What 1 Gbps Means for Netflix

Don't get me wrong: where it comes to broadband access speeds, faster is better. But "faster is better" really makes a difference when the entire Internet ecosystem has adapted to faster speeds. 

Changing just one element, such asdding Google Fiber on one end, doesn't buy as much "better experience" as you might think. In February, according to Netflix, its average speed for streamed Netflix content was about 3.35 Mbps on Google Fiber. It ranged in the 2.35 Mbps to 1.25 Mbps range for 17 different large ISPs. 

Right now, 1 Gbps translates into about 1 Mbps better speed, on average, when people use the streaming Netflix service, compared to most other major ISPs. 

But the Google Fiber experience also includes access speeds about twice as fast as some major DSL services. 

RANK	CHANGE	ISP NAME	AVG SPEED (Mbps*)
1	–	GOOGLE FIBER	3.35
2	–	CABLEVISION - OPTIMUM	2.35
3	–	SUDDENLINK	2.19
4	+5	COX	2.12
5	–	VERIZON - FIOS	2.10
6	-2	CHARTER	2.08
7	-1	COMCAST	2.06
8	-2	MEDIACOM	2.04
9	–	TIME WARNER CABLE	2.04
10	–	BRIGHT HOUSE	2.02
11	–	AT&T - U-VERSE	1.91
12	–	CENTURYLINK	1.68
13	–	WINDSTREAM	1.61
14	–	FRONTIER	1.54
15	–	AT&T - DSL	1.43
16	–	VERIZON - DSL	1.37
17	–	CLEARWIRE	1.25

FCC Approces T-Mobile USA Purchase of MetroPCS

The Federal Communications Commission has approved T-Mobile USA's purchase of MetroPCS, finding that the transaction will serve the public interest. The approval will not likely come as a shock, as there were no indications the FCC had serious objections related to the changed structure of the U.S. mobile market.

Among the benefits are the positive effects the merger could have on T-Mobile USA construction of a new Long Term Evolution network as well as enhanced ability for T-Mobile USA to compete in the national market.

T-Mobile USA, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, is the fourth largest wireless service provider in the United States in terms of network coverage, number of subscribers, and revenues.

The network reaches 283 million people and covers approximately 1.2 million square miles. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, T-Mobile USA reported a total of 33.4 million U.S. subscribers, and service revenues totaling $4.1 billion.

64% of U.S. Commercial Buildings Do Not Have Fiber Access

You might think that after decades of activity by service providers to provide direct fiber connections to business customers, more than 36 percent of U.S. commercial buildings already would have been reached. You would be wrong.

Some 64 percent of U.S. commercial buildings do not have direct fiber access, according to Vertical Systems Group.

To be sure, business fiber availability has more than tripled since 2004, when the penetration rate was 10.9 percent. But the distance yet to be covered shows the work which remains. To be sure, the use of copper connections does not necessarily mean most businesses are “underserved.”

One can make the argument that for most small businesses, business class Internet access using either cable modems or digital subscriber line facilities supplies enough value to be workable today.

And most businesses do buy Internet access service, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 2010, 90 percent of small businesses used the Internet. Excluding small businesses that do not have any computers, the level of broadband adoption jumps to 95 percent.

That might not be so true everywhere, though. 



That is not to say small businesses, or other businesses, “do not need” or “would not use” an optical access service if it were available, only that, at the moment, other copper access networks seem to work well enough.

"The U.S. fiber gap has been steadily closing each year and this trend will continue,” said Rosemary Cochran, principal at Vertical Systems Group.

On the other hand, service providers only have incentive to extend direct fiber connections to business when the demand exists, or the demand can be supplied profitably, and for most small business locations, either “willingness to buy” or “ability to supply at a profit” is lacking.

One might therefore expect slow, but continued progress on the “fiber to business” front, but no major leaps.

20% of U.S. Residents Do Not Use the Internet

Quite often, our assumptions about broadband access or Internet usage is that we have failed in some way to provide it. For the most part, that is not the current "problem" with use of the Internet and broadband access services.  But value, not availability, is the main barrier now, in the U.S. market.

More than 20 percent of U.S. adults above the age of 18  do not use the Internet today. Some don’t feel Internet access is essential for meeting their information or communications needs, while others simply don’t know how to use it.

But that's a different problem than "supplying" access. Making the service available requires that a person sees value there, and wants to use such access. 

ARCEP Warns it Might Prosecute Skype

ARCEP, the French communications regulator, says it might prosecute Skype for failing to register its "SkypeOut" service as an " electronic communications operator" in France. 

Regulators operate by one simple principle: if something quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it is a duck. 

One Recurring Problem for Mobile Service Provider Innovation

There is a recurring and major issue where it comes to new lines of business mobile service providers might like to launch, namely the smallish size of the opportunity. Some might point to location-based services as obvious candidates for mobile service providers. 

That is a reasonable assumption at a high level. At a practical and granular level, it is more difficult to achieve revenue commensurate with effort, in many cases. Consider the "new $300 million"  network-based location information opportunity. 

“We see a range of new "location information services" emerging around insurance, banking, analytics, M2M/MRM, advertising, hospitality and IVR," says ABI Research senior analyst Patrick Connolly.

That might be true, but will not immediately be so attractive to any single tier-one service provider. More likely, third parties will take the lead. 

Tablets Will Generate 35% of $25 Billion App Revenue

Tablet apps will generate $8.8 billion in revenue in 2013, compared to the $16.4 billion expected from smart phone apps, according to ABI Research. 

Of the combined $25 billion, 65 percent will come from Apple’s iOS ecosystem, 27 percent from Google’s Android, and the remaining eight percent from the other mobile platforms.

Tablet apps will steadily increase their share of the market over the coming years, in 2017 nearly matching the amount of smart phone application revenues and surpass them in 2018, when the combined revenue base will reach $92 billion, ABI Research says.