May 16 2012

Today, there are more wireless subscriptions than people in the U.S. That’s just one of the facts we reveal in the first of a series of Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) info graphics available in English and Spanish. If you have a “work” mobile phone plus a “personal” device, you’re part of that trend. Here’s another shocker: by the end of 2012, there will be more wireless subscriptions than people on the planet. This ever-growing increase in demand is great news for developers who are creating new apps, and for entrepreneurs who are connecting to the global marketplace and growing their businesses.

It’s also important news for Hispanics, who are relying on their mobile devices more and more. In fact, according to a 2010 Pew Internet and American Life study, Hispanics continue to be the most active users of mobile devices for internet access. On average, 51 percent of Hispanics access the internet from their phone, as compared to 33 percent of whites and 46 percent of African Americans. With young adults leading these data trends, we can only expect these numbers and percentages to increase.

As evidenced by the above, we aren’t just using our phones to talk. In the first half of 2011, more than 6 billion text messages were sent each day — that’s a 16 percent increase in just one year. But as more and more people join the wireless revolution, there’s a bigger demand for spectrum- the invisible airwaves that carry phone calls, e-mails, connections to the Internet, tweets, streaming music and videos to mobile phones. In other words, spectrum is what makes our mobile devices work.

As mobile phone use has increased, wireless networks have become overloaded, and as this congestion increases, so too will dropped calls, unreliable connections and slower Internet speeds. Of particular concern is potential cost increases and stricter data caps driven by lack of available spectrum, which is most dangerous to emerging online communities who choose mobile because of cost and flexibility.

Congress recently approved legislation that would provide an opportunity to reallocate underutilized broadcast spectrum through a reverse auction process, which is a step in the right direction. As shown in the info graphic, by 2016, 10 billion mobile devices worldwide will be connected to wireless networks. However, as the numbers demonstrate, the data demands of these devices and their owners will only be met if spectrum is freed up to drive investment in mobile capacity.

Inaction on spectrum threatens to roll back the great benefits of mobile Internet access to Hispanic communities and others who rely on their mobile devices for a less expensive, flexible, always on-hand access to the web.

Jason A Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director, the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). Follow on twitter: @hispanicttp. www.httponline.org.

View (PDF)

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Just a few short years ago,Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry was the industry leader in smartphone technology. It enjoyed near-monopoly status within some key workforce sectors such as Capitol Hill and federal agencies. Today, after just a few short years, and the relentless introduction of newer, faster, smarter (and, many think, cooler) devices that offer Blackberry functionality plus new tools and a preferred interface, many now speculate on RIM’s survival. This provides all of us an important market study on the speed of innovation.

Needless to say, the pace of new technology is astounding. The industry gold standard bearer, Apple, continues to push the envelope – having announced within the last year significant upgrades to both of their flagship product lines, the iPhone 4s and the third-generation iPad.

In the meantime, BlackBerry’s “numbers are plummeting. A National Journal survey found that 41 percent of Capitol Hill workers have iPhones – compared to just 13 percent two years earlier. Meanwhile, BlackBerrys are down from 93 percent to 77 percent, implying that some percentage of people who would rather not are being forced to carry around BlackBerrys for work.” As one Washington Post writer astutely surmises: “Nothing consigns a technology to the Has-Bin faster than being forced to carry it around for work.”

While RIM products may be out of vogue, our national desire for smart mobile technology is only growing. According to the new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project: “Nearly half (46%) of Americans aged 18 and older own a smartphone as of February, 2012, up from 36% in May, 2011.”

However, the same survey had some bad news for RIM: “An analysis of the platforms being used reveals around 20% of all American mobile phone users own an Android OS-based phone, slightly more than the 19% of iOS users. Just 6% used Blackberry RIM, down from 10% in May last year.”

With all of this movement in market share, the state of innovation balanced by industry regulation and policy deserves some attention. Today’s regulatory and policy ceiling can be tomorrow’s floor – meaning that what policymakers and legislators determine to be the rules that companies live by while leaving room for growth today, could some day become restraining and stifle innovation, simply because one can not know where the market lands tomorrow.

