch scheduled TV, and some would note that even when TV is available, it isn't being "watched," as users are multitasking. They also often have access to digital video recorders and Internet video so "appointment television" doesn't make as much sense to them as it might for older viewers.

They tend to rely on mobiles for voice communications, and in any case texting is an equally dominant behavior.

They tend to trust their peers, even unknown peers, more than they trust experts.

They are used to iTunes, so paying for digital content, or watching some ads to get content at a reduced rate, or for free, might not strike them as unusual.

They are social in a digital way. Communication with “friends” is a primary activity.

Though they might not admit it, brands are important.

To a greater extent than older consumers, they expect to be able to move digital content from platform to platform. In part, that is simply because they know digital content can be moved from device to device.

They use instant messaging or text messaging for communications, they think that email is for their parents.

In part because they have grown up with Web media, mobiles and the Internet, sharing content seems natural.

Most of those behavioral traits have implications for marketing in general, and for Internet and mobile marketing in particular. For starters, new media require new rules and tactics. Each new medium has characteristics that are not well understood at first. That is why early movies essentially were filmed versions of stage plays.

Over time, each media becomes better understood, production values and marketing opportunities change.

Even traditional TV ads do not work as well as they used to, in part because, as media become more personalized, non-relevant messages become ever more annoying.

Also, perceptions of honesty are more important. All three generations have been bombarded from birth with marketing messages and they are fairly adept at tuning them out.

And since social values are strong, advertisers, for example, will have to truly commit to becoming a members of the communities. As a practical matter, that means brands essentially have lost control of their brands, which in many ways are defined by users.

That will be scary, in part because in the new social context, people will criticize what they don't like. Worse, they may simply indicate, by lack of interest, that a particular product is not interesting or relevant.

It's all about "pull," rather than "push," in other words. But since nobody really knows what will work in the new formats, experimentation is required. It will be a big shift.

But as has been said before, "shift happens."

Mobiles More Important than PCs, Study Finds

One reason lots of observers expect mobile broadband to grow in importance is that younger users rely on their mobiles more than PCs.

Or so suggests a new study by Toronto-based SRG. In that study, the mobile device was ranked the most important device by females between the ages of 12 to 24.

That doesn't mean women in other demographics rank mobiles the same way: they don't, yet.

But as some of us have noted for a while, it is important to follow the "youth" demographic because it isn't just a market segment.

Younger users represent 100 percent of the future market. And if younger users behave differently than older users, one has to pay attention. At some point, those younger users will move into different age groups, but likely will retain their behaviors.

Online Usage: Social Networking Grows Most

Users spend more time using social networking sites, less time on communications and more time on content sites in early 2009, compared to 2003, according to the Online Publishers Association.

Users also spend slightly more time using search and slightly less time on commerce sites.

It isn't yet clear how mobile Internet time spent matches up, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the trends should roughly match.

Not many of us would be surprised if use of social networking sites was higher on mobile devices, as a percentage of total mobile Internet time spent.

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