As we’ve seen, technological innovation has the power to address societal challenges. Investment and innovation in Health IT , for example is only now beginning to gain momentum. This sea change in healthcare can improve and even save lives –especially within the most at-risk communities that have difficulty accessing healthcare and struggle with more chronic disease.

While the future of the BlackBerry is uncertain, the potential within advancing mobile technology is bright indeed – with the warning that our policymakers have a key responsibility to make sure the path is cleared for that future to become areality.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director, the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). Follow on Twitter: @hispanicttp.  www.httponline.org.

March 15, 2012

Wireless issues have seen lots of action this month and that doesn’t even account for last week’s big announcement from a certain company in California.

The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) hosted a major conference that focused on the key problem facing wireless technology: lack of federal action to free up airwaves.  Here’s a good summary on the problem and the event from Alton Drew.

My colleague, Jose Marquez at Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA) posted this excellent blog on how wireless can benefit healthcare through an extension of the benefits of telemedicine, health and e-health technology that can drive costs down and improve the doctor/patient relationship.  Latinos struggle with dire health disparities that could affect the long-term productivity of generations. Broadband-enabled healthcare is one opportunity to address these disparities.

Finally, the research firm JD Power & Associates published a new survey on consumers and their wireless usage.  The results confirm what Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) already know: More people are snapping up smartphones, which means more people are accessing mobile data.  This trend continues to stretch wireless network capacity.

But the results aren’t just measured in dropped calls and slower connections, although those are bad enough.  There’s also economic fall-out.

I’ve written about this issue previously (see here and here) and the problem this poses for Hispanics.  Congress passed a law recently to allow for auctions of broadcast spectrum for use in wireless services.  The President signed it and now the spotlight is on the FCC to move the process forward, and support transactions that move underutilized spectrum, such as the one proposed by Verizon and the cable companies, into use as well.

The FCC needs to move quickly.  The stakes are high. While many of the policy issues facing this community offer multiple perspectives, there is no question that inaction, or slow action, to address the spectrum crunch leads only to poor consequences for communities who rely on these services – higher prices and lower quality of service. This issue is neither partisan, nor unclear. Rather, action to address the spectrum crunch provides an opportunity for leadership that, at once drives investment, jobs and innovation across the tech sector, all of which is beneficial to our communities.

JASON A. LLORENZ, ESQ. IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE HISPANIC TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS PARTNERSHIP (HTTP). FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @HISPANICTTP.  WWW.HTTPONLINE.ORG.

The failure of the so-called Congressional “super committee” had left an important piece of the telecommunications policy agenda in limbo. The initiation of spectrum reallocation to address the looming spectrum crunch was reverted back to the Congressional committees with jurisdiction.

Along with the cost-saving deal the super committee was seeking, was a long-awaited plan for auction of broadcast spectrum for wireless, which would have driven billions of dollars to the treasury for deficit reduction. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Genachowski and others have widely discussed the importance of making more spectrum available for wireless services, and the National Broadband Plan calls for release of 500 MHz of spectrum over 10 years to address wireless demand that is expected to expand 35 times the 2009 level by 2014. The looming spectrum crunch could affect everything from price to quality of wireless – which Latinos rely on extensively for both phone and Internet access.

A number of bills are pending in the House and Senate that would address spectrum reallocation. On December 1st, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology approved the Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum (JOBS) Act of 2011. This bill would give the FCC the authority to conduct incentive auctions and provide for the construction of an interoperable public safety communications network.

Many agree that authorizing the FCC to conduct incentive auctions would provide a tremendous boost to the economy.  Auctions would direct some of the proceeds to broadcasters seeking to surrender their broadcast TV spectrum. Part of the revenue could be used to fund the interoperable public safety network recommended by the 9-11 Commission, now on hold for a decade. All this, while relocating spectrum to build advanced communications networks, freeing up billions of dollars in investment.

The Need for Action

There is no doubt that spectrum is vital to the continued growth of the American economy.  Spectrum has myriad utilities and is a catalyst for economic growth and job creation. Yet, it is both finite and not currently maximized.  One writersums up the situation succinctly: “Like beachfront property, the natural world only gives us so much prime broadcast spectrum.” That spectrum, as it is allocated today, is not giving us its maximum benefit. “Our uses for that prime broadcast spectrum are unlimited. Consider radio, television, GPS, cellular phones, wireless Internet, air traffic control and first responder communications. All of these compete for access to that finite range of spectrum.”

Americans have come to rely on spectrum in their everyday lives. Yet as wireless providers are looking to innovate and invest based on the availability of spectrum, politics and policy have stalled progress.

While we know that there are no guarantees in Washington DC, there is a chance the JOBS Act adopted last week will be considered by the full House Energy and Commerce committee.  If that occurs, the House of Representatives could pass this spectrum bill prior to its Holiday break.

This would mean that the House and Senate would have the opportunity to reconcile their differences and the President could sign the long-overdue spectrum legislation into law early next year.  If Congress does act, the millions of individuals who will receive smart phones, tablets, and other wireless devices as gifts can enjoy their gadgets knowing the spectrum crunch will be averted.  More importantly, increased investment and the resulting economic stimulus greatly improve the chances countless Americans will soon receive what they are wishing for during this upcoming Holiday season- a job

Jason Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP).  You can follow him on Twitter at @hispanicttp and learn more at: httponline.org.  Email at: Jason@httponline.org.

Following this week’s release of the FCC’s controversial internal report critical of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, much of the back-and-forth has focused on the details—how many jobs would be created, what percentage of the population would get access to LTE, how much spectrum is really available, etc.

Obviously these are important questions—and there’s clearly merit to criticisms that the FCC cherry-picked facts to support its views—but what’s received less attention is what the entire process may have revealed about the FCC.

As The Dallas Morning News pointed out in a spot-on editorial this morning, throughout the AT&T/T-Mobile review, the FCC has taken a narrow, “old-school” view of competition that is out of touch with the realities of the modern telecom business:

Simply declaring that a big telecom firm is getting bigger, that big is always bad and that jobs might be lost ignores the economics of scale and other technological and procedural efficiencies that lead to new products and services… In the long run, the ability to move data quickly and affordably translates into thousands of new jobs and more efficient commerce, both within telecommunications and other industries.

Telecom innovation moves fast. It is hard for anyone to keep up. But that’s no excuse for the regulators charged with fostering a robust and competitive marketplace. We can not hold on to dated conceptions of competition or ideas about the telecom industry based on old “ACME steel” conceptions of mergers. This ignores the complexities of the world we are moving toward — where wireless competition comes from multiple places and an expanding list of players.

On Wednesday of this week the FCC released a report on broadband adoption which acknowledged that one third of Americans don’t have broadband at home, and warned that the U.S. is falling behind our global competition.

But as the AT&T/T-Mobile review reminds us, we are not going to catch up unless government, industry and all players can approach this brave new world in a way that stimulates investment and makes new ventures possible.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). You can follow him on Twitter at @hispanicttp and learn more at: www.httponline.org.  Email at: Jason@httponline.org. Twitter: @hispanicttp

This week, I will be leading a panel in Chicago for LATISM – an online community of Latinos in Social Media, as a part of their annual conference. LATISM is made up of thousands of Latino social media participants — bloggers, tweeters, and online conversants who use social media to build community online under the hashtag, #LATISM. The talk will explore the Latino digital divide – an opportunity to engage a group of the community’s digital elite in HTTP’s work of evangelizing digital literacy and supporting policies focused on closing the digital divide.

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The LATISM conference is a somewhat ironic venue for a talk about the digital divide. After all, the most digitally literate, active, and Internet-astute of the Latino digerati make up this online community.  But beyond LATISM members lay a complex story about Latinos and their relationships with the Internet and the digital tools that drive so much of the future of economic opportunity.

Latinos are widely recognized as leading technology adopters – from mobile phones and devices to tablet computers, Latinos lead Americans in purchasing, and using this technology for some reasons we understand, and others we are just beginning to. Despite these facts, the digital divide yet to be addressed is in two areas: First, there is an access and tools issue — the dramatically lower rate Latinos report in adopting broadband at home, and second, in the community’s level of digital literacy – the digital skills that will facilitate economic opportunity and advancement in the new economy.

Defining the Latino Digital Divide

The Latino digital divide is not simply about being connected to the Internet. It is about the community’s ability to leverage the Internet and digital tools for economic and social advancement. To do so, the community must be digitally literate – something harder to define than the statistics on connectivity.

Literacy, digital and otherwise, comes in so many forms – and Hispanics’ relationship with the Internet and digital skills is complex. Researchers Shapiro and Hasset report: “80% of Latinos view the Internet as important for economic opportunity and ‘keeping up with the times,’ compared to 65% of Whites.” This would lead us to believe that the community values the Internet and understands its power to create opportunity. According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, 51 percent of Hispanics access the Internet via a mobile device, while only 33 percent of whites do. The mobile platform has proven to be an accessible “on-ramp” to the Internet; Latinos are adopting mobile technology, and using it for access. This is one reason we support private sector opportunities to extend high-speed, next-generation wireless broadband, or 4G/LTE across the country, which, as the technology matures, will offer connectivity at speeds that rival home broadband.

In contrast to the discussion of mobile, Latinos remain on the wrong side of an ongoing divide in home broadband adoption – only 45 percent have home broadband access, compared to 52 percent of African Americans and 65 percent of whites, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Those numbers may or may not shock – but when we look more closely at the FCC’s numbers, we see that only 20 percent of Spanish-dominant Latinos, who tend to be less affluent and more recent immigrants, have adopted home broadband. Survey participants who were non-adopters cited lack of perceived value of the Internet and price as primary reasons for not adopting. That lack of home access relegates resume-building, job applications and other activity, in most cases, to school time or library time, while their counterparts may work on these at their leisure, as a family, in their homes. The FCC and industry has been working to drive solutions to this problem, first through the Comcast program that brought $9.99 Internet and a $149 computer to families with a child qualified for free school lunch, and, just this week, other cable providers, including Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and others, joined with a similar offering that will extend this opportunity across more markets around the country. These programs hold exciting potential for closing the gap and putting high-speed Internet tools into the hands of families lagging behind.

A Simple Question – Can My Digital Skills Help Feed My Family?

Connectivity is only part of the discussion.  Focusing on the question of what one can do with the Internet is key. Looking at the numbers overall, the Latino digital divide can be confused, as many say, rightly, “I have the Internet on my phone,” and soon,  the low-cost, cable opportunities may begin to close the access gap for poor families.  Fact is, the numbers show that mobile is already providing a lifeline to small businesses, connecting people, and helping families to save money — and the new cable programs will further drive down barriers to home broadband as well.  But to assess digital literacy, the question to ask is, “can you leverage your online skills to get a job or run a business that will feed your family?”

The national unemployment rate in the middle of 2011 was 8.8 percent, yet the rate for Hispanics was 11.3 percent – about 43 percent higher than the 7.9 percent unemployment rate among whites, according to the U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics. We know that the grand majority of today’s good jobs – and an even larger portion of them in the future – will be those created by the digital economy. One’s ability to Bing or Google something is among the most basic expectations of an entry-level job. But real money can be made by people who can manage a spreadsheet or database program, program HTML – and, more and more, those who can develop and manage social media tools to move the bottom line or get traction for an idea or brand.

To be ready for those jobs, and to build the wealth-creating businesses of the future, communities must be online and ready to use the Internet across platforms. That means access to the tools must include a focus on learning how to use them productively. The iPhone has put a high-powered mini-computer in one’s hand; a tablet is a touch-screen window to the world. But use them only for games and sports scores, and these tools may as well be a pillow in the dessert – comforting, but not so life-enhancing.

Look To The Future

Economies change. The transition from farm to manufacturing took decades. The digital revolution is happening at Internet speed. The digital divide threatens to leave large portions of the Latino community in the last century, without the skills to fully benefit from the opportunities of the future.

The app market, for example, was an $8 billion ecosystem this year – and is only in its infancy. The Latino developers, marketers and digital entrepreneurs of the future have an opportunity to participate in this marketplace and create wealth. If there is an economic movement toward digital literacy, it must involve the opportunities created by this open marketplace where a 99-cent app that catches fire can drive dollars to its inventor and investors, or any cause.

Are you listening #occupiers?

Investment of time and resources in Latino digital literacy, powered by a high speed Internet connection provides opportunities in all of its forms – wireless, and wired interfaces, by laptop, iPhone, desktop or iPad – Latinos must be prepared to leverage the tools to build wealth and participate in the changing economy.

Those future opportunities include helping to address some of the most important, ongoing social problems. Many of the top thinkers in the field believe, for example, that broadband can reduce the cost of delivering high-quality healthcare, especially in rural areas where the closest hospital may be more than 100 miles away. With broadband Internet, doctors can provide timely diagnoses through remote consultations, saving patients the time and expense of traveling to the doctor’s office. Emerging mobile health and distance healthcare technology offer a significant opportunity to address the health disparities facing the most vulnerable, rural and mobile Latino communities. But will Latino entrepreneurs and health providers be a part of creating these revolutionary healthcare offerings?

Minority digital entrepreneurship is one key to long-term economic recovery and creating wealth. Investment of time, energy and community focus on digital skills building is not only a matter of economic necessity, but key to longevity for America’s fastest growing community.

The challenges are real and so is the potential to ensure American prosperity. LATISM is at the head of the curve on this – and now we must all work to ensure policymakers recognize the importance of supporting digital literacy to fuel innovation and drive America’s economic recovery.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). You can follow him on Twitter at @hispanicttp and learn more at www.httponline.org . Email at Jason@httponline.org. Twitter: @hispanicttp

Latino communities rely on wireless devices more than other Americans. Hispanics are more likely than Whites to access the Internet and e-mail on a mobile device. Hispanics are also more likely than Whites to rely on a mobile Internet connection in lieu of a home broadband connection. Burdensome local taxes raise the cost of these services for families already struggling through tough economic times. “Excessive wireless taxes are regressive. They hurt struggling families by driving up costs, and discourage use of mobile Internet and the mobile platform at a time when we are fighting to get Latinos, and all Americans online and using the Internet to enhance their lives,” said Brent Wilkes, National Executive Director, League of united Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

“Latinos have been particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. Barriers like excessive taxes, burdensome bureaucracy or arbitrary charges threaten to make wireless services that could assist in getting a job or starting a business unaffordable or out of reach, ” said Lillian Rodríguez López, President, Hispanic Federation.

“Raising the cost of wireless services places barriers to those already struggling to catch up. We applaud the House for this pro-consumer and pro-Latino legislation,” said Jose Marquez, President and CEO, Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA).

HTTP calls on the Senate to take up and pass companion bill, S.543, introduced in the upper chamber by Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Olympia Snowe.

The average wireless consumer today pays over 16% in taxes on wireless services. This is nearly double the taxes on other goods and services, and regressive on minority communities that already have higher rates of unemployment, and lost more household wealth in the recent economic downturn. We encourage Congress to pass this measure to ease an increasing burden on services relied upon by families across the country.

“Mobile devices provide a connection and information access point for poor families and those already struggling economically. Adding multiple, discriminatory local taxes to these services harms the affordability that makes the mobile platform such a lifeline for Latinos and others in hard times,” said Jason A. Llorenz, HTTP Executive Director.

Read the Full Letter (PDF)

ABOUT  HTTP

The Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) is a coalition of national Hispanic organizations working to increase awareness of the impact of technology and telecommunications policy on the U.S. Hispanic community. For additional information, visit http://www.httponline.org/.

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